Course Catalogue

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This course offers a brief overview of how research within different fields of psychology including social psychology, health psychology, cognitive psychology, individual differences, and developmental psychology can be applied to help us understand the behaviour of individuals and groups within sporting environments. Such groups will include amateur and professional athletes, coaches, and spectators. Each week, we will focus on how different theories within a single field of psychology can enhance our understanding of sporting behaviour whilst also evaluating how specific sporting behaviours can support or challenge established psychological theories and principles.

The course will comprise of 5 weeks of teaching with each session lasting 2 hours. Students will be provided with course readings to be completed before each seminar class. The first hour of each class will be a large class-based discussion of the week's topic and how it relates to specific behaviours in sport - with a focus on potential problems faced by individuals, teams, coaching staff, or the pubic. The final hour of each class will be student led and focus on developing the necessary skills related to the assessment - i.e., science communication, evaluating existing sports related policies, evaluating practices of implementing behavioural related solutions within the field of sport.  

Successful completion of level 3H psychology single honours

None

The summative assessment for this course is to design a position paper that will provide an evidence-led solution to a particular problem specific to sporting related behaviour [ILO 2]. This Position Paper (2000 words) will comprise of three main components:

■ An outline of the problem being addressed via a discussion of the problem, current status of the problem, and importance of the problem [ILO 1- recommended 500 words].

■ A proposal of a solution to the problem identified based on psychological research and theory. This will include a brief literature review, and critical evaluation of the research, and identification of how it informs our understanding of the problem [ILO 2 - recommended 1000 words]

■ Policy related recommendation based on proposed solution - including a description of the policy recommendation, rationale for the recommendation, and a brief outline of a plan for implementation [ILO 3 - 500 words].

The Position Paper will therefore assess your ability to evaluate how psychological research can help us better understand sporting related behaviour [ILO 1] and to synthesise a solution and propose recommendations based upon this literature [ILO 2]. 

Reassessments are normally available for all courses, except those which contribute to the Honours classification. Where, exceptionally, reassessment on Honours courses is required to satisfy professional/accreditation requirements, only the overall course grade achieved at the first attempt will contribute to the Honours classification. For non-Honours courses, students are offered reassessment in all or any of the components of assessment if the satisfactory (threshold) grade for the overall course is not achieved at the first attempt. This is normally grade D3 for undergraduate students and grade C3 for postgraduate students. Exceptionally it may not be possible to offer reassessment of some coursework items, in which case the mark achieved at the first attempt will be counted towards the final course grade. Any such exceptions for this course are described below. 

This course will encourage students to apply their knowledge of psychological theories and research to provide novel insights into sports related behaviours including amateur development, expertise, health interventions, leadership qualities, and spectator effects on athlete performance. Students will be provided with an opportunity to exercise their critical thinking and communication skills to translate complex psychological research into effective, clear, evidence-led guidance for non-scientific stake holders including sports practitioners, athletes, and the public.  

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ Analyse the psychological factors contributing to common behavioural challenges faced by individuals and groups within sporting environments.

■ Evaluate the efficacy of applying different psychological theories to understand behaviour in different sporting environments.

■ Critically evaluate complex psychological research and synthesize relevant findings to develop evidence-based recommendations or interventions that can be effectively communicated to non-academic stakeholders such as sports practitioners, athletes, and the public.

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.