Dept. of Psychological Sciences

M.Res in Psychology Handbook

2016/17

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Contents

Contents ............................................................................................................. 1

Introduction......................................................................................................... 2

Facilities ............................................................................................................. 3

Attendance Requirements .................................................................................. 6

Coursework Deadlines for 2015/16 .................................................................... 7

Assessment ........................................................................................................ 8

Rules and Regulations ..................................................................................... 12

Marking scheme ............................................................................................... 13

Financing your studies/funding ......................................................................... 17

Welfare and student support ............................................................................ 18

Support for students with Disabilities, Dyslexia and Mental Health Needs ....... 18

Plagiarism......................................................................................................... 21

Useful Addresses & Contact Numbers ............................................................. 22

Finding Birkbeck ............................................................................................... 23

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Introduction

The Dept. of Psychological Science at Birkbeck, University of London

Birkbeck, University of London, was founded in 1823 as the London Mechanics Institution and incorporated into the University of London as Birkbeck College by Royal Charter in 1920. The College is ranked among the leading UK university institutions for its levels of national and international excellence in research in the Humanities, Social Sciences and Natural Sciences. From this base of research excellence Birkbeck provides a unique range of degree and other courses designed specially to meet the needs of mature students. The main part of the Department is located on the fifth level of the Birkbeck main building in Malet Street. Other parts are located on the sixth level of the Birkbeck extension building in Malet Street, at 32 Torrington Square, and in the Henry Wellcome Building. In the last Research Assessment Exercise the School was ranked in the top five departments in the country. It currently comprises over 30 academic staff specialising in a variety of fields within Psychology. There are several Centres affiliated to the School, such as the Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, the Birkbeck/UCL Centre for Neuroimaging, and the Institute for the Study of Children, Family and Social Issues.

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Term Dates and College Closure

Term Dates for 2016/17

Autumn Term: Monday 3 October to Friday 16 December 2016 Spring Term: Monday 9 January to Friday 24 March 2017 Summer Term: Monday 24 April to Friday 7 July 2017 College Closure Dates for 2016/17

Christmas Closure: Friday 23 December 2016 to Monday 2 January 2017 College will close at 6pm on Thursday 22 December 2016, and normal services will resume from 9am on Tuesday 3 January 2017. Easter Closure: Thursday 13 April 2017 to Tuesday 18 April 2017 College will close at 6pm on Wednesday 12 April 2017, and normal services will resume from 9am on Wednesday 19 April 2017.

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Facilities

Birkbeck Library

Through the Library you have access to a range of resources; books, ebooks, print journals, ejournals, database, audio-visual materials all of which will support your learning throughout your course. You can search for resources and find out about our services through the library website (http://www.bbk.ac.uk/lib/). Remote access from home/work is available using your IT Services username and password.

Psychological sciences students have a subject guide which brings together the most relevant resources for your subject (http://www.bbk.ac.uk/lib/subguides/). You also have a Subject Librarian, Emma Illingworth (e.illingworth@bbk.ac.uk) to answer your questions about finding information, using the resources and making the best use of the library.

Web: http://www.bbk.ac.uk/lib/

Other University Libraries

Birkbeck students may also access a number of other university libraries, both in London and throughout the UK. The access schemes that Birkbeck belongs to include:

Senate House Library, University of London (Humanities and Social Sciences) Free borrowing. Just go there and register once you have your Birkbeck ID card.

University of London libraries You can access many other University of London libraries for reference only, such as UCL and King's College London. Please check their web sites for access arrangements before you visit.

UK Libraries Plus A scheme for part-time learning students and sometimes full time postgraduates (depending on the library) allowing borrowing from other member libraries.

Institute of Education Birkbeck postgraduates have borrowing rights, otherwise reference use only.

For further details of these and other schemes, consult the Birkbeck College library website or ask any member of library staff. Departmental Facilities

In addition to College library facilities, all students have access to computing facilities in the Department and around campus. The Department’s PC lab – room 534B – is available from 7am to midnight (except on occasional weekday evenings when booked for undergraduate use). These provide access to the internet, an email account, and various experimental and statistical software packages. Other psychology experimental software is installed in lab room 109.

