Undergraduate Courses
Overview of our degrees
Few subjects can challenge psychology for its breadth or depth of knowledge. We use this to our advantage to develop psychology graduates that are employable, as well as creative and imaginative thinkers who can apply their analytical skills to a wide range of situations whether within psychology, other disciplines, or in the work place. Your mastery of analytical and applied skills and strategies will stand you in good stead throughout your career in which ever career you choose.
Theory development and investigation are at the core of psychology at Aberystwyth and studying both will develop your ability to understand human interaction. From the start of your psychology degree you will be introduced to the key ideas, theories and research findings that have influenced psychology. You will be taught how to investigate human behaviour through detailed training in research methods, as well as how to apply this training to investigate your own questions and communicate your findings. Irrespective of course choice, all your learning will be set in the context of its application to real world problems.
You will be able to study for either a single honours or joint honours psychology degree. However, both modes of study are studied over three years and benefit from the same learning context and environment that psychology at Aberystwyth provides.
Year 1
Never studied psychology before? Don't worry, Psychology is not always taught at school level and so the first year of your degree assumes that students have no prior knowledge of psychology. During your first year, we aim to familiarise you with the subject matter of psychology and the methods psychologists use to investigate psychological phenomena. We introduce you to the biological basis of psychology, as well as understanding human behaviour from a collective and idiographic perspective.
Although students are often surprised at the strong influence of statistics in psychology, we also aim to take the fear out of number crunching. Unlike many universities it is only during your second year at Aberystwyth that you start to use computer software to learn your statistics. Experience has shown us that getting to grips with statistics in the first year using formulae and calculators is a better way of developing real understanding – and our existing students agree. Instead, we have or students work out their statistics by hand and students have found this method of learning to be highly informative method for introducing statistical and experimental methods in psychology.
Year 2
The second year of your degree is composed entirely of “core” modules. These are the essential aspects of the subject you need to understand as a psychology graduate and are compliant with the British Psychological Society syllabus. You will also revisit the some of subjects introduced in your first year, but at honours level, your ability to understand complex concepts will really be tested. In your second year you are introduced to statistics software, however, you also learn why quantitative methods are not the only way to investigate psychology. This means that you will also be learning more advanced qualitative research methods building on the foundations of your first year.
Year 3
In your final year you have the chance to make choices about what you want to study. Modules are provided within the areas of research expertise of our staff. For example, you can study the psychology of language, or psychology of music. You can learn more about social interactions both in the real world and the cyber environment or you could explore the complexities of psychology applied to health and illness. It may be that you have a particular interest in psychology not covered in the taught courses, if so with the support of an expert member of staff you can investigate that interest in the Dissertation module. In keeping with our aim to develop your skills as an individual you have the option of studying for 20 credits in another department dependent on certain pre-requisite subject requirements.
Key benefits of Psychology at Aberystwyth
| Learning Environment | Pastoral Care | Employability and Transferable skills | Psychology Equipment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Psychology and its application to the real world | Approachable and available personal tutors | Advanced research skills over other graduates | Modern refurbished building with dedicated psychology laboratories |
| Student focused approach to teaching | Dedicated year tutors for each level of study | Data handling and analysis | Psychology computer laboratory |
| Variety of teaching methods including traditional lectures and interactive problem focused learning | Peer mentoring scheme to support you in your studies | Communication and report writing | Dedicated common room for psychology students |
| Enhanced learning experiences through wide ranging assessment methods | eLearning modules that link with student support services | Problem solving | Cognitive psychology testing cubicles |
| Student Psychology Society and Facebook group | Ambassador and peer mentoring training to enhance employability | Interview suites, observation rooms, and transcription suites | |
| Interactive seminar and teaching rooms | Employability specific modules to develop your CV and apply psychology in a real-world context | EEG facilities | |
| Team work | Sensory deprivation / anechoic chamber | ||
| Emphasis on applications of psychology | Eye-tracker | ||
| Biopsychology specific kitchen | |||
| Galvanic Skin response |