PSY30xx Modules
Semester 1
Semester 1 (20 Credits)
PSY3030 Foundations in Forensic Psychology
PSY3006 Consumer Psychology
Gavin Oxburgh
Amy Fielden
Semester 1 (10 Credits)
PSY3001 Evolution and Behaviour
PSY3002 Evolutionary Psychology and Medicine
PSY3008 Art, Mind and Brain
PSY3018 The Damaged Brain
PSY3022 The Psychology of Financial Decision Making
John Lazarus
Bruce Charlton
Gabi Jordan
Quoc Vuong
Mike Cox
PSY30xx Modules
Semester 2
Semester 2 (20 Credits)
PSY3026 Psychology of Religion
PSY3027 Disorders of Development
PSY3033 Eating Disorders
Patrick Rosenkranz
Helen St Clair-Thompson
Martin Tovee
Semester 2 (10 Credits)
PSY3009 Co-operation
PSY3016 Sex and Human Nature
PSY3020 Face Perception
PSY3028 Work Psychology
PSY3032 Dementia
Gilbert Roberts
Gilbert Roberts
Vicki Bruce
Joan Harvey
Martin Tovee
PSY 3002 Evolutionary
Psychology and Medicine
Bruce G Charlton MD
Reader in Evolutionary Psychiatry
• Subject: How evolution by natural selection affects
human behaviour; focused on psychiatry, health and
medicine.
• Class size: about 50 students
• Method: Talk and Chalk, class discussions and quizzes
• Exam: 2 hours - 2 X 1 hour essays (from choice of 4)
under exam conditions
• Lecture notes – no hand-outs
• Attendance at all lecture classes is typically necessary
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G. Jordan, A. Hurlbert, Y. Tadmor
Art is a uniquely human concept and touches on many branches
of psychology. In this module, we attempt to understand
some of the processes and mechanisms of art, its
creation and its appreciation.
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Topics (ART)
What is ART?
What is its function?
Who is it for?
Why do we (dis)like it? How do artists get it right?
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Topics (MIND)
Can art inform us about the artist’s mind?
Do creative
people have more vulnerable minds?
Is art an outlet for
emotional expressions?
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Topics (BRAIN)
Can art inform us about the artist’s brain?
Is there a hemispheric specialisation for art?
Are there specific brain areas for art expression?
Is art an alternative form of communication?
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Teaching and Assessment
Teaching is very interactive!
Teaching tries to develop your skills.
Seminars are the best!
20% oral presentation
(individual or group);
80% final exam; 2 essays from a choice of 6 (90 min);
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Seminar titles of last cohort
Syd Barrett: Creative Genius or
Schizophrenic Frontman?
Joey Pang: Body Art – Creative
Expression or Self-Destruction?
Roberto Bolle:
Dance as an art form
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Seminar titles of last cohort
Kandinsky: Did synaesthesia
inform his art?
Robin Williams: Creativity,
vulnerability and comedy
Beethoven: Did mania influence his
compositions?
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FAQ
Do I need to know anything about art?
PSY3009 Cooperation
Gilbert Roberts
Why do we help others?
Why do meerkats babysit?
Why are these vampires one of the
best examples of cooperation?
What is the best strategy to use when
buying rounds?
How can we reach agreements to
reduce global warming?
How can a squirt up the nose make
you twice as likely to cooperate?
How does attractiveness affect
cooperation?
What makes people more likely to
contribute to honesty boxes?
Outline
Approaches to cooperation
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Social psychology
Experimental economics
Evolutionary psychology
Theories of cooperation
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Kinship
Reciprocal altruism
Indirect reciprocity & Reputations
Interdependence
Mechanisms of cooperation
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Cognition
Hormonal and neural basis
Moral and cultural dimensions
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Trust, fairness, punishment
Integration
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Theories, models and evidence - outstanding questions
How special are humans
Applications
Module info
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10 credits
Semester 2
12 lectures, 5 seminars, 1 computer session
Assessment 100% on exam, 2 hrs, 2 essays
from 4
PSY3016 Sex & Human
Nature
Gilbert Roberts
Big questions: Why are men and women
so different psychologically?
