Psychology MRes

Institution Brunel University
Method At the institution
Location Uxbridge
Type Masters
Course fee By request

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Psychology MRes

Objectives The aim of the course is to provide a thorough training in research methods and professional skills, and in-depth knowledge of specific areas of psychology, beyond that normally available in an undergraduate programme. A choice of advanced research methods modules is also available, providing an excellent preparation for carrying out an original research project. The course is suitable for graduates from a wide range of backgrounds, as well as professional practitioners who wish to develop or enhance their research skills. You might be: * a qualified practitioner working in an applied field, (eg psychotherapy, health, human resources, the prison service, education), and would like to enhance your career by doing research relevant to your field; * recent graduate from psychology or a psychology-related discipline who is thinking about a career in research; * a research psychologist or social scientist who would like to gain a formal relevant qualification. The course can be undertaken as a full-time one-year course or a part-time two-year course, making it ideally suitable for those who wish to work part-time. Students undertaking similar courses include nurses, social workers, teachers in general and special education, outreach workers, therapists, and recent graduates from the UK and abroad.
Entry requirements Entry Requirements Applicants should normally have a first degree in psychology or in a related discipline with a substantial element of psychology at Honours level from a UK institution; an equivalent overseas qualification; or an equivalent professional qualification.
Academic title Psychology MRes
Course description Course Summary

This degree is for anyone with a psychology, social sciences or other relevant first degree who is interested in expanding their knowledge of psychology. An important component of the degree is an original psychological research project, in an area of the student’s choice. Project supervision can be provided in a wide range of fields of psychology. The course offers the opportunity to select optional modules flexibly from a range of exciting and rapidly-developing areas in psychology, including cross-cultural psychology, psychoanalysis and neurosciences (including functional brain imaging). Additionally there is a strong foundation in research methods and professional skills, which can provide an excellent preparation for a PhD. The MRes Psychology is an ESRC recognised research training foundation course and a required training for an ESRC funded PhD. As an accredited research training in Psychology, it can enhance the career prospects of those wishing to enter psychology-related employment, and contribute to the professional development of those already working in psychology-related roles.

Course Details

The course includes:

Compulsory Modules:

    * Graduate Research Skills and Professional Development
      Main topics of study: reviewing research aims and objectives; choosing research methods; study design, sampling, and analytical issues in the use of such methods; appropriate resources for such studies; using information technologies; managing a research project, presenting research information.

    * Dissertation

ONE of the following:

    * Applied Research Methods (compulsory for ESRC-funded students)
      Main topoics of study: the development of appropriate research strategies; sampling techniques; questionnaire and interview design and construction; piloting; content analytic techniques; diary methods; projective techniques; quantitative data analysis; data standardisation; ethical considerations; writing-up reports.

    * Research Methods in Psychoanalysis
      Main topics of study: psychoanalytic epistemologies; knowledge and truth in psychoanalysis; induction, deduction and abduction; the logic of psychoanalytic discovery; the validation of psychoanalytic theory and practice; how to set up a psychoanalytic research project; logical reasoning and the anticipation of certainty; the object and the subject in psychoanalysis; how to access psychoanalytic resources; how to develop a psychoanalytic argument; the interface between theory and practice in psychoanalysis.

    * Cross–cultural Research Methods
      Main topics of study: the development of appropriate research strategies; sampling techniques; questionnaire and interview design and construction; piloting, content analytic techniques; diary methods; projective techniques; quantitative data analysis, data standardisation; ethical considerations; writing-up reports.

Optional Modules: (Choose two)

    * Cross Cultural Psychology

      Cross-Cultural Variations in Psychological Finding 1
      Main topics of study: controversies in defining culture; assessing culture; the development of cross-cultural dimensions (individualism/collectivism, the work of the Chinese Culture Connection, Trompenaars model, Inglehart's work, Schwartz's value circumplex) and a critique of cultural dimensions; the self across culture, emotion and appraisal across cultures.

      Cross-cultural Variations in Psychological Findings 2
      Main topics of study: cultural variations in inter-group relations; national stereotypes; perception; bi-lingualism; theory of mind; concept of self; well-being; personal relationships; acculturation; culture; health and social change.

    * Evolutionary Psychology

      Evolutionary Psychology
      Main topics of study: cognitive adaptationism and domain specificity; environments of evolutionary adaptedness; cross-cultural human universals; selective impairments; social status and reputation; cognitive sexual dimorphism in mate preferences and jealousy; attractiveness and symmetry; gustatory adaptations, social exchange and cooperation; coalitional psychology; interpersonal and coalitional aggression; violence and homicide; spoken language; face recognition and prosopagnosia; functions of the emotions; kinship psychology (recognition, altruism, and inbreeding avoidance); gene-culture co-evolution.

