MSc, 1 year full time/2 years part time
Subject overview
Ranked in the top 10 in the UK in The Complete University Guide 2012-13 and The Sunday Times University Guide 2012, and 14th in the UK in The Guardian University Guide 2013.
Rated 12th (of 76 universities) in the UK for research in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE). 95 per cent of our research was rated as recognised internationally or higher, and 60 per cent rated as internationally excellent or higher.
We are one of the largest psychology units in the UK with almost 40 teaching faculty, as well as a large community of postdoctoral researchers and graduate students. This provides an intellectually stimulating and supportive environment for postgraduate research and study.
We have excellent facilities with newly refurbished office and laboratory space at the centre of the Sussex campus.
We are able to offer supervision across a broad range of areas encompassed by our four research groups:
- Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Developmental and Clinical Psychology, and
- Social and Applied Psychology.
We have strong collaborative links with the School of Life Sciences and the Department of Informatics as well as with the Brighton and Sussex Medical School.
ESRC recognition
All of our MSc and MRes degrees (except the MSc in Experimental Psychology) are recognised as meeting the standards set by the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) for direct entry to a +3 doctoral scholarship.
Programme outline
Cognitive neuroscience is an exciting and rapidly developing field of research that straddles the traditional disciplines of psychology and biology. It has been referred to as the ‘biology of the mind’ as it seeks to provide brain-based accounts of cognitive functions such as perception, memory, emotion, language and thought.
This degree offers a number of unique modules reflecting the Sussex research expertise in the neuroscience of consciousness and social neuroscience. It is our aim to offer hands-on experience of the methods of cognitive neuroscience, including fMRI, in addition to providing a solid foundation in contemporary theories to prepare you for a potential career in research.
We continue to develop and update our modules for 2013 entry to ensure you have the best student experience. In addition to the course structure below, you may find it helpful to refer to the 2012 modules tab.
On this course, you take a series of taught modules that will enable you to gain knowledge and skills in key areas of cognitive neuroscience, including:
- four subject-specific modules (60 credits), two in the autumn term and two in the spring term, covering topics such as the neuroscience of consciousness and social neuroscience
- four modules in research methods and data analysis (60 credits), which will help you gain expertise in the key research approaches used in this field, including specialist techniques in brain imaging and a range of quantitative methods
- a substantial research project in your chosen field (60 credits), supervised by a member of faculty specialising in that area.
Assessment
The taught modules are assessed by a variety of methods that include term papers, presentations and unseen examinations. The project is assessed by a dissertation.
Current modules
Please note that these are the core modules and options (subject to availability) for students starting in the academic year 2012.
Advanced Research Methods in Psychology
15 credits
Summer teaching, year 1
In this module you will learn about various advanced research methods and statistical techniques in psychology, by exploring their theoretical basis and their practical application. The module is typically taught as a set of two-day workshops in which particular methods are considered in detail. You are expected to study three methods (ie attend three workshops) from the selection that is offered. The options available to you are likely to include the following: Methods in Appetite Research; Discourse Analysis for Psychology; Experiment Generators: Use of Eprime; Eye Tracking; Item Response Theory; Longitudinal Data Analysis; Meta-analysis; Multilevel Modelling; Service User Involvement in Clinical Research; Structural Equation Modelling; Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS); and Voice Analysis and Re-Synthesis.
Biological Bases of Mental Disorders
15 credits
Autumn teaching, year 1
Prerequisite: Brain and Behaviour or equivalent module
The module examines the biochemical and anatomical bases of selected clinical disorders; it considers drug models (both animal and human) developed to understand the clinical condition and approaches to treatment, and examines the relationship between biochemical effects and behavioural and cognitive changes. Topics covered include anxiety, depression and schizophrenia.
Drugs, Brain and Behaviour
15 credits
Autumn teaching, year 1
Prerequisites include: Psychobiology and Brain and Behaviour, or equivalent modules taken elsewhere, and an interest in more biological approaches to the study of behaviour.
