Foundation in Psychology
Module Descriptions
There are six modules of the course; each module is equivalent
to 20 credits.
Module One: Introducing Psychology
This introductory module is designed to
provide students with a 'settling in period', as well as
focussing on study skills, orientation, an introductory overview or
'sampler' of what Psychology has to offer as a subject , and
importantly the opportunity to write a practice essay and so get to
grips with the subject matter and put newly acquired skills into
practice.
Introductory sessions
- during the initial sessions of the course students
will be able to familiarise themselves with the campus, its
location and get to meet the Course Leader and the other lecturers
and tutors who will be guiding them through the Foundation Course.
These sessions also include a library induction, assessing
necessary IT and internet skills and providing support for those
who need support in these areas. There will also be sessions on
study skills including sessions on ‘How to write a Psychology
essay’, ‘How to reference’ ‘How to take notes and to productively
read academic texts and journal articles’. Those requiring support
with academic English will have this particularly available to them
during this period, though, of course, support in this will be
ongoing.
Introducing Psychology
- In this series of lectures students will be
exposed to the wide range of subject matter that Psychology has to
offer, by way of lectures on different topics from the discipline
of Psychology, which in effect present examples of the diversity of
the subject. The lectures will draw on a range of material from
History of Psychology, Social Psychology and will most likely
include example topics from areas as diverse as Health Psychology
or the Psychology of Advertising or Sales/marketing and conceptual
issues relevant to Psychology. Each topic will be linked to an
essay title from which students may then choose.
Practice essay plan and practice
essay - The practice essay is an important
feature of this course module, indeed the course. Many of you may
have prior experience to writing and presenting course work at this
sort of level, but you may be out of practice! For others this may
be the first time that you write an essay of this kind, either way
the practice essay ensures that everyone has the opportunity to
demonstrate their new skills or refresh their old ones. This is
important, as any course work you hand in will count in some form
or other toward your final grade. Your first essay writing
adventure will be also supported by our unique supervised study
classes, where, whilst preparing your course work a tutor is on
hand to offer practical, academic linguistic and stylistic advice.
These supervised study classes continue throughout the course
Module Two: Social/Developmental
Psychology
This module contains two units (this is the
typical construction of the modules 2-6) one in Social Psychology
and the one in Developmental/ Lifespan Psychology. There is a
particular rationale for placing these units first- they very
obviously relate to our own experience and daily lives.
Social Psychology encompasses
a rich range of topics that investigate the behaviour of humans as
social beings. Counter intuitively the Social unit begins with the
‘Self’, but this is the logical starting point for without the
‘self’ there would be no ‘others’ and hence no groups! Group
behaviour is at the core of classic social Psychology and the
course will examine some landmark research carried out in the past
and apply Psychology to daily life and interaction, such as how we
get to know and like other people and how groups behave toward each
other.
Developmental Psychology
focuses on early years and childhood, though not only since
Lifespan includes the full range of human development through
ageing from infancy to grand-parenting. Well known theories
regarding childhood development will be presented (e.g. maternal
deprivation; cognitive development and learning to read).
The topics within each unit fall into one of
two categories – essay topics and exam topics. Students must choose
one of the essay topics for a short essay to be handed in one week
after completion of the unit. The remaining topics are considered
suitable for the unseen exams later in the year
There will be group tutorials linked to the
Social and Developmental units which will expand the areas covered
and no doubt provide ample material for discussions. There are also
supervised study sessions to help students plan and structure their
work.
Module Three: Applied Psychologies
This module consists of units comprised of
Health Psychology and Psychology of Sport & Performance.
Applied Psychology is about literally applying the insights and
ideas that Psychology offers to real life. Theory alone can
sometimes seem a somewhat distant, so for this reason the course
has been especially designed to include examples of applied
Psychology and how it can be implemented in real life.
Health Psychology
- This is a growing field and one that has grown in
public awareness and recognition over the last 30 years.
Health is not just about being ill or not. The modern
interpretation of health is a continuum of wellness ranges from
active aware peak condition to infirmity and death. Health
Psychology has a role to play in all areas of this continuum which
we all experience. Whether it is the issue of adhering to medicines
or improving the experience of hospitalisation for children, Health
Psychology can offer beneficial strategies and increase coping and
understanding for to the benefit of individuals as patients and as
practitioners.
Psychology of Sport and Performance
- The definition of performance might surprise some people
as it is taken to mean the level of ability to do something-
anything in fact!. Now this applies not only to athletes and world
class ballet dancers but also to chess players and wine experts.
