BSc (Hons) Psychology of Esports

The Study of Human Interaction

This module explores the functions of understanding relationships. You will study the processes related to forming an impression of someone and forming a relationship with them through a variety of behaviours.

Certain psychological theories and empirical findings will form investigations into attraction, prejudice and stereotyping, and a range of methodologies and analyses, such as interviewing, content analysis and observational approaches will be explored.

Study and Research Skills for Social Scientists

This module will develop your personal, research and study skills.

Experimental Design in Context: Usability and Cognition

This module explores functions and experiences relevant to using technology, focusing on the criteria used to assess technology’s usability and how human limitations relate to this usability and usage. You will be introduced to certain psychological theories and empirical findings from investigations into information processing by the mind, and discuss a range of methodologies and analyses such as laboratory experimentation and inferential statistics.

Assessment

You will be assessed through a practical report and research participation.

Ethics and Codes of Conduct

As a major growing activity with ambitions to be recognized as a sport, esports faces several issues regarding conduct and authenticity.

This module explores the range of emerging player and team codes of conduct from games companies, leagues, events promoters and national governing bodies.

You will discuss ethical questions concerning behaviours, drug taking for enhancing performance, social interactions and expectations of players and audiences alike.

You will also examine the possible wide-ranging implications for the industry if esports is granted Olympic status.

Perspectives On Psychology

This module seeks to enable you to understand the contribution of key thinkers to the development of modern psychology and to appreciate their biographical backgrounds. The lives and work of key thinkers will be introduced and contextualised with reference to contemporary ideas and more.

Introduction to Esports: History & Context

This module will introduce you to the history, development and current trends of the esports world. Esports is a rapidly growing industry, with global tournaments offering multi-million-pound prize funds and predicted growth of the sector set to explode into multiple billions in future years.

You will examine how competitive gaming competitions grew from Stanford University’s Spacewar competition in 1972 to the mass participation global events seen today.

The module will take a specific look into the history of esports, major tournaments, events and how they will feed into future events-based modules.

Sports Science: Flow State

In this module you will explore ‘flow’ in positive psychology, which also known as being in the ‘zone’.

Flow is a mental state of operation where a person is fully immersed in a feeling of energised focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the activity they are performing. Flow is characterized by being completely absorbed in what you are doing, and the resulting loss in your sense of space and time.

In eSports the ‘flow state’ enables players to react and implement moves more quickly and effectively. This module also introduce aspects of research involving sports science such as nutrition, brain activity analysis, personal behaviours and preparation.

Assessments

You will be assessed through a report or case study.

Biological Psychology

This module explores the ways biological processes have been studied, for example through brain lesions and cell stimulation methodologies.

The areas of behavioural genetics, neuro-imaging, neuropsychology, socio-biology and evolutionary psychology will be investigated in terms of underlying theory and empirical research.

Cognitive Psychology

This module will introduce you to the ways cognitive processes have been studied in the past. This includes studying experimental and cognitive neuropsychological methodologies. You will investigate the areas of attention, perception, learning, thinking and language and relate your findings to underlying theory and empirical research.

Developmental Psychology

This module explores the study of development and maturation in cognitive, personality and social processes, as well as introduces you to basic theory, research findings and methods of investigation in childhood, adolescence and lifespan development.

You will consider the ways in which behaviour is influenced by developmental factors, the nature of developmental processes and the ways in which empirical research can help us to understand how developmental processes influence what we do.

Research Methods: Experimental Designs & Analysis

This module will develop your understanding of experimental designs and associated methods of analysis, and introduce you to research ethics.

Individual Differences Psychology

On this module, you will be introduced to how individual differences processes have been studied in the past, for example through psychometrics and case study methodologies.

You will investigate areas of personality, intelligence, cognitive style, motivation, gender, and ethnicity in terms of underlying theory and empirical research.

Assessment

You will be assessed through an essay and a lab report.

Research Methods: Survey and Qualitative Designs and Analysis

The module aims to develop your understanding of survey and qualitative designs and associated methods of analysis.

Sports Science: Physicality of Gaming

In this module you will explore the physical demands of the esport player in competition as you work to define the requirements for optimal participation and performance in esports.

You will explore the physical demands and preparation for esports performance and consider the role of

• The central nervous system
• Energy demands
• Nutrition
• Repetitive movements
• Endurance activities.

You will discuss athletic esports demands and training with a focus on the metabolic, neuromuscular, neuroendocrine and cardiovascular systems of the human body to develop knowledge on the nature of esports performance.

Assessments

You will be assessed through a scientific report.

Cybercrime and Security

In the age of technology and digitalisation, crime has become more diverse and often easy commit. This module introduces cybercrime and cybersecurity and will cover key emerging research on this contemporary topic.

Independent Project

In this module, you are encouraged to adopt a problem-oriented approach. The first stage is to identify a problem in psychology of interest and relevance to your studies.

You will determine an appropriate approach to addressing the problem through discussion with tutors who have relevant theoretical and practical expertise.

Your investigation may be based within a single discipline, or it may involve more than one discipline, but it must be based within your chosen degree programme.

Project Management and Presentation Skills

This project will support you to develop a wide range of skills from project management to the ability to present your research results in an accessible form. You will develop their scientific reasoning and reporting skills and produce a poster to present your research work.

Psychology in Context: Professional Skills in Psychology

You will consider some of the key methods and assessment techniques commonly used by psychologists in their daily working lives.

This module will introduce some of the key principles of effective counselling psychology and the importance of empathy and positive regard to the success of the therapeutic relationship. You will identify effective interviewing skills for psychologists and participate in a recorded interviewing session.

Assessment

You will be assessed through a clinical interview report and test administration report.

Advanced Esports Psychology

One of the fundamental concerns of sports psychologists and coaches is enabling an athlete to perform to their potential when training and competing.

To do this, researchers and practitioners must understand the psychological pressures that are inherent in training and competition and the potential consequences of these pressures.

Given the team nature of some esports, researchers and practitioners must also understand the factors which impact the effectiveness of group functioning and the potential consequences to group performance.

This module aims to develop your understanding of the psychological demands of training and performance that you will meet in the esports industry.

Research Industry Project: Esports

This module entails applying acquired knowledge and skills to a range of topics from the esports research industry, including prevalent topics, research directions, and current gaps, emphasising both individual and teamwork capabilities. Participants will gain in-depth insights into psychology, cyberpsychology, and related disciplines within esports research.

The project encourages creative approaches in design, planning, and execution.