Psychology

This course examines the processes involved in cognition, learning and thought. Includes the study of attention, perceptual processes, memory, knowledge representation, language, decision making and problem solving.

This core course covers most of the common mental health problems identified for children and adults, e.g. eating disorders, behavioral problems, attention deficits, learning disabilities, schizophrenia, anxiety, stress, depression, personality disorders, sexual adjustment, substance abuse, suicide, and dementia. The lectures and discussion groups introduce clinical intervention, but emphasis is placed on the theoretical formulation of problems. Whenever possible, films and case studies are used to supplement the textbook and readings, and a visit to the local Institute of Mental Health is typically arranged.

This course on motivation and emotion covers the following topics: homeostatic control; Clark Hull's Drive Theory; Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs; self-determination theory; self-efficacy; emotion, feeling, and mood; James-Lange, Cannon-Bard, and Schachter-Singer theories; somatic marker; basic and complex emotions; psychopathological changes in motivation and emotion; and laboratories and demonstrations of motivation and emotion processes.

This course covers techniques of recording and stimulation in neuroscience and clinical psychophysiology, including structural and functional neuroimaging, invasive and non-invasive electrophysiology, and neuromodulation and neurofeedback. Additional topics include neuroendocrinology of acute and chronic stress and the implications for learning and memory; psychophysiology of pain; and brain connectivity and resting-state activity patterns. 

The theroies and practical tests in pscyhological assessment will be introduced and discussed in this course.

The concept of trauma has gained increasing traction in the past decade, in the recognition that the impact it can have on individuals can be lifechanging. The Scottish Government for example now seeks to have all its policies based on a "trauma informed" mindset. Underpinning this is the understanding that adverse childhood experiences play an important role in the life chances of individuals. Academic research in this area is often inter-disciplinary, and feeds into government and 3rd sector policy. This course seeks to explore these new developments and introduces students to the different ways that trauma is experienced by both individuals and society.

The course covers human psychological development from childhood to old age and methods used in research in development psychology. It describes theoretical perspectives on personality and related fields of application. The course consists of four modules, this is the second module: Youth Psychology. This module studies the psychological and biological development during adolescence and its relation to the surrounding environment. In view of the changed patterns of interaction within and outside the family, the studies also include the ability of the teenager to face challenges and stress factors, such as increased demands for independence and personal views.

Topics in this statistics for psychology course include: basic concepts of measurement and types of variables; data summarization and visualization; measures of central tendency, variability, and skewness; measures of association; probability theory; probability distributions of some continuous and discrete random variables; sampling.

This course examines fundamental and advanced topics in social psychology. Students look at the topics of stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination and how these manifest in the world today. They also cover how these can be challenged and reduced. After covering these topics, students examine in depth a range of specialist areas of social psychological research such as dehumanization, objectification, and the ways in which people think about animals.