Studying Psychology at postgraduate level gives you the opportunity to delve into the methodological and theoretical issues that are considered important in the study of cognitive/neuropsychology. Examine the relationship between brain and mind through the learning about vision, learning and emotion.
Examine how cognitive psychological, neuropsychological, neurobiological and computer science approaches can be combined to understand how the human mind/brain solves a variety of complex problems, such as recognising objects, remembering previous experiences, reading, speaking and reasoning.
Build on existing knowledge, abilities and skills by developing both in basic and advanced contemporary statistical and methodological issues in psychology. While studying the relationship between brain and mind, through the understanding of vision, learning, memory, language and memory. Preparing you for doctoral study, an academic career or a job in the NHS as a psychologist/assistant.
As a student within the School of Psychology at Kent, you benefit from our supportive, dynamic and diverse environment for creative research and learning.
All of our taught Master’s (MSc) programmes have been recognised by the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) as meeting the nationally recognised criteria for preparation training for PhD research.
Conducting both basic and applied research in several areas, Psychology at Kent is highly regarded as a leading European centre for postgraduate research. Our long-established international reputation in social psychology is complemented by our strengths in cognitive, developmental and forensic psychology. We attract excellent visiting scholars and postgraduate students from both within the UK and overseas.
Some of our PhD students are self-funded, and others are funded by grants or awards either from the School, UK or their countries of origin. Some are also paid to undertake part-time teaching within the School. We have a strong track record of attracting ESRC research studentship funding, which involves partnerships with external organisations such as Age UK and the Equality and Human Rights Commission and collaborative studentships with partners such as People United.
A first or second class honours degree in a relevant subject or equivalent.
All applications are considered on an individual basis and additional qualifications, professional qualifications and relevant experience may also be taken into account when considering applications.
This programme includes a one-year statistics sequence which you must normally pass in order to receive your award. The teaching assumes that you are familiar with the following topics:
Therefore, your existing degree transcript should note that you have taken and passed a minimum of one term each in statistics and social science research methods courses (or two terms of a joint statistics and research methods course). A British Psychological Society-accredited degree will likely meet this requirement. Applicants with other degrees may be asked to provide additional evidence of training in statistics.
All applicants are considered on an individual basis and additional qualifications, professional qualifications and relevant experience may also be taken into account when considering applications.
Please see our International Student website for entry requirements by country and other relevant information. Due to visa restrictions, students who require a student visa to study cannot study part-time unless undertaking a distance or blended-learning programme with no on-campus provision.
This course requires a Good level of English language, equivalent to B2 on CEFR.
Details on how to meet this requirement can be found on our English Language requirements webpage.
Examples:
IELTS 6.0 with a minimum of 5.5 in each component
PTE Academic 63 with a minimum of 59 in each sub-test
A degree from a UK university
A degree from a Majority English Speaking Country
Please note that if you are required to meet an English language condition, we offer a number of pre-sessional courses in English for Academic Purposes through Kent International Pathways.
The modules below are indicative of those offered on this programme. This list is based on the current curriculum and may change year to year in response to new curriculum developments and innovation.
This module provides a postgraduate-level orientation to essential contemporary statistical and methodological issues. Students will learn techniques typically used for research in psychology and other disciplines that use sampling statistics. The methodological issues considered include qualitative research methodologies; experimental, quasi-experimental, and correlational research designs in the laboratory and field; and issues surrounding the replicability and reporting of research. The statistical techniques taught include univariate and multivariate descriptive and inferential statistics; ANOVA as a form of general linear model; correlation and linear multiple regression; and nonparametric tests such as chi-square.
