Module manager: Rebecca Wray
Email: r.j.wray@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable
Year running 2025/26
BSc Psychology or MPsyc, BSc Advanced Psychology or BA Philosophy, Psychology and Scientific Thought entry requirements BSc Psychology with Education entry requirements
PSYC1603 Developmental Psychology
This module is not approved as a discovery module
This module aims to provide students with a comprehensive overview of basic knowledge across Developmental Psychology, exploring a breadth of topics, theoretical perspectives and research approaches. Through lectures, students will be supported to become critically aware of the interconnections between topics and theories. In accompanying workshops, students will be supported to explore the applications of Developmental Psychological theory and research to a range of real world applications.
This module aims to
1- Provide students with core knowledge within Developmental Psychology through lectures
2- Introduce students to the relationships between differing theoretical perspectives across Developmental Psychology
3- Introduce students to critical discussion of research and research approaches within Developmental Psychology, through structured workshops
4- Introduce students to the robust practical application of psychological theory to real-world practice, in specific relation to Developmental Psychology
On successful completion of the module students will, in a manner relevant to the subject, be able to:
1- Recognise fundamental conceptual knowledge within developmental psychology
2- Recognise fundamental conceptual knowledge within individual differences, as it relates to developmental psychology
3- Describe and explain, with appropriate evaluation, the practical application of developmental psychology theory to real world issues
Skills Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following skills learning outcomes:
4- Summarise and evaluate practical, theoretical, and ethical issues associated with a range of developmental psychological research methodologies and approaches
5- Apply, with evidence, fundamental developmental psychological theory to address aspects of real-world issues
6- Describe rationales for evidence-based solutions to relevant problems in developmental psychology
Topics will include:
1- Prenatal development and infancy
2- Cognitive development and memory
3- Emotional development and attachment
4- Social and moral development
5- Language development
6- Individual differences: educational psychology, differential developmental trajectories
7- Parents, peers and social relationships
8- Developmental psychopathology and neurodevelopmental disorders
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lecture | 15 | 1 | 15 |
| Seminar | 5 | 1 | 5 |
| Private study hours | 180 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 20 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 200 | ||
Students will have in-class exam questions (formative).
Formative feedback will be provided via the seminars. Students will be set short assessment-relevant tasks (2x 15 minutes) and will receive hands on staff support and structured peer feedback on the outputs of these. Seminar leaders will then provide model answers/responses to these tasks.
A session will include practice exam questions to check understanding and clarify the examination format.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Coursework | Coursework (summative) - Structured worksheet application task | 50 |
| Coursework | In-class formative worksheet examples (formative) - To support summative assessment | 0 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 50 | |
Coursework assessment: students will complete a structured worksheet which requires (with scaffolding/support) some critical analysis/practical application of a given journal article to an applied topic relevant to Developmental Psychology (e.g. education policy/practice).
| Exam type | Exam duration | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Standard exam (closed essays, MCQs etc) | 1.0 Hrs 30 Mins | 50 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Exams) | 50 | |
This is a breadth assessment, covering base knowledge with some compare/contrast questions. Questions are based on lecture content with limited mandatory journal article reading reflected in a minority of questions.
The reading list is available from the Library website
Last updated: 25/04/2025
Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team