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Developmental Social Neuroscience - PSY00067H

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  • Department: Psychology
  • Credit value: 20 credits
  • Credit level: H
  • Academic year of delivery: 2024-25
    • See module specification for other years: 2023-24

Module will run

Occurrence Teaching period
A Semester 1 2024-25

Module aims

Developmental Social Neuroscience is a relatively young discipline in Developmental Psychology. It became established in record time due to the relevance of the research in this domain for our understanding of human social and emotional development. The aim of this module is to discuss theories, concepts, and methods of developmental social neuroscience, as applied to several topics of investigation: emotion expression processing, emotion regulation, empathy, atypical development - conduct disorders. We will primarily focus on the first years of life (infancy and toddlerhood), and mostly on topics related to emotional development.

Module learning outcomes

  • Review, with some guidance, some of the topics under debate in the developmental social neuroscience
  • Analyse and assess the value of the social neuroscience approaches for the understanding of key issues in developmental psychology
  • Describe and evaluate different examples of empirical evidence in developmental social neuroscience
  • Illustrate and discuss, with some direction, the debated nature of the knowledge concerning the development of emotion information processing, emotion regulation, empathy, and antisocial behaviour as resulted from applying social neuroscience paradigms.
  • Manage and synthesise information, recognize relevance of literature and develop sustained and reasoned argument from a range of sources Formulate and communicate personal views regarding the discussed topics in developmental social neuroscience

Module content

  • Neuroscientific approaches to early social development
  • Learning about others’ emotions from face and voice
  • Emotion expressions processing – mechanisms of development
  • Processing and visualizing infant ERPs
  • Emotion regulation during early childhood
  • Early empathy development
  • Origins and development of aggressive and antisocial behaviour
  • "Tell others about early social development" (applied, interactive)
  • Origins of anxiety disorders

Indicative assessment

Task % of module mark
Online Exam -less than 24hrs (Centrally scheduled) 100

Special assessment rules

None

Indicative reassessment

Task % of module mark
Online Exam -less than 24hrs (Centrally scheduled) 100

Module feedback

Marks will be released through e:vision.

Indicative reading

None specified.


The information on this page is indicative of the module that is currently on offer. The University constantly explores ways to enhance and improve its degree programmes and therefore reserves the right to make variations to the content and method of delivery of modules, and to discontinue modules, if such action is reasonably considered to be necessary. In some instances it may be appropriate for the University to notify and consult with affected students about module changes in accordance with the University's policy on the Approval of Modifications to Existing Taught Programmes of Study.