England

Please tell us where you live so that we can provide you with the most relevant information as you use this website.
If you are at a BFPO address please choose the country or region in which you would ordinarily be resident.
Accessibility statement
A image to illustrate Critically exploring psychology 1 module
This module introduces you to some of the core theories, debates and research methods in contemporary psychology. The focus will be on areas of social, cognitive and biological psychology. You'll explore a range of exciting topics, including examining how individuals and groups act in a range of situations, investigating how we gather and process information to understand the world around us, and exploring how differences in the human brain can explain individual differences. You'll also have the opportunity to develop your research skills as you start to ask your own research questions in psychology.
This module will introduce you to a range of aspects of the core curriculum which underpins Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC) with the British Psychological Society. The topics covered include relationships, attention, memory, the brain, and health and well-being, with references made to real-world applications using engaging current literature and case studies to bring the content to life. The module draws on a range of voices to encourage critical thought and debate, and issues around diversity will be directly embedded into the curriculum.
The module is comprised of the following four study blocks of theoretical content and will deliver research methods in parallel.
Introductory Block: This introduces a range of perspectives in psychology and starts to consider ethical issues in historical and contemporary psychological knowledge and research.
Block 1: This focuses on social psychology, including topics such as obedience, conformity, group processes, social cognition, including bias, prejudice (with a particular focus on outsiders and groups in conflict), relationships, cultural diversity and differences from across the globe, and learning from watching.
Block 2: This explores cognitive psychology, including perception, attention, and memory, focusing on remembering and forgetting and the application of memory research to witnessing and recall.
Block 3: This examines biological psychology. You'll explore the human brain and how we can understand diversity and difference, learning and conditioning, and examine how psychology can help us understand physical and mental health.
Running alongside the theoretical material, you'll have the chance to develop your research skills and apply these to the topics you are studying.  Each week, you'll take an in-depth look at the different perspectives taken in psychological research and consider examples from theory to illustrate where our psychological knowledge comes from. You'll be supported in asking and answering different psychological research questions and considering the ethical implications of the proposed work. You'll explore and develop your understanding of a broad range of qualitative techniques, including thematic and discursive analysis, and phenomenological research.
You'll also be supported in developing your skills in quantitative research and have the opportunity to use a specialist software package (SPSS) to summarise and describe numerical information, examine associations between data sets, and test hypotheses. For both qualitative and quantitative research, you'll have the chance to engage in ‘real-world’ studies and produce research reports to summarise your findings, a key skill for future work in the psychological field.
On successful completion of this module, you will have:
This is one of the two core modules in our British Psychological Society (BPS) accredited MSc in Psychology (Conversion).
You’ll get help and support from an assigned tutor throughout your module.
They’ll help by:
Course work includes:
You will be provided with a research methods workbook and have access to a module website, which includes:
You can only study this module as part of specific Open University qualifications.
D810 is a compulsory module in our:
Sometimes you cannot count a module towards a qualification if you have already counted another module with similar content. To verify any excluded combinations with this module, check with an adviser before registering.
Critically exploring psychology 1 starts once a year – in September.
This page describes the module that will start in September 2026.
We expect it to start for the last time in September 2031.
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.
This module is not available for standalone study. To study this module, you should have declared the MSc in Psychology (Conversion) (F92) as your study intention and be able to devote 25 hours each week to your studies.
The minimum entry requirement is a recognised UK honours degree (2:2) or its equivalent.
If you have any doubt about the suitability of the module, please speak to an adviser.
Written transcripts of any audio and video components and Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) versions of printed material are available to download. Some Adobe PDF components may not be available or fully accessible using a screen reader (and where applicable: mathematical and scientific materials may be particularly difficult to read in this way). Other alternative formats of the module materials may be available in the future.
StartEndRegister byEngland fee
05 Sep 202630 Jun 202713 Aug 2026£4,550
If you study this module as part of an eligible qualification, you can apply for a postgraduate loan to support your study costs. To find out more, see Postgraduate loans in England.
Studying with The Open University can boost your employability. OU courses are recognised and respected by employers for their excellence and the commitment they take to complete. They also value the skills that students learn and can apply in the workplace.
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.
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.
Level info