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For further details (e.g., on setting up your email) you can call the Department’s IT office on 020 7079 0744 or the College’s Information Technology Services (ITS) on 020 7631 6543. Students may also attend courses in popular areas of computing, run by Birkbeck ITS Equipment to support your research, including transcribing machines can be borrowed for short periods of time from the Department. To check availability of such equipment and make a booking, consult Harish Patel (020 7631 6348), the Department’s Technical Services Manager. The Department also has a number of testing rooms/interviewing rooms that can be booked in advance. To check the availability of these rooms and for advance bookings, please contact Professor Anne Richards via email: a.richards@bbk.ac.uk or tel: 020 7631 6208.

Office Space

Office space within the department is extremely limited, but students requiring specialist laboratory space will normally be accommodated with their supervisor’s research group. Otherwise, students are welcome to meet in the main lecture room (room 534) immediately before or after lectures, or at any other time when it is not otherwise in use. Alternatively, students may work in the department’s computer labs (or in any of the College computer labs). If working in these labs, please keep conversation to a minimum and respect other users of the rooms. Students who require secure storage (e.g., for sensitive data) should consult their supervisor or the course director who will provide lockable filing cabinet space. E-mail Access

Please make sure you access your e-mail account regularly as important information is often communicated via e-mail. The email account typically used for all correspondence will be the one assigned to your ‘My Birkbeck’ profile. Be sure to update any email changes there accordingly. Printing and Photocopying

Printing in the college is accessed via the purchase of credit from Birkbeck IT Services www.bbk.ac.uk/its/services/rooms/printing. The Psychology Subject Panel

Students undertaking experimental research have access to the Subject Panel, a departmental database, updated regularly and hosting the details of people willing to participate in an experiment. The database can be accessed on campus through the internet. Access details will be provided to students once their proposed experimental work has been approved by the Department’s ethics committee.

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Attendance Requirements

Attendance

Students are required to attend the Generic Research Skills seminar series held on each Tuesday of Term 1, between 10am and 12.30pm. Student attendance will be monitored, and students who fail to attend on a regular basis may be excluded from the course. Given that all classes are small, we ask that if students know in advance that they are going to be absent from a session that they inform Professor Michael Thomas or Ida Akhtar . Supplementary Lectures and Seminars

There are a number of specialist seminars held throughout the academic year featuring distinguished guest speakers. These include School seminars and seminars organised by nearby London institutions (e.g., UCL). Students should take advantage of these seminars as a means of broadening their education. Copies of the seminar programmes will be available from Professor Denis Mareschal at the induction meeting.

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Coursework Deadlines for 2016/17

PSYC062H7: Generic Research Skills

Presentation of dissertation background: Tuesday 6th December 2016 PSYC024H7: Critical Review of Research Methodologies

Critical appraisal: Friday 28th April 2017 PSYC109H7 - Research Ethics Ethical approval form submission: Friday 7th April 2017 PSYC024Q7: M.Res Dissertation

Dissertation due: Friday, 25th August 2017

Part-time students complete PSYC062H7: Generic Research Skills and PSYC062H7: Generic Research Skills in Year 1, with PSYC109H7 - Research Ethics and PSYC024Q7 and M.Res Dissertation in Year 2.

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Assessment

Module 1 (Generic Research Skills) will be assessed on a pass/fail basis. In order to pass the module, students must complete one 10 minute presentation of their dissertation background (literature review) and research question. Presentations will be scheduled during class time in the last week of Autumn term. If the presentation is judged to be inadequate, students will be asked to submit a written report of 1000 words summarising their dissertation background and research question by 5pm on the second Friday of Spring term. Module 2 (Critical Review of Research Methodologies) will be assessed by one 2000–2500 word critical appraisal. The target of the appraisal must be agreed with the module coordinator before the end of 7th week of Autumn term. Students will be notified if their essay is unsatisfactory, and allowed to resubmit a revised version after consultation with the module coordinator. The revised version should be submitted within four weeks of that consultation and no later than the last day of the spring term. If the revised version is satisfactory it will be awarded a mark of 50%.

Module 3 (Supervised Dissertation) will be assessed by one research

dissertation of 20,000 words ( 10%) submitted by 5pm on the last Friday of August in the year of registration (FT) or the last Friday of August in the second year of registration (PT). The dissertation must report a research project supervised or co-supervised by a member of the Dept. of Psychological Science’s academic staff, and must demonstrate initiative and creativity.

