Psychology

Autobiographical memory is the ability to remember and reconstruct the past. This course focuses on how people remember their lives, and how cultural factors influence autobiographical remembering. In this context, the course discusses research in cultural differences on cognition and autobiographical memory, especially in cultural life scripts and life stories, as well as childhood amnesia and the reminiscence bump.

This course explores the theoretical background of the development of the neural basis of cognitive function, and basic knowledge of neural development of cognitive functions and methods to study the neural mechanism of cognitive development. The course considers questions such as: What is the nature of developmental change? What are the brain mechanisms underlying cognitive, perceptual, social, and emotional development during infancy and childhood? The course evaluates implications of findings from developmental cognitive neuroscience for broader scientific issues including nature vs. nurture, critical periods in development, and the modularity of mental functions. An integral part of the course is careful consideration of the major methods of developmental cognitive neuroscience including functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), recordings of evoked response potentials (ERPs), and behavioral marker tasks. The course devotes particular attention to the unique challenges of applying these methods to the study of infants and children in typical and atypical development. The course requires students to have basic knowledge on general cognitive functions such as perception, attention, language, and memory as a prerequisite.

In this course, students are expected to be familiar with ideas and concepts covered in the Adaptability and Wellbeing course units at first and second year levels at the University of Manchester. Topics to be covered include the role of illness and treatment beliefs in health care encounters, how medically unexplained conditions can be explained and managed, ways of improving how health care professionals and patients interact, and risk and decision making. Cutting across these topic areas are the themes of theoretical underpinnings, measurement, and application.

This course covers cognitive processes (such as observation and processing information, and using and storing it), emotions, and their interrelationship. The focus is on the role of these phenomena in the design and use of Information and Communication Technology. The course is relevant for students interested in human-computer interaction and (serious) games and training applications.  

This course studies cultural influences on human thought and behavior; interactions of culture and self; multicultural experiences; intercultural relations; and methodological issues.

This course focuses on brain-behavior relationships from a developmental perspective. It increases understanding of how healthy children and adolescents (or brains) function and how brain disease, brain injury, or developmental disorders, such as ADHD, autism spectrum disorders, and learning disabilities, express themselves and interfere with the demands of daily life. Relevant topics in this context are behavior, higher cognitive functions (e.g., executive functions, memory, attention), and the level of interactions a child has with his environment since these elements determine how well individuals cope and participate in daily life situations. Normal and abnormal brain and cognitive development are discussed in preschoolers, school-aged children, and adolescents. During the course, students gain insights into (1) developmental changes in brain structure, brain functioning, and cognitive functions; (2) the clinical phenomenology of the most important developmental disorders; (3) the underlying brain-behavior relationships in these disorders; and (4) diagnosis and treatment. Students also gain experience in the selection, administration, and interpretation of commonly used neuropsychological tests, measuring the above-mentioned domains of higher cognitive functions and behavior.

This course provides research training for exchange students. Students work on a research project under the guidance of assigned faculty members. Through a full-time commitment, students improve their research skills by participating in the different phases of research, including development of research plans, proposals, data analysis, and presentation of research results. A pass/no pass grade is assigned based a progress report, self-evaluation, midterm report, presentation, and final report.