Compulsory modules

First Steps in Becoming a Psychology Researcher
You will be introduced to research methods for psychology, including the philosophical underpinnings of qualitative and quantitative design, as well as data collection, data analysis, and report writing. Students will have a combination of in-person and asynchronous active learning, complemented by weekly 2-hour practical labs. The labs are applied in nature and you will get a deeper understanding of how qualitative and quantitative research works. 

Understanding People
The core psychological topics in development, social, cognitive, and biological psychology, as well as individual differences, will be introduced. You will learn about how psychologists have carried out research to better understand human behaviour and thought in areas such as cognitive and social development, social influence, group processes, how we understand sensory information, memories, and the ways in which genes and hormones influence behaviour. 

Philosophy as Reason and Wonder
This module opens your mind to philosophical questioning and gives you a logical toolbox to answer your new questions. You'll delve into core metaphysical and epistemological issues, emphasizing independent thought and philosophical relevance. Formal logical skills will be introduced, enhancing your academic and professional abilities. Additionally, you'll attend a Royal Institute of Philosophy session and report on it, offering an experiential learning opportunity that showcases philosophical debate in action.

Ancient Global Wisdom
Ancient philosophy with a twist, for although Greek philosophy is discussed in depth, ideas from traditional Indian, Chinese and African philosophy are given prominence too. By seeing how similar philosophical concerns arose, you will come to a better understanding of how the past has shaped our thinking. You will write dialogues and empathetic monologues, in the spirit of ancient philosophy. For an unforgettable Experiential Learning, you will have an opportunity to perform these in the perfect setting: The Keele Amphitheatre.

Compulsory modules

Next Steps in Becoming a Psychology Researcher
Building on ‘First Steps in Becoming a Psychology Researcher’, you will be introduced to more advanced topics in both qualitative and quantitative research methods. Qualitative topics include data collection skills, such as interviews or focus groups, as well as analysis techniques such as thematic analysis or discourse analysis. Quantitative topics includes factorial ANOVA, planned comparisons, etc. Content will be delivered via in-person teaching and asynchronous active learning and is complemented by practical labs where students can practice their skills.

Understanding People in Depth
Building on ‘Understanding People’, you will study theory and findings associated with developmental, social, cognitive, and biological psychology and individual differences. Topics on this module may include parenting, emotional development, attitudes, identity, perception, attention, and biological systems underpinning mental processes and behaviour. This module will highlight historical, individual and cultural developments in psychology, as well as integrating psychological sub-disciplines to give a more holistic understanding of human psychology. 

Knowing Minds
Is the mind the brain? Could a machine be conscious? What is time? What kinds of things exist and how? What is possible? Questions about the world and our place in it have been central to philosophical thought for thousands of years. This course takes a contemporary look at debates around these issues, also exploring questions about knowledge, justification, meaning and communication to better understand how we find things out. As well as writing essays and learning how to summarise philosophical arguments, you will also be encouraged to develop your own ideas and to practise presenting views visually by making a slide presentation.

Optional modules

Psychopathology
"Psycho" translates to "mind" and "pathos" means "illness or disease"; "-ology" means "to study". In this module, we consider 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 you will be encouraged consider other perspectives, drawing on the whole of the psychology curriculum.

Cyberpsychology - the psychology of technology and the internet
Cyberpsychology is a relatively new sub-discipline, but one that is increasingly relevant in today's online world.  In this module, the effects of the Internet and technology will be examined from a psychological perspective.  We will examine many contemporary issues such as online dating, the use of social media, online advertising, and how we interact with others on the Internet.    

Collective Action and Social Change
You will learn about individual and group level processes that energize and sedate social change. You will be exposed to a wide variety of contexts from across the world and work of researchers from these contexts. You will then apply your knowledge to and learning to analyse and understand current events, protests, demonstrations, and larger social movements and provide recommendations to decision makers.

Health Psychology
Why do people behave the way that they do around their health?  
You will learn about key theories and models from health psychology that help us to understand the psychological aspects of health, the main methodological approaches we use to study health psychology, and how we can develop health interventions to promote aspects of health. You will also learn more about the inequalities in health that exist in society, and what we might be able to do to tackle them. 

Child Psychology in Practice
Psychology is used in many fields and professions which seek to improve the lives of children. One of the most common ways is in interventions, which are designed to address developmental, social, or educational issues. This module will introduce you to the foundational principles of intervention design and evaluation and how psychology has been applied in a variety of contexts, which may include: how children learn, healthy and unhealthy relationships, children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), amongst others.

