PBS papers 2022-23

PBS 1: Introduction to Psychology

This course aims to introduce a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of Psychology. Through studying this course, students will develop their understanding of how the different approaches address specific topics within psychology. Topics are selected such that students without prior training in psychology will not be disadvantaged. After a brief introduction to the history of psychology, and its various sub-disciplines, a series of four broad topics will be explored. Each topic will be covered over seven lectures, with research and ideas from different theoretical viewpoints being discussed and compared in an additional panel session at the end of each topic.

PBS 2: Psychological Enquiry and Methods

This course covers the foundations of psychological study, including the mathematical and biological knowledge and skills required to engage with the research literature. The material on this course provides a foundation for all later study of psychology, providing students with the intellectual tools required to evaluate psychological material in later years. Teaching includes a range of techniques, including mathematics lectures and examples classes in the morning, and interactive afternoon sessions each fortnight.

PBS 3: Social and Developmental Psychology

This paper aims to provide representative coverage of classic and contemporary theory and research in social and developmental psychology. Students will  study the key processes involved in the developmental transformation of social, emotional, and cognitive behaviour across the life span, including the role of language in development. Students will also learn key meta-theories in social psychology in a series of introductory lectures, and then will examine specific core topics of the field in subsequent lectures, including social norms and influence, person environment interactions and morality and culture.

PBS 4: Cognitive Neuroscience and Experimental Psychology

This course covers the foundations of psychological study, including the mathematical and biological knowledge and skills required to engage with the research literature. The material on this course provides a foundation for all later study of psychology, providing students with the intellectual tools required to evaluate psychological material in later years. Teaching includes a range of techniques, including lectures and practicals.

PBS 5: Research Project

Students conduct an empirical research project from a list given by available supervisors at the start of Michaelmas Term. A dissertation of 7,000 words is submitted at the end of the year, the title for which must be confirmed in Michaelmas Term (but can be subsequently amended). Projects may need ethical approval, which can be gained from the Department of Psychology Ethics Committee at set meetings during the year or from the School of Biological Sciences Research Ethics Committee.

PBS 6: Developmental Psychopathology

This paper has a modular structure. There will be between 3 and 6 modules, each comprised of 8 lectures, and students will be advised to attend at least 3 modules. The details for 2022-23 are pending confirmation; in 2021-22, the two Michaelmas modules were entitled 'Risk and Resilience in the Perinatal Period (Module 1) and Conduct Disorder and Bullying (Module 2).  The first of these integrated studies of both pre-natal and postnatal risk factors on child development, using premature birth to illustrate how some families experience stressors that are both qualitatively and quantitatively different from the normative challenges facing all new parents. This module also included a lecture on fathers, as a means of highlighting the importance of the broader contextual influences upon resilience. Module 3, delivered in Lent Term, focused on Autism Spectrum Disorder.  As well as including both cognitive and computational models, this module also considered competing explanations for the gender imbalance in the diagnosis of autism.

PBS 7: Advanced Topics in Social and Applied Psychology

This paper has a modular structure. There will be between 3 and 6 modules, each comprised of 8 lectures. Students will be advised to attend at least 3 modules. The module will include multiple topics from Social and Applied Psychology. These will include the application of behavioural insights to tackle real world problems like climate change or health, the role of digital and social media in shaping social influence, and the study of regional variability in personality across and within cultures.

PBS 8: The Family

In addition to psychology, this interdisciplinary paper draws on material from sociology, social anthropology, law and other relevant disciplines.  Psychological and social perspectives on family relationships and child development are examined in relation to specific topics such as motherhood, fatherhood, marriage, new family forms, cross-cultural perspectives, adolescence, family relationship breakdown, and family policy. Theories of family life are studied as well as methodologies of family research.

PBS 9: Cognitive and Experimental Psychology

How do we perceive objects? How do we direct our attention? How do we store and retrieve information? How do we decide what to do next? This paper addresses fundamental questions about the human mind and behaviour. It builds on PBS 4 and is shared with Part II NST students. It covers a wide range of topics in cognitive psychology, and students choose topics that they wish to cover.

PBS 10: Behavioural and Cognitive Neuroscience

What leads to addiction? How do neurotransmitters shape our motivations and actions? What can we learn about human behaviour from other species? This paper builds on PBS4 and is shared with Part II NST students. It covers a wide range of topics in neuroscience, and students choose topics that they wish to cover.