Why do women get left holding the
baby?
Why do some guys get all the luck?
How do we judge attractiveness?
Do women really go for status and
money while men go for looks?
Do women undergo oestrus as in
other mammals?
Why might women be more likely to orgasm
if their partner has symmetrical ears?
Do poets and artists really get more
sex?
Outline
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Males & females
Sexual selection: competing for mates
Mate choice and mating strategies
Secrets of attractiveness:
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MHC, FA, 2D:4D
The human mind as sexual display
Female sexuality:
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multiple mating and the menstrual cycle
Male sexuality:
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sperm competition & paternity uncertainty
The perception of physical attractiveness – Martin Tovee
Sex differences in cognition
Controversies:
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homosexuality and rape
Module info
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10 credits
Semester 2
12 lectures, 6 seminars (repeated)
Assessment 100% on exam, 2 hrs, 2 essays
from 4
PSY3026 Psychology of
Religion
Patrick Rosenkranz
The scientific study of religious/spiritual
behaviour, emotion and cognition.
= not a study of religion as such, but the
study of the human, psychological
considerations.
Rationale
Mystical and Religious Experiences
Individual Differences
Social Psychology of Religion
Cognitive and Developmental Processes
Evolutionary and Biological Foundations
Assessment: Essay (40%), Exam ( 60%)
20 Credits, Semester 2
Lectures, interactive session, tutorials.
School of Psychology
Foundations in Forensic
Psychology
(PSY3030)
Dr. Gavin E. Oxburgh
Forensic Psychologist
Chartered Psychologist & Scientist
Senior Lecturer in Psychology
Aims
• To provide students with an insight
into the general area of forensic
psychology and to develop critical
understanding of psychological
theories
• Module will include:
– Lectures
– Assignment workshops
– External talks – forensic psychology in
the real world
Content of Module
20 Credits in Semester 1
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Introduction to forensic psychology;
Personality theories and crime;
Assessment and treatment of offenders;
Theories of aggression and causes of aggressive
behaviour, sexual offending etc;
• Psychological disorders (e.g., anti-social and narcissistic
personality disorders, psychopathy etc);
• Investigative psychology (offender profiling, police
enquiries etc).
Assessments
In-course assessment (40%):
• A 1,000 word functional analysis report of a
problem behaviour (no ethics required):
– This will involve interviewing each other (one-toone) about a problem behaviour (nail biting,
smoking or something similar), however, if
students are unable to find a suitable fellow
student, there will be a write-up of a mock
behaviour that they can utilise instead.
End-course assesment (60%):
Written exam comprising two unseen essay questions
from a choice of six.
Thank you for your time
Dr. Gavin E. Oxburgh
gavin.oxburgh@ncl.ac.uk
PSY3027
Disorders of Development: A Psychological
Perspective
Helen St Clair-Thompson
Disorders of Development: A Psychological Perspective
• Semester 2
• 20 credits: two hour lecture per week plus reading in own time
• Assessment 1: Critical assessment coursework (25%)
You will be given a paper to critique
• Assessment 2: Unseen 2 hour examination (75%)
You will answer two essay questions covering a range of
disorders of development
• Some of the lectures are taken by guest lecturers who are experts in one or more
disorder of development
Disorders of Development: A Psychological
Perspective
Some issues covered on the module:
• What are disorders of development?
• Genotypes and Phenotypes
• Diagnosis of disorders
• Methods of studying disorders of development
Some of the disorders covered:
• Downs syndrome
• Williams syndrome
• Language Disorders
• ADHD
• Autism
An example of a disorder: ADHD
What are the symptoms of ADHD?
How is ADHD diagnosed?
An example of a disorder: ADHD
What causes ADHD?
An example of a disorder: ADHD
How can we treat ADHD?
