Psychology MSc

Coventry University

The main aims of this module are to introduce students to a selection of applied areas in psychology; to include various psychological theories as they are applied to the area, and examples of types of research that are appropriate to those areas; to provide career information surrounding professional practice in those areas. Within each area, students will explore issues of current interest in the field, and will have the opportunity to develop skills which would be useful to a psychologist practising in the field. Applied areas presented may vary from year to year according to the expertise available within the department but may include occupational psychology, forensic psychology, health psychology, educational psychology, clinical psychology, counselling psychology and developmental psychology.

This module aims to explore the inter-relationship between behaviour and biological processes. We review basic principles of nervous and endocrine system structure and function before considering specific areas of interest to the biological psychologist such as the role of sleep, the nature of addiction, behavioural genetics and pain.

This module aims to develop student?s understanding of key cognitive processes such as memory, attention and problem solving. Contemporary research and theory will be considered and students will be encouraged to develop evaluative and critical thinking skills when considering this. An emphasis will be placed on exploring how cognitive psychological theory can be applied in everyday settings.

This module examines psychological development from the pre-natal period through to adolescence drawing on key theoretical concepts and research findings. Students will be encouraged to develop their critical evaluation skills and to develop a critical understanding of modern developmental psychology. An emphasis will be placed on the application of developmental psychological theory to applied settings and real world issues such as education and the identification of developmental problems and the development of interventions to help children with developmental problems.

The aim of this module is to give students the opportunity to apply a range of strategy and leadership problem solving techniques to situations where change is required. Students will be given the opportunity to critically evaluate and develop solutions to complex, inter-related, multi-faceted issues that can be found in a variety of organisations and professional contexts. They will explore and should consider how tools can be used to analyse, implement and monitor change initiatives. Students will also be taught about strategic leadership: the role of vision, mission and values , as well as topics such as leadership style and ethics. In doing so, students will explore and should consider how leaders shape the environment for change.

The aim of this project is to engage students in supervised but independently undertaken empirical research at an advanced level. Students will be encouraged to integrate and practice the skills acquired during the course and to investigate in depth at Masters level an area of specific interest to them. Additionally, students will be expected to demonstrate a critical and evaluative understanding of the research process including the ethics, issues and problems in conducting empirical research in psychology.

This module aims to focus attention on the role of the individual within the study and development of psychology. The module integrates previous psychological knowledge by explaining the nature of the developed individual as seen from various perspectives. These perspectives include the psychoanalytic, behavioural, cognitive, biological and humanistic. It also summarises attempts to measure human psychological characteristics and covers the main areas of theory, research and debate concerning individual differences. Finally, it investigates the philosophical implication of these attempts by questioning the original scientific paradigm of psychologists involved in attempting such measurement and explanation.

The aim of the module is to introduce students to the historical and philosophical issues which provide a context for the modern study of psychology. The module outlines the field of psychology from its origins in the philosophy and the natural sciences of the 18th century through to the perspectives and sub-disciplines of psychology as a modern, scientific and applied discipline.

The aim of the module is to enable the students to conceive a topic for dissertation, conduct background literature reviews on this topic, and develop a complete and approved proposal including consideration of ethics for their research dissertation.

The focus of the module is designed to give you the chance to gain direct practical experience of how to design, conduct, and report psychological research with specific focus on an experimental methodology. The module will progress from exploring the conceptual understanding that is necessary to develop research proposals, through the practical considerations involved in the design and implementation of research designs, to exploring the skills and knowledge required to summarise, analyse and present research findings.

The dual aim of this module is to provide students with a firm grounding in qualitative and non-experimental methods and techniques commonly used in applied psychology. The module will focus on encouraging students to develop a critical knowledge and understanding of different selected qualitative designs and analytical approaches used in applied psychology research. To this end, students should learn how to analyse, report, interpret and write-up qualitiative research in line with the BPS code of ethical conduct. The second aim of the module is to provide students with the opportunity to gain a critical appreciation of correlational designs, psychometric scale development, reliability and validation processes, and regression-based techniques utilised in contemporary psychology research.

This module is designed to give an in-depth exploration of applied topics in social psychology. Students will consider and explore both the traditional and critical philosophies underlying contemporary social psychological research and a range of theoretical and methodological perspectives. Students will be encouraged to develop their critical evaluation skills and to develop a critical understanding of modern social psychology.