Psychology

The course covers the main topics of social psychology and of the psychology of communication, modernized by reference to social relations mediated by new technology. The course addresses the classic, most influential concepts and models in social psychology and communication; the pioneer, landmark studies that made the history of these disciplines; and recent approaches to mediated communication. The course discusses topics including the main theoretical and methodological frameworks; social perception and reasoning; self-schemas, self-esteem and self-presentation; models and measures of attitudes; persuasion and social influence; group processes; prosocial behavior; and mediated interaction. The course requires students to have basic knowledge of research methodology in psychology as a prerequisite.

This course discusses the role of power and power relations in psychology and mental health. Course topics include: health, mental health, status, and inequality; embodiment of inequality, power, and status; the experience of injustice and powerlessness; power and manipulation in interpersonal relationships; the power of passion and purpose; the power of compassion and empathy; psychopathologies of omnipotence and impotence; psychopathologies and the global financial crisis; media manipulation, propaganda, and mind control; the psychology of neoliberal ideology; perceptions of inequality and redistribution preferences; and empowerment and liberation psychology. The course recommends students have completed a course in global health psychology and have good knowledge of statistics, epidemiology, and econometrics, as prerequisites.

The course explores different models for explaining and predicting how individuals behave. The course considers social influence, including notions of conformity and obedience; the role of individual differences including models of personality, how personality develops and what behavior we can predict from personality. The course introduces students to learning theory and ideas of behavioral psychology, understanding how experience of environment and rewards shapes how people choose to behave.

This course offers a study of eye movements including the various types of eye movements and their main characteristics, as well as use of eye movements as a tool to explore and understand different cognitive processes. Other topics include: relationship between eye movements and visual cognition; oculomotor coordination in real and virtual environments; applications of research in eye movements.

This course examines the relation between a series of brain disorders and their consequences on behavior, emotion, and cognition. The course clarifies the nature, the development, and the consequences of organic disorders acquired after brain lesions, neurological diseases, or other non-neurological syndromes and their consequences. Using case studies culled from clinical work, the course provides first-hand accounts of neuropsychology and how brain illness or injury can manifest across different cultures. This application-based approach to neuropsychology provides a clear, comprehensive, understanding of what happens in a human mind after an organic damage. The course addresses the principal neurological disorders and their impact of the patient life, as well as how to recognize symptoms and their manifestation in diverse cultures. The course discusses the main pathologies with organic base in all their aspects and consequences on behavior, emotions, and cognition including cerebrovascular disease, epilepsy, traumatic brain injury, dementia and neurodegenerative disease, multiple sclerosis and demyelinating disorders, neuropsychology of oncology, neurotoxicology, alcohol-related neuropathology, cultural neuropsychology, and analyses of clinical cases. The course requires background knowledge of brain and behavior relationships and a previous course in neuropsychology as a prerequisite.