This module provides a postgraduate-level orientation to advanced statistical issues in predictive models with a one-variable outcome. Students will learn techniques typically used for research in psychology and other disciplines that use sampling statistics, which ultimately depend on a common basis of linear modelling that follows a complex evolution into multiple specific applications. These may include: moderation with interactions involving ordinal variables; mediation models using regression; connections between linear models and traditional ANOVA approaches; factorial ANOVA, ANCOVA, repeated and mixed ANOVA; and multilevel modelling. The teaching assumes recent experience with basic statistical concepts, software, and tests which will be provided by a prerequisite module.
The course provides a coherent base for understanding the methodological and theoretical issues that are currently considered important in the study of cognitive psychology and neuropsychology. Students will be shown how to critically appraise the philosophical and theoretical underpinnings of the various disciplines that comprise cognitive psychology and neuropsychology, and to evaluate how these disciplines may successfully be combined to further scientific understanding of the core problems in cognitive psychology and neuropsychology today. A selection of material from areas such as vision, learning, memory, language, reasoning, emotion will be referred to in order to examine the relationship between brain and mind, the modularity of brain and mind, and the notion of different levels/frameworks of description and explanation.
This module provides students with an understanding of academic research and an ability to identify and utilise appropriate strategies and techniques for the purpose of individual investigation, research and practice within a subject specific area of their course route. The module guides students through appropriate research and/or data collection to ensure that they have the source material required to write their dissertation. This module will prepare students to undertake the dissertation module in Stage 2 of their course, including matching students with supervisors and ensuring that their proposal is satisfactory to reach the required level of independent thought in their dissertation project.
This module provides a postgraduate-level foundational course in Psychometrics, also known as 'test theory' or 'theory of psychological tests and measurements'. It is intended primarily for students of psychology and any other field of social science where test are constructed or used, but also for students with a mathematics/statistics background interested in psychometric testing. The module introduces students to the main quantitative concepts, methods, and computational techniques needed for the informed use, development, evaluation, and application of tests in the behavioural/social sciences, including educational tests. The course begins with describing fundamental properties and levels of measurement, and some models and methods for 'scaling' an attribute. Fundamental concepts of Classical Test Theory such as 'true score' and 'error of measurement' are considered, and key techniques needed for evaluating reliability and validity of test scores are studied. Factor analysis is studied in depth as a fundamental technique to evaluate the number and structure of attributes the test measures. Factor analytic methods are extended to binary and ordinal test items, and Item Response Theory methods are introduced including Rasch scaling. With these foundations, psychometric applications from various fields of behavioural studies are considered, and it is demonstrated how the choice of scaling method can have implications for substantive conclusions.
This module provides a postgraduate-level foundational course in multivariate modelling, with a particular focus on applications in psychology, public health and education. It is intended primarily for students of psychology and any other field of social science where relationships between multiple observations on humans and other subjects are of interest, but also for students with a mathematics/statistics background interested in such applications. With foundations taught in the pre-requisite module, PSYC8013 Psychometrics, 'measurement by modelling' is formally introduced using a Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) framework. Within this framework, specific techniques such as path analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, basic longitudinal analysis and multiple-group analysis are taught. Data analysis applications from various fields of psychological studies are considered, and it is demonstrated how to model/test statistically complex phenomena such as spurious and indirect effects, growth and change, measurement invariance, and others.
This module will provide you with a wide-ranging, detailed and critical overview of neuropsychological theories of ageing. It will draw on evidence from healthy and pathological ageing, incorporating cognitive and neuroscientific research. The curriculum will focus on theories of cognitive ageing, presenting evidence sourced using a range of cognitive psychological and neuropsychological methods. It will include detailed neuropsychological profiles of pathological ageing conditions such as Alzheimer's Disease, Frontotemporal Dementia and Parkinson's Disease, allowing you to compare and contrast how specific neural changes attributable to disease processes result in different cognitive deficits. We will also discuss clinical considerations when working with older adults, demonstrating how research informs clinical practice. Finally, the module will introduce the notion of "successful ageing" and you will critically evaluate the evidence for lifestyle factors such as diet, sleep, exercise, and mental stimulation.
