Why Psychology..?
(Why Psychology @ Warwick?)
Dr Elisabeth Blagrove
e.l.blagrove@warwick.ac.uk
What does psychology mean
to you…?
The Science of Mental Life…
• Framework for evaluating evidence &
making sense of contradictory findings
• Application of scientific thinking
 to the real world
• Practical contributions to people’s lives
& society (e.g., understanding/alleviating
mental illness, education, health, business)
A “nasty little subject…”
Prepare students to:
1) Challenge their preconceptions…
2) Learning new ways to think about
‘being human’…
3) Apply these to evaluation of
evidence & ‘problem solving’ in the
real world…
William James, 1890
Cognitive
Perceiving
Representing
Remembering
Social
Developmental
Communication
Interaction
Cognitive
Linguistic
Social
Biological
Abnormal
Brain
Body
Cells & Systems
Impairment
(of other 4 domains)
SCIENTIFIC METHOD!
Structure of the Course
Year 1

Year 2

Year 3
Core
Core
Core
Brain and Behaviour
Psychology in Context
Statistical Methods
Research Methods
Third Year Project
Topics in Psychology
or
Outside Option
Individual Differences
Language and Cognition
Perception,
Planning & Action
Methods in Psychology II
Second Year Project
Developmental Psych.
Psychobiology
Social Psychology
0%
degree credit
40%
degree credit
Option
Option, six from …
The Self in Social Psychology
Cognitive Science
Persuasion & Influence
Abnormal Psychology
Issues in Families & Dev.
Psychology of Ageing
Dev. Psychopathology
Words & Reading
Attention
Emotion
60% degree credit
The Psychology Department….
Behavioural
Science
Group
Lifespan
& Well-Being
Group
Language
Group
Medical Imaging
Foraging Behaviour
Cognition in Driving
Children’s Attention
Decision Making
Facial Emotion
Eyewitness Testimony
False Memory
Memory & Ageing
Cyberbullying
Effects of Prematurity
Posture/Movement Control
Parents with BPD
Assisted Fertility
Lang. Acquisition & Evolution
Speech Impairment & Dyslexia
Bilingualism
Language & Gesture
Tutorials & Personal Contact
• Pastoral care, academic
guidance & skills tuition
• Small groups,
allocated in 1st year
• Weekly tutorial +
• One-to-one sessions
in 2nd/3rd year
Subject-specific consultation
Published office hours
Email appointments
(Open Doors!)
Three career paths from a Psychology degree …
•
‘Professional psychologist’
– clinical, educational, occupational, forensic, academic research etc.
– 1st degree in psychology (+ experience,+ further degree)
•
Psychology related
– social services, probation, health, human factors, human resources etc.
– 1st degree not necessarily psych., but a good option!
•
Other careers
– management, administration, advertising, media etc.
– psychology graduates are
• practical & scientifically-minded
• numerate, with good IT & research skills
• knowledge about human behaviour!
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/scs
and now . . .
any questions?
Dr Martin Skinner
m.r.skinner@warwick.ac.uk