Module 4 (Research Ethics) The module consists of attending the ethics lecture in generics skills, completing and submitting all materials required by ethical approval of their research by the Department Ethics committee. The module is pass/fail and a pass is awarded when ethical approval has been awarded. The due date is no later than the submission date of the critical review essay (8th April 2015).

Transfer to MPhil/Phd Programme Students wishing to transfer onto the MPhil/PhD programme without completing the MRes programme should discuss this option in detail with the course tutor and their supervisor. Transfer requests are normally considered in early June, and are not automatic. For part-time students this decision normally takes place in Year 2

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Birkbeck Academic Staff - Research Interests

Professor Jacqueline Barnes: Community in relation to children and families; evaluation of childhood interventions; the impact of family illness upon child development. Dr Belinda Brooks-Gordon: Forensic psychology. Perspectives on individual and group therapy. Therapeutic programmes in a forensic context. Sexuality, sex work, and sexual offending. Professor Richard Cooper: Executive processes and their interactions; Cognitive modelling, especially of executive processes, processes of action selection, and cognitive dysfunction following neural damage; Cognitive architectures; Methodology of cognitive modelling; Philosophy of Cognitive Science. NB Professor Cooper will be on sabbatical for the academic year 2016-17. Dr Eddy J. Davelaar: Dynamic Memory and Cognition, cognitive control; cognitive aging; information foraging; computational modeling. Professor Nazanin Derakhshan: Cognitive biases in anxiety; Emotional information processing in anxiety and repressive-defensiveness; Attentional control in anxiety and defensiveness. Methodologies: Electrophysiological measures (ERPs); Eye-movements. Dr Fred Dick: Language acquisition and development, language impairments, auditory development, cross-linguistic studies of aphasia, development of expertise. Methodologies: MRI, fMRI, lesion analysis, patient studies, timed behavioural measures. Dr Roz Dixon: School bullying, child mental health in developing countries, providing access into education for adults Dr Iroise Dumontheil: Social and executive functions in adulthood and their development during adolescence. NB Dr Dumontheil will not supervise MSc/MA students in the academic year 2016-17 (maternity leave). Dr Virginia Eatough: Emotional experience, adult crying, applying qualitative methodologies to the experience of living with chronic degenerative disorders, interpretative phenomenological analysis. Professor Martin Eimer: Cognitive psychophysiology, using event-related

brain potentials and behavioural measures to study selective attention,

perceptual-motor interactions, and higher order visual processing. NB

Professor Eimer will be on sabbatical for the academic year 2016-17.

Dr Simon E. Green: Brain mechanisms of emotional processing in animals and humans; biological explanations of human psychopathology; health psychology, especially coping with chronic stress; gender differences in cognition and affect.

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Professor Ulrike Hahn: Argumentation, Judgment and Decision Making, Similarity, Concepts and Concept acquisition, Language and Language acquisition. Professor Mark Johnson: Visual perception and cognition in infants; functional brain development; developmental disorders. Professor Annette Karmiloff-Smith: Development of language and cognition in typical and clinical populations from infancy to adulthood; genotype/phenotype correlations. Nature/Nurture debate. Dr Natasha Kirkham: I am interested in how infants and children learn. Specifically, I am interested in what guides attention and supports learning from infancy into early childhood. Increasingly, I am more and more interested in how learning occurs in naturalistic settings, amidst all the noise and distraction of real-life environments. Dr Matthew Longo: My research investigates the mental representation of our body and how this shapes perception, including space perception, pain and touch. Professor Denis Mareschal (Deputy Head of Department): Developmental psychology and connectionist modelling, especially perceptual categorisation, object processing; the development of reasoning in childhood. Dr Emma Meaburn: My research incorporates molecular genetic, transcriptomic and epigenomic approaches to investigate the genetic and environmental basis of behaviour and cognition in childhood and adolescence. Professor Edward C. Melhuish: Family, pre-school and child care experience and child development. Relationship of cognitive and social development. Dr Anne Miles: Cancer screening; Public understanding of cancer Professor Hermann Müller: Mechanisms of visuo-spatial orienting, visual search and attentional selection, and the role of temporal factors in figural grouping (temporal binding). Professor Mike Oaksford (Head of Department): Bayesian or rational models of human reasoning and argumentation, including data selection, conditional inference, syllogistic reasoning, causal reasoning, "fallacies" of argumentation and the effect of experienced and anticipated emotion on reasoning. Dr Clare Press: I investigate how we control our own actions and imitate and process others' actions. I address these questions both in typical development and in individuals with autism spectrum conditions. NB Dr Press will not supervise MSc/MA students in the academic year 2016-17 (maternity leave).

