Psychology at Kent
Final Year Options for 2016/2017
Looking forward to 2016/17
• Response to student feedback
• A wider range of cutting edge approaches to topics
• Closer links with more academic staff
• Based on our dynamic School’s research interests and
expertise
• Focus on transferable skills for employment and/or
postgraduate study
Core Modules
• SP633 Applying Psychology
• Final Year Project :
• SP581
Psychology Project (Psychology and Law Joint Honours)
• SP582
Psychology Project
• SP583
Clinical Psychology Project (‘With Clinical Psychology’ degrees)
• SP600
Psychology Project (all other Joint Honours)
SP633 Applying Psychology
Convenor:
Dr Rachel Calogero
Assessment :
• Portfolio 50%
• Exam 50%
SP633 Applying Psychology
• showcases psychological science in action
• theoretical background & empirical evidence for the role of
psychology in tackling social problems and offering solutions
• covers hot topics and current trends in psychology (e.g., in weight
stigma, climate change, hazing in sports, sexualisation, prejudice in
children)
• Illustrates wide application of psychology for social policy,
organizational life, university life, media, health & medicine, the
global environment, etc.
Final Year Project
(SP581, SP582, SP583 and SP600)
Convenor:
Dr Kirsten Abbot-Smith
FYP - Signing up for a project
• Go to https://www.kent.ac.uk/psychology/mis/finalyearproject/
• Under each of the tabs you will find a range of final-year project
topics / research questions arranged by sub-field of psychology
• Click on the title of a particular project if you wish to find out
more about it
• If on reading the expanded text, you are potentially interested in
being signed up to a particular project, please click on the email
link at the bottom of that section
FYP - Signing up for a project
• Note: The default is that you work on a project which
your supervisor has suggested, usually in a pair or a
group
• You may develop your own research idea, but for this to
be allowed you must, firstly, find a supervisor who agrees
to supervise this and, secondly, apply to have this project
added to the ‘approved projects list’ BEFORE 15th APRIL
FYP - Signing up for a project
• If you have not found a project / supervisor by
May 1st 2016, Kirsten Abbot-Smith will randomly
allocate you to a supervisor
• Kirsten Abbot-Smith will give a more detailed talk
about the FYP on Wednesday 16th March, time
and room TBC by Tom Finley
SP597 Clinical Psychology I
(for those on ‘with Clinical’ programmes)
Convenor:
Dr Paraskevi Triantafyllopoulou (Vivi)
Assessment:
• Essay (20%)
• Exam (80%)
SP597 Clinical Psychology I
(for those on ‘with Clinical’ programmes)
• Introduces students to the theory and practice of clinical
psychology
• Topics will include
– classification of psychological disorders
– theoretical models
– research methods in clinical psychology
– professional issues, including the ethics of clinical practice
SP598 Clinical Psychology II
(for those on ‘with Clinical’ programmes)
Convenor:
Dr Paraskevi Triantafyllopoulou (Vivi)
Assessment:
• Essay (20%)
• Exam (80%)
SP598 Clinical Psychology II
(for those on ‘with Clinical’ programmes)
• Introduces students to current issues in the theory and practice
of clinical psychology, addressing recent approaches to
assessment and treatment
• Teaching will be delivered predominantly by clinicians currently
working in the field of clinical psychology with experience of
providing services in a wide range of specialties. These include
the core areas of adult, child, older adults and learning
disabilities, as well as more specialist areas
Your choices
• Each degree programme has different requirements
• Please see middle of your booklet for ease of reference
• Two Groups, with modules in Autumn and Spring Terms
• Share modules evenly between terms
Group 1 - Autumn
SP608 Motivation
Convenor:
Dr Arnaud Wisman
Assessment:
• Group presentation (20%)
• 10 weekly Moodle quizzes (20%)
• Extended essay (3,000 words) 60%
SP608 Motivation
• An opportunity to study the literature on motivation, focussing on socialcognitive perspectives on human motivation
• We will consider:
– what is experimental existential psychology?
