Psychology

This course uses PS1001 and PS1002 (taught at the University of St Andrews), as the foundation for a more advanced treatment of a number of areas in psychology. Course PS2001 complements PS2002; together, the two courses involve advanced treatment of the following areas of psychology: the relations between brain and behavior; cognition; perception; comparative aspects of behavior; social and health psychology. It also contains a methodology component covering laboratory and field techniques; no methodological grounding beyond PS1001 and PS1002 will be assumed.

Topics in this Psychometrics course include: foundations of measurement and scaling models; construction of psychometric tests; item analysis; reliability; validity; standardization and test manual.

This course introduces students to a variety of theoretical models, tools, and techniques which explore psychological well-being and their applicability in personal and professional development, and in the business world. These models are used as the basis for developing self-awareness, personal and professional strength and growth, and evaluating how these can be fostered in others, in order to achieve a positive impact on personal, professional, and organizational performance, through adaptability and change.

This course is intended to provide an introduction to psychological researches on human love. It will focus on love and attachment. The course is the study of the underpinnings of love and the ways from infant attachment to adult attachment. How to earn your credit Grades will be based on attending course (30%), an essay on your own attachment experience (20%), a final paper (30%), and participating my experiments (20%).

The course consists of topics including pre-natal development: central nervous system maturation; post-natal development: neuroplasticity; neural network development; investigation techniques in neuropsychology of vision in infants and old people; and how to use eye-trackers with practical demonstration in lab; neurobiology of ADHD and of learning disabilities; eye movements and eye-tracking in infants and old people; the aging brain; and neurovisual problems in the elderly.

In this course, students discuss how, findings from the study of human behavior have been applied to policy concerns in a substantive and sustained way, and how behavioral scientists are increasingly playing a much greater role in policy making across a range of sectors. 

This course, on the psychology of adult development across cultures develops knowledge on main approaches to adult development; explores how adult development is intertwined with cultural and historical changes; identifies specific cultural differences within specific topics of adult development; reviews how to use available tools in research and practice in socially and culturally diverse contexts; discusses PAD (Positive Adult Development) psychoeducational and preventive programs in multicultural contexts; learns how to promote positive identity development across adulthood and how to plan, implement, and evaluate psychoeducational and counseling actions; and explores current trends and present new ideas for research and practice in development across adulthood. The course proposes a theoretical integration of several major streams in contemporary psychological theory about adult development. Emphasis is placed on the importance of both contextual factors and individual differences across different cultures and on preventive and empowering actions professionals may undertake to support positive adult development. Topics addressed include Adult Development: history, concepts, and frameworks; tools and research methods for addressing adult challenges and strengths; cognitive development; emotional and psychosocial development; time perspective and other resources across the life span; steps, transitions, and challenges across adulthood; the critical role of work in adult lives; and innovative and preventive actions to support adult positive development under complex conditions and times. The course requires students to have basic knowledge on developmental psychology social psychology as a prerequisite.

This course examines key principles in Educational Psychology. Emphasis will be placed on the psychosocial factors that impact teaching and learning. It explores a range of psychosocial forces that influence classroom dynamics. The content will include learning theories, motivation, theories of human development, personality theories, instructional design, and assessment as well as key concepts related to the sociological influences on education.

The course focuses on individual, social, and societal challenges that social psychology can help to address through interventions. Examples of such challenges are promoting behavior change, improving well-being, managing diversity, and increasing justice and cooperation. The course helps students apply basic principles from social psychology to their field of interest, and to find, understand, interpret, and use more specialized, applied research findings. The course is graded on a P/NP basis only.