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Professor Anne Richards: Cognition and emotion; effects of emotion on ambiguity resolution; emotional influences on processing emotional facial expressions; automatic and strategic influences in the interpretation of ambiguity; attention and emotion; emotions and hemispheric representations; childhood anxiety. Dr Alex Shepherd: Visual perception: Colour vision; low light vision; visual and attentional processing in migraine. Professor Jonathan A. Smith: Application of qualitative methodologies in social, health and clinical psychology; interpretative phenomenological analysis; psycho-social aspects of the new genetics; life transitions, self and identity. Dr Marie Smith: Visual information processing in networks of brain regions during high-level cognitive tasks. I have a specific interest in face and facial emotion processing and therefore focus on the brain networks underlying these processes. Dr Tim Smith: Visual Cognition in the context of naturalistic visual scenes Dr Fiona Tasker: Developmental Psychology: family processes and structure, especially post-divorce and non-traditional families; adolescence; attachment theory; sexual identity. Dr Adam Taylor Tierney: I am interested in the functional and structural characteristics of the human auditory and motor systems which provide the foundation for human abilities such as language and music. In particular, I am interested in rhythm, or temporal patterns in music and language. Professor Michael Thomas: Language and cognitive development. Developmental disorders. Cognitive variability. Language in Williams syndrome. Bilingualism. Metaphor comprehension. Brain and language. Connectionist modelling. Use of computational modelling in theory development. Cognitive genetics.

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Rules and Regulations

Common Award Scheme (CAS) Programme Regulations

All Birkbeck academic courses are now bound by the Common Award Scheme (CAS). The CAS Regulations can be found on the College website at the following link: www.bbk.ac.uk/reg/regs/cas Here you will be able to download the Common Award Scheme Regulations Handbook 2012/13 where you should take note of the following: • Late Submission of Assessment (page 22) http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/services/administration/assessment/coursework/late-submission • Passing a module (page 22) • Compensated Fail and Awards (page 24) The CAS Handbook can be found at this link: http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/services/rules/casregs.pdf The course will strictly follow the regulations based in this handbook. Mitigating Circumstances

Please ensure you read the Mitigating Circumstances policy which can be found online. You can also find the Mitigating Circumstances form via this link which should be submitted to your course Administrator. Mitigating Circumstances will be considered at a Panel Meeting at the end of the academic year. http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/services/administration/assessment/coursework/mitigating-circumstances

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Marking scheme

In assessing the Critical Essay and the Project report, examiners are requested to keep in mind the aims of these exercises: The Essay Module is designed to provide students with a critical overview of the methods used in their chosen area of research. There are many such methods that are not covered at undergraduate level, and new methods are evolving in response to the development of new research tools (such as computer modelling and brain imaging). By the end of this module students should be able to demonstrate both breadth of knowledge and depth of understanding of the pros and cons of using different research methods to tackle problems in their chosen domain of research. The Project Module is designed to provide students with practical experience of all aspects of conducting a research project within an area of contemporary psychology, including formulating a research question, conducting a literature review, designing the research study, collecting and analysing data, writing up the study in a format suitable for publication, and to express initiative and creativity during this process.

GRADE (%) ESSAYS

PROJECT REPORT

Fail (0-40)

The answer does not address the question at all

The material presented reflects no knowledge beyond what might be gained by common experience or reading newspapers

The material presented is either irrelevant or very thin (e.g. a few paragraphs)

No structure at all

The experiment carried out does not make contact with the research issue

The background literature is misrepresented or absent

The method section lacks basic experimental details

Crude or inappropriate analysis of the data, suggesting little understanding of statistics

The conclusions drawn are not supported by the results

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GRADE (%)

ESSAYS

PROJECT REPORT

Fail (40-50)

The answer does not adequately address the question

The material presented is very basic or irrelevant

No coherent structure

Relies heavily on superficial or subjective statements without supporting evidence

Reveals a failure to understand some fundamental material related to the question

The experiment is only tangentially related to the research issue

The literature summary is very scant

The method section is too vague to allow replication

The analysis/statistics are inadequate or inappropriate

The conclusions drawn are sketchy and reveal a failure to understand core concepts

