Cognition in Clinical Contexts

15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 1

This module will introduce you to the aims, methods, theories and empirical findings associated with a scientific approach to studying the human mind. You will learn how psychologists develop models of cognitive function that are tested against data from behavioural studies of healthy individuals, as well as from individuals with brain damage or psychopathology. The module will cover five core topics: perception, attention, memory, thinking and language. Each topic will begin with one or two background lectures that introduce key concepts and experimental approaches. The background lectures are followed by a lecture which addresses the topic from a neuropsychological approach, considering how that aspect of cognition is affected by brain injury - covering material such as agnosia, dyslexia and amnesia - as well as a lecture covering the topic from a more psychopathological approach - covering material such as attentional biases in anxiety and disordered thought in schizophrenia.

Individuals and Groups

15 credits
Spring teaching, Year 1

All psychology undergraduates at Sussex take this module, which introduces you to the central ideas and findings of social psychology. You will learn the theories, methods, empirical findings and applications of social psychology. The module does not require any prior knowledge of psychology.

Psychobiology

15 credits
Spring teaching, Year 1

This is a first-year core module that offers students a first overview of the various topic areas relevant to understanding human and non-human animal behavior from a biological and/or evolutionary perspective.

The module begins by discussing the basic anatomy of the peripheral and central nervous systems (brain and spinal cord), as well as the structure and physiological function of nervous cells (neurons), including synaptic neurotransmission, hormonal actions, and intracellular electrical processes. Additionally, an introduction to systems neuropsychology is given and the effects of drugs on neuronal functioning are discussed.

Next, brain-behaviour relations are discussed in greater detail focusing on three broad topic areas: First, the biological basis of emotions are considered from a hormonal and brain systems perspective. Second, essential motivated behaviors are considered by exploring both homeostatic and non-homeostatic peripheral and central mechanisms underlying drinking and eating behaviour. Third, the brain mechanisms that allow organisms to acquire, store and retrieve new information and alter their behaviours are discussed focussing on historical and recent experimental findings from studies on human- and non-human learning and memory.

The final section of the module takes a more evolutionary perspective to explore how many components and aspect of human behaviour have been shaped by adaptation and selection, relying on field studies into the foundations of animal behaviour.

Psychology of Childhood and Adolescence

15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 1

This module examines the historical origins, perspectives, theories, methods, and empirical findings of research in the area of developmental psychology, with attention given to cognitive, language, social, emotional, and atypical development. The core emphasis will be on major theories and research findings regarding psychological processes during infancy, childhood and adolescence. The module does not require any prior knowledge of psychology.

Research Skills in Psychology 1

15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 1

This module will introduce you to some of the skills necessary for conducting psychological research. You will learn about the strengths and weaknesses of the methods that psychologists use in order to obtain data on behaviour (eg the advantages and disadvantages of techniques such as experiments, questionnaires and psychometric tests). You will be taught how to analylse data quantitatively, using statistical techniques. This will include learning about the logic behind statistical methods (eg sampling theory and hypothesis testing), as well as learning under what circumstances various statistical tests are appropriate.

You will be taught how to use SPSS to produce descriptive and inferential statistics and graphs. Various statistical tests will be taught, up to the level of one-way Analysis of Variance. You will be shown how to produce written reports of their fundings and conclusions, using the discipline's presentation conventions, as set out by the American Psychological Association. You will be given some insight into the ethical issues that surround experimentation on human beings.

Research Skills in Psychology 2

15 credits
Spring teaching, Year 1

The aim of this module is to introduce students to some of the skills necessary for conducting psychological research. This module focuses on the skills required for analysing the data obtained from experimental and quasi-experimental studies in psychology. It is therefore complementary to Research Skills 1, which focuses more on observational methods in psychology.

• You will learn about the strengths and weaknesses of experimental and quasi-experimental methods used by psychologists, and how to design methodologically-sound experimental studies.
• You will be taught how to analyse data quantitatively, using statistical techniques. This will include learning about the logic behind statistical methods (eg probability, sampling distributions, sampling theory and hypothesis testing), as well as learning under what circumstances various statistical tests are appropriate. Various statistical tests will be taught, such as z-score based hypothesis testing; single and two-sample t-tests including independent measures and repeated measures t-tests; independent and repeated measures analysis of variance, ANOVA. You will be taught how to use SPSS and Excel to produce descriptive statistics and graphs, and do inferential statistics.
• You will be shown how to produce a graphic poster and written reports of your findings and conclusions, using the discipline's presentation conventions, as set out by the American Psychological Association.
• You will be taught various research-related IT skills, including how to make web searches, and how to use Excel and SPSS to perform statistical tests and display data.
• You will be given some insight into the ethical issues that surround experimentation on human beings.

