Structure
The MRes runs for one academic year full-time or two years part-time. Most of the lectures, seminars and workshops on the programme run in the first two terms, but you are expected to pursue your studies beyond formal term times, particularly in respect of your research project.
Lectures, seminars and workshops for the programme are timetabled mainly for Mondays and Tuesdays, but you may occasionally be required to attend other seminars and workshops held by the Department and College. You must take all the modules listed in the syllabus.
The list below provides an overview of the topics covered in each module. All modules include a strong practical component.
Compulsory modules
Module title |
Credits |
Core Qualitative Methods in Psychology
Core Qualitative Methods in Psychology
15 credits
This module seeks to provide you with a critical and flexible approach to methodological issues in psychology and to equip you with the skills required for the collection and analysis of qualitative data from within a psychological framework.
|
15 credits |
Critical Analysis
Critical Analysis
15 credits
This module encourages students to engage with cutting edge research and to consider this research within the context of wider psychological knowledge. The module seeks to foster skill in evaluating both the content and methods of a particular piece of research and to develop critical thinking concerning research findings.
Students are required to select a research article on any topic of their choice, and to write a critical review of this article. Students are also required to attend as much of the Department’s Invited Speakers’ Series as possible and to identify, in consultation with their supervisor if needs be, the talk of one speaker that will form the focus of an essay. A major part of this process of critical analysis requires that a particular piece of research is considered within a wider psychological context, so it is anticipated that related research would be identified through a search of the relevant literature and by consideration of the background work cited by the speaker during the course of the talk.
|
15 credits |
Research Design and Analysis
Research Design and Analysis
15 credits
To provide understanding and critical skills related to research design and analysis for quantitative and qualitative studies.
Lecture topics will include: psychology as science and the hypothetico-deductive account, basic concepts (e.g., validity, reliability, sampling, and measurement), experimental designs, quasi-experimental and specialised designs, survey design and analysis, single-case designs, introduction to key concepts of qualitative research, thematic approaches and methods of qualitative research (including , thematic analysis, grounded theory and IPA), and discursive approaches to qualitative research (incl. narrative analysis and discourse analysis).
A student-led seminar series, consisting of 10, two-hour seminars on design and statistics as principled argument will run alongside the lectures.
|
15 credits |
Theoretical Issues in Psychology
Theoretical Issues in Psychology
15 credits
This module acquaints you with the philosophical foundations of psychological knowledge, and allows you to evaluate how this relates to science as a whole. In addition, the module provides an overview of different forms of psychological understanding and how these may be combined into an integrated view of human nature.
Current controversies and methods are explored to consider the limits of current psychological understanding.
Topics include:
- rationalism and empiricism in philosophy;
- the development of psychological science;
- science versus non-science;
- verifiability and falsifiability;
- subjectivity, inter-subjectivity and objectivity;
- scope and limits of reductionism;
- current issues and controversies in psychology;
- differing levels of psychological explanation.
|
15 credits |
Advanced Quantitative Methods
Advanced Quantitative Methods
15 credits
This module builds on the introductory level of statistics and probability theory and aims to provide students with theory and practice in the application of advanced quantitative methods across multiple areas of psychology and neuroscience.
Topics include: using R and Matlab in psychological research, logistic regression, resampling and Monte Carlo methods, psychological model fitting, Bayesian inference, structural equation modelling, time series analyses, open science tools.
|
15 credits |
In addition to these modules, you will also complete:
Research Project (60 credits)
You will produce an empirical piece of research leading to a research project, supervised by at least one member of the lecturing staff in the Department. The project provides invaluable, practical ‘hands on’ experience of evaluating a particular research question. You have the opportunity to set your research question, determine and apply the methods to obtain the answers, and present, discuss and interpret the results. You normally start your project in the second term, together with necessary literature reviews and research design. Work on your project will continue full-time following the formal examinations in May up until project submission in mid-September.
Additional workshops and seminars
You are also required to attend some of the Department’s programme of Invited Speakers’ talks given by distinguished academics in psychology, and to produce a written critique on one of these. You are welcome to attend the Department’s other seminar series, which are hosted by eminent academics and practitioners.
Assessment
Written examinations; coursework; dissertation.
Option modules
As well as the above compulsory modules, you will also take 45 credits of option module from a list offered by the department. Please note that the optional modules available will change from year to year and not all optional modules listed in the table below will be available in any one year.
Module title |
Credits |
Theoretical Issues in Psychology
Theoretical Issues in Psychology
15 credits
This module acquaints you with the philosophical foundations of psychological knowledge, and allows you to evaluate how this relates to science as a whole. In addition, the module provides an overview of different forms of psychological understanding and how these may be combined into an integrated view of human nature.
Current controversies and methods are explored to consider the limits of current psychological understanding.
Topics include:
- rationalism and empiricism in philosophy;
- the development of psychological science;
- science versus non-science;
- verifiability and falsifiability;
- subjectivity, inter-subjectivity and objectivity;
- scope and limits of reductionism;
- current issues and controversies in psychology;
- differing levels of psychological explanation.
|
15 credits |
Advanced Methods and Techniques
Advanced Methods and Techniques
30 credits
The aim of this advanced module is to provide practical hands-on training in methods and techniques used for cognitive neuroscience research. Lectures cover the following topics: Brain stimulation – lectures and practical sessions will train you in the use of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS); Brain recording – lectures and practical sessions will train you in the use of Electroencephalography (EEG), the analysis of EEG data and the analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data.
|
30 credits |
Foundations of Neuroscience
Foundations of Neuroscience
15 credits
This module covers brain anatomy and functions and modern experimental techniques to study the neural basis of behaviour.
