Module Catalogue 2024/25

Pre Requisite Comment

N/A

Co Requisite Comment

N/A

Aims

•To understand the processes involved in the production and comprehension of single words and sentences
•To understand theoretical models of neuropsychology
•To understand the relationship between brain and behaviour and how to study that relationship
•To understand the different types of memory and their impairment
•To understand the assessment of different memory impairments and what impact they can have on speech and language performance and therapy
•To understand the impairment of perception and what impact it has on speech and language performance and therapy

In relation to HCPC Standards of Proficiency, this module addresses aspects of the following standards but is not the only module to do so:
13.8 understand linguistics and phonetics, psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics and all levels of typical processing
13.10 understand psychology as relevant to lifespan development and change, normal and impaired communication and psychological and social wellbeing
13.11 understand sociology in relation to the practice of speech and language therapy, including its application to educational, health and workplace settings and within multi-cultural contexts
14.7 be able to administer, record, score and interpret a range of published and self-generated assessment tools to describe and analyse service users’ abilities and needs using, where appropriate, phonetic transcription, linguistic analysis, instrumental analysis and psycholinguistic assessment (covered throughout the programme)
14.16 be able to apply knowledge of communication impairment, linguistics, phonetics, psychology and medical sciences to the identification, assessment and differential diagnosis of a range of communication disorders

Outline Of Syllabus

Memory and Cognition
1.       Introduction to clinical neuropsychology
2.       Introduction to brain behaviour relationships
3.       Episodic memory and amnesia
4.       Semantic memory and semantic dementia
5.       Short term memory and short term memory disorders
6.       Object recognition and visual agnosia
7.       Auditory word recognition and word deafness
8.       Cognition and language: the modularity debate
9.       Specific language impairment: linguistic and general processing explanations
10.       Autism: implications or our understanding of child development

Psycholinguistics
1. Introduction to psycholinguistics
2. Morphological processing
3. The mental lexicon
4. Models of single word production
5. Single word comprehension
6. Sentence production (1): models
7. Sentence production (2): planning in real time
8. Sentence comprehension (1): models
9. Sentence comprehension (2): dealing with syntactic complexity
10. Discourse processing
11. Discussion session

Practicals
1.Remembering names and faces
2.Contextual prerequisites for understanding
3.Memory span

Intended Knowledge Outcomes

At the end of the module students will have:
1.An understanding of the processes involved in single word/sentence production/comprehension
2.Acquired a working knowledge of theoretical models relevant to the analysis of word/sentence production/comprehension.
3.Acquired a working knowledge of aspects of cognition and neuropsychological impairments relevant to clinical practice;
4.An understanding of theoretical models relevant to neuropsychology
5.Familiarity with the diagnostic signs and symptoms and assessment methods for neuropsychological impairments

Intended Skill Outcomes

1.Identify functional models and cognitive architecture theories relevant to neuropsychology
2.Recognise presenting signs and symptoms of neuropsychological disorders in patients
3.Identify appropriate clinical assessments to quantify and describe presenting behaviours
4.Differentially diagnose underlying causes of similar presenting behaviours
5.Assimilate spoken and written descriptions of experimental methodology and design
6.Interpret the results of psycholinguistic experiments, both in a visual and numerical format
7.Compare and contrast different models of psycholinguistic processing
8.Apply psycholinguistic models to language disorders.

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Memory and Cognition:
Lectures to introduce and explain theories related to neuropsychology; explain different neuropsychological impairments, their assessments and diagnosis and what impact they might have on speech and language performance and therapy. Practicals to apply the knowledge acquired in lectures regarding visual and auditory recognition and memory to real-life situations.

Psycholinguistics:
Lectures to introduce basic psycholinguistic concepts. Supporting worksheets on Blackboard to check understanding of key concepts and to provide opportunities for practising the description and labelling of speech errors. Optional group tutorial available to address any particular issues that arise during the lectures.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

Memory and Cognition:
The multiple choice questions present students with issues from the theoretical background underpinnings (knowledge outcomes 1 and 2) and case scenarios (knowledge outcome 3) to test out understanding of differential diagnostic and assessment issues.

Psycholinguistics:
Students must provide short answers on 6 topics from a choice of 10. This format allows an evaluation of both range and depth of learning. Range of learning is important as students need a broad theoretical base to prepare them for their case-based studies. Depth of learning is also required as students need to be able to use psycholinguistic models to diagnose and treat language disorders.

General Notes

N/A