This module will build on ‘An Introduction to Old Norse’; and will continue to familiarise students with the language and literature of Viking and...

This module will build on ‘An Introduction to Old Norse’; and will continue to familiarise students with the language and literature of Viking and medieval Scandinavia.

Aims: To explore some of the biological bases of behaviour. Objectives: Students should be able to describe aspects of selected behaviours using multiple...

Aims: To explore some of the biological bases of behaviour. Objectives: Students should be able to describe aspects of selected behaviours using multiple levels of description, ranging from molecules to behaviour. Summary of module content: The module is oriented around learning and memory, mainly using spatial and episodic memory as a model system with which to explore issues such as how neurons represent information, and how this representation is modified by experience. We will use multiple levels of description ranging from the genes contained within the neurons, through the proteins they make, the dynamical functions carried out by neurons (e.g., synaptic transmission, modification of connections etc.), the interactions of groups of neurons in circuits to form cognitive representations, and all the way up to the animal's macroscopic behaviour and how this interacts with the environment. By the end of the module students should have an understanding of how (relatively!) simple low-level processes create and interact with high level processes to produce the complex behaviours (such as navigation) exhibited by animals and humans.

This module explores how the human mind and brain is able to understand and produce language in order to communicate. In addition to looking at the language...

This module explores how the human mind and brain is able to understand and produce language in order to communicate. In addition to looking at the language abilities of healthy adults, we also look at language processing within bilinguals and within patients with language deficits and at the theories and models that have been developed to explain these remarkable abilities. We explore how these linguistic abilities relate to our other cognitive and social abilities and examine topics such as how concepts and categories are represented, both within language studies and from a more general perspective.

Its objectives are to ensure that participants both know the key theories in the field and can assess the evidence for them and so improve their skills in formulating and evaluating psychological arguments

The module aims to convey the results and implications of recent research on central cognitive processes involving language and thinking and the brain systems involved; and to describe and to discuss the relevant methodologies.