Drugs, Brain and Behaviour offers you an overview to the psychological and neuropharmacological basis of drugs of abuse and of contemporary theories of substance abuse and addiction, and has a strong natural science (neuroscience) orientation. The acute and long-term effects of selected drugs of abuse on behaviour, mood, cognition and neuronal function are discussed, using empirical findings and theoretical developments from both human- and non-human subject studies on the neurobiological- and psychological basis of drug action and addiction. The module will discuss critical neurochemical- and anatomical systems targeted by psychoactive drugs, and their distribution, regulation and integration in the central nervous system. The focus is on potentially addictive drugs, and the major classes are discussed, including: opiates, psychomotor stimulants, sedative-hypnotics, benzodiazepines, marijuana, hallucinogens , and hallucinogenic-stimulants. Critically, with the knowledge of the basic neuro- and behavioural pharmacology of these drugs 'in hand', contemporary biological-psychological theories of substance abuse and addiction are considered, foccusing on key concepts related to (drug) experience-dependent neuroplasticity, associative learning, habit formation and impulse-control.
Dynamic Approach to Understanding Child Development
15 credits
Spring teaching, year 1
This module will cover current topics in developmental psychology. You will be introduced to dynamic systems theory and read and discuss recent research from this perspective. Topics will include: motor development, categorisation, language acquisition and spatial cognition. Assessment will include in-class presentations and article summaries and a final exam.
Ethics, Philosophy and Methods of Research
15 credits
Autumn teaching, year 1
This module will consider the conceptual foundations of psychological research and is divided into three key elements.
Ethics and research governance - during this part of the module you will learn about the ethical principles and guidelines relating to research in psychology, in particular the BPS code of conduct and how it applies to research studies, and the UK frameworks for research governance. The ethical issues involved in using animals to study psychology will also be addressed.
Philosophy of Science - you explore different approaches to what it means for psychology to be scientific and why it matters. Half of the material considers classic philosophy of science as represented in the views of Popper, Kuhn and Lakatos and how they apply to psychology. The remaining material considers the foundations of statistical inference, comparing the conceptual basis of orthodox (Neyman Pearson) statistics with that of Bayesian statistics. The aim is to clear up popular misconceptions in interpreting statistics, not to teach any particular statistical technique.
Qualitative methods - are becoming increasingly important in psychology and related disciplines (eg, biology, medicine, sociology). Nevertheless, heated debates continue to rage about their essential qualities (if any) and 'quality' (if any). In this part of the module we will examine all aspects of qualitative research, from (claimed) philosophical underpinnings, through method selection, project planning, ethical considerations, data collection, data analysis, and the production, assessment, and presentation of results, though to the scientific, practical, ethical, and theoretical benefits of the end product(s). Particular attention will be given to the prospects of developing qualitative methods that are truly complementary to quantitative ones
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging
15 credits
Spring teaching, year 1
This module provides you with an advanced level of theoretical and practical knowledge in the technique of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Topics covered include the physiological basis of MRI and fMRI; different study designs in functional imaging research; stages of pre-processing and analysis of data; and interpretation of results. You will have the chance to make a contribution to a real, ongoing fMRI study in terms of observing and/or participating in its execution and contributing to the analysis of the study. You will also gain hands-on experience of Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM) software for analysing fMRI data that is invaluable for future research in this area.
Linear Models in Statistics
15 credits
Autumn teaching, year 1
In this module you will learn to use parametric statistical methods for exploring relationships among variables, including correlation, bi-variate and multiple linear regression, and logistic regression, as well as methods for comparing means between groups such as t-tests, Anova, Ancova and Manova. You will become familiar with the use of SPSS, a popular data-analysis computer package. More specifically, you will learn to understand when it is appropriate to use each type of statistical tool, how to run the analysis using SPSS and accurately interpret its output, and finally how to present the results in an appropriate format.
