Psychology

PSYE60 is an introductory course to human and artificial cognition. During the course, students learn about how artificial intelligence (AI) can be used to understand human behavior and how psychological phenomena in people can be found in artificial intelligence. The course emphasizes understanding of how natural cognition can be understood with the help of artificial cognition and how psychological phenomena arise in artificial cognition. Application is made in neural networks, natural language processing, AI-generated images, and how AI affects society.

This course provides an overview of the field of clinical psychology. It focuses on the profession, science, and practice of clinical psychology through lectures, readings, and video clips. Lectures highlight major aspects of clinical psychology, including historical background and current controversies; professional activities of clinical psychologists, such as assessment, diagnosis, and intervention of mental illnesses, and  methods of clinical science.

This course provides the opportunity for students to engage critically with the philosophical literature on the concept of political liberty. Students read and discuss key texts in modern political philosophy, beginning with Thomas Hobbes's Leviathan. Students critically analyze the various ways in which liberty has been conceptualized by the most important political thinkers in the modern era.

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:  Child psychology, where the psychological and biological development during childhood and how this development is affected by genetic factors and different living conditions. Some of the topics addressed are self-regulation, emotional attachment, social understanding, and friendship. Furthermore, the module covers the research methods used to generate knowledge of child development. Youth psychology where the psychological and biological development during adolescence and its relation to the surrounding environment is reviewed. The ability of the teenager to face challenges and stress factors, such as increased demands for independence and personal views are included. Module 3 covers Personality psychology and the individual differences and different personality functions of adult individuals, which are viewed from different theoretical perspectives. The theories are presented together with a critical review of methods, testing, and fields of application. Lastly. the deployments during adulthood and the aging process based on theories of developmental, personality and social psychology are reviewed. Different aspects of aging are addressed, such as stress, mental and physical health, and ill health.

The course covers key topics in personality science including (but not limited to) its overarching goals and mission within psychology, measurement, development, and prediction of real world outcomes. Topics include the scope of personality science; personality perception and assessment; the units and structure of personality; personality traits associations with life outcomes; age, gender, cultural and regional variation in personality; genetic and environmental influences on personality; main principles development; key personality theories, and personality as a unifying model for psychopathology.

This course provides an overview of the biological mechanisms behind psychology. It covers such topics as: neuroanatomy, neuropharmacology, psychopharmacology, depression and its effects on the brain, neurobiology of the memory-emotion interaction, as well as clinical neurobiology of attachment. The course also provides an opportunity for hands-on experience with electrophysiological equipment.

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: Personality Psychology. The module covers the individual differences and different personality functions of adult individuals, which are viewed from different theoretical perspectives. The theories are presented together with a critical review of methods, testing, and fields of application.

The course examines current theoretical models of defining complex trauma and developmental trauma, as well as the main assessment and intervention tools. The course reviews developmental trauma contexts, brain development in relation to trauma, classification systems, assessment of developmental trauma, and current intervention proposals. The course provides theoretical knowledge about the major adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and, in particular, traumatic developmental conditions involving the parental caregiving system. The role of family dynamics and attachment patterns in the context of traumatic developmental frameworks is explored, and implications for relational development, self, affect regulation and, subsequently, parental function are presented. The course addresses: the definition of the constructs of complex trauma and early relational trauma; current positions and diagnostic classification systems; the clinical frameworks; the context of assessment and tools for the assessment of early relational trauma and developmental trauma; and intervention programs, with an emphasis on developmental interventions. The course requires students to have previous knowledge of the main constructs of Dynamic Psychology and Developmental Psychology, theories and tools of psychological assessment in childhood and adolescence, the theoretical and technical basis of psychological interviewing in developmental age and with parents, some knowledge of the neuro-biological basis of development and behavior, and some aspects of research methodology and data analysis in developmental and clinical settings as prerequisites.