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Any tips for preparing for Psychology at University?

Hi, I'll be studying psychology with clinical psychology at Kent University as of September. The only preparation I've had for the course is a years worth of psychology on an Access to Higher Education course last year, apart from that it is just reading articles online and in the psychology review, and setting myself assignments based on the course modules I'll be doing... (sad I know). But anyway, does anyone have any recommendations of things I should know before I start to ensure I'm at a high enough stead for university level study?
Start reading research papers from different journals, would be a great place to start! Try and read a variety of different fields: neuroscience, cognitive, social, abnormal, and then different sorts of research like brain imaging studies, neuro-psychopathology, animal studies, maybe qualitative analysis if your course covers it. It'd be a good idea to stick to ones that relate to your modules because having extra independent reading is always a great thing!

I think a good skill we learnt in the first semester was summarising research articles. That'll be very handy for essays. It took me a while to getting to grips with reading through an article and picking out what's worth while noting, it took me ages to read trough an article at first. So I'd suggest pick an article, read it and summarise it. Briefly explain the article, highlighting important bits, and then evaluate it.

Now for evaluating articles you need a good idea of what makes good science, and so need some knowlge on research methods. So I'd suggest reading a text book on psychological research methods :smile: And one book we read in our first year which just opens your mind about good science is 'Bad Science' by Ben Goldacre. It's not at all text book, more of an easy read. But I find it interesting :smile:


One other thing which I suppose you could get your head around is statistics. But I wouldn't say that's really necessary, it'll be hard for you to work out what you need to know for your first semester and so you might end up over complicating it but looking at stuff that's too advanced. So I wouldn't worry about that.



Just some advice :smile: of course I didn't do any of this but looking back it would have been beneficial.


Good luck! And I hope you fall in love with it as much as I did :tongue:
hi i'd read a book on writing social science essays - there's an open university one by p redman, i'm loath to recommend it as i think they should provide it free but you can pick it up second hand quite cheaply.
Reply 3
Original post by TolerantBeing
Start reading research papers from different journals, would be a great place to start! Try and read a variety of different fields: neuroscience, cognitive, social, abnormal, and then different sorts of research like brain imaging studies, neuro-psychopathology, animal studies, maybe qualitative analysis if your course covers it. It'd be a good idea to stick to ones that relate to your modules because having extra independent reading is always a great thing!

I think a good skill we learnt in the first semester was summarising research articles. That'll be very handy for essays. It took me a while to getting to grips with reading through an article and picking out what's worth while noting, it took me ages to read trough an article at first. So I'd suggest pick an article, read it and summarise it. Briefly explain the article, highlighting important bits, and then evaluate it.

Now for evaluating articles you need a good idea of what makes good science, and so need some knowlge on research methods. So I'd suggest reading a text book on psychological research methods :smile: And one book we read in our first year which just opens your mind about good science is 'Bad Science' by Ben Goldacre. It's not at all text book, more of an easy read. But I find it interesting :smile:


One other thing which I suppose you could get your head around is statistics. But I wouldn't say that's really necessary, it'll be hard for you to work out what you need to know for your first semester and so you might end up over complicating it but looking at stuff that's too advanced. So I wouldn't worry about that.



Just some advice :smile: of course I didn't do any of this but looking back it would have been beneficial.


Good luck! And I hope you fall in love with it as much as I did :tongue:


Thanks for your help! Looking for those books now. Haven't put any thought into summarising so that's a huge help!
Reply 4
Original post by winalotuk
hi i'd read a book on writing social science essays - there's an open university one by p redman, i'm loath to recommend it as i think they should provide it free but you can pick it up second hand quite cheaply.


Thanks, I'll look for that now!
Reply 5
Hi,

I don't think I can add much more than what has already been said. However, as you are going into psychology would you like to have a taster of a social psychological study? If so just follow the link:-


https://goldpsych.eu.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_6xmZ1WBTI1vPe9n
Goldsmiths Survey
Imagination and problem solving
Read more...


It takes no longer than 15-20 minutes and THERE IS ALSO A CHANCE TO WIN A £100 AMAZON VOUCHER UPON COMPLETION.

IMPORTANT: You must be using a desktop or laptop computer to access the study, as some tasks cannot be completed on touchscreen or mobile devices.

Good luck with your studies :smile: !
Hi,

Just in case you were worried about it, I started my degree in Psych in '09 (graduated in '12) with no background in Science/social science, having completed my high school education in France (we don't have Psych classes).

I made absolutely no serious preparation ahead of the course, and I was absolutely fine.

In fact, I was better off than a lot of those who took Psychology at A or AS level because their lessons were almost oversimplified in comparison to the level of knowledge attained during a University degree.

My point, is that if you don't prepare anything (or less than you think you ought to) it's not the end of the world, and you almost certainly won't fall behind providing you attend all the lectures and are passionate about the subject area.

I am doing a Masters in Cognitive Neuroscience now (finishing next month) and even with no priors in Science, have done very well for myself in the field.

You'll do well! Enjoy your summer break while you can!!

Best,

Steph
Reply 7
Original post by StephClayton
Hi,

Just in case you were worried about it, I started my degree in Psych in '09 (graduated in '12) with no background in Science/social science, having completed my high school education in France (we don't have Psych classes).

I made absolutely no serious preparation ahead of the course, and I was absolutely fine.

In fact, I was better off than a lot of those who took Psychology at A or AS level because their lessons were almost oversimplified in comparison to the level of knowledge attained during a University degree.

My point, is that if you don't prepare anything (or less than you think you ought to) it's not the end of the world, and you almost certainly won't fall behind providing you attend all the lectures and are passionate about the subject area.

I am doing a Masters in Cognitive Neuroscience now (finishing next month) and even with no priors in Science, have done very well for myself in the field.

You'll do well! Enjoy your summer break while you can!!

Best,

Steph



Thanks Steph, that has took a lot of weight off! :smile:
At my uni at least we effectively did A Level Psych (I.e. the basics) in the first term so that everyone was on the same page. I wouldn't worry about prep, as long as you do the work while you're there :smile:
Reply 9
Great thread. I would like to be prepared too, just being organised makes me feel calmer :smile:
Any more good reading suggestions to prep for access to social sciences/degree in psych?
Original post by cassini27
Great thread. I would like to be prepared too, just being organised makes me feel calmer :smile:
Any more good reading suggestions to prep for access to social sciences/degree in psych?


Also see comments for other thread: http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2739866&p=48604022
Ace thread thanks Michael
P.S I am a HAAAUUUGEEE fan:biggrin:

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