The central theme of this module will be to explore how cognition functions in the real world, that is, to investigate the application of cognitive models to the broader context of human behaviour. Possible topics for study include: the role of cognition in development, emotion, memory and action; applications to eyewitness testimony, intentional forgetting and embodied cognition. Practical applications and relevance to a general understanding of behaviour will be emphasised throughout.
This module will provide students with theoretical instruction and practical experience in some key advanced research methods appropriate for scientific research in cognitive (neuro)psychology. The study of cognitive processes and the temporal nature of brain activity will feature highly in this module.
This module explores the typical development of key cognitive functions and the psychological methods employed to study these developments. The aim of the module is to explore these topics at an advanced level, allowing students to evaluate critically pieces of research in terms of their findings, conceptual underpinnings, and/or methodological approaches. Lecture topics may include: Research methods in developmental psychology; Critical periods and plasticity; Introduction to theories of word learning; The critical period for language learning; Social learning and imitation; Thinking about the minds of others; Understanding knowledge; Metacognition
This module investigates common forms of neurodevelopmental disorder. The goal of the module is to help students understand the behavioural manifestations of these disorders, as well as their possible psychological/cognitive, neurobiological, and/or etiological (genetic/environmental) causes. Moreover, the module will explore some characteristic approaches that clinicians take when attempting to support people with these disorders and remediate the difficulties that these people experience. Finally, students will learn to evaluate critically pieces of research on developmental psychopathology in terms of study findings, conceptual underpinnings, and/or methodological approaches.
The module will survey cutting edge research emphasising the role of sensory and motor systems in human cognition. We will discuss the relationship between brain, mind and body, from physiological, experimental, philosophical, linguistic, and neuroscientific perspectives. The module will cover areas such as sensorimotor interactions, interoception, somatosensory and motor plasticity, body representation, body ownership, the sense of agency, as well as embodied cognition. Implications for cognition, social behaviour and clinical conditions will be emphasised.
All students undertake a supervised empirical research project relevant to their chosen MSc programme, and submit it as a typed dissertation of approximately 8,000 words.
For Cognitive Psychology/Neuropsychology, Developmental Psychology, and Social Psychology dissertations, the project should be grounded in the area of psychology.
For Organisational and Business Psychology dissertations, the project should include an examination of an identifiable organisational or business issue or problem within the context of relevant psychological theory, such as social, organisational or business psychology.
The aim of the dissertation is to test the student's ability to plan, execute, analyse, and report a piece of independent research in the relevant setting. The dissertation requires detailed theoretical knowledge of the relevant discipline (or disciplines), an appreciation of the ways in which that knowledge has been applied in previous research and practice, and the methodological and statistical skills to set up a scientific investigation. Supervision is provided by the principal teaching staff and by other appropriate staff with research interests in a student's chosen area. Students are advised to read the School's Ethics pages for information on submitting applications for ethical approval to the School and to relevant outside bodies.
The programme mainly involves lecture and seminar based teaching. In addition, particular option units (such as computational modelling) require 'hands-on' experience and learning of particular skills. Staff contact time is eight hours per week. You are expected to study for 1,800 hours over 45 weeks.
Assessment is mainly by coursework assignment (4-6,000 word essays), examination (for the Advanced Statistics and Methodology module only), plus the dissertation.
This programme aims to:
You will gain knowledge and understanding of:
You develop intellectual skills in:
You gain subject-specific skills in:
You will gain the following transferable skills:
The School has excellent facilities for both laboratory and field research, including advanced laboratory and teaching facilities. Resources include:
Staff publish regularly and widely in journals, conference proceedings and books. Among others, they have recently contributed to: Journal of Experimental Social Psychology; Journal of Personality and Social Psychology; Child Development; and Clinical Psychology Review.
All students registered for a taught Master's programme are eligible to apply for a place on our Global Skills Award Programme. The programme is designed to broaden your understanding of global issues and current affairs as well as to develop personal skills which will enhance your employability.
