The Information contained in this handbook does NOT take precedence over University documentation, the University Calendar, or announcements made in class or on departmental notice boards.
Department of Psychology
BSc Psychology 2014-2015
Year
BSc
1
BSc Psychology Year 1 Handbook
WelcomeWe, the staff of the Department of Psychology, are pleased to welcome you to the BSc. degree in Psychology and hope you enjoy the next four years at university. This booklet will provide some information about the Department of Psychology and the BSc. degree in general.
The Department of Psychology
The Department is situated on the second floor of the John Hume Building on the North Campus of the University. It contains a dedicated experimental psychology laboratory, a suite of sound attenuated and electrically shielded cubicles for psychological research, a dedicated computer, research and teaching laboratory, as well as developmental and social psychological laboratories with CCTV, one way mirrors and an observation booth. This site provides the Department of Psychology at Maynooth University with state of the art teaching and research facilities for undergraduate and postgraduate students, making it the most modern psychology department in the country.
Professional recognition of the BA and BSc degrees in Psychology
An undergraduate degree in psychology must address two key concerns. Specifically, modules in the degree must contain adequate coverage of the core areas in psychology and also have substantial training in laboratory and other practical work. These requirements have been made explicit by the Psychological Society of Ireland (PSI) and by the British Psychological Society (BPS). The BA (Psychology) and the BSc (Psychology) degrees are currently accredited by the Psychological Society of Ireland. The Psychological Society of Ireland and BPS signed a memorandum of agreement in October 2006, whereby the two Societies agreed to recognise each other’s undergraduate accreditation procedures.
The BSc Degree: Psychology Through Science
September 2003 saw the launch of the Psychology through Science degree (MH209). This is a denominated 4-year degree leading to the award of a BSc (Psychology). Progression to Second year is dependent on successful completion of First year (passing the four non-Psychology science subjects). In Second year, students take non-Psychology and two other science subjects. Students who do not wish to proceed with the denominated degree in Psychology in second year will have the option of transferring to the non-psychology science programme (formal request for transfer should be done before July of the appropriate year; contact the Admissions Office if this option is of interest to you). Students take only Psychology in Third and Fourth year. Progression to each year is dependent on successful completion of the previous year.
Modern psychology is the science of human behaviour and experience, and to study psychology you have to learn scientific methods involving observation, measurement, hypothesis testing, experimentation, logical inference, and the use of statistics to test the significance of research findings. The science degree in Psychology will offer students additional opportunities to study subjects cognate to specialist areas in Psychology such as behavioural neuroscience, cognitive neuroscience, computational modelling, cognitive science and related themes. All the skills acquired while studying for a degree in Psychology are readily transferable to many other professions, such as marketing, sales, community services, public policy and administration.
Departmental Staff and Consultation
Most staff offices are located in the John Hume building. The Executive Assistant responsible for the administration of the undergraduate degrees is Ms Caroline Edwards, located in the Departmental Office, Room SF12*. Students may call to the Departmental Office concerning any matter on Monday to Thursday: 10.00 to 11.30 and 14.30 to 16.00. You may also contact the office by telephone 01-708 4765. The Office is closed to students all day Friday in order for time to be devoted to administration duties.
Note: SF refers to Second floor and 3.x refers to Third Floor of the John Hume building
HEAD OF DEPARTMENT Dr Yvonne Barnes-Holmes SF11 ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF Caroline Edwards Room SF 12 LECTURERS
Professor Dermot Barnes-Holmes Room SF09 (BSc Course Director) Dr Yvonne Barnes-Holmes Room SF11
Dr Seán Commins Room SF20 (BSc Course Director) Dr Andrew Coogan Room SF19
Dr Sinéad McGilloway Room SF16
Dr Carol Murphy Room TF07
Dr Bryan Roche Room SF18
Dr Richard Roche Room SF15
TECHNICIAN
Mr Derek Walsh Room SF10
The Departmental Website
The departmental web site located at www.maynoothuniversity.ie/psychology contains a wealth of information on the Department of Psychology, including its courses and facilities, as well as detailed information on all of the research interests and activities of academic members of staff. Course materials are provided via the Moodle platform (which is linked on the University website).
PsychSoc
The Psychology Society is run by students of psychology and organises various events throughout the academic year. The Society makes a vital contribution to the ‘psychology experience’ at NUIM and we encourage all students to get involved and support PsychSoc activities. A PsychSoc noticeboard is located in the Department, adjacent to the year noticeboards, and there is a ‘Psychology Undergraduates’ page on Moodle where announcements are made regarding upcoming events and initiatives. For further details please see the PsychSoc noticeboard.
The Staff–Student Consultative Committee
The Staff-Student Consultative Committee provides one of the most effective means of resolving any difficulties that might arise during the course of the academic year. It is important, therefore, that one student representative is elected by first year science students to sit on this committee. The committee will meet in the first quarter of each semester, to facilitate any agreed changes in a timely manner. The committee will be composed of a number of elected student representatives from each year of both BA and BSc degrees, and members of the Department's teaching staff. The course director will request the name of the student representative, so that the first committee meeting may be scheduled relatively early. The student representative may also arrange to see the course director at any other time during the academic year, should the need arise.
Guest Speakers
Each year, the Department of Psychology invites a number of noted guest speakers to give a talk at Maynooth. Speakers are invited because of their widely recognised contribution to the discipline in their specialist areas. They all agree, however, to prepare talks that will be accessible to undergraduate students in psychology, and thus it is essential that you attend these talks because they were prepared especially for you.