Medication
Facilitative training
Neurofeedback
Work Psychology PSY3028
Dr Joan Harvey
• Second semester
• 10 credits
• Based on a selection of five areas from Occupational
Psychology
• Assessed by one 2hr examination, 2 questions to be answered
Occupational/Work Psychology covers a wide area:
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Research methods
Individual differences
Job analysis, validation, reliability
Selection: interviews, tests, etc
Assessing people at work
Attitudes at work
Analysis and modification of work behaviour
Work motivation and job design
Training
Stress in the workplace
Decision making, group, teams at work
Leadership
Careers and career management
Organizational change and culture
Work design, ergonomics and effects of environment
Five main subjects
• Psychology of assessment
• R&S, appraisal, validity and reliability
• Training and development
• Emphasis on management and leadership development
• Work motivation and job design
• Motivation theories and applications
• Workplace stress and employee intervention
programmes
• Stress management, coping strategies
• Culture and structure
• General and specific (e.g. safety culture), cross culture
So how do we approach the
subject?
• Is applied
• A theory is no use unless it can either explain or predict behaviour
• So is more about how psychology is used in the five main areas
• E.g. how does it help us to determine how well intelligence tests work in
recruitment and selection?
• Uses real work examples throughout
• From engineering, manufacturing, nuclear, retail, etc
• From many organizations:
• E.g. why is the culture at Google so different to that of IBM?
Assessment, e.g. intelligence tests
• [a] What number comes next in the series:
3, 5, 8, 13, 21?
• a4
b 21
c 31
d 34
• [b] Which number should replace the question
mark?
8
35
32
4
• a3
5
32
28
?
b -2
21
12
31
28
c -6
d 48
Answers to the two questions
• [a] What number comes next in the series:
• 3, 5, 8, 13, 21?
•a4
b 21
c 31
d 34
• [b] Which number should replace the question mark?
8
35
32
4
•
a3
5
32
28
?
b -2
21
12
31
28
c -6
d 48
Safety
culture
Developing Enterprise, Entrepreneurship &
Employability
• ‘…enterprise education is defined as the process of equipping
students (or graduates) with an enhanced capacity to generate
ideas and the skills to make them happen. Entrepreneurship
education equips students with the additional knowledge, attributes
and capabilities required to apply these abilities in the context of
setting up a new venture or business’. (QAA, 2012: 2)
• Employability – ‘graduates with enhanced skills who can think on
their feet and be innovative in a global economic environment’
(QAA, 2012: 2)
NCL2100 – Developing Enterprise, Entrepreneurship &
Employability
• Use the skills and knowledge you develop
and our passions and interests to create
your own start-up project;
• Work on a live consultancy project for an
organisation developing enterprising
solutions to problems;
• Assessment includes a group consultancy
project report; Trade Fair assessment and
Reflective Essay
NCL3100 Applied Entrepreneurship
• Already have a developed
(enterprise) idea?
• Want to start running your
enterprise and include this in
your degree award?
• 20 credit module with
assessments including short
video/written piece about
your business; Trade Fair and
Reflective Report
NCL3100
• YOU and your journey
• Personal and Business
development
• Choose your own 70 hour
programme of learning activities
• 130 hours of self-directed learning
i.e. running your own business &
preparing assessment evidence
What is consumer psychology?
• A branch of “applied” psychology
• Builds on your existing understanding of theories and
models from areas such as social psychology, cognitive
psychology, learning & motivation and visual perception
amongst others
• Encourages you to apply your knowledge to “real world”
everyday situations and circumstances………………..to some
extent you are already a consumer psychologist!
What do consumer psychologist
do?
The development and marketing of new products and the marketing
Evaluating advertisements ensuring they meet government standards and
conducting research to develop appropriate standards.
Assessing consumer response to various combinations of product features to
help determine the optimal combination
Developing theoretical models of purchase decisions made by families or
individuals under certain conditions.