      Animal Behaviour and Behavioural Ecology
      Mian topics of study: levels of analysis, animals as "strategists"; sexual selection: competition for mates; sexual selection: post-copulatory competition; sexual selection: mate choice; parental care and parent-offspring conflict; foraging and predation; comparative reproductive strategies; life history strategy; cooperation and conflict; animal models of psychopathology; sexual differentiation; hormonal regulation of behaviour.

    * Psychoanalytic Studies

      Foundations of Psychoanalytic Studies
      Main topics of study: the origin and development of psychoanalysis; sexuality and the unconscious; neurosis, perversion, psychosis; the foundations of psychoanalytic technique; Freud's case-studies; the second topography; the work of Melanie Klein, Donald W. Winnicott, Jacques Lacan; psychoanalytic theories of psychosis; psychoanalytic views on addiction; the so-called ‘new symptoms' in contemporary society.

      Symptom and Society
      Main topics of study: Freud's cardinal works on culture and society; the Lacanian concept of the object; recent psychoanalytic developments on the issues of groups, social identity and community life; the relationship between contemporary symptoms and the so-called ‘decline of the paternal function' within Western society; sadism; murder; the representation of violence and the question of ethics; psychoanalytic interpretations of representations of violence (Pasolini's ‘Saló; Lars von Trier's ‘Dogville'; Michael Powell's ‘Peeping Tom').

      Clinical Interventions in Psychoanalysis
      Main topics of study: the case-study of the Rat Man; the case-study of the Wolf Man; paradigmatic cases in the psychoanalytic literature; differential diagnosis;
      the direction of the psychoanalytic treatment; interpretation, transference and countertransference; the position of the analyst; psychoanalysis and suggestion;
      professional case presentations and their clinical difficulties; a case of auto-erotic asphyxia; psychoanalytic theory development and clinical practice.

    * Neuroimaging and Neuroscience

      Cognitive Neuroscience
      Main topics of study: learning and memory; language and the brain; cerebral lateralization and specialization; the control of action; executive functions and frontal lobes; emotional mechanisms; aging, development and plasticity.

      Practical Neuroimaging
      Main topics of study: experimental design, with particular reference to EEG, PET and fMRI; operating an MRI scanner, using Siemens SYNGO software; using EEG equipment; data preprocessing; statistical analysis of functional neuroimaging datasets; analysis of structural MRI data; statistical inference; data presentation; project planning and management; safety in neuroimaging practice; ethical issues in neuroimaging.

      Principles of Neuroimaging
      Main topics of study: overview of functional neuroimaging techniques (including MRI, EEG, MEG, PET TMS); the course will focus on individual imaging modalities and cover topics such as: historical perspectives, principles of operation, and safety; signal generation and image formation; neuroimaging signals and brain activity; spatial and temporal properties of signals, and noise; comparisons between neuroimaging techniques; combined used of neuroimaging techniques (eg simultaneous fMRI and EEG).

      Visual Neuroscience
      Main topics of study: visual pathways; visual motion and the dorsal stream; biological motion; object recognition and the ventral stream; face recognition; disorders of vision; visual development; visual imagery; visual awareness; synaesthesia; visual attention; neuroaesthetics.

One or both of these modules may be supplemented by a Guided Study Module. Apart from the compulsory modules, the range of options for the other modules available will vary with staff teaching/research interests.

Special Features

This degree is a research focused degree with two out of the four modules dedicated to training in research skills. The research skills training caters for a wide variety of relevant research interests, so the degree can be tailored to meet individual needs. It is an ESRC-recognised foundaton course and required training for an ESRC-funded PhD but it can also be takken as a stand-alone degree for those who wish to pursue a career in applied psychological research.

Information on staff research interests

There is a wide choice of modules to choose from, including a guided study module, thus allowing a lot of flexibility for individuals to follow a course of study of their choice. Psychology is a very broad discipline both in terms of methods and topics, and this degree allows individuals to gain an understanding of the methods used in the social sciences in general, as well as option to specialise in a particular area of study.

Assessment

Assessments typically include different types of course work including essays, reports and case studies.

Teaching Methods

Teaching methods typically include lectures, seminars and tutorials.

Careers

The course provides a training in research skills which can be used for a wide variety of careers, including further study, i.e. PhD. It will also be useful for those who wish to pursue a career in research in an applied area, or for those who are already trained professionals in applied areas who wish to develop their careers eg mental health, prison, human resources, charitable foundations, education. Previous graduates from similar courses include a nurse who went to pursue a PhD, and a teacher who wanted to diversify her skills, practising therapists who wanted to add a new dimension to their careers.