Neurobiological Mechanisms of Learning and Memory
15 credits
Autumn teaching, year 1
Learning, "forgetting" and the formation of memories are believed to involve changes in the way in which neurones communicate. This module will focus on the processes that control these modifications and the evidence for their role in learning and memory. You will consider how plasticity, the neuronal mechanism believed to be responsible for learning and memory, can occur in different brain regions using evidence from both animal and human studies. Examples of topics to be covered will include: long-term potentiation, long-term depression, genetic and environmental influences on learning and memory.
Neuroscience of Consciousness
15 credits
Spring teaching, year 1
Consciousness is one of the last remaining frontiers of scientific exploration, and theories and methods in neuroscience are at the front line of this endeavour. Topics covered on this module are likely to include: measuring and studying consciousness; states of consciousness (including wake, dreaming, hypnosis and vegetative state); visual consciousness (including the different roles of visual cortex and fronto-parietal network; blindsight and neglect as disorders of visual awareness); implicit learning and meta-knowledge; psychiatric disturbances of consciousness (eg hallucinations, depersonalisation); interoceptive awareness; consciousness and cortical plasticity (examples of synaesthesia, phantom limb and sensory substitution); computational models of consciousness; biological models of consciousness; and evolutionary approaches to consciousness.
Psychobiology of Cognitive Ageing and Dementia
15 credits
Spring teaching, year 1
This module examines the biochemical and neuro-anatomical bases of normal and abnormal cognitive aging. You will look at the clinical and functional consequences of agerelated changes in cognitive performance; the aetiology of abnormal changes, including organic dementias of different origins; and the underlying physiology that supports these changes. You will examine current treatment options and future treatment possibilities, including both drug and psychotherapeutic alternatives.
Research Dissertation
60 credits
Spring & summer teaching, year 1
This module enables you to undertake a piece of psychological research under the supervision of a member of faculty who is expert in the relevant area. For clinical psychology students this may involve collaboration with a field supervisor in the Sussex Partnership Foundation Trust. You will be involved in the design and execution of a substantial piece of empirical research on a topic that is relevant to your module. The dissertation will consist of a research report detailing the project you have carried out or been involved with.
Sensory and Motor Functions of the Nervous System
15 credits
Spring teaching, year 1
Perceiving and acting upon the environment is something at which humans are expert. How does this ability to represent and act on visual and other sensory entities come about? Cognitive neuroscience is a diverse and interdisciplinary field of study that investigates the complex interplay of mental and brain function. This module provides an in-depth survey and analysis of behavioural observations, theoretical accounts, electrophysiological studies and imaging results on selected topics in cognitive neuroscience. Topics include: connections between sensory and motor function; cross-modal interaction; movement and event perception; development and plasticity of the nervous system; neural prediction and visual constancies; and compensation.
Social Neuroscience
15 credits
Autumn teaching, year 1
This module is concerned with how people recognise, understand and interact with each other in social settings. It aims to understand these processes in terms of fundamental cognitive and neural mechanisms that reside in the brain that have been shaped by both individual experience and evolutionary history.
Topics covered include: the evolution of social intelligence and culture; neuroscience of emotion; recognising faces and bodies; empathy and simulation theories; 'mentalising' and autism; cooperation and altruism; self and identity; prejudice; anti-social behavior; neuroscience of morality; and the development of social behaviour. Although many of these concepts have been explored in detail by social psychology, the methods of cognitive neuroscience brings a fresh insight into these issues.
Topics in Cognitive Neuroscience
15 credits
Autumn teaching, year 1
This course aims to provide you with an understanding of how research in cognitive neuroscience has informed our understanding of cognitive processes in the brain. Sussex has an excellent reputation of research in cognitive neuroscience and the course is taught by experts in the field. Evidence is drawn from a wide variety of methods, including case studies of brain-damaged individuals, electrical recordings of 'brainwaves' (EEG), and neuroimaging using fMRI. These methods provide unprecedented clues about the organisation of cognition in the living human brain. Following a discussion of the main methods, the remaining lectures will be organised around a series of different cognitive processes such as: recognising objects and faces; space and action; memory and amnesia; brain development; the musical brain; executive control of behaviour; and understanding numbers.
Entry requirements
UK entrance requirements
A first- or upper second-class undergraduate honours degree in psychology, neuroscience or a closely related subject.