Identifying how alternative commercials communicate & improve attitudes
towards a particular product or brand
Consumer Motivation
Cognitive Aspects of Consumer Psychology
Learning and Attitude Formation
Market Segmentation
Social Aspects of Consumer Psychology
Culture and Gender
New Products
Loyalty
E-Commerce and Online Marketing
Child Consumers (guest lecture)
Week 1: Introduction to Consumer
Psychology
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Lecture topics
How will the module be delivered?
• 1 x 2hr lecture
• Focus on delivering the theoretical background needed
• Will follow a traditional lecture format but discussion
will be encouraged
• 1 x 1hr workshop
• Focus on activities designed to help you apply the
knowledge you gain from the lectures whilst also
preparing for the assessments
• Creative project (due in December) 40%
• Develop an advert or marketing strategy as a group and submit an
individual rationale for that advert.
• The word limit for the rationale will be 1000 words.
• The product of the group work will constituent 20% of the overall
assessment mark, all group members will be awarded the same mark.
• The individual report will constitute the remaining 80% of the mark and
these will be assessed individually.
• 2 hour exam in January containing 60%
• 2 questions that will require a conventional essay answer
• You will have a choice of 4 questions but will have to answer 2.
• Recommended texts are
• Evans, Jamal and Foxall (2010) Consumer Behaviour
Wiley 2nd edition
• O’Shaughnessy (2013) Consumer Behavior Palgrave
Macmillan
• Journal articles
• It will not be sufficient to rely solely on lecture notes!
PSY3018 (Quoc Vuong, S1, 10 credits)
Phineas Gage
The Damaged Brain:
Case Studies in Neuropsychology
• What is Neuropsychology?
• Investigate brain-behaviour connections
• How are we going to study it?
• Lectures/seminars: Case studies of patients
with brain lesions which affect perceptual,
motor, & cognitive functions
• Hands-on work: Examine damaged (&
healthy) brains acquired with new brain
scanning technology (MRI)
Domasio H et al., 1994; Dolan, 1999
DF (another famous case)
• How is the module assessed?
• in-class presentation (10%)
• short answers & essay exam (90%)
• Why study damaged brains?
• inform us about healthy brains
QV (a not-so famous case)
Evolution and
Behaviour
John Lazarus
70
How does behaviour evolve?
Darwin (1859)
explained why
behaviour is adaptive: –
natural selection. Some
examples are obvious . . .
• What principles do we
have now to predict how
behaviour will evolve?
• How precisely can we
Principles and examples . . .
predict behaviour from
these principles?
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1. Non-social behaviour
Foraging
E.g. When to give up searching in one patch
and move to another?
Principles
• Benefits and costs
• Optimality - Maximize fitness: Ric Charnov
(1976)
Optimizing 2 behaviours: Chalk & cheese
problem
• Trade-off
• E.g. Ants balance resources and predation risk
to maximise colony growth
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2. Social behaviour
Competition & aggression
• Optimal level of aggression for whom?
• Why not more injury?
We need a new principle
Evolutionary stability
Game Theory John Maynard Smith (1973)
From Psychology & Economics
This approach revolutionised understanding
of the evolution of all types of
social behaviour
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3. Interacting with relatives
• Inclusive fitness Hamilton (1963)
• A new measure that accounts for the sharing of genes
• Explains altruism towards relatives
74
Types of Evidence
Fieldwork measurements
Experiments Niko Tinbergen 1960s
• Female widow birds prefer males
with longer tail feathers
Comparative method John Crook (1965)
• Compare species behaviour & ecology
75
The
innovators
New theories
Bill Hamilton
John Maynard Smith Ric Charnov
Charles Darwin
1859
New kinds of evidence
Niko Tinbergen John Crook
1859
1960s
1970s
76
Theories & models, based on the
new principles, applied to . . .
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Competition & aggression
Anti-predator behaviour & group living
Sexual conflict: Who cares for the young?
Parent-offspring conflict: How much care?
Kinship
Human social life
Communication: Inform or manipulate?
Pioneering studies and current research
77
Module Structure & Exam
10 credits
First semester
11 lectures: stop at
Xmas
5 seminars
Assessment: 2 hour exam
Voluntary practice essay
78
Evolution and
Behaviour
John Lazarus
79
How does behaviour evolve?
