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Contemporary Issues and Debates in Psychology

PSY506

Course CodePSY506
ECTS

Course Description

The aim of the unit is to provide learners with knowledge and understanding about current issues and debates in psychology. It will introduce learners to codes of conduct and ethical guidelines in psychology as well as the role psychologists play. Additionally, they will learn about biases in psychological research and debates within the field.

Course Objectives

The aim of the unit is to provide learners with knowledge and understanding about current issues and debates in psychology. It will introduce learners to codes of conduct and ethical guidelines in psychology as well as the role psychologists play. Additionally, they will learn about biases in psychological research and debates within the field.

Key Topics

  1. LO1: Understand codes of conduct and ethical guidelines.
  2. LO2: Understand the role of psychologists.
  3. LO3: Understand bias in psychological research and theory.
  4. LO4: Understand the contribution of debates to the field of psychology.

Course Outline

WeekTopics
1Codes of conduct and ethical guidelines: the BPS and APA; research with human participants
2Informed consent, deception, debriefing and protection from harm
3The varied roles of psychologists as scientists, investigators and practitioners
4Psychology as a value-free science? Therapist neutrality and the influence of the therapist (Wachtel 1977)
5Ethical and moral values: freedom, behavioural control and power imbalances
6Gender bias: feminist psychology, androcentrism and the masculinist bias across the research process
7Culture bias: cross-cultural research and ethnocentrism; bias in drawing inferences
MidtermMidterm evaluation
9Why debates matter: free will vs determinism, reductionism vs holism, nature vs nurture, psychology as a science
10Analysing one major debate: key features and supporting evidence on each side
11Evaluating the methods of each position: strengths and weaknesses; coursework preparation
12Assessment workshop: drafting against the assessment criteria, one-to-one tutorials, formative feedback on drafts
13Supervised completion and submission
14Assignment workshop: drafting, feedback and improvement
15Review and coursework completion
FinalFinal assessment and submission

Learning Outcomes

  1. LO1 Understand codes of conduct and ethical guidelines.
  2. 1.1 Identify codes of conduct and ethical guidelines used in psychology.
  3. 1.2 Assess the major functions of ethical guidelines and policy for psychologists.
  4. LO2 Understand the role of psychologists.
  5. 2.1 Describe the varied roles of psychologists.
  6. 2.2 Analyse the requirement for psychologists to have a totally objective approach.
  7. 2.3 Analyse the ethical and moral values psychologists must adhere to.
  8. LO3 Understand bias in psychological research and theory.
  9. 3.1 Explain bias in psychological research and theory.
  10. 3.2 Analyse how researchers could be prone to certain biases when making inferences.
  11. LO4 Understand the contribution of debates to the field of psychology.
  12. 4.1 Evaluate the importance of debates within the field of psychology.
  13. 4.2 Analyse the key features of one major debate in psychology.
  14. 4.3 Identify evidence to support each side of the debate.
  15. 4.4 Evaluate the methods used by each position within the debate.
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