Overseas entrance requirements
Please refer to column A on the Overseas qualifications.
If you have any questions about your qualifications after consulting our overseas
qualifications table, contact the University.
E pg.enquiries@sussex.ac.uk
Visas and immigration
Find out more about Visas and immigration.
English language requirements
IELTS 7.0, with not less than 6.5 in each section. Internet TOEFL with 95 overall, with at least 22 in Listening, 23 in Reading, 23 in Speaking and 24 in Writing.
For more information, refer to English language requirements.
For more information about the admissions process at Sussex
For pre-application enquiries:
Student Recruitment Services
T +44 (0)1273 876787
E pg.enquiries@sussex.ac.uk
For post-application enquiries:
Postgraduate Admissions,
University of Sussex,
Sussex House, Falmer,
Brighton BN1 9RH, UK
T +44 (0)1273 877773
F +44 (0)1273 678545
E pg.applicants@sussex.ac.uk
Related programme
Fees and funding
Fees
Home UK/EU students: £5,5001
Channel Island and Isle of Man students: £5,5002
Overseas students: £16,2003
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The fee shown is for the academic year 2013.
2
The fee shown is for the academic year 2013.
3
The fee shown is for the academic year 2013.
To find out about your fee status, living expenses and other costs, visit further financial information.
Funding
The funding sources listed below are for the subject area you are viewing and may not apply to all degrees listed within it. Please check the description of the individual funding source to make sure it is relevant to your chosen degree.
To find out more about funding and part-time work, visit further financial information.
Leverhulme Trade Charities Trust for Postgraduate Study (2013)
Region: UK
Level: PG (taught), PG (research)
Application deadline: 1 October 2013
The Leverhulme Trade Charities Trust are offering bursaries to Postgraduate students following any postgraduate degree courses in any subject.
Sussex Graduate Scholarship (2013)
Region: UK, Europe (Non UK), International (Non UK/EU)
Level: PG (taught)
Application deadline: 16 August 2013
Open to final year Sussex students who graduate with a 1st or 2:1 degree and who are offered a F/T place on an eligible Masters course in 2013.
Faculty interests
- Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience
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The Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience research group has interests in:
- the application of basic neuroscience and behavioural techniques in rodents to study the neural bases of drug addiction
- the application of human psychopharmacology techniques to explore the detailed effects of drugs on human behaviour and cognition, as well as both preclinical and clinical investigations of the cognitive and other psychological deficits associated with long-term use of drugs such as ecstasy and alcohol
- the neurobiology of motivation, with specialist interests in the control of ingestion, and
- the cognitive neuroscience of human memory and attention, and especially research on deficits associated with disorders such as dementia and schizophrenia.
There is a close inter-relationship between animal, human and clinical work. On the animal side, the Sussex group is one of the strongest groups in any UK university for the behavioural characterisation of transgenic mice, and enjoys collaborative links with molecular geneticists, with the neighbouring Sussex Centre for Neuroscience and with the Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS). On both the human and the animal side, the group has long-standing links with clinical health professionals across the county.
Professor Pete Clifton How brain systems regulate feeding behaviour, side effects of antipsychotic drugs on body weight.
Dr Hans Crombag Neurobiological and behavioural mechanisms of appetitive learning and memory, contextual learning processes in relapse.
Professor Theodora Duka Alcohol and nicotine addiction: human studies of conditioning, adaptive mechanisms.
Dr Sarah King Techniques to investigate the mechanisms underlying the effects of stress and drugs on brain and behaviour.
Dr Eisuke Koya Neuronal ensembles, associative learning, obesity, addiction, synaptic physiology, immunohistochemistry.
Dr Michael Morgan Substance misuse, impulse control in adolescence and adulthood, psychopathology in substance misusers.
Dr Tamzin Ripley Changes in neuronal plasticity, using behavioural and electrophysiological techniques, and its role in drug abuse.
Professor Jennifer Rusted Psychopharma-cology of human memory, prospective and action-based memory in ageing and dementia.