Darwin (1859) explained
why behaviour is
adaptive: – natural
selection. Some examples
are obvious . . .
• What principles do we
have now to predict how
behaviour will evolve?
• How precisely can we
Principles and examples . . .
predict behaviour from
these principles?
80
1. Non-social behaviour
Foraging
E.g. When to give up searching in one patch
and move to another?
Principles
• Benefits and costs
• Optimality - Maximize fitness: Ric Charnov
(1976)
Optimizing 2 behaviours: Chalk & cheese
problem
• Trade-off
• E.g. Ants balance resources and predation risk
to maximise colony growth
81
2. Social behaviour
Competition & aggression
• Optimal level of aggression for whom?
• Why not more injury?
We need a new principle
Evolutionary stability
Game Theory John Maynard Smith (1973)
From Psychology & Economics
This approach revolutionised understanding
of the evolution of all types of
social behaviour
82
3. Interacting with relatives
• Inclusive fitness Hamilton (1963)
• A new measure that accounts for the sharing of genes
• Explains altruism towards relatives
83
Types of Evidence
Fieldwork measurements
Experiments Niko Tinbergen 1960s
• Female widow birds prefer males
with longer tail feathers
Comparative method John Crook (1965)
• Compare species behaviour & ecology
84
The
innovators
New theories
Bill Hamilton
John Maynard Smith
Ric Charnov
Charles Darwin
1859
New kinds of evidence
Niko Tinbergen
1859
John Crook
1960s
1970s
85
Theories & models, based on the new
principles, applied to . . .
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Competition & aggression
Anti-predator behaviour & group living
Sexual conflict: Who cares for the young?
Parent-offspring conflict: How much care?
Kinship
Human social life
Communication: Inform or manipulate?
Pioneering studies and current research
86
Module Structure & Exam
10 credits
First semester
11 lectures: stop at Xmas
5 seminars
Assessment: 2 hour exam
Voluntary practice essay
87
Face perception
Vicki Bruce
Newcastle University
Faces are special
• They play a special role in our personal identity
• They play a special role in institutional and national identity
• Perception of different signals from faces relies on dedicated
neural machinery so they are special to the brain too.
Faces are informative
• Momentary changes support
• interpretation of emotions
• understanding speech
• understanding another’s focus of attention
• Structural differences inform about
• attractiveness
• social group
• Identity.
But they must all be very
similar
• Demands of vision, audition, breathing, eating, speaking
force common pattern.
• Particular characteristics of human face as a result of
evolution.
• Messages must be read from subtle variations on this
pattern.
• Considerable specialisation of neural systems that read
face messages.
Assessment
• 10% student presentations (usually in pairs)
• 90% exam (2 essays from choice of 5)
Reading (amongst other
things)
The Psychology of Financial Decision Making
PSY3022
Presented by Mike Cox mike.cox@ncl.ac.uk
Semester I
Web page
http://www.staff.ncl.ac.uk/mike.cox/PsyFin.htm
The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money
- John M Keynes - 1936
Even apart from the instability due to speculation,
there is the instability due to the characteristic of
human nature that a large proportion of our positive
activities depend on spontaneous optimism rather than
mathematical expectations, whether moral or
hedonistic or economic. Most, probably, of our
decisions to do something positive, the full
consequences of which will be drawn out over many
days to come, can only be taken as the result of animal
spirits - a spontaneous urge to action rather than
inaction, and not as the outcome of a weighted
average of quantitative benefits multiplied by
quantitative probabilities.
The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money
- John M .Keynes - 1936
• human nature
• spontaneous optimism
rather than mathematical
expectations
• animal spirits - a
spontaneous urge to action
rather than inaction
What it does include
What it does not include
μσ
αβ
2
tFχ
One-third of Britain’s £37bn bonus pot paid to
bankers
The Telegraph 19 September 2012
Finance sector workers received more than one-third of
the £37bn paid out in bonuses in the latest financial
year, despite making up 4% of the workforce.
