PSY5042 - Biological and Social Psychology

Objectives:

On successful completion of the module students will be able to:

(1) Demonstrate knowledge of a range of both classic and current research in Biological and Social Psychology.
(2) Assess the strengths and weaknesses of various methodological and theoretical approaches within Biological and Social Psychology.
(3) Demonstrate a critical awareness of issues in Biological and Social Psychology.
(4) practical examples of research in both areas.

Content:

Biological Psychology<\b>
Basic neurochemistry and neurophysiology of nerve transmission; the structure and organisation of the CNS; behavioural genetics; hormones and behaviour. Psychopharmacology, the brain and reward, drug action and behaviour. Biological aspects of learning, memory, motivation and emotion, sleep and arousal. Evolutionary explanations of behaviour: primatology, sociobiology, animal cognition and comparative psychology. Human neuropsychology, cortical localisation of function, biological basis of psychological abnormalities.
Social Psychology<\b>
Social perception including: person perception, attitudes, attribution. Inter-group processes including: prejudice, inter-group conflict, social identification. Small group processes including: norms, leadership, decision making, productivity. Social influence including: conformity and obedience, majority and minority influence, the bystander effect. Close relationships including: interpersonal attraction, relationships.