Professor David Stephens Neurobiological and behavioural mechanisms underlying drug dependence.
Professor Martin Yeomans Appetite control, development of food preferences, dieting as a model of disordered eating and obesity.
- Cognitive Psychology
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This Cognitive Psychology group has interests in:
- learning and memory, especially implicit learning (including computational simulations of learning), awareness of knowledge states, memory and consciousness
- language and communication, especially the behavioural, cognitive and neuropsychological processes involved in language comprehension and production. Our specialty fields include psycholinguistics, specifically pronoun interpretation, text comprehension, children’s difficulties in text comprehension, and fMRI
- vision and visual perception, where we have particular expertise in visual cognition and attention, face processing, perceptual aspects of driving, perception and action, perception of movement, and the perception of visual art
- the interaction between perceptual processes and other aspects of cognition, as revealed by the methods of cognitive neuroscience, especially multi-sensory interactions including synaesthesia, the cognitive deficits associated with neurological disorders, and the role of attention and working memory in oculomotor control, and
- animal vocal communication and cognition, where we have particular expertise in using playback experiments to tackle questions about communication and cognitive abilities in large terrestrial mammals (elephants, red deer, lions) and non-passerine birds (gulls and owls).
We have expertise in the use of specialised technology including acoustic playback, eye tracking, speech analysis and brain imaging. The Clinical Sciences Imaging Centre houses a 1.5T Siemens MRI scanner and PET/CT, and is used particularly by a number of members of this group.
The Human Psychophysiology Laboratory is extensively used by this group and includes EEG/ERP equipment, TMS, and eye-trackers.
Dr Chris Bird Cognitive processes through comparing the performance of brain-damaged adults with neurologically healthy controls.
Professor Zoltan Dienes How people acquire knowledge they are not aware of having, computational modelling of such learning.
Professor Alan Garnham Language comprehension, particularly inference; sentence processing; reasoning; mental models theory.
Dr Graham Hole Face recognition, age perception from faces, perceptual aspects of driving (especially ‘looked but failed to see’ accidents).
Dr Ryota Kanai Neural processes and computational principles underlying subjective conscious experiences and qualia, the anatomical and functional neural basis of perceptual and cognitive phenomena.
Dr Beena Khurana Visual cognition, the role of attention in motion perception, processing of human faces.
Dr Karen McComb Mammal communication and cognition, functional questions about animal communication and the nature of animal minds.
Dr Romi Nijhawan Compensation of neural delays in perception and action, flash-lag effect in vision and action.
Professor Jane Oakhill Mental models theory of text comprehension and reasoning, and children’s text comprehension.
Dr David Reby Vocal communication, sexual communication, crossmodal abilities in non-human animals.
Dr Jamie Ward Human cognitive neuroscience using neuropsychology, fMRI, TMS and EEG. Visit Synaesthesia research.
- Developmental and Clinical Psychology
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The Development and Clinical Psychology research group has a common aim of advancing theoretical approaches to human development and clinical psychology, often through studying applied questions. Approaches include observational and experimental studies, longitudinal analyses of child development, comparative perspectives, dynamic systems, neural network modelling, and experimental clinical psychopathology. We work closely with clinicians and educationalists, and with typical and special child populations.
Research focuses on six broad themes:
- social development, family and peer relations
- using technology to study and support peer collaboration and cognitive change
- emotional adjustment across the lifespan
- the aetiology of emotional disorders
- gesture and communication, and
- word learning and early cognitive development.
We have several focused labs: Child Anxiety Theory and Treatment (CATT) Lab, Children and Technology (ChaT) Lab, Sussex Family Research Lab, and Word and Object Reasoning Development (WORD) Lab.
The group is well-supported with lab facilities, including testing rooms for audio-visual recording, software for video editing and analyses, questionnaire scanning facilities, environments for conducting controlled experimental psychopathology studies, and specialised spaces for conducting a range of studies from habituation to clinical interviews. The group has good links with local daycare, schools and colleges.
