Module Information

Module Identifier
PS21820
Module Title
Cognitive Psychology
Academic Year
2025/2026
Co-ordinator
Semester
Semester 1
Exclusive (Any Acad Year)
Reading List
Other Staff

Course Delivery

 

Assessment

Assessment Type Assessment length / details Proportion
Semester Assessment Lab Portfolio  3000 Words  60%
Semester Exam 1.5 Hours   40%
Supplementary Assessment Lab Portfolio  3000 Words  60%
Supplementary Exam 1.5 Hours   40%

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this module, students should be able to:
1. Demonstrate key knowledge and understanding in relation to core topics in cognition
2. Evaluate primary research in a range of aspects of cognitive psychology
3. Critically assess key theories and concepts in cognitive psychology
4. Describe research methods, techniques and paradigms used to investigate cognitive processing
5. Demonstrate an understanding of how key findings and concepts from cognition can contribute to aspects of applied psychology
6. Identify relationships between cognitive processes

Brief description

This module introduces students to the systematic study and understanding of human cognitive processing. As part of this module, you will examine key conceptual, theoretical and applied issues in understanding a wide range of cognitive processes. You will develop an understanding of the main areas of the discipline – such as attention, perception and memory – together with more applied and contemporary aspects of cognition, including thinking and reasoning, problem solving and metacognition.

Content

Attention, Perception, Memory, Learning, Thinking, Consciousness, Language, Problem Solving, Decision Making, Metacognition, Cognitive Neuropsychology

Module Skills

Skills Type Skills details
Application of Number Students will be expected to comment on aspects of statistical analysis through the examination of research designs. Students will also need to apply the appropriate statistical analysis in lab reports.
Communication Practical sessions will require students to contribute effectively to group discussions. Students will also be required to demonstrate a good standard of written communication in both their lab report and examination.
Improving own Learning and Performance Under the guidance of the module convenor, students will improve their own learning and performance by undertaking their own research and contributing to the development of the individual lab report.
Information Technology In order to successfully complete the lab report, students will develop skills in using electronic bibliographic resources (e.g. Primo, ScienceDirect etc.), statistical software (e.g. SPSS) and general productivity software (e.g. Microsoft Word, Excel etc).
Personal Development and Career planning The assessments on this module allow students the opportunity to develop and apply knowledge and skills to real-world contexts. This applied perspective will enhance students’ ability to think beyond their degree programme. Through the assessments undertaken in the module, students will be able to enhance their transferable skills (e.g., oral communication, written work, analytical, and critical thinking).
Problem solving Students will develop their problem solving skills in the context of undertaking the lab report assessment. As part of this, students will apply relevant models and frameworks to empirical data they collect. They will also need to engage in reasoning and evaluation in respect of how well such models account for the observed data.
Research skills The development of the lab report will enable students to develop and apply their research and information literacy skills. Students will use research skills in the conducting and evaluation of their lab report project. Information literacy will be developed whilst researching the background literature to the topic under investigation and developing the introductory section to the lab report.
Subject Specific Skills Across the module, students will develop a range of subject-specific skills including: *Developing an understanding of the research methods used in the study of cognition * Developing an ability to plan, conduct and evaluate a small-scale research study in the field of cognition using appropriate tools, methods and techniques * Developing the ability to reason about cognitive concepts and principles on the basis of empirical data * Developing the ability to apply understanding from empirical and theoretical findings to the understanding of human behavior in real-world contexts.
Team work Students will work in small teams to develop and collect data for their lab report. Thus, students will be afforded an opportunity to develop their groupwork skills in a research-based setting.

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 5