Pass (50-60)

The answer addresses the question asked, and is basically competent but lacks evidence of an analytical approach

It is coherently presented, but overall structure may be loose

It indicates a familiarity with most essential areas of relevant material, OR a good level of detail in some topics but important areas are omitted

The rationale of the experiment, in terms of the wider research context, is stated

The literature summary is relevant but lacks depth, OR, a good level of detail in some areas but important aspects are missing

The method section is sufficient to allow replication but could be organised better

Analysis and statistics are performed competently, but require more explanation

The conclusions drawn are appropriate for the results obtained but lack critical insight

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GRADE (%)

ESSAYS

PROJECT REPORT

Merit (60-70)

The answer explores the question asked, and shows evidence of a questioning and analytical approach

Coherent structure

It shows an ability to appreciate an extensive body of knowledge relevant to the question and to articulate the key theories, issues and debates

It demonstrates some reading which goes beyond material found in basic secondary sources

Balanced and comprehensive discussion

The rationale of the experiment is made very clear

The literature review shows evidence of wider reading and good use of references

The method is clear, well structured, and allows replication

The choice of statistics is appropriate and explained well

The conclusions drawn are appropriate for the results obtained and reveals evidence of independent thought

Distinction

(70-80)

The answer fully explores the question and is presented with a coherent structure whose rationale is made evident

Meets all the criteria for a Pass and, in addition…

The answer offers substantial evidence of the student’s own insight and analysis

OR

The report is almost of a comparable standard to articles published in peer reviewed journals (NB: students are marked for report quality rather than statistical significance)

Meets all the criteria for a Pass and in addition…

There is substantial evidence of the student’s own insight and analysis

OR

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The answer convincingly integrates material going beyond the core expected reading

The answer convincingly integrates material going beyond the core assigned reading

Distinction

(80-100)

Meets all the criteria for a Distinction (70-80) and in addition…

The answer offers substantial evidence of the student’s own insight and analysis

AND

The answer convincingly integrates material going beyond the core expected reading

The project requires no modifications to be of publishable standard in a peer reviewed journal (NB: students are marked for report quality rather than statistical significance)

The answer offers substantial evidence of the student’s own insight and analysis

AND

The answer convincingly integrates material going beyond the core assigned reading

Finally, in contrast to MSc projects in which students are also required to submit additional pieces of work, the examiners should consider the research project as the candidate’s primary full-time activity over a 10-month period. Assessment of the output should be judged accordingly.

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Financing your studies/funding

Full-time students wishing to work part-time during their degree should consult with their supervisor and the postgraduate tutor before undertaking any work commitments. Birkbeck College recommend that full-time students do not undertake more than 6 hours per week paid work. Students in receipt of an award from a Research Council should be aware of the limitations attached to their award as regards paid work. There are occasional teaching opportunities available at the Department. As part of their training, students are encouraged to undertake teaching or demonstrating during their degree. Students should contact their supervisor in the first instance. MRes Related Expenses

There are limited funds available from the Department to meet students' research related expenses, such as paying participants for interviews and experiments and so forth. Students should apply for these funds in advance. Forms are available from the Postgraduate Administrator. Any requests will need approval by your supervisor(s) first. Studentships and PhD Funding

Students who wish to apply for a position on our PhD programme after completing the MRes. may be interested to know that the department normally awards a mixture of Phd Scholarships every year. These studentships are highly competitive, and can be applied for by submitting a normal PhD application, with a supporting statement and research proposal indicating that you would like to be considered for any funding opportunities. It also helps to have a supervisor interested in your proposal before you apply. There is usually a deadline every year in the Spring term for any applicants that want to be considered for funding, so please check with the Postgraduate Administrator for any dates and deadlines. Details of funding available each year can be found at: http://www.bbk.ac.uk/psychology/study-here/fees-and-finance

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Welfare and student Support

Pastoral Support

Professor Denis Mareschal will serve as the personal tutor to all students on the course. He is responsible for pastoral care and for general queries relating to the course. Prof. Mareschal will keep in touch with all students throughout the course, and you should feel free to raise any issues either after class or during a confidential meeting. Students with non-urgent queries are encouraged to contact Prof. Mareschal before those queries become urgent. Full contact details are provided at the end of this handbook. The Students’ Union

Birkbeck’s Students’ Union provides a range of student support facilities, including an advice centre, counselling services and study skills courses. For details, including timetables for study skills courses and contacts for the advice and counselling services, the union also provides a number of services, including a shop and bar. Students are also eligible for membership of the National Union of Students (NUS) and the University of London Union (ULU) Full-time students and part-time students on income support are eligible for a discount on many London Transport services. Up to date details are available on the students’ union web site.

