B.A.; 31 places
What is Psychology?
Psychology is the study of human behaviour and mental processes. It includes topics such as developmental psychology, perception, learning, motivation, cognitive processes, individual differences and social psychology, and has many of the features of a science course, such as practical work, statistical description and analysis of data and courses on the underlying physiology of the human brain.
Psychology: The course for you?
The School of Psychology aims to offer a knowledge base and a set of skills that not only equip students for the many careers that exist in psychology, but also prepare students intellectually for other careers. Psychology is a branch of science that demands clear, rigorous thinking, numeracy and the ability to define, study and solve problems in complex, changing settings. It is also an applied science that deals with how people act and behave in the real world and provides support for people in their social life and work, for example, through clinical and counselling interventions. If you are interested in the factors influencing human thinking, feeling and behaviour you will enjoy this course.
Psychology @ Trinity
Trinity’s School of Psychology is ranked in the world top 100 universities for Psychology in the QS World University Rankings by Subject. As well as offering high-quality teaching, the School collaborates with a number of other disciplines through the Children’s Research Centre, the Neuroscience Institute, the Trinity Centre for Global Health, and the Trinity Centre for Innovative Human Systems. Students are encouraged to become actively involved in our ongoing research, particularly in the third and fourth years of their studies. The single honour degree and the TSM degree (where the student majors in Psychology) both confer eligibility for graduate membership of the Psychological Society of Ireland and provide the basis for entry to postgraduate programmes, such as those in clinical psychology and counselling psychology.
Graduate skills and career opportunities
Many psychology graduates proceed to a career in professional psychology through professional training. The School of Psychology itself offers a range of postgraduate programmes including professional doctorates in Clinical Psychology and Counselling Psychology, Masters courses in Applied Psychology, Applied Behaviour Analysis and Clinical Supervision, as well as research M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees. However, the advanced understanding of human behaviour and experience and the wide range of skills developed during the course have allowed students to enter many professions, ranging from management, marketing, advertising and accountancy, to journalism, broadcast media, teaching and recruitment. Seminars about career development will be provided by the School during the course of your degree.
Your degree and what you’ll study
The course is designed to develop a wide knowledge of the concepts, principles, theories and research methods of contemporary psychology; to develop skills of analysis and synthesis, research design, statistical description and evaluation, problem-solving and computer use; to provide practice in the design, execution, reporting and assessment of research and to develop competence in group work, communication and presentation skills and self-assessment. This preparation is designed to cultivate a high level of competence in scholarship and research, enabling the successful graduate to proceed directly to advanced postgraduate work, professional training or a productive career.
During the lecture term, single honour students spend approximately 10-12 hours per week (5-6 hours for TSM students) receiving tuition such as lectures, tutorials, seminars and laboratory practicals.
FIRST AND SECOND (FRESHMAN) YEARS
The first and second years of both the single honour and TSM programmes provide a broad foundation on which more advanced course work is built in the third and fourth years. In addition, modules in methodology and statistics enable students to develop their research skills in a systematic fashion. Training in academic skills enables you to build the skills required to write essays, to develop an attitude of scepticism and to develop independent, critical thinking.
As a Freshman student, you will take foundation-level modules in a range of areas such as: Foundations of Psychological Thought and Application; Social Psychology; Perception; Psychological Disorder; Developmental Psychology; Cognition and Language; Thinking; Fundamentals of Neuroscience and Behaviour; Evolutionary Psychology; Personality and Individual Differences; Research methods and Statistical Analysis
You will also be given the opportunity to take a module/modules from the Broad Curriculum options (see http://www.tcd.ie/Broad_Curriculum).
THIRD AND FOURTH (SOPHISTER) YEARS
By third year you will have identified areas within psychology that are of particular interest to you and you will have the opportunity to develop these interests throughout third and fourth year, by choosing modules from a series of advanced options. On completion of the course, students must have taken at least one module from each of five specified thematic areas (Biological, Social, Developmental, Cognitive, and Personality and Individual Differences). The kinds of modules which have been offered within each of these areas include:
- Neurological Rehabilitation
- Behavioural Neuroscience
- The Brain Throughout the Lifespan
- Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology
- Culture and Health
- The Social Self: Theory and Measurement
- Organisational Psychology
- Social Neuroscience
- Child Development in Changing Family Contexts
- Debates in Child Psychology
- Language and Language Disorders
- Applied Issues in Developmental Psychology
- Rationality and Reasoning
- Creativity and Imagination
- Cross-Modal Cognition
- Development of Perception Throughout the Lifespan
Personality and individual differences
- Clinical Cases
- Advanced Individual Differences
- Health Psychology
- Forensic Psychology
In fourth year a large part of your workload involves carrying out an independent research project under the supervision of a member of staff. Many students report that this project, while challenging, is one of the most rewarding parts of the course.
A combination of end-of-year written examinations and continuous assessment is used. In your final year, you will also submit a dissertation based on your research project.
Second and third-year undergraduates are eligible to apply to study for one or more semesters (usually a whole academic year) in certain other European psychology schools, with travel, and, where appropriate, some subsistence funding provided by the EU Erasmus fund. There are no basic course charges to be paid abroad. Assessment is carried out in the host (i.e., international) institution and is accepted by Trinity as if students were examined here. The School of Psychology has bilateral agreements with several European universities, including the University of Helsinki, Freie Universität Berlin, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Université Paris V and Uniwersytet Wroclawski.
GET IN TOUCH!
Tel: +353 1 896 1886
What our graduates say
Sinéad Moylett - PhD research student In Psychology, from Roscommon
“After observing the work of an educational psychologist while working with individuals with autism and from other experiences working with intellectual disabilities, I choose to study Psychology. The broad range of topics that I was able to study on the course, from health psychology to neuroscience, could have prepared me for a number of career paths not just within Psychology, but also in the wider world. I enjoyed my time so much during my undergraduate degree, that when it came to choosing a field in which to complete a PhD, I felt that there was only one real choice.”
What our current students say
Lisa Gannon – Final year single honor Psychology student from Roscommon
“As a psychology student I have gained fascinating insights into the enigmatic human mind and the peculiarities of human behaviour. The diverse and comprehensive range of modules offered in psychology as well as the vast array of helpful resources made available by the department have equipped me with a rich theoretical understanding of the human psyche and an aptitude for critical thought. I hope to use the knowledge and skill I have gained through studying psychology to make a positive and valuable contribution to society. Psychology has not only prepared me for my future career, it has prepared me for life.”
Number of Places
CAO code (Central Applications Office code) isTR006
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