By the end of the module, you should be familiar with the techniques that most psychologists use in order to conduct research; be able to perform various statistical tests by hand and by the use of SPSS; be able to produce a poster and lab-reports that conform to the conventions for published psychology journal articles; and you should have started to be able to understand and critically evaluate the methodological aspects of published research.

Themes and Perspectives in Sociology I

15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 1

Modern sociology developed in the 19th century in tandem with the rise of industrial capitalist society. It had a number of key concerns which reflected changes in, and the structure of, society at the time. These concerns have continued to preoccupy sociologists though in the context of contemporary societies, which have redefined key categories and experiences. This modules looks at such themes and at sociological perspectives on them as they have developed in both classical and contemporary forms of the discipline

Themes and Perspectives in Sociology II

15 credits
Spring teaching, Year 1

Modern sociology developed in the 19th century in tandem with the rise of industrial capitalist society. It had a number of key concerns which reflected changes in, and the structure of, society at the time. These concerns have continued to preoccupy sociologists though in the context of contemporary societies, which have redefined key categories and experiences. This module looks at such themes and at sociological perspectives on them as they have developed in both classical and contemporary forms of the discipline.

Brain and Behaviour

15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 2

This module provides an introduction to brain mechanisms and behaviour. Topics covered will normally include: functional neuroanatomy of the human brain; ionic mechanisms underlying the nerve action potential; synapses and neurotransmission; neuropharmacology of commonly used anxiolytic drugs; neural mechanisms in emotion and motor behaviour; and neural mechanisms underlying plasiticity and learning.

Cognitive Psychology

15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 2

The module will comprise 24 one-hour lectures, two two-hour practicals and two one-hour seminars (linked to the practicals). The lectures will provide a broad coverage of cognitive psychology topics, from basic perception to thinking. Lectures will include material on individual differences where appropriate.

Sensory systems and visual perception: 

1. Introduction to the sensory systems
2. Physiology and psychophysics of perception
3. Theories of perception
4. The visual system

Sound & speech perception: 

1. Sound production and perception
2. Speech production and perception
3. Categorical perception of speech sounds
4. Evolution of speech and language

Attention: 

1. Attention: What in the devil is it?
2. Listen Up! The better to hear the world
3. Eyes RIGHT! The better to see the world
4. Select or Else! The better to act upon the world

Memory: 

1. Short term and working memory
2. Encoding in Long term memory
3. Forgetting and Retrieval
4. Implicit Memory

Language: 

1. Word meaning and concepts
2. Word reading and dyslexia (will include material on individual differences)
3. Text comprehension (also material on individual differences)
4. Language and thought 

Thinking: 

1. Problem Solving
2. Expertise and Creativity
3. Hypothesis Testing and Everyday Reasoning
4. Rationality and Irrationality

Practical 1: Categorical perception of speech sounds.
Practical 2: Reading equipment

Developmental Psychology

15 credits
Spring teaching, Year 2

This module provides you with a basic grounding in developmental psychology from birth to adulthood. Examples of topics that may be covered include: prenatal development; perceptual development; attachment; temperament; theories of cognitive development; children’s understanding of the world; conceptual change; gender development; adolescent development; and language development. 

Discovering Statistics

15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 2

Discovering statistics has two components: (1) statistical analysis and (2) empirical research. The empirical project enables you to carry out independent research that will develop skills in experimental research. This project helps to prepare you for your final empirical research project. The statistical analysis parts of the module build upon existing knowledge of statistical theory to enable you to analyse more complex data structures through understanding the general linear model (regression, ANOVA etc.). Practical classes compliment the lectures by providing guidance on applying the general linear model using SPSS, advice on designing and executing projects, and conducting experimental research

Social Psychology

15 credits
Spring teaching, Year 2

This module provides an overview of major theories, methods, research findings and debates in social psychology. You will examine classic studies and current findings and evaluate published research reports. The module covers basic intergroup and intragroup processes, such as social influence, group membership and identity, prejudice and contact between groups. It also examines key areas of social cognition, including attitudes and attributions, and the cognitive construction of self and others.

