Course overview

This course is designed to provide you with an understanding of atypical development. This will encompass both developmental disorders and childhood mental health, looking at the developmental cause, assessment, classification, and treatment. It will provide a good foundation for those wishing to pursue further training in professional clinical training, child psychology and research. You will develop your academic knowledge in these areas as well as training in relevant assessment and research techniques. Please note that this course does not include clinical work with children, neither does it constitute professional training (e.g. training in clinical psychology).

This course will:

• provide you with a comprehension of the principles of research design and strategy within the field of developmental disorders and child psychopathology, including an understanding of how to formulate researchable problems and an appreciation of alternative approaches to research
• enable you to understand a range of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies and tools, including infant observation, assessment and diagnostic interviewing, neuroimaging (electroencephalography (EEG), magnetoencephalography (MEG)) and neuropsychological assessment
• give you a comprehensive understanding of current theoretical issues in relation to cause, classification and treatment protocols for a range of developmental disorders and childhood mental health
• provide you with the skills necessary for managing research, including the process of research and its dissemination in a way that is consistent with both professional practice and the normal principles of research ethics
• develop your understanding of the significance of alternative epistemological positions that provide the context for theory construction, research design, and the selection of appropriate analytical techniques
• prepare you for careers in research, research methods, and provide you with a wide range of transferable skills
• provide you with the opportunity and the practical skills to carry out research with a clinical population using either quantitative or qualitative methodology.

On successful completion of this course you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• current methodological issues within the clinical field specifically related to children
• current theoretical issues in developmental disorder and psychopathology
• the context (at the national and international levels) in which research takes place
• issues relating to the rights of other researchers, research subjects, and of others who might be affected by the research (e.g. ethical and legal issues, confidentiality, copyright, malpractice)
• good research practice in psychology clinical settings
• the relevant health and safety issues and responsible working practices
• the processes for funding and evaluation of research
• the process of academic and commercial exploitation of research results
• the scientific basis of the discipline of psychology: its philosophical, historical, and epistemological context
• the relationship between hypotheses, research design, data collection, interpretation, and theory
• a range of quantitative research methods and general statistical techniques.

Assessment

A broad range of assessment methods will be used measuring every aspect of your understanding and skilled application of the relevant techniques. These will include essays, portfolios, exams, presentations, poster presentations, debates, data analyses and a final dissertation module worth one-third of the total course assessment.

Facilities

You will have access to several dedicated, sound attenuated research laboratories, equipped with networked computers. Additional specialist laboratories exist: an observation laboratory, including a two-way mirror (this can double as a baby-lab); an electroencephalography (EEG) laboratory; an eyetracking laboratory; a psycholinguistics laboratory; a psychometrics laboratory; a psychoneuroimmunology laboratory.

Find out more about our facilities.

Student achievements

To see examples of our Masters students' dissertation work presented at our Annual Conference, click here.

Associated careers

This course is ideally suited to those wishing to pursue a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology, a career working with children or in a variety of other clinical settings. The skills obtained from completing this course are highly employable in many other research environments.

Entry Requirements:

EITHER 2.2 in BA or BSc Psychology with Graduate Basis for Recognition (GBR) for the British Psychology Society (BPS)OR 2.1 or above in non-accredited BA or BSc Psychology (or closely related discipline, e.g., Health Psychology, Joint honours Psychology, or Neuropsychology)

Our published entry requirements are a guide only and our decision will be based on your overall suitability for the course as well as whether you meet the minimum entry requirements.

We welcome applications from International and EU students. Please select one of the links below for English language and country-specific entry requirement information.

• International students
• EU students
• English language requirements