The module is organised into five blocks, each centred on a real-world theme. These themes allow you to make connections across theories, methods and applications, and to understand psychology as a dynamic and contested field.
Block 1: Lying and believing
You’ll examine why people lie, how deception is detected, and how cognitive processes such as perception and attention shape judgement and decision-making. You’ll also explore conspiracy theories, the social dynamics that sustain them and their links to harm and crime. The block concludes by drawing these threads together, including a focus on deception and bias in artificial intelligence.
Block 2: Extreme events and social conflict
This block explores how people respond to disasters, how riots and protests emerge and unfold, and how gender and violence intersect with social, cultural and legal systems. You’ll consider group processes, social identity, mental health, community responses and policing approaches, while evaluating competing explanations for collective behaviour.
Block 3: Doing harm and making good
You’ll study theories of offending, including cognitive, developmental, social, neurological and clinical perspectives. Topics include adverse childhood experiences, personality traits, offending, psychopathy and impulsivity. You’ll also explore how behavioural patterns are formed and can change, in contexts such as crime, health, and climate change, and learn how individual, social and cultural factors influence real-world choices.
Block 4: Resilience and wellbeing
This block examines how individuals and societies cope with personal and environmental change; the neurobiological and social bases of happiness; and neurodiversity. You’ll consider how cognitive, developmental and social factors shape neurodivergent experiences, along with forensic issues such as interviewing vulnerable people.
Block 5: Connecting and belonging
This block examines how communication creates meaning and is used to influence and persuade; the psychology of language and how it contributes to identity and belonging; and how identity develops and is shaped by social, cultural, and technological contexts.
You’ll get help and support from an assigned tutor throughout your module.
They’ll help by:
Online tutorials run throughout the module. While they’re not compulsory, we strongly encourage you to participate. Where possible, we’ll make recordings available.
Course work includes:
You'll be provided with one textbook and have access to the module website, which includes:
You can study this module on its own or use the credits you gain towards an Open University qualification.
D250 is a compulsory module in our:
D250 is an option module in our:
Applying psychology starts once a year – in October.
This page describes the module that will start in October 2026.
We expect it to start for the last time in October 2035.
As a student of The Open University, you should be aware of the content of the academic regulations, which are available on our Student Policies and Regulations website.
| Start | End | Register by | England fee |
|---|
| 03 Oct 2026 | 30 Jun 2027 | 10 Sep 2026 | £4,088 |
There may be extra costs on top of the tuition fee, such as set books, a computer and internet access.
If your income is not more than £25,000 or you receive a qualifying benefit, you might be eligible for help with some of these costs after your module has started.
There may be extra costs on top of the tuition fee, such as set books, a computer and internet access.
If your personal income is £25,000 or less, or you’re on certain benefits, you could qualify for a grant and OU top-up funding to cover 100% of your course fees. Apply online at the same time as you register on your module.
For more information on how to apply, visit our Part-Time Fee Grants for students in Scotland page.
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Read more about Open University Student Budget Accounts (OUSBA).
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Over 30,000 employers have used the OU to develop staff so far. If the module you’ve chosen is geared towards your job or developing your career, you could approach your employer to see if they will sponsor you by paying some or all of the fees.
You can pay part or all of your tuition fees upfront with a debit or credit card when you register for each module.
We accept American Express, Mastercard, Visa and Visa Electron.
We know that sometimes you may want to combine payment options. For example, you may wish to pay part of your tuition fee with a debit card and pay the remainder in instalments through an Open University Student Budget Account (OUSBA).
We know that sometimes you may want to combine payment options. For example, you may get support from your employer to pay part of your tuition fee and pay the remainder by credit or debit card.
For more information about combining payment options, contact an adviser.
Please note: your permanent address/domicile will affect your fee status and, therefore, the fees you are charged and any financial support available to you. The fee information provided here is valid for modules starting before 31 July 2027. Fees typically increase annually. For further information about the University's fee policy, visit our Fee Rules.