Social Research Methods in Psychology

15 credits
Spring teaching, Year 2

This module complements the term 1 module 'Discovering Statistics'. It has three components:

• statistical analysis for questionnaire construction and interpretation
• observational methods
• qualitative data-gathering and analysis

There are two assessed empirical reports using some of these techniques, which will enable you to develop skills in research design, data-gathering and analysis and which will therefore prepare you for your final-year empirical research project. The statistical analysis parts of the module build upon existing knowledge of statistical theory (in both Year 1 and the term 1 module of year 2). Practical workshops complement the lectures by providing hands-on experience and guidance in using the methods, both with SPSS, and through small group work on relevant tasks.

Beyond the Vote: Citizenship and Participation in Sociology

15 credits
Spring teaching, Year 2

Citizenship and participation is a module looking at the sociology of political involvement beyond the vote. It introduces different forms and sites of citizenship in the contemporary state - in relation to welfare, health, work, consumption, family life and the city or urban community - and also considers different expressions of social or civic activism, from volunteering to violent protest. The use and limitations of direct democratic experiments is examined, through analysis of various types of deliberative forum and citizen polling, and we consider the appeal of notions of 'responsibility' and 'choice'. You will learn through examining specific cases each week.

Classical Sociological Theory

15 credits
Spring teaching, Year 2

The aim of this module is to provide a reasonably comprehensive introduction to classical sociological theories and theorists and issues arising from their work. We will cover classical sociological theory from its origins in the Enlightenment period to the post World War II period. The module is concerned with these broad movements of thought with a focus on specific theorists and a close reading of extracts from classic texts. You will acquire an in-depth knowledge of the work of major classical sociological theorists.

Constructing Sexuality

15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 2

This module will explore and analyse theories of sexuality and sexual politics, both historically and across cultures, and current debates within feminism and postmodernism. Connections will also be made between lived experiences and cultural representations and expectations. The module will explore theories concerning the social construction of gender, biological essentialism, patriarchy, the conceptualisations of the identity 'woman' and 'man', sexuality and sexual practices and the ways these are affected by class, race, disability and age.

You will explore theoretical issues within the following themes: pre-20th century legal, medical and scientific constructions of sexuality; the development of theories since the 1960s; current debates relating to sexuality such as heterosexual/homosexual/lesbian/bisexual identities; femininities and masculinities; love and romance and pornography.

Constructing Sexuality

15 credits
Spring teaching, Year 2

This module will explore and analyse theories of sexuality and sexual politics, both historically and across cultures, and current debates within feminism and postmodernism. Connections will also be made between lived experiences and cultural representations and expectations. The module will explore theories concerning the social construction of gender, biological essentialism, patriarchy, the conceptualisations of the identity 'woman' and 'man', sexuality and sexual practices and the ways these are affected by class, race, disability and age.

You will explore theoretical issues within the following themes: pre-20th century legal, medical and scientific constructions of sexuality; the development of theories since the 1960s; current debates relating to sexuality such as heterosexual/homosexual/lesbian/bisexual identities; femininities and masculinities; love and romance and pornography.

Race: Conflict and Change

15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 2

This module will examine and explore the issues of race, racism, racial conflict and race relations in contemporary Britain (Please note: although we will mainly refer to Britain, examples from other countries in Europe and the West will be frequently used). Beginning with colonial discourses of the racial 'other', the post-1945 period following the start of mass colonial immigration to Britain, through to the present day this module will examine the various historical, social, political, economic and cultural forces and processes through which the concept of race and the racialised subject have been constructed, shaped and changed over time.

The module will be divided into twelve 1-hour lectures and twelve 1-hour seminars, each focusing on a particular historical, social, political, cultural or theoretical topic, issue and problem related to race in Britain. These range from: the construction and status of race through various dismodules and contexts of colonialism, immigration and multiculturalism, issues of identity, representation, power, equality and difference, the relationship between race and other social-political identifications, categories and divisions such as nationality, class, gender, ethnicity and religion, the relationship between race and the law, crime and civil unrest, the history of racial conflict and the development of anti-racist activism, policies and legislation, forms of cultural politics, expression and resistance and, finally, current issues and debates concerning the status of race in Britain.

