Rationale
This module builds on the central concepts, theories, current issues and research evidence introduced in the level 4 Introduction to Social and Developmental Psychology module.
Social Psychology has as its focus the scientific investigation of how thoughts, feelings and behaviours of individuals are affected by the actual, imagined or implied presence of others. Developmental Psychology is concerned with the scientific study of changes over time in the structure, thought or behaviour of individuals, explained in terms of both biological and environmental influences. Together, social and developmental psychology represent a wide variety of topics which can be regarded as some of the liveliest areas of research in seeking to understand human behaviour.
This module will build on the broad introduction at level 4 and seek to provide research-based accounts of social and developmental behaviour in key areas, such as individuality across the life-span, prejudice and discrimination, social knowledge and societal attributions, cultural differences in self and identity, and language and communication. A key focus will be the interplay of the two approaches and the synthesis of developmental and social psychology. With its distinctive themes, developmental social psychology will be explored to examine the contribution of social psychology to the study of individual development, from birth to senescence. Through adopting a topic based approach, this module will explore the social contexts of development and the developmental aspects of social behaviour to provide an integrated and dynamic investigation into topical and contemporary psychology.