Unit information: Social Psychology and Individual Differences in 2018/19

Unit name	Social Psychology and Individual Differences
Unit code	EDUC20008
Credit points	20
Level of study	I/5
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
Unit director	Professor. McKeown Jones
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	Introduction to Psychology in Education
Co-requisites	None
School/department	School of Education
Faculty	Faculty of Social Sciences and Law

Description including Unit Aims

Individuals live in a social word. The aim of this unit is to bring together and conduct research on individual, interpersonal and intergroup processes to understand human behaviour. Throughout the unit, students will engage with theories and empirical research which will be applied to understand real world phenomena. The unit will begin by outlining individual differences, such as the self and attitude formation, and will then move on to interpersonal processes, such as social cognition, attributions, close relationships and altruism, and end with group processes including social influences and intergroup relations (e.g., prejudice, stereotyping and discrimination). Students will engage in practical classes each week which will focus on collecting, analysing and writing up data which focuses on individual, interpersonal and intergroup processes. Throughout, students will be required to consider ethical issues in this field.

Intended Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the unit students will be able to demonstrate that they have:

1. understood the importance of individual, interpersonal and social processes in explaining human behavior;
2. explored the way in which individual, interpersonal and intergroup processes relate to and complement each other;
3. an awareness of the ethical issues and practices of the field;
4. the ability to summarise key materials and present in both oral and written form;
5. an awareness of different research methods used in psychology and how they offer understanding of psychological phenomena.

Teaching Information

This unit will consist of 1 x two- hour weekly lecture and 1 x one-hour practical class. Classes will involve a combination of lectures, class discussion, debates and group presentations. Each week the first session will introduce a new core area of social psychology through a lecture, as well as class participation and exercises. The practical class will focus on research design and using research to explore these concepts. Students will be expected to engage with readings and participate on a weekly basis.

Assessment Information

ILO 1,2, 4, 5: Group presentation (20%)

Students will deliver a 15 minute group presentation (10%). As part of the assessment for the group presentation, students will be expected to submit a copy of their presentation, a document outlining how each individual contributed to the overall project and a 200 word abstract summarising the project (10%).

ILO 3-5: Lab report (80%)

Students will write up a 2500 word lab report, based on one of the studies conducted in the practical classes, for their final assignment. This assignment will assess student knowledge of the topic content, in addition to their research methods knowledge and skills.

Reading and References

Essential (Core text):

Crisp, R., & Turner, R.N. (2011). Essential Social Psychology. London: Sage.

Suggestions for recommended and further reading will be made separately through Blackboard