Psychology

This course explores the different statistical methodologies for investigating the importance of genetic and environmental influence on behavior, including twin and adoption designs, and DNA studies. This course provides students with a critical understanding of the methods in behavioral genetics, and how these have been used to investigate the roles of genes and environments in creating individual differences in behavioral outcomes.

This course focuses on prejudice, discrimination, and inter-group relations. In particular, the course discusses how the majority group reacts to minority groups in the society. Students discover how prejudices develop and how negative attitudes follow from threats to people's identities or their belongings. Moreover, the course explores the consequences of prejudices for inter group interactions, for which political decisions are made, and from which policies are implemented. A special focus is also on approaches to reduce prejudice and foster the cohesion of majority and minority groups in a society. Given the current political climate in most western society, students primarily study the reactions of majority groups to immigrants and their integration process. Attention is also paid to existing prejudice toward other social groups such as religious or sexual minorities. The course then considers why people develop prejudices and negative attitudes toward other groups from the perspective of different fields in the social sciences. The main focus is on sociological and social psychological explanations. Students consider which research questions can be answered with these theories and which societal problems may be solved.

This course explores the relation between psyche and society through an analysis of crucial contemporary and historical issues in Central and Eastern Europe, with a focus on the Czech Republic. Topics such as racism, sexuality, ecology, history, and politics are studied from the perspective of socially informed, in-depth psychology. The course examines these topics from a multiplicity of psychodynamic perspectives, juxtaposing the stark reality of the region's history and culture with various psychoanalytic tools for understanding. Competing intellectual traditions are not decided for and against but are seen as mutually enriching. Each individual is encouraged to take a stand on the issues involved and develop their own unique perspective.

This course explores key concepts in the study of well-being and human strengths, and particular applications that are relevant within the clinical, educational, and organizational domains. As a discipline, psychology has offered perspectives on well-being for over a century. In this course, students learn about the emergence of positive psychology as a distinctive field of study and practice. The course affords students the opportunity to study and discuss a number of topic areas relevant to the study of well-being and human strengths, including positive emotional states, positive traits, and positive institutions.

This course promotes an understanding of the psychobiological processes which impact on human development and the physiological bases of behavior. By the end of the course students are able to: Describe the basic anatomical structure of the brain, discuss the evidence that brain regions are specialized, describe the contribution of brain systems to the production of behavior; Describe the structure of cells within the nervous system, outline the structural components of neurones that are necessary for cellular communication; Identify the synapse as a method used by neurones for communication, explain how complexity of interconnections allows transfer of information; Identify non synaptic methods of communication within the nervous system, describe how signal transduction events code specific information within the neuron; Describe how guidance cues regulate the formation of axonal pathways, outline the factors regulating synapse formation; Describe how the survival of neurones is regulated by environment; Explain the neuroimaging and neuropsychological evidence to support adolescent brain maturation, outline the possible implications of significant brain development at this stage; Identify the neuroimaging evidence that there is birth of new brain cells well into adulthood, describe changes in neuron growth after brain damage; Explain the characteristic changes in brain and behavior produced by normal ageing, discuss what changes in brain and behavior with age tells us about the control of complex behavior; Describe in some detail (a) major evolutionary theories (e.g., sexual selection, inclusive fitness) and (b) major findings from evolutionary approaches in several areas of psychology (e.g. cognition, perception, social); Evaluate how biological theories can inform psychology and explain common misperceptions of evolutionary approaches (e.g., the Naturalistic Fallacy); Describe in some detail (a) how the different parts of the eye combine to produce a sharp retinal image; (b) the simplified circuitry of the primate retina; (c) the anatomical structure, and segregation of function within, the lateral geniculate nucleus and explain the concept of a receptive field; Describe in some detail: (a) the simplified circuitry of the striate cortex, and how this contributes to receptive field structure and the parallel processing of visual information; (b) how circuitry and receptive-field structure differs in extra-striate cortical areas; Explain key principals underlying the functional organization of the ventral pathway; Demonstrate awareness of key questions related to the perception of faces and objects and how they have been addressed at multiple scales in the brain; Evidence critical thinking about whether a particular technique is appropriate to solve a given problem in cognitive neuroscience.

This course examines Buddhist discourses on the nature and operation of the mind. The course studies basic Buddhist principles and diverse practices of mental cultivation based on ancient Buddhist texts and manuals that present unique perspectives on individual, family, and society at large and world. The main topics covered include psychology of dhamma and the theory of “dependent co-arising”, relation between mind and body, sensory perception and obsession, intentional actions and human well being, positive thinking and self-initiative, controlling emotions and mindfulness practice, selfless being and awakened mind.