Neuroimaging and Cognitive Neuroscience
One of science’s biggest unanswered questions regards how complex cognition, behaviour, and consciousness arise from the structure and activity of the brain. This module will introduce methods and applications of cognitive neuroscience as a way to study brain-behaviour relationships, how to test psychological theories of cognition, and understand the effects of brain injury and disease. You will learn about brain imaging methods such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI) and EEG, etc. In addition, you will learn to apply each method to theoretical, applied, or clinical issues. 

Wellbeing & Mental Health in the Community
In this module, you will be introduced to different communities and how mental health and wellbeing might vary depending on the community. You'll be taught about the short-term and long-term consequences of mental health and wellbeing for individuals but also society more broadly. You will also start to think about what you can do as a researcher to help your community.

Flexible Work Placement (Level 5)
In a competitive job market, practical skills and understanding workplace dynamics are crucial. This module allows you to gain hands-on experience, enhance your employability skills, and provide valuable insights into the professional world. You will be supported via a range of activities to secure a role and can source your own placement or apply to university-sourced roles. This module has built-in flexibility on when and how you complete your placement around existing demands.

Philosophy of the Enlightenment
It is impossible to properly understand the rise of modern science and decline in the cultural influence of religion in Europe without understanding the rise of modern philosophy, and thus the great metaphysical and epistemological theories of Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume and Kant. A module such as this is essential to any serious study of philosophy. Transferable skills are developed through close textual reading and analysis, and through assessed group presentations, which develop presentation and teamwork skills.

Environmental Philosophy and Technology
This module is about applying philosophy to pressing issues such as environmental degradation and technological progress, particularly Artificial Intelligence. You'll evaluate leading philosophical perspectives on these topics, supported by site visits. Building on skills developed previously, you will tackle a contemporary local challenge set by Stoke City Council, a local business, or a third sector organization. Through vlogs and podcasts, you’ll engage with the community, understand local philosophical challenges, and devise philosophy-led solutions that are presented for external feedback.

Meaning and Nihilism
A module on our existential condition as mortal human beings: whether there is a meaning of life, or whether nihilists are right that there is not. For some, nihilism is a source of liberation – ‘Sunny Nihilism’ is a popular online movement – while the traditional view is that it is a source of despair. In studying this fascinating and personally engaging topic, students will gain sought-after skills in presenting and advocating, e.g., by preparing speeches and drawing up debate maps.

Please note: You cannot take both Flexible Work Placement (Level 5) and Flexible Work Placement (Level 6) 

Compulsory modules

Being a Psychology Researcher
The dissertation module, which runs over Autumn and Spring Semesters, offers the opportunity to put into practice all the scholarship and research methods skills developed over the Psychology Course. Successful completion of the Final Year Project is a prerequisite for a psychology degree to confer British Psychological Society Chartership, which is necessary to pursue any professional career in psychology. You will design, conduct and write-up a piece of original empirical work. 

Professional Skills for Researchers
Building on the skills developed in previous years, this module will support you in the final steps to being a psychology researcher. The module is designed to enhance your broad employability skills that are transferrable beyond academia, such as using AI ethically, data protection/handling, ethical awareness, science communication, etc. In addition, the module will provide you with advanced skills to support with conducting your dissertation, providing skills around research design, data collection (e.g. advanced Qualtrics skills, PsychoPy skills, etc), and analysis support.

Grand Challenges in Psychology
This final year module serves as the culminating and integrative experience of our undergraduate degree programmes. In this capstone module you will extend your appreciation of how psychology and psychological science have developed culturally and historically to get us to where we are now. Indicative topics include: consciousness and cognition; the use of psychology for manipulation and control; the replication crisis and open science; understanding conflict and entrenched beliefs; and psychology in the criminal justice system. These topics will be explored in a way that extends and synthesises your previous learning from across the breadth of the programme.

Optional modules

Health, Illness, and Coping
This module aims to cover aspects of health, disease, and disease prevention from a Health Psych perspective. Indicative content includes: Psychology of health, health cognitions, illness experience in the context of socioecological settings, critical approaches, illustrated through acute and long-term health conditions, models of behaviour, critical approaches to understanding health behaviour in the context of different acute and long term health conditions and contexts, public health promotion/prevention, health literacy, how to design, develop, adapt and evaluate health behaviour change interventions.