Sociology of Deviance

15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 2

The module falls into two parts. In the first part, the concepts of crime, deviance and social control will be considered alongside the exploration of the sociological explanations for the existence of crime and deviance in society. The module will also critically examine the data sources used to support these perspectives. In the second part of the module, these perspectives will be applied to the study of substantive areas of deviance comprising institutions of social control (the police, the courts and prisons); the distribution of crime and the use of official statistics; the mass media; juvenile delinquency; mental illness; and sexuality.

Sociology of Deviance

15 credits
Spring teaching, Year 2

The module falls into two parts. In the first part, the concepts of crime, deviance and social control will be considered alongside the exploration of the sociological explanations for the existence of crime and deviance in society. The module will also critically examine the data sources used to support these perspectives. In the second part of the module, these perspectives will be applied to the study of substantive areas of deviance comprising institutions of social control (the police, the courts and prisons); the distribution of crime and the use of official statistics; the mass media; juvenile delinquency; mental illness; and sexuality.

Sociology of Education

15 credits
Spring teaching, Year 2

The module will first explore historical and current theoretical concepts of education. You will then focus on: the hidden curriculum, the roles and behaviour of the teacher and the student, and higher education, its cultures and customers. We will end the module by looking at key debates related to education: the gender debates, the class debates, and the role of education as a cultural symbol.

Sociology of Education

15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 2

The module will first explore historical and current theoretical concepts of education. You will then focus on: the hidden curriculum, the roles and behaviour of the teacher and the student, and higher education, its cultures and customers. We will end the module by looking at key debates related to education: the gender debates, the class debates, and the role of education as a cultural symbol.

Sociology of Globalisation (Aut)

15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 2

Sociology of Medicine and Health

15 credits
Spring teaching, Year 2

The module begins by considering the relationship between socio-economic inequality and health outcomes industrialiSed countries, especially in Britain. You then examines the role played by the state, and the National Health Service in particular, in the heath of the nation. The position of medical and health professionals is also analysed in order to understand processes of professionalization and medicalization. Attention then turns to medicines themselves, how they are tested for safety and effectiveness by the pharmaceutical industry and how this process in regulated by governments. The implications of pharmaceuticals and drug prescribing for public health will be carefully scrutinised. You will also gain sociological insights into reproductive technologies and some of the health and social implications of the 'new genetics'. Finally, the module discussed lay public and mass media perspectives on medicine.

Empirical Project

45 credits
Autumn & spring teaching, Year 3

The empirical project taken by students in their final year is an opportunity for you to gain first-hand experience of carrying out a piece of psychological research under the supervision of a member of faculty. The empirical project consolidates and extends the research skills acquired in you in the second year and involves the conducting, analysing and writing up of a piece of empirical research. As part of this, you will experience and solve a range of the practical, methodological, conceptual and ethical problems which are typical within the research process.

Perspectives on Psychology

15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 3

Alternative Societies (Spr)

30 credits
Spring teaching, Year 3

Altruism and Helping: the psychology of caring about and for others

15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 3

The module explores psychological antecedents, correlates, and consequences of 'positive other regard', that is, of altruistic and related thoughts and actions such as helping, moral development, and citizenship behaviour. You will consider how altruism should be conceptualised and recognised, both in absolute terms and relative to potentially related concepts such as aggression. You will draw on a variety of sub­-disciplines of psychology in order to examine biological, cognitive, developmental, personality, and social psychological approaches to understanding altruism. You will give particular consideration to how well psychological knowledge may be used to promote altruism

Biological Bases of Mental Disorders

15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 3

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.

Cognitive Neuroscience

15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 3

This module provides you with an understanding of how research in cognitive neuroscience has informed our understanding of the cognitive processes engaged by the brain. Evidence is drawn from a wide variety of methods, including case studies of brain-damaged individuals, electrical recordings of 'brainwaves', and neuroimaging using fMRI.

The lectures will be organised around a series of different cognitive processes including vision, face recognition, attention, executive function and language. You will also explore newer areas of research in cognitive neuroscience, including emotional processes, social neuroscience, and music in the brain.

