Psychology (Research) – (M.Sc.)

Contents

Besides lectures, the programme offers seminars, work in small groups, practicals and experiments in order to guarantee quality of teaching.

Structure and duration

The structure of the programme is as follows. All students take the following general courses:

• Designing an empirical study
• Experimentation I: Programming Psychological Experiments
• Experimentation II: Neuroscientific Research Methods
• Applied multivariate data-analysis:mini-courses Methods and Statistics
• Analysis of own data
• Writing an empirical paper
• Presenting your research

Research internship and thesis

The final part of the programme consists of the Research internship and thesis (30 ECTS). Students spend most of the second year on the research internship and thesis.

During the first semester (phase 1), the research internship and tutorials focus on the preparation of a literature review and the development of a research question, resulting in a written research proposal.

During the second semester (phase 2), students implement the research, collect and analyse the data, and write their thesis in the form of a research report, prepared according to APA publication guidelines.

Tracks

• Clinical and Health Psychology
• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Social and Organisational Psychology

Track: Clinical and Health Psychology

This Research Master's track examines new theoretical models and research methods in an infor­med and critical way in order to prepare students for progression to a PhD programme. Students achieve this by studying the main theories, methods, and findings of contem­porary research in clinical and health psychology.

Elective modules can also be taken from other programmes. Additionally, students in the research programme receive extensive training in advanced academic and research skills. During their research internship and master´s thesis, they focus on a specific topic of their interest in which they acquire hands-on experience by participating in one of the ongoing research projects on the field of clinical or health psychology, under close supervision of the research faculty in research tutorials.

Programme objectives

The Research Master's programme with a specialisation in Clinical and Health Psychology provides students with an in-depth knowledge of a broad range of theories and research domains in this area. The major aim of this MPhil programme is to provide students with a theoretical background for clinical psychology and health psychology research, assessment and interventions. This includes the acquisition of knowledge relevant to the assessment and treatment of psychopathology, as well as to health promotion and disease prevention and the self-management of chronic diseases. Students acquire advanced research skills by participating in a clinical psychology or health psychology research project.

Programme structure

The Research Master's track Clinical and Health Psychology involves the following parts:

• Specialisation Courses
• Elective courses in track
• Academic and Research Skills
• Elective course in Grad. School
• Research Thesis/Internship

in order to qualify for post-master vocational training in the field of mental health care

If students wish, they can combine their MPhil track Clinical and Health psychology with courses from the programme of the one-year MSc Clinical psychology in order to qualify for post-master vocational training in the field of mental health care. A very limited number of Dutch speaking students who complete their MPhil combined with fulfilling the requirements for post-graduate vocational training (see below) are offered the possibility to follow (after completion of their MPhil) a paid clinical internship at the Psycho-Medical Centre Parnassia at The Hague.

If they complete this clinical internship with a rating of good to excellent performance they will be offered the possibility of starting post-master training within PMC Parnassia leading to the BIG-qualified title of Gezondheidszorgpsycholoog.

Successful completion of this extended program results in one Master´s diploma (MPhil) with additional certificates to prove that the student meets the requirements for post-master vocational training for Psychotherapeut or Gezondheidszorg Psycholoog.

Paid internship

A limited number of students who complete their MPhil combined with a MSc in Clinical Psychology are offered the possibility to follow a paid clinical internship at Psycho-Medical Centre Parnassia in The Hague. If they complete this internship with a rating of good to excellent performance they will be offered the possibility of starting postgraduate training leading to the BIG-qualified title of Gezondheidszorgpsycholoog within Parnassia.

Obligatory coursework

In four advanced-level modules, students acquire in-depth knowledge and understanding of a range of theories, issues and research domains in clinical psychology and health psychology:

• Research Topics in Health Promotion
• Evaluating Interventions in Patients with Chronic Disease
• Advanced Topics in Experimental Psychopathology
• Advanced Topics in Biological Aspects of Psychopathology

Track-specific electives

Students can choose 10 ECTS to further specialise in their area of interest and prepare for their thesis. Modules should be chosen in consultation with their supervisor for their master´s thesis. This involves modules offered in the Master's programme of Clinical Psychology or in the Master's programme of Health Psychology or in other (Research) Master's programmes of Psychology. Clinical Psychology/Health Psychology electives are:

• Therapeutic Skills
• Clinical Interviewing and Assessment
• Cognitive-behavioural interventions
• Eating Disorders
• Health promotion and disease prevention
• Paradigms and Controversies in Health Psychology
• The Psychodynamic Perspective

Curriculum

Alongside the content-specific parts of the programme, another part consists of advanced training in academic and research skills.

Track: Cognitive Neuroscience

This track focuses on the investigation of the psychological, computational, and neuroscientific bases of human cognition by means of mind and brain research. Our research and teaching are based on the conviction that cognitive processes can only be understood in the context of their function and purpose for action control, that is, for the adaptation of intentional, goal-directed actions to environmental demands. The master's track has a strong hands-on flavour with numerous practical course modules, and students play a very active role in ongoing behavioural and neuroscientific research.

