COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY WITH RESEARCH METHODS 2 - 2026/7

Module Overview

This module will deepen students' understanding of theories, methods and findings of studies in perception and cognition. Through attending a series of lectures and tutorials students will acquire knowledge in the area and practise critiquing given pieces of research and developing research ideas.

Module provider

Psychology

Module Leader

BUTTERWORTH James (Psychology)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 5

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Semester 2

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

Biological Psychology with Research Methods 1 & 2; Cognitive Psychology with Research Methods 1

Module content

Indicative content includes:

• Sensory Perception
• Perception and Movement
• Categorical Perception
• Speech Perception 
• Sleep
• Judgement and Decision Making
• Reasoning
• Executive Functions
• Visual Attention
• Face processing

The research proposal, that will be developed during the research seminars, will introduce students to design quantitative research. This will include multiple opportunities to develop digital literacy, including the evaluation of previous theories, development of research tools using knowledge learned throughout the module and gaining experience of transferable skills, such as written and verbal presentation.

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

Reasonable adjustments to assignments are made on a case-by-case basis. Please contact the module convenor to discuss as soon as possible.

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate the following skills:

Key digital literacy skills, including: their ability to critically engage with academic literature and their ability to critically review the literature and to assess the quality and quantity of evidence in psychology.
Understanding of significant cognitive functions, including their dynamic and integrated processes, and the relationships with external factors, such as AI use in the evolving digital world.
Developing and demonstrating strong capabilities using AI resources for academic, education, and professional purposes.

Coursework

The assessments will also allow students to demonstrate key employability skills, specifically their ability to present clear, coherent, and concise arguments to an audience, along with teamwork and critical evaluation skills. The task of developing a novel research proposal will provide students with encourage to engage in the literature they find interesting and develop interesting new research prospects. A preregistration document is used to summarise the students¿ ability to design and report a quantitative research project in a concise and clear manner. The preregistration includes task such as sample size and power calculation, experimental design, and analysis plan, to help develop professionalism, interpersonal skills and expressing confidence within research environment. This group presentation project will develop the student¿s strong interpersonal skills that supplement their learning, in support of their own independent research.

Students will additionally complete an exam that assesses the breadth of the module by requiring knowledge of multiple cognitive domains.

Formative assessment and feedback

Students will receive formal feedback in many ways. Students will get feedback from each other in the form of peer discussion and support within assessment-specific tutorials. Students will get formal verbal support and feedback from tutors in these same tutorials, along with verbal feedback lectures. Students will receive written feedback for their oral presentation via submission of a pre-registration report; students may submit a pre-registration report midway through the assessment-specific tutorials, and get written feedback from their tutor which will offer feedback for their proposal. The pre-registration form will not be graded, and therefore offers a great opportunity for feedback without academic consequence.

Students will receive exam-specific support in the form of revision lectures, designed to revisit key materials from the module, along with example exam questions and example answers. Students may also have access to past exam questions and practice questions set by the tutors.

General feedback across the module is available via a well monitored online discussion board to ask anonymous questions, and direct online tutor support via emails. Both assessments will also provide feedback after submission.

Module aims

• Help you develop knowledge in the area of cognitive psychology.
• To learn to use your knowledge of cognitive psychology to form a persuasive argument..
• Provide students with an in-depth knowledge and critical understanding of cognitive psychology.
• Familiarize students with human cognition from a diverse range of backgrounds.
• Give students the skills to critically evaluate research in cognitive psychology by employing evidence-based reasoning.
• Provide students with a basic understanding of qualitative research methods.
• Provide students with opportunities to be critical and effective communicators, through group-based activities and presentations.
• Familiarize students with open science, transparency, and reproducibility.

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to:

• Give students familiarity with the thinking and writing of the key figures in cognitive psychology from a diverse range of backgrounds.


• Provide students with the foundational knowledge to enable them to describe key theories used in cognitive psychology.


• Give students the digital literacy skills to critically evaluate different theoretical perspectives and the empirical evidence that tests them.


• Provide students with the resourcefulness to critically discuss the implications of key findings relating to cognitive psychology.


• Provide students with a foundational understanding of key psychological and quantitative research methods used within the field.


• Enable students to develop, demonstrate and apply research skills by engaging with key aspects of the research process such as study design, preregistration, recruitment, data collection, and analysis plan.


• Enable students to develop the knowledge, skills and critical thinking required to be able to understand with human behaviours, by applying theory to practice.

The learning and teaching methods include:

• Lectures


• Seminars

Students are invited to contribute to discussions from their own background and experiences and are encouraged to be actively involved in problem solving, thus developing their own judgment and opinions. Students are further encouraged to engage with this through group work to develop research proposals and presentations for the assessment.

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: PSY2014

Other information

Resourcefulness and resilience:

Students are required to take their initial learning on the module and apply it to design a preregistration which is subsequently used for their presentation and the coursework assessment. The questions need to be open enough to invite discussion with the participant but focused enough to target the specific aspect of cognitive psychology they plan to investigate.

Global and Cultural Capabilities:

Students are encouraged to consider how differing perspectives, backgrounds, and individual differences can affect group dynamics and teamwork.

Digital Capabilities and Open Science:

Students are provided with several opportunities to develop their digital abilities. They will continue to develop their understanding of university software, such as SurreyLearn. They will develop their skills using search engines to complete literature reviews and explore the content discussed on this module. Students are encouraged to engage with statistical analysis software (such as Jamovi) to better develop their understanding of research design. In class, students will use various digital software to engage with the lecture content and interactive components of the teaching, such as Socrative, and PollEverywhere. Digital methods of data collection (such as experimental tasks) and platforms for data collection (such as Qualtrics) are discussed throughout the module where relevant.

Employability:

The learning aims and assessments are designed to develop students¿ employability skills. It is expected that students will work with peers on the development of their preregistration during the research seminars, which require teamwork and effective communication skills with group members and during the presentations. That leads to develop research skills, apply their knowledge about human cognition, and also strong interpersonal skills that supplement their learning, in support of their own independent research.

Programmes this module appears in

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2026/7 academic year.