- Study guides, Revision notes & Summaries

These notes cover Week 8 of PS51005B: Psychology of the Person, focusing on research methods used in social psychology. Includes key distinctions between experimental and non-experimental methods, variables, ethical issues, and multiple-choice revision questions. Topics covered: • Experimental designs: lab vs field, between- vs within-participants • IVs, DVs, extraneous and confounding variables • Non-experimental methods: surveys, case studies, field studies, archival research ...

These notes summarise Week 4 of PS51005B: Psychology of the Person, covering Attachment Theory and Deprivation. This lecture explores Bowlby’s original theory, supporting evidence, critiques, and the intergenerational transmission of attachment styles. Ideal for students studying developmental psychology, personality theory, or attachment-based interventions. Topics covered: • Origins of Attachment Theory (Bowlby, psychoanalysis, ethology) • Stages of attachment development in infa...

These notes summarise Week 20 of PS51005B: Psychology of the Person, covering the psychology of compliance and obedience. The lecture explores Cialdini’s six principles of compliance and Milgram’s obedience experiments, along with situational and dispositional factors influencing behaviour. Topics covered: • Cialdini’s six principles of compliance: reciprocity, authority, scarcity, social validation, commitment, liking • Milgram’s obedience study: procedure, results, predicti...

These notes summarise Week 17 of PS51005B: Psychology of the Person, focusing on the psychology of leadership in group settings. The lecture examines traits, styles, and major theories of leadership including transformational, contingency, and identity-based models. Topics covered: • What defines a leader (Hogg & Vaughan, Crisp & Turner) • Personality traits linked to leadership (Judge et al., 2002) • Situational influences and cross-cultural leadership • Autocratic, democrat...

These notes summarise Week 15 of PS51005B: Psychology of the Person, exploring the complexity of self-concept, self-knowledge, and self-regulation. This lecture introduces major theories of the self and how identity is shaped by traits, roles, culture, and cognitive processes. Topics covered: • Multiple selves and self-complexity • Private and public self-awareness • Self-knowledge vs self-esteem • Self-discrepancy theory (Higgins) – actual vs ideal vs ought self • Regu...

These notes summarise Week 13 of PS51005B: Psychology of the Person, focusing on Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of personality. This lecture introduces the structure of the mind, psychosexual development, and defence mechanisms, with critical evaluation of Freud’s legacy in psychology. Topics covered: • Freud’s tripartite structure: id, ego, superego • Psychic determinism and levels of consciousness • Psychosexual stages: oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital • Complexes...

These notes summarise Week 12 of PS51005B: Psychology of the Person, focusing on the Trait Approach to Personality. This lecture covers key models, including the Big Five (OCEAN) and Eysenck’s super-traits, while also exploring personality measurement, reliability, and validity. Topics covered: • Definitions of personality: types, traits, and factors • Historical models (e.g., Hippocrates’ humours) vs. modern approaches • Eysenck’s 3-factor model: Extraversion, Neuroticism,...

These notes summarise Week 11 of PS51005B: Psychology of the Person, focusing on key debates and unresolved issues in intelligence research. Topics include group differences, heritability, cultural testing, ageing, and the Flynn Effect — making this lecture essential for critical evaluation and exam prep. Topics covered: • Aptitude vs. attainment testing • Cross-cultural intelligence and Sternberg’s successful intelligence • Twin and adoption studies on heritability • Env...