The School of Psychology is highly regarded as a leading European centre for postgraduate research, with an international reputation for excellence in social psychology (including group processes and intergroup relations); cognition and neuroscience; developmental psychology; and forensic psychology. We have staff who can supervise research degrees in all of these areas. The research environment is designed to sustain a strong, vibrant research culture, encourage collaboration, and unite staff and students with shared research interests. Our themes ensure critical mass and create a highly energetic and stimulating intellectual climate.
Research activity is supported by:
Research under this theme has an international reputation in the topic areas of Visual Cognition, Attention and Memory, and Language and Communication.
Research on this topic focuses primarily on the role of vision and visual perception in human performance. The fundamental aim of this work is to identify the cognitive processes and neurological mechanisms underlying various visual tasks. Studies involving neurologically healthy volunteers examine issues such as face recognition and identification, eyewitness testimony, person detection, emotion processing, episodic memory and pattern and motion recognition.
Research in this group examines various aspects of semantic, pragmatic and syntactic understanding. Research questions on healthy populations include the role of executive functions in successful language use and communication, how language influences attentional processes and perspective taking, anomaly detection, and the effect of interruptions on reading. Work on developmental populations examines issues such as how children learn to understand and produce sentences in their own language, and how they learn conversational conventions and self-repair. Research also examines developmental disorders of communication, including autism spectrum disorders and dyslexia. This research group has links with researchers in the School of European Culture and Languages, as part of the Centre for Language and Linguistic Studies.
Much of our social psychology research is co-ordinated through the Centre for the Study of Group Processes (CSGP), the largest research group in this area in Europe. CSGP attracts a stream of major international social psychology researchers, who are officially affiliated to the Centre and visit regularly to work with our staff. The Social Psychology group also includes the co-editor of Group Processes and Intergroup Relations (Abrams).
Social psychology research at Kent is funded by a variety of British and international sources, currently and recently including ESRC, British Academy, Leverhulme, Age Concern, European Commission, European Science Foundation, Home Office, Equality and Human Rights Commission, Nuffield, and Joseph Rowntree Foundation, as well as government departments such as the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Department for Work and Pensions.
The Social Psychology group includes the following themes:
This research is carried out in our social psychology laboratories, at schools and in business organisations. For example, research within this topic focuses on questions such as: how contact between members of different social groups is represented psychologically, how intergroup contact affects prejudice, when outgroups are seen as less human, when and why children show prejudice, and why organisational mergers sometimes fail.
Research on this topic combines theory-driven research and engagement with policy. It is conducted in real-life settings such as the workplace, and involves national and international surveys. For example, the research focuses on the well-being of elderly people in Britain, work participation and motherhood, and discrimination against different groups in society.
Laboratory studies and community-based research are conducted on this topic. For example, research focuses on co-operation in small groups, group decision-making, perception and influence of leaders, social communication and language, subjective group dynamics in adults and children, the dynamics of prison gang activity, and the impact of alcohol on group processes.
Much of this research is carried out in laboratories, through surveys and in clinical or other applied settings. For example, research has examined aggression, the adaptive functions of perfectionism, and consequences of mortality salience.
Forensic Psychology research at Kent and all forensic-related teaching operates through our newly constituted Centre of Research and Education in Forensic Psychology (CORE-FP). Current research is focused on bullying in prisons, prison gang behaviour, jury decision-making, child sexual offending, rape, rape proclivity, female sexual offending, theories of offender rehabilitation, firesetting, sexual harassment, violence, aggression and alcohol, and the infrahumanisation of offenders. Other areas of research include social cognition, social and moral emotion, and group process theory, all of which are applied to the study of offending behaviour or court process issues.
Forensic psychology research at Kent is funded by various national and international sources, which include: The British Academy, Economic and Social Research Council, Home Office, Leverhulme, Ministry of Justice and the Nuffield Foundation.