Support for students with Disabilities, Dyslexia and Mental Health Needs

At Birkbeck there are students with a wide range of disabilities, specific learning difficulties, medical conditions and mental health conditions (hereinafter referred to as disabled students). Many of them have benefited from the advice and support provided by the College’s Wellbeing Centre. The Wellbeing Centre is located in G26 on the Ground floor of the Malet Street building.

All enquiries should come to the Wellbeing Centre (tel. 0207 631 6316), who will determine the appropriate referral to specialists in the Disability and Dyslexia Service and Mental Health Service. They can provide advice and support on travel and parking, physical access, the Disabled Students’ Allowance, specialist equipment, personal support, examination arrangements, etc.

On enrolment you need to complete a Study Support Plan (SSP), which will set out the reasonable adjustments that we will make with physical access, lectures, seminars, assessments and exams. After you complete this and provide disability evidence, we confirm the adjustments you require and then your department, examinations office, etc. will be informed that your SSP is available and adjustments can be made. You should contact the Wellbeing Service if any of your adjustments are not in place.

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Access at Birkbeck

Birkbeck's main buildings have wheelchair access, accessible lifts and toilets, our reception desks and teaching venues have induction loops for people with hearing impairments, and we have large print and tactile signage. Accessible parking, lockers, specialist seating in lectures and seminars and portable induction loops can all be arranged by the Disability & Dyslexia Service.

The Disabled Students’ Allowance

UK and EU (with migrant worker status) disabled students on undergraduate and postgraduate courses are eligible to apply for the Disabled Students' Allowance (DSA). The DSA provides specialist equipment including computers with assistive technology and training, personal help (e.g., study skills tutors, mentors and BSL interpreters) and additional travel costs for students who have to use taxis. It provides thousands of pounds worth of support and all the evidence shows that students who receive it are more likely to complete their courses successfully. The Wellbeing Centre can provide further information on the DSA and can assist you in applying to Student Finance England for this support. From September 2016, new students will receive their note-taking support from the University rather than the DSA.

Support in your Department

Your Department is responsible for making reasonable adjustments in learning and teaching and assessment, including permission to record lectures, specialist seating, extensions on coursework, etc. Whilst we anticipate that this support will be provided by the Programme Director, tutors and Programme Administrator in the Department, they will also have a Disability Lead. If you experience any difficulties or require additional support from the Department then they may also be able to assist you. They may be contacted through the Programme Administrator.

Support in IT Services and Library Services

There is a comprehensive range of specialist equipment for students with disabilities in IT Services. This includes an Assistive Technology Room, which may be booked by disabled students. We have software packages for dyslexic students (e.g. Claroread and Mind view), screen reading and character enhancing software for students with visual impairments available in our computer laboratories, specialist scanning software, large monitors, ergonomic mice and keyboards, specialist orthopaedic chairs, etc. We have an Assistive Technology Officer, who can be contacted via IT Services.

The Library has an Assistive Technology Centre, where there is also a range of specialist equipment, including an electronic magnifier for visually impaired students, as well as specialist orthopaedic chairs and writing slopes. The Disability and Dyslexia Service Office refers all students with disabilities to the Library Access Support service, who provide a comprehensive range of

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services for students with disabilities and dyslexia.

Examinations and Assessments

Many disabled students can receive support in examinations, including additional time, use of a computer, etc. In exceptional circumstances, students may be offered an alternative form of assessment.

Specific Learning Difficulties (e.g. dyslexia, dyspraxia)

Mature students who experienced problems at school are often unaware that these problems may result from their being dyslexic. Whilst dyslexia cannot be cured, you can learn strategies to make studying significantly easier. If you think you may be dyslexic you can take an online screening test in the computer laboratories – the instructions for the screening test are available on the Disability Office website. If appropriate, you will be referred to an Educational Psychologist for a dyslexia assessment. Some students can receive assistance in meeting the cost of this assessment, either from their employer or from Birkbeck.

Further information

For further information, please call the Wellbeing Centre on 020 7631 6316 or email disability@bbk.ac.uk.

