Using Psychology in Everyday Life 2

Overview

The module will cover aspects of everyday life seen from a psychological point of view. This should offer fresh insights into familiar phenomena and encourage students to question some common sense beliefs. Students will also be given the opportunity to undertake an experiment to gain experience of research in psychology in a practical setting. Lectures will discuss real-world and everyday situations and explore how psychology contributes to our understanding of them and how it is applied in everyday life. The topics are presented by members of the course team who have a specific interest and knowledge of their topic. The module contents map onto UN Sustainable Development Goals (2) Good Health and Wellbeing, (4) Quality Education, and (10) Reduced Inequalities (see https://sdgs.un.org/goals).

Learning Objectives

After studying this module, students will be able to:
Demonstrate an appreciation of the range of approaches used by psychologists in trying to understand why people behave as they do
Show some insight into their own behaviour
Demonstrate familiarity with some basic psychological theories and some applications of these.

Skills

Critical thinking about seemingly familiar issues
Analysis of psychological research and its application to real life situations
Basic skills in human experimentation
Students will also learn the following academic skills: essay writing, literature searching and the use of primary sources, library skills, critical evaluation, an appreciation of diversity in psychology, ability to exercise initiative, and personal responsibility for their learning

Assessment

None