Psychology and Sociology

Course description

Psychology is the scientific study of the mind and behaviour. During this course you will investigate how and why humans (and other animals) behave in the ways they do, and learn about the mental processes driving these behaviours. As you’ll discover, Psychology is a very broad subject, covering such diverse areas as brain function, perceiving the world and even the social interactions in a football crowd. Psychology at Stirling is internationally renowned for research and this feeds into teaching. In our taught modules, you learn of the importance of research in furthering the understanding of behaviour and, in practical work, develop research skills of your own. Semesters 1 – 2 comprise an introduction to psychology as a biological and behavioural science including: Developmental Psychology; Brain and Behaviour; Language and Thinking; Animal Behaviour; Clinical and Abnormal Psychology; Social Psychology and Cognitive Psychology. Other modules on this course may include: Research Methods, Social Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Individual Differences, Cognition, Animal Behaviour and Clinical and Health Psychology. In the final year of our Single Honours Programme, as well as an individual research project, you will choose from a wide variety of electives that are designed to allow you to explore topics that interest you and build your employability skills. Teaching is by workshops, small discussion groups and practical sessions such as laboratory work or field work. There are opportunities for placements with prospective employers and fieldwork in the study of animal behaviour.

Do you want to understand better how society works? Are you keen to know more about the purpose, processes and outcomes of social welfare, both here and abroad? Why and how do people break the law? How can the criminal justice system define this and how do we police, prosecute and punish people? Our courses look at the nature of social change, social differentiation, the construction and definition of social problems and the maintenance of social order as well as broader questions of process and policy. And we offer an international and comparative approach covering topics that analyse society and welfare issues in various countries. We have particular expertise covering Scotland, the UK, the European Union, Western and Central Europe, Australasia, North America and Latin America. In your first two years you will take three subjects each semester. One of these is a core subject for your degree, but you can choose the other two from Faculties across the University. For example, you could take Sociology with English or another language, Social Policy with Marketing or Criminology with Law. The key benefits of this system are that you can change the emphasis of your degree as you progress, change from full-time to part-time if you need to, change your degree subject(s) and not until midway through your second year do you need to decide what your final degree subject(s) will be. Many of our students go on to complete Combined Degrees with subject such as Law, History, Education, Politics, Philosophy, Business Studies, Spanish, Computing Science and Psychology. The core modules for Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology students in the first two years – Social Differentiation, Social Problems, Understanding Social Policy and Development of Social Theory – provide a coherent and cumulative introduction to key concerns. In Years 3 and 4, you will specialise in your chosen area. As well as taking core modules you will chose from a list of optional modules.

Subjects

• Psychology
• Sociology