What is Psychology?

Psychology is the study of human behaviour and mental processes. It includes topics such as infant and child development, perception, learning, motivation, cognitive processes (like memory and problem solving), 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.

 

Do you enjoy:

• Analysing other people’s behaviour?
• Trying to understand how the brain works?
• Conducting your own research to answer questions?

 

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 at Trinity

As well as offering high-quality teaching, Trinity’s School of Psychology collaborates with a number of other disciplines through Trinity College Institute for Neuroscience, 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 Honours degree confers 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, Master's courses in Applied Psychology, Applied Behaviour Analysis and Global Mental Health, as well as online postgraduate qualifications in Managing Risk and System Change, and Psychoanalytic Studies. There is also the potential to pursue research in a relate field at Trinity.

 

More broadly, 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 knowledge and understanding of the concepts, principles, theories, and research methods of contemporary psychology; to develop skills of analysis and synthesis, problem-solving, research design, and statistical description and evaluation using the Python programming language; to provide practice in the design, execution, reporting and critical evaluation of research; and to develop competence in group work, communication and presentation skills, and self-assessment

 

During the lecture term, students spend approximately 10-12 hours per week receiving tuition such as lectures, tutorials, seminars and laboratory practicals.