– does the unconscious exist?
– the body, sex, and death
– drive, needs and motives plus much more
• Address terror management theory, attribution theory, control theory etc.
• Applications to applied settings will be discussed
SP636 Evaluating Evidence: Becoming a Smart
Research Consumer
Convenor:
tbc
Assessment:
• Essay (1,500-2,000 words) 25%
• In-class examination (half multiple choice, half short
answer) 50%
• Quality and quantity of in-class participation 25%
SP636 Evaluating Evidence: Becoming a
Smart Research Consumer
•
•
The module will systematically explore common logical and
psychological barriers to understanding and critically analysing
empirical research.
Major topics to be considered include:
–
common fallacies of deductive and inductive reasoning,
–
judgmental heuristics relevant to evaluating empirical research claims,
–
essentials of a scientific method,
–
misleading statistical and graphical techniques,
–
establishing genuine associations,
–
the role of inferential statistics for identifying illusory associations,
–
essentials of causal inference, and
–
threats to the validity of experimental and non experimental research.
SP566 Cognition in Action
Convenor:
Dr Zara Bergström
Assessment:
• Seminar report (2,000 words) 20%
• Extended essay (3,000 words) 80%
SP566 Cognition in Action
• Hot and/or critical topics in cognitive psychology building upon
theories and research assimilated in Stages 1 and 2
• Focus on emotion, memory and language. In particular the role of
emotion in attention, language and memory, and the impact of labels
on thought and actions
• Practical applications and relevance to a general understanding of
behaviour will be emphasised throughout
SP580 Advanced Developmental
Psychology
Convenor:
Dr Lindsey Cameron
Assessment:
• Exam 60%
• Essay (2,000 words) 40%
SP580 Advanced Developmental
Psychology
• Critically review recent research into key topics within advanced
developmental psychology
• Example topics:
– Development of the social self in childhood and adolescence
– Social and peer exclusion in childhood
– Language and children
– Family life and conversation
– Childhood pragmatics
– Prejudice development and reduction in childhood and
adolescence
Group 1 - Spring
SP642 Culture and Psychology
Convenor:
Professor Ayse Uskul
Assessment:
• Exam 80%
• Thought piece (1,000 words) 20%
SP642 Culture and Psychology
• Explore how culture influences human experience including behaviour,
thoughts, and emotions through general theories related to culture and
diversity
• Topical areas will include:
– Motivation
– Human development
– Cognition from cultural perspective
• Explore methodology used by cultural psychologists
SP611 The Neuroscience of
Cognitive Disorders
Convenor:
Dr David Wilkinson
Assessment:
• Short answer written exercise 20%
• Seen exam/extended essay (4,000 words) 80%
SP611 The Neuroscience of Cognitive
Disorders
• Focuses on neuropsychological deficits acquired through
stroke, such as hemi-spatial neglect, prosopagnosia, aphasia
and amnesia
• Examines how different strands of neuroscientific research
(behavioural, cognitive, structural, physiological) have
advanced understanding of neuropsychological disorders
and informed intervention
SP616 Language and Communication
Convenor:
Dr Kirsten Abbot-Smith
Assessment:
• Exam 60%
• Essay (2,000 words) 40%
SP616 Language and Communication
• An opportunity to learn about the methods, techniques and
issues involved in the study of language and communication
• Will highlight the interplay between theory, research and
application, focusing on core theories and research
• Each class will review the historical development of a subject
before introducing current theories and methods
Group 2 - Autumn
SP601 Understanding People with Learning
Disabilities
Convenor:
Dr Rachel Forrester-Jones
Assessment:
• Poster plan 25%
• Essay (2,000 words) 75%
SP601 Understanding People with Learning
Disabilities
• Provides intro to important issues in learning disability and can be taken either
as a stand-alone module or as a pre-requisite to SP602
• Examines definitions and attitudes to people with, for example, Autism and
Down’s Syndrome
• Explores difficulties that people with learning disabilities experience (including
communicating and establishing social and sexual relationships) and resultant
problems (such as sexual abuse and challenging behaviour)
• Considers social policy initiatives and how services might implement policy