Announcements regarding this year's guest speakers will be made in lectures, and posters will be displayed on departmental notice boards and on the departmental website.
BSc Course Structure
FIRST YEAR:
• Mathematics and three subjects from Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Experimental Physics, Mathematical Physics, Engineering Science.
SECOND YEAR:
• Psychology and two subjects from Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Experimental Physics, Engineering Science or Mathematics. Note that if you take Computer Science in second year you must also take Mathematics.
THIRD YEAR: • Psychology. FOURTH YEAR: • Psychology.
CANNOT BE COMBINED WITH THE FOLLOWING SUBJECTS: Second Year: Mathematical Physics
Third and Fourth Year: Not applicable (students do not take non-psychology courses).
Course Topics
Students do not take Psychology in first year but must take Mathematics and three subjects from Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Experimental Physics, Mathematical Physics and Engineering Science. Students do have the option of attending Year 2 Psychology lectures (see next section).
2nd Year
• Biological and Developmental Psychology (PS101) • Cognitive and Social Psychology (PS102)
• Research Design and Statistics (PS104)
• History and Methodological of Psychological Research (PS105) 3rd Year
• Biological Bases of behaviour (PS201) • Perception and Memory (PS202)
• Learning, Language and Development (PS203) • Thought, Language and Social Cognition (PS204) • Personality and Intelligence (PS205)
• Statistical, Computing & Methodological Applications (PS206)
4th Year (Core Courses)
• Conceptual, Philosophical and Professional Issues in Psychology (PS301) • Abnormal Psychology (PS302)
• Developmental Psychology: Theoretical and Applied Perspectives (PS303) • Social Psychology: Conceptual and Applied Issues (PS304)
• Advanced Concepts and Issues in Psychology 1 (PS315) • Advanced Concepts and Issues in Psychology 2 (PS316)
• Independent Research Project and General Examination (PS397)
In 4th year, we offer a number of electives that reflect the research interests of the staff.
Attendance at Psychology Lectures
First year students have the option of attending any of the lectures in Psychology throughout the year. These lectures are not compulsory and will form part of the core modules taught in second year. The timetable for First Psychology modules is available in pdf format on the Departmental website.
Psychology modules in Second Science
Table 1: ‘First Psychology’ Curriculum (All Modules Carry 5 Credits)
Code Semester 1 Code Semester 2
Module Name Module Name
PS101 Biological and Developmental Psychology
PS102 Cognitive and Social Psychology PS104 Research Design and Statistics PS105 The History and Methodology of
Psychology
PSYCHOLOGY 1 MODULES
PS101 Biological and Developmental Psychology
Module Co-ordinator: Dr. A. Coogan
Lecturers: Dr. Y. Barnes-Holmes, Dr. A. Coogan
Recommended Texts
*Bee, H., & Boyd, D. (2009). The developing child (12th ed.). New York: Pearson Education. Broks, P. (2003). Into the silent land: Travels in neuropsychology. London: Atlantic.
*Pinel, J. (2009). Biopsychology (7th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Sacks, O. (1998). The man who mistook his wife for a hat. New York: Touchstone.
*Schacter, D., Gilbert, D., Wegner, D., & Hood, B. (2011). Psychology:European edition. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
PS102 Cognitive and Social Psychology
Module Co-ordinator: Dr B. Roche Lecturers: Dr. B. Roche, Dr. R. Roche
Recommended Texts
*Eysenck, M., & Keane, M. (2010). Cognitive psychology: A student’s handbook (6th ed.). Hove, UK: Psychology Press.
*Gilhooly, K., Lyddy, F., & Pollick, F. (2014). Cognitive psychology .London: McGraw Hill. *Kassin, S., Fein, S., & Markus, H. (2010). Social psychology (8th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
*Schacter, D., Gilbert, D., Wegner, D., & Hood, B. (2011). Psychology: European edition. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
PS104 Research Design and Statistics
Module Co-ordinator: Dr. M Kelly Lecturer: Dr. M Kelly
Recommended Texts
*Brysbaert, M. (2011). Basic statistics for psychology. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Haslam, S., & McGarty, C. (2003). Research methods and statistics in psychology (2nd rev. ed.). London: Sage.
Howell, D. (2001). Statistical methods for psychology (5th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. Howitt, D., & Cramer, D. (2000). First steps in research and statistics. A practical workbook for psychology students. London: Routledge.
Howitt, D., & Cramer, D. (2008). Introduction to statistics in psychology: A complete guide for students (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson-Hall Education.
PS105 History and Methodology of Psychological Research
Module Co-ordinator: Dr B. Roche, Lecturers: Dr. B. Roche, Dr. R. Roche
Recommended Texts
*Francher, R. (1996). Pioneers of psychology (3rd rev. ed.). New York: W.W. Norton & Co. *Kantowitz, B., Roediger, H., & Elmes, D. (2000). Experimental psychology: Understanding psychological research (7th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
*Schultz, D., & Schultz, S. (2007). A history of modern psychology (9th rev ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
The British Psychological Society. (2009). Code of ethics and conduct. www.bps.org.uk The Psychological Society of Ireland. (2003). Code of professional ethics. www.psihq.ie
*Valentine, E. (1992). Conceptual issues in psychology (2nd ed.). London: Routledge.
*Denotes books that are usually available in the University bookshop.
Final Word
We hope you find this document helpful and informative. Any suggestions you might have for its improvement would be most welcome. Please forward these to Dr Sean Commins ([email protected]).
Once again, the staff of the Department of Psychology wish you the best of luck with your studies and we hope you enjoy your time with us.
