Psychology: Talent Development and Creativity MSc

I'm the first student to have completed this Master's programme. That's because it's new: officially the programme only started this academic year. But I was allowed follow some of the course units last year, which explains why I have already completed the programme. In Talent Development and Creativity you learn how to bring out the best in others. You help them to discover and develop their talents.

This topic has always interested me, which is why I chose the programme. I’m particularly interested in sport, but I didn’t want to limit myself to sport psychology. In this programme, you learn about the development of various sorts of talent: in sport, in music, at school, at work… you name it.

The best course unit that I took was the one on coaching. First you learn all the theories and models of coaching, and then you apply them in the practicals, by using role play. And then, and this was the part I liked best, you actually coach someone, a student assistant or PhD student. This meant we could immediately apply what we had learnt, and in fact that was the case with all the course units. I think that is a major strength of this Master’s programme.

Although you can do a placement as part of the programme, I chose not to. I wrote an extensive thesis, which involved conducting research into affordances, the possibilities that people see to take action, and psychological momentum in a sporting event. The expectation was that a person who is in positive momentum – who has a lead over the opponent for instance – will see more affordances than a person who is in negative momentum. And that proved to be true.