Module PSYS3307: PSYCHOPATHY

Department: Psychology (Applied Psychology)

PSYS3307: PSYCHOPATHY

Prerequisites

• 60 credits from Level 2 Psychology module

Corequisites

• None

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None

Aims

• To introduce students to history, research, and clinical features of psychopathy

Content

• The module will cover psychopathy, psychopathic traits, and callous-unemotional traits. We will explore psychopathy paying attention to the way in which empirical studies and theory support the existence and importance of this personality disorder. Topics from psychological science will be applied to understanding these topics, and the following may be included in discussions on psychopathy:
• Behavioural and cognitive approaches to therapy
• Decision making by judges, juries and offenders
• Developmental factors
• Ethics
• Forensic neuropsychology
• Intellectual disabilities and crime
• Emotional context
• Psychological Assessments
• Risk assessment
• Sexual offending
• Violence
• Discussions will include psychological research from fields such as Developmental Psychology, Developmental Psychopathology, Cognitive Psychology, Neuropsychology, Social Psychology, Individual Differences, Forensic Psychology, Biopsychology etc will be applied to understanding psychopathy.

Learning Outcomes

• Detailed knowledge of the personality disorder of psychopathy including current theory, evidence and research methods
• In-depth knowledge of some specialist areas of applied psychology

• Students passing this module should be able to review critically and consolidate understanding of a coherent body of psychological knowledge and apply it appropriately

• Good written communication skills
• Good IT skills in word processing, data manipulation, and data presentation
• Ability to work independently in scholarship and research within broad guidelines

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Knowledge and understanding is developed through the weekly 2 hour sessions involving a variety of learning modes including lectures, video based material, and student discussion
• This knowledge will be assessed in the summative assignment, and the multiple-choice examination. The summative assignment will be essay based, providing students with the opportunity to demonstrate their abilities to appraise and apply empirical evidence and theoretical claims in a critical manner. The examination will allow students to demonstrate knowledge across the broad range of topics covered in the module
• Preparations for the summative assignments will promote students’ abilities to locate, read and evaluate a body of evidence
• All modes of teaching are designed to promote critical evaluation of evidence and arguments, to adopt different theoretical positions, and to interpret empirical work in terms of theory. These abilities are assessed via written assignments. Feedback is provided for the summative assignments

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University