Psychology

The course gradually moves from the foundational principles of Behavioral Science, to the practical applications based on those principles through three interlinked blocks. Students are introduced to dual-processing models of human behavior to highlight the role of the environment in shaping decisions. They consider the Dual System approach, heuristics and biases, and the influence of time, risk, and social preferences. The course delves into the science of happiness by introducing the main accounts of subjective wellbeing, how it is conceptualized and measured and its implications for policy and other contexts. Finally, the course introduces the Mindspace framework by teaching how various techniques from Behavioral Economics (incentives, commitments, defaults), Social Psychology (ego, messenger and social norms), and Cognitive Psychology (priming, affect) can be used to shape behavior. 

The course presents the conceptual and methodological elements that characterize the ethnopsychological approach to clinical psychology. Students are guided in the analysis of some content, applied research and some conceptualizations aimed at acquiring those methodological competencies designed to intervene in clinical situations. The lectures are interactive and require active participation on the part of the students. Experts with long-lasting experience in clinical services are involved in order to show certain practices regarding the course content. The course provides basic knowledge of ethnopsychology and the development of the following competencies: Competence to recognize and manage cultural differences; competence to recognize and manage one's own cognitive filters; competence to identify methodological practices regarding an ethnopsychological intervention; cultural competencies in Health Service.

This course surveys various abnormal behaviors and mental disorders. The first part of the course introduces the major psychological theories (Psychodynamic Theory, Learning Theory, Cognitive-Behavioral Theory) as well as the biological and socio-cultural theories which explain the phenomena, causes, and treatment of abnormal behaviors and mental disorders.  

In the second part, various phenomena and classification systems of mental disorders are presented. The focus is on psychological causes of various types of mental disorders: disorders related to anxiety, mood, and personality, somatoform disorders, dissociative disorders, schizophrenia, sex-related disorders, eating disorders, sleep disorders, alcoholism, mental disorders in childhood or adolescence.  

In addition, the course covers the proper treatments for mental disorders as well as how to improve mental health in general. 

This course provides a psychological perspective on how to live a good life. To this end, this course consists of three main themes: 1) happy life, 2) meaningful life, and 3) dignified life. A happy life consists of sub-themes such as the definition and measurement of happiness, the components of happiness, the consequences of happiness, the characteristics of a happy state and society, and the characteristics of a happy individual. A meaningful life consists of themes of meaning, source of meaning, goals and achievements, and self-control, and finally, a dignified life consists of sub-themes of virtuous living, human rationality and diversity, and healthy framing. 

This is an advanced course in psychological statistics. The objective of the course is to gain knowledge of multivariate statistics especially non-experimental, cross-sectional data. The course covers how to select, conduct, interpret, and report quantitative statistical analyses to help answer research questions that involve multiple dependent variables. Students are expected to have taken PSY104 and PSY223. R and R Studio will be used as main statistical packages. 

The course focuses on the molecular and pharmacological foundations of psychiatric diseases. Based on understanding of the normal brain processes involved in the functioning of the brain (and focusing on regulatory, behavioral, and cognitive aspects of neuroscience), pathological processes in anxiety disorders, mood disorders, and psychotic disorders are covered. Current treatments and new treatment options are part of an endeavor to initiate students in the exciting story of the (dys)functioning brain and its behavioral consequences. Each week expert lectures illustrate relevant topics in each domain studied. Several psychiatric disorders are explained from a clinical perspective by a psychiatrist and from a neurobiological perspective by a researcher in that particular area. The process of conducting an experiment to presenting the scientific data is reviewed. Students work individually or in small groups on each (CNS disease) topic and produce weekly products (presentations). Participants write a publication and get a walkthrough of the scientific review process. All this is performed in the framework of the development of new innovative therapeutics for CNS disorders. 

This course develops a basic understanding of the science of psychology including topics like ethics, research design, descriptive statistics, and inferential statistics. This course covers: types of research, measurement, ethics, assumptions, correlation, ANOVA, t-tests, chi-squared, and the philosophy of science. Students are expected to demonstrate command of how psychology research is done, how to tell the difference between correlational and experimental research, how to read scientific articles, to understand matters of ethics in research, and the basics of statistics. All assessment is quantitative.

This course provides an introduction to developmental psychology, which seeks to understand and explain changes in an individual’s physical, cognitive, and social capacities across the lifespan. The overarching themes are to describe changes in an individual’s observed behaviour over time, and to uncover the processes that underlie these changes. The course begins by introducing the historical and conceptual issues underlying developmental psychology and the research methods used for studying individuals at different ages. It then proceeds to address physical development in the prenatal period, followed by cognitive and social development during infancy. The course then examines change during childhood by introducing major theories of cognitive development and addressing the social contexts of development (parents, peers, and social relationships; morality, altruism, and aggression). The course concludes by addressing the physical, cognitive, and social changes of adulthood and ageing.

Students are introduced to human cognition and behavior, addressing foundational topics in psychological science. These foundational topics include key concepts such as evolution, genetics, neuroscience, human evolutionary biology and anthropology, and specific topics, such as perception, memory, heuristics and biases, decision-making, child development, psychopathology, personality and individual differences, emotion, attraction and sexuality, cross-cultural differences, social relations, stereotypes and prejudice, norms and attitudes, social learning, social influence and persuasion, and group processes. The course offers an integrated perspective on these topics, investigating the evolution and variation in human psychology over time, across cultures, and over the lifespan. Students learn the history of the study of humans and human psychology, offering students the historical context to trends in research. 

This course introduces students to Cognitive Psychology, the scientific study of how the mind works. Students become familiar with the field of Cognitive Psychology and its research approaches, and appreciate its relevance to everyday functioning. A variety of relevant topics are discussed, such as perception, attention, memory, language and decision-making, both in terms of the prevalent theoretical models, as well as empirical evidence.