Laboratory facilities

The research is carried out in a number of specially dedicated laboratories, including electrophysiological and fMRI laboratories for the study of the neurophysiological basis of attention and action control, an infant laboratory for the study of the development of voluntary action, and numerous experimental testing rooms for the study of young and old healthy subjects and patients. Master's students on this track are provided with their own laboratory including six testing rooms, dedicated work places for the development of psychological experiments, and a discussion room.

Programme structure

Track-specific mandatory courses:

• Current issues in attention and action control
• Lab in attention and action control
• Current issues in cognitive neuroscience
• Lab in cognitive neuroscience

Obligatory coursework

The obligatory coursework consists of two seminars (issue modules) that will provide the opportunity to review and discuss the state-of-the-art and "hot topics" in the cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience of attention and action control, and two lab modules that will provide hands-on research experience in these areas:

• Cognitive Neuroscience of Action Control
• Cognitive Neuroscience of Memory
• Social Cognitive Neuroscience

Track-specific electives

The two modules within the track-specific part of the programme can be chosen from the remaining cognitive psychology programme:

• Cognitive Robotics Workshop
• Human Error at work I: Managing the risks
• Human Error at work II: Integrating Cognition
• Cognitive aging
• Decision making in practice: Cases from Psychology and Law
• Neuromodulation of cognition

Curriculum:
Alongside the content-specific parts of the programme, another part consists of advanced training in academic and research skills.

Track: Developmental Psychology

The development of emotion and cognition, and the relationship to the developing brain, lie at the forefront of scientific enquiry. Key questions are: How does intelligent behaviour emerge over the course of childhood development? How do cognition and emotion interact and affect behaviour across development? How does autism or deafness affect emotional development? How does the brain develop to shape our mind, thoughts and behaviour? Emotion, cognition, and their interaction, are manifested at various behavioural levels and in different brain systems. Hence, multi-method approaches are used to address the complex and dynamic interplay between emotion, cognition and the developing brain.

This Research Master's track offers a strong theoretical background to provide the varied knowledge-base needed for a thorough understanding of emotional and cognitive development across childhood and adolescence. Students will gain hands-on experience with various assessment procedures: self-report, behavioural observation, experimental manipulations, psychophysiological assessment (skin conductance, heart rate, cortisol, etc.), EEG, and fMRI.

The multi-method approach in the training programme is realised in the context of four research programmes.

1. Developmental cognitive neuroscience (programme leader: Eveline Crone)
2. Adolescent maturation, social anxiety, and peripheral parameters of neurological functioning (programme leader: Michiel Westenberg)
3. Cognitive development, learning potential and cognitive plasticity (programme leader: Wilma Resing)
4. Emotional functioning and regulation in typically and atypically developing children (programme leader: Carolien Rieffe)

The obligatory course work will consist of four theoretical modules which will provide the basis for understanding changes in cognitive and affective systems across childhood and adolescence. These modules can be combined with elective modules from other programmes, allowing an interdisciplinary perspective on development.

Track: Social and Organisational Psychology

Students who choose to take the Research Master's programme Social and Organisational Psychology acquire in-depth knowledge of a broad range of theories and research domains in this area, all concerning the way people´s social environment influences thoughts, feelings, and behaviour. This programme focuses specifically on processes within and between groups. Examples of theory development and research in each of these areas are conflict management, leadership, social dilemmas, diversity, stereotyping and prejudice, individual and group decision making. Relevant fields for application are organisation and management in particular, but also economic behaviour and environmental issues.

Programme objectives

The Research Master's programme is dedicated to training students in actively working with classic and new theoretical models in social and organisational psychology, and the application of advanced research methods. Elective modules can also be taken from other programmes. Additionally, students in the Research Master's programme receive extensive training in advanced academic and research skills.

During their research internship and master´s thesis, they focus on a specific topic of their interest in which they acquire hands-on experience by participating in one of the ongoing research projects at the psychology department, under close supervision of the research faculty in research tutorials. The Research Master's programme is the ideal start for a PhD programme in Social and Organisational Psychology.

Programme structure

The Research Master's track Social and Organisational Psychology involves the following parts:

• Specialisation Courses
• Elective courses in track
• General Courses
• Elective course in Grad. School
• Research Thesis/Internship

Obligatory course work

In two advanced-level modules, students acquire in-depth knowledge and understanding of a range of theories, issues and research domains in social and organizational psychology:

• Group processes and intergroup relations
• Social judgment and decision making

Track-specific electives

Students are supposed to choose two (10 ECTS) from four elective modules in the domain of social and organisational psychology:

• Motivation, Power, and Leadership
• Policy and Social Behaviour
• Culture and Diversity at Work
• The Psychology of Economic Behaviour

Curriculum

Alongside the content-specific parts of the programme, another part consists of advanced training in academic and research skills.

This programe has a workload of 120 ECTS.

Accreditation

Accredited by: NVAO in: Netherlands

Funding details

Scholarships / Grants:

Leiden University:
For additional information: Website