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Prof Liam Delaney CON.4.07 and Dr Miriam Tresh CON.3.14

This course is compulsory on the BSc in Psychological and Behavioural Science. This course is not available as an outside option nor to General Course students.

This course will offer an advanced-level account of applying psychological and behavioural science to real world issues. The course is delivered as four distinct but interlinked blocks.

We will start by re-examining and developing our understanding of the intellectual foundations behind behavioural and psychological science, this will be an opportunity not only to re-consider what was covered in Year 1 and Year 2 in the round but also to develop your depth of understanding. Topics include schools of thought, ethics and interdisciplinarity. In the second block we relate these intellectual foundations to real-world issues. During this block you should expect other faculty from the department to join us and present on their areas of expertise. The specific topics will be relevant and timely and thus will change each year; in previous years they have included COIVD-19 and the psychological and behavioural underpinnings of pandemic relevance; Artificial Intelligence; and Mental Health. We’ll also consider the key issue of scalability and the importance of culture in understanding the impacts of behavioural interventions.

The third and fourth blocks run concurrently. In the third block we will examine real world examples of how behavioural and psychological science has been integrated into policy. The specific topics here will be driven by your interests – we will attempt to find experts in areas that you want to know more about. You should expect to hear from both faculty and professional experts from large organisations around the world. The fourth block sees us look at the process of integrating theory into policy, we do this through the lens of NGBS, our fictious not-for-profit consultancy firm. We’ll talk about how such organisations work, the professional roles available and the type and scopes of projects. The assessments see students applying to work for NGBS and then working on a project.

Throughout the course there will be regular opportunities for synthesis, recap, review and reflection.

By the end of the course you should:

• Have an in-depth understanding of recent advances in psychological and behavioural science. 
• Be able to critically appraise the evidence base, tools, and impact of select re