Development, Human Rights and Security (Spr)

30 credits
Spring teaching, Year 3

Drugs, Brain and Behaviour

15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 3

Fear and Anxiety in Children

15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 3

Anxiety is the most prevalant psychological disorder of childhood, but how do children become anxious? 

This module looks at the developmental pattern of non-clinical fears in children and asks how these nonclinical fears turn into pervasive fears and phobias. The module has two main themes: the appropriateness of adult models of anxiety to children (eg the problems in applying diagnotstic, treatment and etiological models based on adults to child populations), and the factors contributing to the development of pre-­teenage anxiety. This latter theme is explored by looking at temperament, family (parenting), and learning.

Gestural Communication in Apes and Human Infants

15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 3

With humans in Western cultures, the ability to follow and direct another's attention develops near the end of the first year of life, with increasing specificity developing over the second year. 

Although almost all human developmental researchers agree on the empirical facts of typical development, there is intense theoretical debate over the cognitive bases of this developmental profile. Joint attention has been characterized, at one extreme, as the manifestation of mammalian learning processes in human caregiving environments, and at the other extreme, as evidence for a human species­-specific cognitive adaptation for definite reference. Joint attention is a socio­cognitive skill that sits at the intersection of theoretical accounts of language acquisition, semiotics, the neurobiology of communication, the philosophy of mind, and the evolution of language. 

This module looks at how humans, and our nearest living relatives the great apes, discriminate visual attention in others and manipulate the visual attention of others through manual gestures. 

Among the questions we will consider are: is joint attention a necessary pre­requisite for language acquisition? Does pointing develop out of failed reaching gestures? Do apes point and what does it matter if they do? Does joint attention facilitate the acquisition of words? Does joint attention by babies index an early theory of mind? Why is joint attention so critical in the clinical description of children with autism? How do people point in other cultures (hint: not everybody points with their index finger)? How does pointing illuminate or confuse spoken discourse? 

You will critically evaluate contemporary research in the fields of developmental psychology, comparative psychology, ethology, and developmental clinical psychopathology. You will produce oral presentations of your evaluations, culminating in a final essay. 

Globalisation: Migration, Economy, Politics

30 credits
Spring teaching, Year 3

We live in a fast-moving world where companies and trade are often international and money can be globally mobile in an instant. Media images and cultural products are transported globally and tourism and migration are important parts of everyday social experience. Politics is often carried out at supranational levels, whether through international organisations or global social We live in a fast-moving world where companies and trade are often international, and money can be globally mobile in an instant. Media images and cultural products are transported globally, and tourism and migration are important parts of everyday social movements. Processes such as these make distance over space less important and interdependency across the globe affects all societies.

This module looks at causes, types and effects of global migration, both historically and today. It examines the degree to which world economics have been globalised by factors, such as the growth of transnational corporations, the mobility of money and international economic interdependency. It examines the degree to which global trade helps to include poorer countries or leads to greater inequality. You will examine the extent to which politics has been globalised through factors such as the rise of international organisations and the global nature of social problems, and whether the nation-state is in decline. The module also looks at war and power globally in the 21st century, the nature of the world order, and at the distribution of power among states in the world.

Health Psychology

15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 3

Human Vocal Communication

15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 3

Prerequisites: ideally at least one of Psychobiology, or Perception and Attention, or equivalent

This module takes you from the production of vocalisations in mammals to the development and perception of human speech. We cover: the anatomy of the vocal apparatus in mammals (including humans); the production of mammal (including human) vocal signals and how this shapes their acoustic structure; the key differences between animal vocalisations and human speech; the structure of speech; adult speech perception; child speech perception including how children learn to perceive speech; everyday speech perception; and the evolution of speech, with emphasis on the precursors of human speech in animal vocal communication systems, including anatomical adaptations, and what hominid fossils tell us.

Intelligence in Animals and Machines

15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 3

The module will develop your understanding of what it means for an animal or a machine to behave intelligently, and how brain and behavioural systems are adapted to enable an animal to cope effectively within its environment. You will consider diverse aspects of intelligence, including navigation and motor control, numerical, language, memory and social skills. You will explore how these are related to one another and how they are matched to the particular needs of animals and machines.

