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PSY-20012 - Module Specification
School of Psychology
Faculty of Natural Sciences

For academic year: 2024/25 Last Updated: 19 April 2024

PSY-20012 - Developmental and Social Psychology
Coordinator:
Lecture Time: See Timetable...
Level: Level 5
Credits: 15
Study Hours: 150
School Office: 01782 733736

Programme/Approved Electives for 2024/25

None

Available as a Free Standing Elective

No

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2024/25

In Developmental Psychology you will study detailed and specific examples of research examining aspects of human cognitive and social development; in previous years this has included looking at children's earliest understanding of objects and events and their growing appreciation of self and others. In Social Psychology, you will explore how both internal and external factors shape people's understanding and explanations of their social world and examine psychological explanations for attitudes and behaviour that occur within and between groups.

Aims
To develop an advanced understanding of key areas in development and social psychology, and to critically evaluate theories and research in each field. Importantly, in this module, we will expand upon material from first year, and integrate new topics in developmental psychology into the social psychology of adulthood. For example, children's peer relationships, gender development, social identities, and motor/sensory development.
Students will learn through weekly classroom sessions supplemented with four specialist workshops exploring key topics in greater detail, all of this will be underpinned by weekly asynchronous activities.

Talis Aspire Reading List
Any reading lists will be provided by the start of the course.
http://lists.lib.keele.ac.uk/modules/psy-20012/lists

Intended Learning Outcomes

1
critically evaluate theory and research in developmental and social psychology: reflect on the ways in which different perspectives in psychology can be integrated to give a holistic view of human thought and behaviour: 2
write concisely and disseminate research to a lay audience: 1

Study hours

Topics in Developmental and Social Psychology will be introduced via 10 taught classes (2 hours each) = 20 hours
4 hours of workshops
Total synchronous = 24 hours
10 hours of guided, asynchronous learning activities, plus 116 hours spread across independent literature searching, reading, preparing for and extending knowledge from classes, and working on the assessments.
Total asynchronous = 126 hours


School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment

1: Short Paper weighted 30%
Lay Summaries
You will complete two (2) summaries plus critiques of assigned papers in a popular outreach format. You will write either 500 words (x2) in a blog/substack, or as a twitter thread. You must summarize core information from the paper, including extracting and interpreting figures, and present them in such a way that they are understandable to a lay audience. Images from the paper, as well as appropriate images/gifs are encouraged. If you chose the blog/substack, you will write in that media (i.e., a set of paragraphs), if you choose the tweet-thread, you will write 500 words broken into 10 - 15 individual tweets. These two items will be submitted as part of a single portfolio consisting of 1000 words. (You will receive in-class support and examples on this essay).

2: Essay weighted 70%
Lifespan Essay
Students will be provided with a short-list of approved topics in which they are asked to link theory and findings from a topic within Developmental Psychology to theory and findings to a (related) topic in Social Psychology. (E.g., In what ways does an understanding of Theory of Mind in children inform our understanding of Prejudice in adulthood). This essay will be 1500 words. There is no 10% margin.

Please note that for the 2022/23 Academic Year programmes may be adapted to operate in accordance with a flexible, digital approach. This means that there may be some changes made to how modules are delivered and assessed. The latest information will be provided to you by your School in module handbooks. We endeavour to give you as much notice as possible of any changes and details about the circumstance in which changes are made to programmes can be found in the Student Agreement, available at: https://www.keele.ac.uk/student-terms-and-conditions/

Last Updated: 19 April 2024