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Psychology - Things to do over the Summer

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The beginning of your course is not far away, and we're really excited for you to officially join us at London South Bank University (LSBU)! If you're looking for ideas of things to do over the summer related to your degree, our academic team have given some suggestions of things you might be interested in reading, watching, listening to, doing, and following.  These activities will give you a deeper insight into the history of psychology, a better understanding of a career as a psychologist, and help you to prepare for your studies.

These are all friendly recommendations - it's completely up to you how much (or little) you decide to do!

See & Do

There are some great museums and exhibitions in London with a focus on the human body and mental healthcare:

Wellcome Collection

Being Human | Wellcome Collection

Wellcome Collection is a museum and library that explores the past, present and future of health. Being Human explores what it means to be human in the 21st century. It reflects our hopes and fears about new forms of medical knowledge, and our changing relationships with ourselves, each other and the world.

The Science Museum

The Science Museum

The Science Museum offers free entry. The Who Am I? interactive gallery allows you to explore the characteristics that make humans a successful species, such as personality, intelligence and language, and the Medicine gallery reveals moving personal stories and provide a rich historical context for our experience of medicine and health today.

Bethlem Museum of the Mind

Bethlem Museum of the Mind

Located in the grounds of one of LSBU's NHS partner trusts, the Bethlem Royal NHS Hospital, the Bethlem Museum of the Mind records the lives and experience and celebrates the achievements of people with mental health problems. It also delves into the history of mental healthcare. It destigmatises mental illness through its challenging displays, exhibitions and extensive educational programme.

Read

Books

Why Don't Students Like School?: A Cognitive Scientist Answers Questions About How the Mind Works and What It Means for the Classroom by Daniel T. Willingham

Biased: The New Science of Race and Inequality, Jennifer Eberhardt (2019)

Inventing Ourselves: The Secret Life of the Teenage Brain, Sarah-Jayne Blakemore (2018)

Biased: The New Science of Race and Inequality, Jennifer Eberhardt (2019)

How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain, Lisa Feldman Barrett (2017)

The Idiot Brain: A Neuroscientist Explains What Your Head Is Really Up To, Dean Burnett (2016)

Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth and Happiness (Updated Edition), Richard H. Thaler & Cass R. Sunstein (2021)

Why We Remember: Revealing the Hidden Power of Memory, Charan Ranganath (2024)

Testosterone Rex: Unmaking the Myths of Our Gendered Minds, Cordelia Fine (2017)

The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion, Jonathan Haidt (2012)

Mothers and Others: The Evolutionary Origins of Mutual Understanding, Sarah Blaffer Hardy (2011)

Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers, Robert Sapolsky (1994)

Psychology, Mental Health and Distress, David Harper, John Cromby, Paula Reavey (2017)

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, Oliver Sacks (1985)

Textbooks

Psychology (European Edition), Daniel L. Schacter, Daniel T. Gilbert, Daniel M. Wegner, Bruce Hood (2020)*

Watch & Listen

Films

Three Identical Strangers

Director: Tim Wardle (2018) - true story of identical triplets separated at birth and unknowingly part of a study on nature vs nurture. Raises critical ethical questions around identity, development, and early life experience. Please note that you may need to pay to view this content.

Project Nim

Director: James Marsh (2011) - follows a 1970s experiment to teach a chimpanzee sign language by raising him as a human child. An exploration of animal cognition, human behaviour, and the ethics of psychological research.

Please note that you may need to pay to view this content.

Inside Out

Director: Pete Docter (2015) - A creative, emotionally rich animated film about five core emotions shaping a young girl’s experience. Offers insight into memory, personality, and emotional regulation in a way that's accessible and psychologically informed.

Happy

Director: Roko Belic (2012) - explores what truly makes people happy, drawing on global case studies and psychological research into well-being and life satisfaction. Please note that you may need to pay for this content.

Podcasts

All in the Mind

BBC Sounds All in the Mind show on how we think, feel and behave. Claudia Hammond delves into the evidence on mental health, psychology and neuroscience.

Psych Explained

Watch on Youtube

This channel is dedicated to spreading psychology knowledge, and the love of psychology, one video at a time. These videos cover the content of an introductory psychology course and can help students enrolled in university, AP, or IB programs.

Follow & Join