Madness and Society: Healthcare Controversies

30 credits
Spring teaching, Year 3

The central aim of the module is to develop a critical and analytical understanding of key debates in the field of contemporary mental healthcare in relation to the conceptualisation of mental disorder and critiques of the therapeutic claims of psychiatry in relation to its presumed objectivity, scientific status and social neutrality. You are encouraged to develop critical perspectives when evaluating different bodies of knowledge and evidence, and to consider the relative influence of social, psychological, emotional and physical/biological factors in shaping the way mental disorders are experienced and managed. For example, we address the role of the mass media in shaping lay understandings of madness and constructions of the mentally ill, as well as the power they have to reinforce stigma and prejudice; the role of the pharmaceutical industry in creating new disorders, markets and types of patient; and the agency exercised by service user-led movements to resist biomedical power. We also examine case studies of specific medically-defined disorders. 

Modern Human Evolution

15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 3

Modern humans started to spread from Africa about 100,000 years ago. This module includes investigation of the evidence we have for their subsequent evolution in terms of phylogeography, morphology and archaeology. This is related to general questions about evolutionary response to environmental factors such as disease and climate as well as looking critically at what we can deduce about past cultural evolution. The module concludes by considering human evolution in the present.

Psychology of Collective Action

15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 3

This module is about crowd behaviour - in particular riots, 'disorderly' protests, and other (conflictual) forms of collective action.

The module has four aims: The first is to understand the context within which psychological theories of crowd behaviour first emerged, and hence to analyse the historical and social determinants of these theories of the crowd. A second aim of the module is to analyse these psychological theories of the crowd and to consider the criteria for an adequate crowd psychology. The third aim is to examine the interrelationship between collective (intergroup) dynamics and psychological change in crowd contexts.

This module builds on knowledge gained in the core psychology module C8035: 'Social Psychology'. Students who are not enrolled on the BSc in Psychology at Sussex are expected to be familiar with the material covered in that module.

Reading, Writing and Dyslexia

15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 3

This module explores how literacy skills develop in children, and relates this development (and abnormalities in development) to theoretical models of skilled reading (both word reading and comprehension). The main topics covered include the beginnings of literacy and the course of reading development (including both word identification and comprehension processes); phonological and metalinguistic skills and reading; developmental reading problems (developmental dyslexia, hyperlexia and comprehension difficulties) and their diagnosis and remediation; methods of teaching reading; the relation between reading and spelling development; and writing systems and writing development.

Social Cognitive Development

15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 3

This module considers aspects of development that reflect the social nature of humans. You will cover three broad areas: social cognition (such as normal development of folk psychology and its apparent absence in autism), self­-reflective capabilities (such as the growth of self­-consciousness and shyness) and understanding aspects of the person (such as cross-­cultural concepts of the person and concepts of emotion). You will consider the role of cognitive development and social context in children's developing understanding of themselves and others. The module enables you to study a chosen topic in depth, while also making links to the other topics.

Social Insects

15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 3

The eusocial insects comprise approximately 20,000 species of ants, termites, bees and wasps. Eusociality in these groups has evolved 20­-100 million years ago on approximately 10 occasions and has given rise to highly ­organized societies with up to 20 million individuals. Eusocial insects are of great economic and ecological importance. They are also key model systems in many important areas of biology.

The module is divided into several parts:

1) general background material on social insects, focusing in greater detail on four contrasting areas in which research on social insects is particularly active

2) inclusive fitness theory and relatedness

3) how insect societies are organised

4) another special topic relevant to social insect biology, such as mutualisms and symbioses involving social insects; the ecological importance of social insects; the evolution of eusociality in insects; or using social insects to investigate sensory physiology (topics will vary each year)

There will also be two laboratory sessions from a range including: the honey bee waggle dance, nestmate recognition and guarding in honey bees, organisation of ant trail systems, and reproductive queueing in Polistes wasps.

Sociology of Fun (Spr)

30 credits
Spring teaching, Year 3

The Social Psychology of Prejudice

15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 3

The module aims to build on your knowledge of intergroup relations gained in years 1 and 2 to provide an advanced social psychological analysis of the causes and cures of prejudice. It is organised into two major sections: individual: personality accounts; categorisation; stereotypes; automatic and controlled aspects of prejudice; modern forms of prejudice; and social: developmental aspects of prejudice; prejudice from the victim's perspective; prejudice as a response to perceived social disadvantage; intergroup emotions and prejudice; and reducing prejudice.