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 but also to develop your depth of understanding. Topics include schools of thought, ethics and interdisciplinarity. The remaining lectures  relate these intellectual foundations to real-world issues. Faculty from the department and professionals working at the cutting edge of applying psychological and behavioural science will join us to present on their areas of expertise. The specific topics will be relevant and timely and thus will change each year; in previous years lectures have covered themes of technology, one health, work and wellbeing, and heterogenous practices. We’ll also consider the key issue of scalability and the importance of culture in understanding the impacts of behavioural interventions.

The goal of the course is to explore and critically reflect on  the process of integrating theory into policy, and we do this practically 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 recent studies. 
• Have an in-depth understanding of how psychological and behavioural science link to the other social sciences and the real world.
• Understand how to apply and integrate theories in the real world. 

This course is delivered through a combination of lectures, classes and workshops totalling a minimum of 42 hours across Autumn, Winter and Summer Term. There is a reading week in Week 6 of both Autumn and Winter Terms.

Students will complete a number of pieces of formative work to cement learning and prepare for summative assessments:

• Plan for Showcase Portfolio
• Preparation for the Simulation exercise (either meeting minutes or a summary of your group's research)

• Cialdini, R. (2016). Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade. New York: Random House.
• Halpern, D. (2015). Inside the Nudge Unit: How small changes can make a big difference. London: W H Allen.
• Lewis, A. (Ed.) (2012). The Cambridge Handbook of Psychology and Economic Behaviour. Cambridge: CUP.
• Oliver, A. (Ed.) (2013). Behavioural Public Policy. Cambridge: CUP.

Portfolio (50%) in the WT.
Group exercise (50%) in the ST.

Portfolio (50%) in WT – You will develop a showcase portfolio on CampusPress which will be used to apply for a role at NGBS. The portfolio should have two components; a curated set of artefacts and a 3000 word rationale articulating how the artefacts show your key insights and skills. The artefacts can be chosen from your summative submissions in Year 1, 2 and 3 or formative work from Year 3.

Group Exercise (50%) in ST – As a group, you will prepare for and take part in a simulation day. The simulation will see you work, in your roles as professionals at NGBS, to produce a white paper and presentation that addresses a clients project request. The simulation will take place during summer term, in London.