Learning Coordinator The Departments Learning Support team are available for all students who would like to enhance their study skills, and for general student support. They are available for one-to-one and group tutorials and arranged appointments for support and advice on any aspect of your learning or on any issue that is affecting your studies. They also organise workshops and specific study skills sessions that run throughout the year to enable students to develop their study skills, such as essay writing or exam techniques. Details of these workshops and sessions will be advertised via email alerts, or on the college Academic Development Calendar. To book an appointment by email. Please email lso.psychology@bbk.ac.uk You can also access learning support and skills training through My Birkbeck: http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/services/facilities/support

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Plagiarism

THE DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCES TAKES THE ISSUE OF PLAGIARISM VERY SERIOUSLY.

Statement from Registrar

You are reminded that all work submitted as part of the requirements for any examination of the University of London or Birkbeck must be expressed in your own words and incorporate your own ideas and judgements. Plagiarism, - that is, the presentation of another person's thoughts or words or artefacts or software as though they were your own - must be avoided, with particular care in course-work and essays and reports written in your own time. Direct quotations from the published or unpublished work of others must always be clearly identified as such by being placed inside quotation marks, and a full reference to their source must be provided in the proper form. Remember that a series of short quotations from several different sources, if not clearly identified as such, constitutes plagiarism just as much as does a single unacknowledged long quotation from a single source. Equally, if you summarise another person's ideas, judgements, figures, diagrams or software, you must refer to that person in your text, and include the work referred to in your bibliography. Failure to observe these rules may result in an allegation of cheating. You should therefore consult your tutor or course director if you are in any doubt about what is permissible. Recourse to the services of “ghost-writing” agencies (for example in the preparation of essays or reports) or of outside word-processing agencies which offer “correction/improvement of English” is strictly forbidden, and students who make use of the services of such agencies render themselves liable for an academic penalty.

http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/services/facilities/support/plagiarism

Plagiarism is defined by the College as “the submission for assessment of material (written, visual or oral) without correct acknowledgement, in such a way that the work could be assumed to be the student’s own, or could be assumed to have been originally produced by the student for the purposes of the assessment in question, where this is not the case.” Plagiarism includes the unattributed use of another person’s work, ideas, opinions, theory, statistics, graphs, models, paintings, artefacts, performance, computer code, drawings, quotations of another person’s actual spoken or written words, or paraphrases of another person’s spoken or written words. It may also include the submission of unattributed work previously produced by the student towards some other assessment, or published in some other forum.

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Useful Addresses & Contact Numbers

PSYCHOLOGY POSTGRADUATE RESEARCH TEAM

COURSE CONTACTS

Professor Denis Mareschal

Course Tutor d.mareschal@bbk.ac.uk 0207-079-0751

Germaine Symons

Departmental Learning Co-ordinator

g.symons@bbk.ac.uk

n/a

MODULE CO-ORDINATORS

Generic Research Skills Prof Michael Thomas m.thomas@bbk.ac.uk

For all other module information contact Prof. Denis Mareschal

OTHER USEFUL CONTACTS Birkbeck Switchboard: 020-7631-6000 Birkbeck Registry: 020-7380-3020 Birkbeck ITS: 020-7631-6543 Birkbeck Disability Office: 020-7631-6336

Naomi Adams Assistant School Manager

n.adams@bbk.ac.uk 020-7631-6334

Ms Ida Akhtar

Postgraduate Administrator

i.akhtar@bbk.ac.uk

020-7631-6535

Psychology Admin General Enquiries psychologypg@bbk.ac.uk

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Finding Birkbeck

The map below shows the location of the various buildings housing Birkbeck's Faculties, Schools, Administrative Departments and Research Centres. For enquiries concerning the location of specific offices or individuals within Birkbeck, please contact the main telephone switchboard on 020 7631 6000.

Key

1 Main Building, Malet Street 2 Clore Management Centre & Henry Wellcome Building 3 Senate House North Block 4 25-6 Russell Square 5 30 Russell Square 6 10-16 Gower Street 7 28b Torrington Square 8 32 Torrington Square 9 South Wing UCL (access via Gower Street) 10 Gordon House & Ingold Laboratories 11 32 Tavistock Square 12 39-47 Gordon Square 13 59 Gordon Square (nursery in basement) 14 7 Bedford Square 15 14 Bloomsbury Square