Morality in Action: Justice, Society, and Climate Change
This module explores the fundamental questions of morality and justice, including how we decide what is right and wrong, how we assign blame and responsibility, and the factors that affect trust and cooperation. It delves into the psychological mechanisms underlying justice and the application of these concepts in society. Additionally, this module goes on to examine these concepts and the human involvement in real-world problems with a specific focus on climate change, addressing both the problem and potential solutions.

Cognitive Psychology
This module will develop your ability to evaluate and test cognitive psychological models. You gain a solid understanding of cognitive models across a variety of subdisciplines within cognitive psychology and be able to evaluate the capacity of models to explain human thinking and behaviour. You will also explore the development of cognition to more deeply understand the origins of key cognitive processes introduced in the module. In this module, you will broaden and deepen your thinking about the origins of cognitive domains and methods used to study cognition.

Gender and Sexualities
You will participate in a series of interactive classes and online activities which examine the theories and methods used to examine gender and sexuality from a psychological perspective. Indicative content may include, for example, inequalities associated with particular identities, barriers for different gender identities and sexualities, stereotypes, specific gender and sexuality community issues and intersectionality. You'll be encouraged and supported to engage in up to date debates and insights, and critically evaluate psychological research and theory in gender and sexuality.

Psychology in Education
Psychology in Education is designed to develop your understanding of psychological research, theory and practice in education. Discussion of current issues where psychology can be applied will encourage you to think about key people in education, issues around diversity and wellbeing in addition to thinking about learning. You will learn to apply your psychological knowledge to propose interventions to enhance educational experiences or consider how challenges within educational settings can be solved and how the effectiveness of interventions can be measured. 

Wellbeing & Mental Health Practice
In this module, you will be introduced to advanced psychological approaches to predicting and protecting wellbeing and mental health. In this module, you will reflect on different wellbeing and mental health interventions and apply them to your own day to day living and the impact these have on your quality of life. This will inform the assessment where you reflect on the different interventions and explore one intervention in depth.

Neurodiversity in Society
This module focuses on neurodiversity in society: how do individuals differ from each other, and what effects could these differences have? Indicative topics include discussing diversity in cognitive processing styles, social preferences, behaviour, and brain structure and function, with reference to illustrative examples, including the autism spectrum, dyslexia, sensory processing, gender diversity, etc. You will consider how neurodiversity is represented in the media and potentially misunderstood in society. 

Flexible Work Placement (Level 6)
In a competitive job market, practical skills and understanding workplace dynamics are crucial. This module allows you to gain hands-on experience, enhance your employability skills, and provide valuable insights into the professional world. You will be supported via a range of activities to secure a role and can source your own placement or apply to university-sourced roles. This module has built-in flexibility on when and how you complete your placement around existing demands.

Professional Experience in Education
This module gives students interested in pursuing teaching or training as a career the opportunity to gain experience in the world of teaching in schools and colleges. You will develop skills highly valued by employers such as communication, and interpersonal skills, whilst learning to address individual needs and developing engaging teaching materials. You will be supported via a range of activities to prepare for your placement and have the choice to source your own placement or apply to university sourced roles.

Practical Philosophy
In this module, you will explore the practical application of philosophy through philosophical counselling or other practical approaches to philosophy.  You'll learn how philosophical thinking can improve your life, similar to psychotherapy. Assessments include practical tasks like role-playing exercises, developing transferable skills such as empathetic understanding. Additionally, the module offers a toolkit to enhance your mental health, benefiting you both during and after your studies.

Religion and Metaphysics
Mysticism and spirituality are of increasing importance to people in our technological, output-driven age, but few understand their roots in Neoplatonism, Sufism, the Kabbalah and other strands of ‘Perennial Philosophy’. Against the background of a rational philosophical tradition, today’s trends of mysticism can be critically assessed and improved, leading to clear practical applications. You will gain valuable skills for researching and reporting from close textual analysis and the need to collate information from a variety of difficult texts.

Evaluating Science with Philosophy
The philosophy of science is a central area of contemporary philosophy, as it should be in a world dominated by scientific understanding. However, not all attitudes to science are rational, with scientism generally regarded as an inappropriate, uncritical, almost religious trust in science. This module develops transferrable skills with an innovative video-making project for one of its assessments, showcasing how to channel your perspectives into engaging, audience-focused and interactive content.

Please note: You cannot take both Flexible Work Placement (Level 5) and Flexible Work Placement (Level 6). You also cannot take both Flexible Work Placement (Level 6) and Professional Experience in Education.