Unit information: Foundations of Psychology in 2025/26

Please note: Programme and unit information may change as the relevant academic field develops. We may also make changes to the structure of programmes and assessments to improve the student experience.

Unit name Foundations of Psychology
Unit code LANG00033
Credit points 20
Level of study QCA-3
Teaching block(s) Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24)
Unit director Dr. Andersen
Open unit status Not open
Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units)

IELTS: minimum 5.5 overall; minimum 5.0 in Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing components, or equivalent.

Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units)

Not applicable

Units you may not take alongside this one

Not applicable

School/department Centre for Academic Language and Development
Faculty Faculty of Arts

Unit Information

Why is this unit important?

This unit will provide you with a broad understanding of the fundamental principles of psychology and will cover three core areas: cognitive, social and developmental psychology. The unit will introduce you to these foundational areas of psychology, enhance your critical thinking and in these areas, and you will become familiar with contemporary research methods and techniques for studying psychology.

How does this unit fit into your programme of study?

This unit prepares you for a range of degree programmes, such as Psychology, Psychology with Neuroscience and Psychology in Education.

Your learning on this unit

An overview of content

In the unit you will learn about fundamental principles of psychology through a focus on social, cognitive and developmental psychology. Also, you will be exposed to a range of activities thereby developing the attitudes and skills desirable for further study. In addition, you will develop your capability in considering how to conduct and analyse data from experiments.

How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit

In the context of the content covered and experiment experienced on the unit, you will learn how to develop effective strategies for understanding new knowledge, carrying out research and expressing ideas working individually and with others. You will learn to think critically and be able to summarise and discuss new knowledge. You will also learn how to apply knowledge to describe key principles, planning and conducting an experiment including analyse and present results as well as communicating this in written form.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of the unit, you will be able to:

  1. Describe major theoretical perspectives taken in cognitive, social, and developmental psychology.
  2. Explain methodologies and techniques used in social, cognitive and developmental psychology to illustrate and support theory.
  3. Evaluate theory and research in terms of strengths and limitations.

How you will learn

Teaching will be delivered through weekly workshop sessions. The teaching will be a mixture of teacher-led input, group discussions and active learning activities and self-directed exercises. Learning materials will be available through the unit Blackboard site.

How you will be assessed

Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):

  • Draft research report with formative feedback (0%, not required for credit)
  • Regular exam practice questions with formative feedback (0%, not required for credit)
  • Practice exam with formative feedback (0%, not required for credit)

Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):

  • Research report on a conducted experiment, 1,500 words (40%) [ILO 1, 2]
  • Written exam (60%) [ILOs 1, 3]

When assessment does not go to plan

Any student registered on the International Foundation Programme will be offered a conditional place on an undergraduate degree at the University of Bristol. Students must meet the entry requirements to be admitted onto an undergraduate degree at the University of Bristol. Different degree programmes may have different entry requirements. The IFP Board will review the mark profiles of all students who are close to attaining the entry requirements but are outside the previously agreed near miss criteria and may agree to admit them to a degree programme. If not admitted, students may be offered a further opportunity (i.e., two attempts in total) to meet the entry requirements for their intended degree programme at the University of Bristol by re-taking a relevant assessment. Marks are not capped for this purpose. If a student is absent or their performance in assessment is significantly affected due to exceptional circumstances, they may re-take the relevant assessment at the next appropriate time, without penalty.

Resources

If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.

If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. LANG00033).

How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks, independent learning and assessment activity.

See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.

Assessment
The assessment methods listed in this unit specification are designed to enable students to demonstrate the named learning outcomes (LOs). Where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, schools will make reasonable adjustments to support a student to demonstrate the LO by an alternative method or with additional resources.

The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit. The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.