Notes from a student: Uni update

I'm currently studying for a forensic psychology BSc with the Open University here in the UK. Thought I would add an update on the different concepts I've been learning n case anyone is thinking of studying for a degree in this field.

The first module of the course was a broad overview of some aspects of sociological thinking. This involved looking at how societies are made and remade by individuals as they live their lives.

The current module has been much more concerned with psychological concepts such as the reconstructive nature of memory and neuroanatomical basis of language. Other topics have included the obedience studies of Milgram and this has led to my reading 'Ordinary Men' by Christopher Browning, an interesting insight into the behavior of Police Battalion 101 during the Second World War. In this book, Browning investigates what motivations turned ordinary men into brutal killers.

There has also been an overview of statistical methods to analyze data. The main focus has been Chi-squared and t-tests.

I have now finished the two main textbooks that came along with this module. This degree is 5 years long with multiple projects. One of these projects was to assess evaluative conditioning, where one can be primed to show a favorable response upon being exposed to a given stimulus.

Unfortunately, we were unable to collect data for the project due to Covid so we were given fictional data and had to assess the numbers to see if there was a significantly significant result.

The module came with two textbooks one concentrating on various psychological concepts and another that focused primarily on methodology within psychology. For example, looking at how qualitative and quantitative methods differ and the pros and cons of each approach.

For my part, I really enjoyed analyzing the ethnographic approach which involves assimilating oneself within a group to gain psychological insight.