objectives (such as social inclusion and adult protection)
SP637 Forensic Psychology: Theoretical and
Applied Perspectives
Convenor:
Dr Emma Alleyne
Assessment:
• Multiple choice exam 30%
• Extended essay (3,000 words) 70%
SP637 Forensic Psychology: Theoretical and
Applied Perspectives
• This module provides an in-depth examination of theory and
application of forensic psychology to the criminal justice system
• It examines:
– Law development
– Types of offending
– Police and forensic profilers’ responses to offending
– Eyewitness credibility and police interview process
– Aims of punishment and prisoners’ responses to imprisonment
– Theories of rehabilitation and the implementation of the sex offender
treatment programme plus much more
SP639 Freud and Post Freud
Convenor:
Professor Janet Sayers
Assessment:
• Mid-term essay (1,500 words) 20%
• Extended Essay 80%
NB: There is a maximum quota of 40 students for this module
SP639 Freud and Post Freud
• Critical introduction to Freudian and post-Freudian psychoanalytic
psychology
• Evaluation of theory, method and data in relation to fundamental
concepts in psychoanalytic psychology – e.g. the unconscious, infantile
sexuality
• Application of concepts to specific clinical conditions (e.g. neurosis,
depression, autism, schizophrenia); to adult and child psychotherapy; and
more generally to society (including social and cultural issues such as
sexism and art)
Group 2 - Spring
SP602 Researching People with Learning
Disabilities
Convenor:
Dr Michelle McCarthy
Assessment:
• Literature review (1,500 words) 30%
• Project report (3,500) 70%
Prerequisite : SP601
SP602 Researching People with Learning
Disabilities
• For people considering a possible career working with people with
learning disabilities, this module offers a good opportunity to have
some direct and personal contact in a supportive context
• Involves students in a project based on interviews with people with
learning disabilities
• There will be teaching sessions on research, interview construction,
recording and analysis
• Practical work involves visiting a person with learning disabilities at their
place of work and conducting a recorded interview with due regard
to ethical and consent issues
• A series of clinics designed to assist students in analysis, interpretation
and presentation of the project work will follow
SP641 Mental Health: Diagnosis, Interventions and
Treatments
Convenor:
Dr Lydia Kearney
Assessment:
• Poster 20%
• Critical review (3,000 words) 80%
SP641 Mental Health: Diagnosis, Interventions
and Treatments
• Provides theoretical instruction and opportunities for critical evaluation in
abnormal psychology
• Examines origins and identification of different forms of atypical cognitions
and behaviours and investigate the psychological and social impact for
patients
• Covers some of the major mental health disorders, focussing primarily on
what research has to say about their social/cognitive/biological bases
and the implications they have for treatment
• Describes several methodological approaches and ask fundamental
questions about the meaning of normality
• Historical developments will be examined and current interventions and
treatments feature highly
SP643 Psychology of Music
Convenor:
Dr Michael Forrester
Assessment:
• Essay (3,000 words) 50%
• Exam 50%
SP643 Psychology of Music
• This course will introduce students to a wide range of areas in the
field of the psychology of music, including psychoacoustics and
auditory perception, the development of musicality, the
cognitive neuroscience of music and the relationship between
music and emotion. Involves students in a project based on
interviews with people with learning disabilities
• The primary aim of the module will be to describe and explain the
different theoretical approaches and research methodologies
employed in the psychology of music in order to understand this
most interesting aspect of human experience.
• Mixture of internal & external speakers
What do I do now?
• Talk to us now and…
• …use the booklet to guide you.
• Read the booklet to see how many modules you can choose
from which groups, for your Programme of Study.
• Enter your choice on the Qualtrics site (link on the School
Website here http://www.kent.ac.uk/psychology/programmesmodules.html)
Best wishes for the rest of
Stage 2 and please get
in touch if you have any
questions about your
Stage 3 choices
psydolt@kent.ac.uk