This module will examine a wide variety of human behaviours, and attempt to show how psychological models and principles can make apparently bizarre or bewildering actions and judgement more understandable and interpretable.
More specifically, the module discusses various theoretical models of attention, as the springboard for learning how attentional concepts have been used in areas as diverse as preschool cognitive development, children with autism & ADHD, anxiety disorders and the perception of flavours and tastes. The module combines psychological research into attentional topics with applications for a variety of more applied phenomena, drawing on research papers, videos, online blogs and other sources. Accordingly, at the time of writing coursework involves students combining published research findings with their own applied element (forming an analysis of a contemporary media piece) where students choose, under staff guidance and support, what real-world phenomena to analyse.