Programme/Approved Electives for 2020/21
None
Available as a Free Standing Elective
No
'Psycho' translates to 'mind,' 'pathos' means 'illness or disease,' and '-ology' means 'to study'. In this module, we ask the question, what has happened to the brain and the cognitive structure of the mind to cause them to develop conditions such as autism, schizophrenia and depression. The module will primarily offer a biological and cognitive perspective, but students will be encouraged to apply knowledge from other perspectives to support critical thinking skills drawing on the whole of the psychology curriculum. This module will be of particular interest to students wishing to pursue careers in professional psychology, but is also relevant to anyone who is interested in mental health, biological and cognitive perspectives on psychology more generally.No single text covers all the relevant material. Therefore, students will be expected to make extensive use of journals and databases to identify pertinent articles.
Aims
This module will further develop students' understanding of the human brain and mind, by providing an opportunity to study what happens when things go wrong (psychopathology). The module will primarily offer a biological and cognitive perspective, but students will be encouraged to apply knowledge from other perspectives to support critical thinking skills drawing on the whole of the psychology curriculum.
Talis Aspire Reading ListAny reading lists will be provided by the start of the course.http://lists.lib.keele.ac.uk/modules/psy-20033/lists
Intended Learning Outcomes
critically evaluate primary source literature and research on the topic of psychopathology: 1,2use advanced literature searching techniques to find and select appropriate sources for independent study: 1,2write coherently and clearly about complex academic topics: 1,2apply their understanding of biological and cognitive psychology to the psychopathological brain: 1,2
10 x 2 hour synchronous teaching will be delivered over the semesterIndependent study (totalling 130 hours) will include reading around the topics, guided asynchronous learning activities, and coursework preparation.
Description of Module Assessment
1: Publication Based Paper weighted 40%Critical evaluation of a journal articleStudents will be required to review a journal article on a topic relating to psychopathology. They will choose one article to review provided by the module team, and will write a structured 1500 word critique. The critique will be written in such a way as to be useful to other undergraduate students studying the module; it should provide a critical summary of the article for a knowledgeable, but non-technical audience. This coursework will be submitted in week 6 of the module, and will provide formative feedback as well as a summative grade to support student learning for the essay.
2: Essay weighted 60%2,000 word essayStudents will be provided with a list of 3 essay questions from which they have to select 1 after reading week. The essay will be submitted during the exam period.