Issues such as motivation, goal setting and the effect of emotion
of achievement are common to a diverse range of abilities. Along
with improved ability and expertise come cognitive change- both in
cognitive structure but also in linguistic structure and meaning.
Sport & Performance will present a range of topics that can be
put to use in most endeavours. Sport & Performance also focuses
on the role Psychology has to play in rehabilitation after injury
and how people coping with transitioning into retirement.
There will be group tutorials linked to the
Health and Sport/Performance units which will expand the areas
covered and no doubt provide ample material for discussions. There
are also supervised study sessions to help students plan and
structure their work. The module will be assessed by way of an
essay and a group presentation/or equivalent method.
Module Four: Bio/Cognitive
Psychology
This module acquaints students with some
essential fundamental ideas pertaining to Bio and Bio-evolutionary
Psychology and Cognitive Psychology and some elements of
neuroscience.
Psychology is the study of human behaviour in
the widest sense, and for that reason Psychology is also interested
in the brain and how it functions. It is important to understand
the basic processes at work in the brain, and for this reason
students need to be acquainted with how the brain is structured,
and how neurons and synaptic transmission function, and the
importance of brain chemicals and how these are utilised. Other
areas that are of importance are lateralisation of function and how
particular areas of the brain are involved in specific
abilities. It is the capacity of the human brain that in many
ways sets us apart from other species, nevertheless there are
certain issues regarding the uniqueness of humans that can be
examined by including the study of other species and their
abilities.
Psychology underwent a ‘cognitive revolution’
in the last century, and any Psychology course must of course
include cognitive Psychology. The unit on this course is
particularly aimed at beginners and gradually introduces them to
fundamental principles of cognitive Psychology as well as land mark
theories regarding topics such as memory and conditioning as
well as dealing with the important field of perception, thus
introducing them to topics that are central to human information
processing.
As with all units some of the topics form
examinable material, where as others are essays topics, from which
students must select one for each unit as course work. Tutorials
and supervised study complete this module.
Module Five: Counselling Psychology &
Psychotherapy
No course at The School of Psychotherapy and
Counselling Psychology would be complete without an element devoted
to this specialist area. The unit will present history of and
various approaches to Counselling and Therapy, and how these are
actually put into practice in two units- 'Counselling Psychology'
and 'Psychotherapy'.
Unit A: Counselling
Psychology
This part of the module will enable students
to acquire a basic theoretical background in Counselling
Psychology. It will cover the four main approaches of
psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioural, existential and humanistic
counselling. It will introduce leading figures in the field
from Freud onwards and consider how the various schools differ and
whether or not they can be integrated. The module will offer the
opportunity to think critically about the different views of the
human being offered to the student.
Unit B: Psychotherapy
This will take a broad look at some of the
main psychological problems that face counsellors in their
day-to-day work with clients, and some of the issues that need to
be addressed in both public and private practice. Factors that
influence therapeutic change and how the various approaches work in
clinical situations will be considered.
Module Six: Research Methods and Experimental Design
& Statistics for Beginners
This module is structured somewhat differently
to the previous five. It consists of Introduction to Research
methods & Experimental design and Statistics for Beginners as
well as the special three day Research School event.
In this module you will become acquainted with
the ethical standards that are today required of psychological
investigation. There after classes will introduce you to the nature
of experimentation and experiment design, and the principles of
research reporting. Importantly, you will also be introduced to
statistics. Statistical analyses are a crucial part of
psychological investigation and it is important that students are
thoroughly prepared for applying statistical analyses to data, as
this will be a requirement of any Psychology BSc. This module will
in ‘Statistics for beginners’ familiarise you with the terminology
and principles necessary for basic statistics, beginning with the
descriptive values essential for understanding data and then
building up to firstly non-parametric statistical tests and
culminating in a parametric test which you will be trained in
during research School.
Once you have gained sufficient experience you
will carry out a group experiment under the guidance of your
tutors. This will form the ‘rehearsal’ for your small group
experiments and individual research reports during research
School.
Research School: These are three days devoted
to research methods and experimental design as well as the
practical component on this module- designing and running your own
experiments, and gathering the data, analysing it by way of
statistical computer programme and writing up a research report
which forms part of your course work. During research school
you will also be introduced to other types of research and
analytical approaches such as Observational techniques and
qualitative approaches.
Again, tutorials and supervised study are
scheduled into this module.
Page last updated 8/18/2011