Professor Robin Banerjee Social and emotional development of pupils, self-conscious cognition and emotion, self-presentational behaviour.
Dr Kate Cavanagh Cognitive biases and reasoning processes in the emotional disorders, increasing access to psychological therapies.
Professor Graham Davey Experimental psychopathology and anxiety disorders, the causes of perseverative psychopathologies.
Professor Andy Field The role of childhood experience in fear acquisition, parenting and child anxiety.
Dr Anna Franklin The development of colour perception and cognition, broader issues in cognitive and developmental science.
Dr Jessica Horst Cognitive development in children under the age of five; language acquisition, infant and toddler categorisation.
Dr David Leavens Non-verbal communication by apes and humans, joint attention, mother-infant interaction, evolution of language.
Dr Bonamy Oliver Child behaviour, using longitudinal, behavioural genetic designs to better understand family and other environmental influences on behavioural outcomes.
Dr Alison Pike Antecedents and consequences of variation in family relationship quality, including marital, parent-child and sibling.
Dr Nicola Yuill Typical and atypical social cognitive development, autism; technology to support children; children’s language development.
- Social and Applied Psychology
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The Social and Applied Psychology research group has interests in five broad areas:
- behaviour change: intervention, design and evaluation
- health psychology
- identity, culture and well-being
- intergroup relations and collective behaviour
- pro-social and moral engagement.
The group has good facilities for laboratory-based research involving video recording of individual and group behaviour, and for conducting online experiments. Links also exist with local schools and hospitals for conducting field research.
Dr Rod Bond Group processes, particularly social influence and reaction to deviants; subjective well-being.
Professor Rupert Brown Intergroup relations: prejudice and prejudice reduction, acculturation processes, hate crime, collective guilt.
Dr Richard de Visser Young people’s health behaviour, sexual health and sexual behaviour, gender and health-related behaviour.
Dr Helga Dittmar Social and psychological dimensions of material goods, compulsive buying; sociocultural influences on body image.
Dr John Drury Crowd behaviour, empowerment and positive psychological change, crowding/density, celebration and ‘atmosphere’.
Dr Tom Farsides Factors that facilitate (duty or empathy) or inhibit (moral phobia or selfishness) positive other-concern.
Professor Peter Harris Cognitive, emotional and behavioural response to risk, especially health risks.
Dr Donna Jessop Impact of personally relevant health-risk information on behaviour change, fear appeals.
Dr Karen Long Inter- and intragroup relations, social identity theory, social and personal identity as sources of self-esteem.
Dr Paul Sparks Attitude theory applied to environmental and health issues: normative influences and self-identity, decision-making.
Dr Viv Vignoles Self and identity, motivational processes and culture and context influences on identity construction; life transitions.
For more detailed information, visit the School of Psychology.
Careers and profiles
This MSc will give you a thorough grounding in theories and methods at the cutting-edge of the field that will prepare you for a potential career in research and enhance your workrelated skills such as critical insight and data analysis. This degree is also relevant if you are interested in clinical psychology or in work in the biomedical sector by providing, for example, an understanding of how brain damage affects cognition. Our graduates have gone on to pursue PhDs and to careers in industry and medicine.
For more information, visit Careers and alumni.
School and contacts
School of Psychology
The School of Psychology is one of the largest centres for the study of psychology in the UK, with an academic community of nearly 900 people working in a rich and supportive learning environment.
Dr Jamie Ward, Course Director,
School of Psychology,
University of Sussex, Falmer,
Brighton BN1 9QH, UK
T +44 (0)1273 876598
E jamiew@sussex.ac.uk
School of Psychology
Discover Postgraduate Study information sessions
You’re welcome to attend one of our Discover Postgraduate Study information sessions. These are held in the spring and summer terms and enable you to find out more about postgraduate study and the opportunities Sussex has to offer.
Visit Discover Postgraduate study to book your place.
Other ways to visit Sussex
We run weekly guided campus tours every Wednesday afternoon, year round. Book a place online at Visit us and Open Days.
You are also welcome to visit the University independently without any pre-arrangement.