Postgraduate Course: Seminar in Personality (PSYL11107)
Course Outline
| School | School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | The course covers key topics in personality science including (but not limited to) its goals and mission within psychology more broadly, measurement, demographic and cultural differences, development, prediction of real world outcomes and the intersection with psychopathology. The course uses a combination of traditional lectures (one third of the course) and students presenting and discussing on preselected topics (two thirds). |
| Course description |
The course will cover the following topics: the goals of personality science; assessment of personality and person perception; the units and structure of personality; associations of personality with life outcomes; age, gender, cultural and regional variation in personality; genetic and environmental influences on personality; main principles of and findings on development; and diagnosing maladaptive personality. The lectures at the beginning of the course lay the foundation of the subsequent student-lead presentations (supervised by the lecturer) and discussions, so the course is very interactive and discussion-oriented.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2024/25, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 10,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 10,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
176 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Presentation 40% (Weeks 4 to 11)
Written presentation summary 10% (500 Words) (Weeks 4 to 11)
Providing constructive and respectful feedback on others presentations 10% (Weeks 4 to 11)
Final Essay 40% (1600 Words) |
| Feedback |
Formative feedback is given by both the lecturer and fellow students throughout the course, in particular in relation to students presentations (weeks 4 to 11).
Specifically, each student is expected to discuss their draft presentation and its written summary with the lecturer prior to their presentation and implement their feedback to ensure that the presentation serves as a high-quality learning experience for other students.
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| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Describe the main concepts and goals of personality trait psychology.
- Describe how personality traits are measured.
- Describe how personality traits vary with key demographic variables and life outcomes.
- Describe the main principles of personality development.
- Critically assess and debate the methods and findings of personality psychology
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Reading List
| To be confirmed |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Research and enquiry skills: independent literature search and synthesis, problem solving, digital literacy and numeracy skills
Intellectual skills: thinking critically, independently and creatively; distinguishing between important regularities and less relevant details
Personal management skills: establishing goals and effectively using resources to achieve these; managing complexity and self-direction
Communication skills: engaging effectively in or and written discussions; presenting research and giving respectful and constructive feedback on others presentations; scientific writing
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| Keywords | Individual differences; Personality |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Alexander Weiss
Tel: (0131 6)50 3456
Email: alex.weiss@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Olivia Coltman
Tel:
Email: ocoltman@ed.ac.uk |
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