Psychology

Information processing theory deals with how people receive, store, integrate, retrieve, and use information. The present course uses theoretical and empirical perspectives on human cognition, perception, and the experimental methods to study cognition and perception. Eleven basic topics of cognitive science/psychology are discussed using a Problem Based Learning format. The topics studied in the course are amongst others: the history of the study of the human mind as information processing machine, schema’s, scripts, plans, and frames, knowledge representation, top down and bottom up processing, semantic networks and spreading of activation, and intelligence and individual differences. This course assumes prerequisite knowledge from Introduction to Psychology or Artificial Intelligence.

This course provides a study of the behavior patterns, attitudes, interests, values, beliefs, conflicts and other cultural aspects of human groups in different social situations. It focuses on the historical context of the development of social psychology and also examines key concepts at both the micro and macro scales of group dynamics: behavior, attitude, role development, and the psychological condition of both an individual and a group. The course also considers the problems and challenges of contemporary social psychology.

This course cultivates, through theoretical study, the necessary skills for working in child welfare. It covers fundamental concepts and values, history, policies, organizations, services and skills required in the field of child welfare. The course also provides the foundational knowledge of child and youth development, critical perspectives for analyzing child and youth related social problems, and the understanding of key issues related to child welfare policy and programs. It uses a comparative framework to evaluate the current state of major child and youth development problems and the policies and programs aimed to address them.