Based on figures from the Office for National
Statistics.
The payout was down 9% on the previous year, but still
works out at an average bonus per employee of £12,000,
or nearly nine times the national average.
Group Assessment (30%)
A small group presentation based on the Case Study
allocated from the list provided. Typical entries are:1 How a psychological bias leads many people to pay more
credit card interest (N. Stewart)
2 Student finances and health (D.C. Jessop et al.)
3 No regrets? (E. Dijk and M. Zeelenberg)
4 It's not the economy, actually (R. Johnston et al.)
5 Want to spend less? Ditch your credit card and don't
shop when sad (S. Begley)
6 Is less always more? Testing the limits of the choice
paradox (B. Scheibehenne et al.)
Final Assessment (70%)
Each individual to select a paper from the proposed list
http://www.staff.ncl.ac.uk/mike.cox/PsyFin/assbiblio.pdf
or one of their own choice. To produce a
summary/critique of the manuscript.
Be specific about links to this module, and outline how
they might conduct an experiment to investigate a
similar hypothesis. The majority of the papers selected
already contain investigations, hence the problem is to
suggest how it could be meaningfully investigated within
the students environment, this is your chance to
demonstrate originality.
Module Delivery
Conventional lectures are delivered, see the Lecture
Timetable. Time precludes consideration of all material
on the module web page.
In addition, each week a case study will be investigated
in a seminar/tutorial session. For further details see the
Case Study Timetable. These take a variety of forms.
PSY3013: Eating Disorders:- Diagnosis,
Assessment and Treatment
Lecturers
• Dr Martin Tovée
Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University
• Dr Esther Cohen-Tovée
Consultant Clinical Psychologist & Clinical Director for Psychological
Services (Northumberland). Newcastle, North Tyneside and
Northumberland Mental Health NHS Trust.
• Dr Melanie Bash
Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Richardson Eating Disorder Service
(REDS) Mental Health Unit, RVI
• Dr Liz Evans
Clinical Ageing Research Unit, Newcastle University
Lectures
• Lecture-1: Appetite & Food - Dr Martin Tovée
• Lecture-2: Feeding Behaviour - Dr Martin Tovée
• Lecture-3: Clinical Definitions of Eating Disorders - Dr Martin Tovée
• Lecture-4: Body Image, Beauty & the Media - Dr Martin Tovée
• Lecture-5: Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Eating Disorders- Dr Esther Cohen-Tovée
• Lecture-6: Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Obesity - Dr Esther Cohen-Tovée
• Lecture-7: Food for Health - Dr Melanie Bash
• Lecture-8: The Assessment and Treatment of Severe Eating Disorders - Dr Melanie Bash
• Lecture-9: What is body image? - Dr Melanie Bash
• Lecture-10: Disordered Eating Attitudes in Children – Dr Liz Evans
• Lecture-11: Body Image in Children – Dr Liz Evans
• Lecture-12: Revision - Dr Martin Tovée
Coursework
An oral PowerPoint presentation demonstrating a
critical analysis of a primary research paper.
• the opportunity to research your own topic
based on what you find interesting about the
course.
• the opportunity to critically evaluate other
peoples’ interpretations;
• the opportunity to practice oral presentation a
useful transferable skill; and
The Exam
• Two questions from a choice of six
• The exam lasts 90 minutes
PSY3013: Eating Disorders:- Diagnosis,
Assessment and Treatment
Semester 2 - 20 Credits
PSY3032:
Dementia
Causes and treatment
Topics
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The brain and neurodegenerative diseases
Alzheimer’s disease
Dementia with Lewy Bodies
Parkinson’s Disease and frontal dementia
Huntington’s Disease
Prion Diseases: from BSE to CJD
Motor neuron disease
Multi-Infarct Dementia
Different patterns of Dementia
Treatment options
Assessment
• 90 minute exam
• 2 questions from a choice of 6
PSY3032: Dementia: Causes
and treatment
• 10 Credit Course
• Semester 2