Tutors: Professor Joydeep Bhattacharya and Dr Gianna Cocchini
|
15 credits |
Critical Analysis
Critical Analysis
15 credits
This module encourages students to engage with cutting edge research and to consider this research within the context of wider psychological knowledge. The module seeks to foster skill in evaluating both the content and methods of a particular piece of research and to develop critical thinking concerning research findings.
Students are required to select a research article on any topic of their choice, and to write a critical review of this article. Students are also required to attend as much of the Department’s Invited Speakers’ Series as possible and to identify, in consultation with their supervisor if needs be, the talk of one speaker that will form the focus of an essay. A major part of this process of critical analysis requires that a particular piece of research is considered within a wider psychological context, so it is anticipated that related research would be identified through a search of the relevant literature and by consideration of the background work cited by the speaker during the course of the talk.
|
15 credits |
Behavioural Genetics
Behavioural Genetics
15 credits
This module will provide a systematic introduction to behavioural genetics. Conceptual, historical, theoretical and ethical issues will be discussed alongside developments in specific fields (e.g. behavioural genetics and psychopathology).
The module will promote an understanding of the current state of affairs with regards to behavioural genetics. Basic principles as well as recent developments will be explored in relation to a broad range of phenotypes. Historical and ethical issues will be discussed.
Tutorials:
Tutorial topics for this module are:
- Major Concepts in Behavioural Genetics. This tutorial will take place in Week 4 and is designed to help you to prepare for the Oral Examination (Week 9) Exact dates/ times TBC
- Select a psychopathology of your choice and discuss key behavioural genetic findings for this disorder. This tutorial is designed to help students to design and structure a tutorial essay on this topic and generally on writing examined essays. This tutorial will take place in Week 9. You are encouraged to submit one essay on the topic of this tutorial (optional). The essay can have one of the following formats: (1) a fully referenced essay of between 2,000 and 2,500 words; (2) an essay written under exam conditions (hand-written, 45 minutes, with no notes). Exact dates TBC.
|
15 credits |
Cross-cultural and Individual Differences in Attention and Awareness
Cross-cultural and Individual Differences in Attention and Awareness
15 credits
This module will provide detailed study of the scientific investigation of attention, a highly topical aspect of human cognition that plays a fundamental role in our awareness of the world and our engagement with it. Theories of attention will be introduced and cross-cultural and individual differences in attention and awareness considered in the light of these theories. Finally, the relevance of attention research to educational practice will be discussed.
Lecture sessions will often contain periods of guided discussion (focused on key readings reviewed in the lecture). They will be supplemented by an overview or revision lecture (focused on the exam) and two, one-hour tutorials (focused on the coursework).
Topics covered will include background and models of attention, attention and culture, attention and emotion, attention and social psychology, attention and individual differences, and attention and modern media.
You will also be welcome to attend an additional more advanced lecture on the neurophysiological underpinnings of attention in clinical populations.
|
15 credits |
Psychology of the Arts, Aesthetics and Attraction
Psychology of the Arts, Aesthetics and Attraction
15 credits
This module aims to provide students with an introduction to the psychology of art appreciation, beauty and human preference, both from a basic science and an applied psychology perspective.
The lectures will focus on a wide range of topics, including aesthetic perception across the senses, including visual and auditory aesthetics, as well as the attractiveness of human faces and bodies. We will approach these topics from a wide range of theoretical and methodological angles, including neuroscience, cross-cultural and evolutionary perspectives. We will also focus on applications of aesthetic science in the real world, as in advertising and marketing.
The module will be structured to cover:
- Psychological theories of aesthetic appreciation
- Aesthetics across the senses: vision, audition, taste/smell and touch
- Attractiveness of faces and bodies
- The role of expertise, personality and cross-cultural differences in aesthetic perception
|
15 credits |
Introduction to coding with MATLAB
Introduction to coding with MATLAB
15 credits
This module aims to provide students with a comprehensive introduction to MATLAB, a widely-used software package for data analysis. The module will start in the Autumn term of 2018 and will be suitable for third year undergraduate students in psychology as well as for students in other programmes.
Each 1 hour lecture will introduce the topic, associated functions, and theory and will be followed by a 2 hour lab session with hands-on training and exercises using MATLAB. Weekly homework will help to further consolidate the material.
Tutors: Devin B Terhune and Maria Herrojo Ruiz
|
15 credits |
Statistical Methods
Statistical Methods
15 credits
This module covers the primary statistical analyses used in psychology including:
- multivariate data
- screening and cleaning
- power and sample size determination
- factor analysis
- multiple regression
- analysing contrasts
- univariate and multivariate repeated measures
- ANCOVA and MANCOVA.
|
15 credits |
Download the programme specification. If you would like an earlier version of the programme specification, please contact the Quality Office.
For 2021-22 and 2020–21, we have made some changes to how the teaching and assessment of certain programmes are delivered. To check what changes affect this programme, please visit the programme changes page.