Research may be carried out with staff or offenders/ex-offenders in a variety of settings, including prisons, youth offender institutions, secure mental health units and probation offices. Alternatively, research may take place with students or members of the community in our newly equipped laboratories.
Much of the research conducted by members of the Developmental Psychology group is conducted with neurotypical infants, children, and adolescents. However, we also take a lifespan approach to the study of development and conduct research with older adults. Moreover, a key focus of our research is on neuro-developmental disorders. Central research topics include:
Developmental group members are particularly interested in the expression and control of ethnic and gender prejudice, social ostracism and inclusion, conversational norms and group identity in children. We also conduct research on social aspects of older adulthood, in particular self-stereotyping and prejudice against elderly people.
Cognitive development is a major focus of many of our developmental psychologists. In particular, members of the Developmental Psychology group actively research topics such as the development of social cognition and theory of mind, language, information and sensory processing, and conversation and pragmatic skills.
Our developmental research also focuses on adolescence, as well as infancy, childhood and older adulthood. In particular, we are interested in the emergence of gang activity and antisocial behaviour during this period of development.
We also conduct cutting-edge research into neuro-developmental disorders, such as autism and language impairment, with a view to understanding the nature and basis of, and best ways to treat, these disorders.
The School of Psychology currently includes two formally constituted research centres, representing areas of concentration and excellence in research.
The Centre for the Study of Group Processes (CSGP) was set up in 1990 to consolidate the School’s excellent international reputation for social psychological research into group processes and intergroup relations. CSGP is now a thriving international research community, including 15 full-time academic staff and a large number of research fellows and PhD students. The Centre also attracts a stream of major international group researchers, who are officially affiliated to it and regularly visit to work with our staff. The Centre also edits an international journal, Group Processes and Intergroup Relations.
The main aim of the Centre of Research and Education in Forensic Psychology is to conduct high-impact psychological research to further understand key forensic issues of social significance, and to lead to cutting-edge teaching and research opportunities for postgraduate students. Forensic psychology is an extremely popular and rapidly developing branch of psychology that seeks to understand the psychological processes underlying offending behaviour (including group processes), the reduction and supervision of offending behaviour (ie rehabilitation, treatment and management of community risk), victim responses to offending, the mechanisms underlying the criminal justice system more generally (ie jury decision-making and the courts), and attitudes to offenders and offender reintegration in society.
Full details of staff research interests can be found on the School's website.
Our postgraduate students commonly go into the fields of health, teaching or further education. For instance, many of our graduates take up roles as assistant psychologists in the NHS with a view to becoming a professional clinical or forensic psychologist. Upon completing our Master’s courses, graduates have also pursued doctoral study and academic careers at higher education institutions.
The programmes we offer help you to develop general critical, analytic and problem-solving skills that can be applied in a wide range of settings.
All of our taught Master’s (MSc) programmes have been recognised by the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) as meeting the nationally recognised criteria for preparation training for PhD research.
The 2024/25 annual tuition fees for this course are:
For details of when and how to pay fees and charges, please see our Student Finance Guide.
For students continuing on this programme fees will increase year on year by no more than RPI + 3% in each academic year of study except where regulated.* If you are uncertain about your fee status please contact information@kent.ac.uk.
The University will assess your fee status as part of the application process. If you are uncertain about your fee status you may wish to seek advice from UKCISA before applying.
For details of when and how to pay fees and charges, please see our Student Finance Guide.
For students continuing on this programme, fees will increase year on year by no more than RPI + 3% in each academic year of study except where regulated.*
The University will assess your fee status as part of the application process. If you are uncertain about your fee status you may wish to seek advice from UKCISA before applying.
Find out more about general additional costs that you may pay when studying at Kent.
Search our scholarships finder for possible funding opportunities. You may find it helpful to look at both:
We have a range of subject-specific awards and scholarships for academic, sporting and musical achievement.
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