Psychology

This course focuses on the psychology of emotional well-being as well as strategies on how the study of emotion can be applied to different domains of life. It discusses various concepts related to emotional well-being from different psychological perspectives, developing a deeper understanding of the positive and negative emotions experienced by human beings and analyze their causes and effects on well-being. It explores the various models of emotion and critically analyzes their merits and limitations, as well as their practical application. It explores various classic theories such as Basic Emotion Theory, Social Constructivist Theory, Cognitive Appraisal Theory, and the RULER Model of Emotion Intelligence.

This course offers a brief survey of the neural mechanisms that underlie health behaviors such as eating, drug use, and stress. Besides learning about neural mechanisms important across diverse health domains, students learn to examine a particular health behavior in detail, not only understanding its underlying neural mechanisms, but using this understanding to develop future research. 

The course provides an interdisciplinary overview of the developmental science of adolescence and emerging adulthood. The course highlights contemporary theories of adolescent development and emerging adulthood by drawing on neurobiological, psychological, and sociological perspectives of adolescence. The course also critically examines major developmental issues of adolescence, including peer influences, health risk behaviors, stress and mental health problems, learning and achievement, and the development of purpose and identity, and more. Across topics, students will have the opportunities to learn about important empirical and theoretical literatures, and explore novel insights for parenting, youth policy, and theory-driven educational interventions to address pressing developmental issues that characterize the transition from childhood to adolescence and emerging adulthood. 

This course is structured into two parts: Part 1 – Lecture and Seminar (1.5 hours) and Part 2 – Discussion and Team-Based Practicum (1.5 hours). In the lecture and seminar sessions, we examine key developmental issues characteristic of adolescence and emerging adulthood through critical analysis of textbook chapters alongside supplementary materials. Starting from Week 3, students engage in practical, inquiry-based learning activities such as team discussions, data analysis, research design, and the development of empirical research proposals, using topic-relevant scholarly papers and empirical datasets. 

Prerequisites: Introduction to Psychology, Statistics and Research Methods in Psychology or equivalent course. 

This course introduces various ways in which psychology can contribute to understanding and improving facets of everyday life. The course critically reviews theory and research and their applications to a variety of life domains. Students are encouraged to develop critical thinking skills in considering the relevance of evidence-based psychology for specific areas of everyday life. Lectures are delivered by staff and guest speakers, who present material from their own areas of expertise. The specific topics covered vary by year, but examples of previous topics include: psychological wellbeing; child & adolescent mental health; disability & society; group relations; humanitarian emergencies; media & entertainment; law & crime.

This course provides an introduction to the biological approach to psychology. Comparative studies on non-human animals and the issue of genetic inheritance of behavior will be discussed. Emphasis will be placed on key principles of human nervous system function and how they are reflected in human thoughts and behavior. Key topics covered include the organization of the brain, the visual system, how learning and memory occur in the brain, and the cognitive and behavioral consequences of brain injury and disease.

This course covers the different psychological processes that occur within a group (between members) and between groups (in relation to other groups) from the perspective of organizational psychology. In particular, it examines the behavior of groups or teams that need to perform specific tasks, such as solving problems, making decisions, or resolving conflicts. Topics include social negligence, group dramatization, groupthink, information sharing, conflicts between groups, and crowd behavior. Students participate in practical team and group assignments and projects to solve problems that may occur in actual organizations or teams. In addition, students have the opportunity to think about ideas that can have a positive impact on actual social policies and organizational operations. 

Prerequisite: Basic Psychology, Social Psychology, and Methodology courses

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor. By the end of the course, students gain the most effective strategies of social inclusivity of diverse human groups with a specific focus on migrants at the theoretical, methodological, and practical intervention level. The focus of teaching and learning includes socio-cognitive strategies leading to social inclusivity:

• cross categorization,
• multiple categorization,
• counter-stereotypical categorization,
• common ingroup identity,
• dual identity,
• social identity complexity,
• relational strategies: intergroup contact in its diverse guises.

This course covers research on judgment and decision making in various sub-fields of psychology and introduces ways in which judgment and decision making can be improved. 

Our lives are a series of judgments and decisions. In this class, we study the process of judging people in general and find out what kind of process is necessary to improve one’s judgment in real life.  

Students examine theories and research papers related to judgment and decision-making, envision an evaluation method for the judgment and decision-making process, and make a research plan to verify the judgment and decision-making process through a practical trial design. 

Topics include Introduction to Judgment and Decision Making, Characteristics and Analysis of Judgment, Probability and Frequency Judgment, Judgment Distortion, Foundation, Group Decision Making, Confirmation Bias/Belief Obsession, Making Decisions in Dangerous and Uncertain Situations, Preferences and Choices, Judgment and Choice over Time, Covariance, Causality, Anti-Factual Thinking. 

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor. This advanced course focuses on the main theoretical approaches to promote well-being across the life-span, tools for assessing the quality of life and psychological well-being in children and adults with typical and atypical development, and interventions aimed at improving well-being in developmental and learning contexts. 

The course presents theories, methods, and assessment and intervention tools to promote wellbeing, quality of life and learning in a development and education perspective in the lifecycle. The course involves the following integrated and complementary modules:

The first module is designed to provide the principal theoretical approach of the course concerning the wellbeing promotion in children, students, youth, and adults. The module also explores the role of technologies in human development, by considering both their functional use to develop knowledge, skills and their dysfunctional effects on lifecycle development.

The second module provides an advanced theoretical and empirical approach to understand the developmental and educational consequences of social stigma on children’s health, quality of life and psycho-social well-being, and cognitive functioning. Evidence-based interventions to reduce stigma and its consequences in educational settings are illustrated.

This course covers neurobiological systems in the brain that are responsible for drug and behavioral addiction, the diverse effects of drug abuse on the brain, and the cognitive neuroscience of addiction and how we can use cognitive neuroscience (including neuroimaging tools) to advance the assessment and/or treatment of addiction.  

Addiction is studied at many levels, from how drugs affect neurobiological systems to how psychosocial factors play a role in addictive behaviors. While some people argue that uncontrolled drug use or behavioral problems in addicts is a matter of choice, accumulating evidence suggests that we need to consider addiction as a brain disease like other medical conditions. To better understand addiction and resolve the conflicting views, we need to understand basic animal and human models proposed to account for diverse aspects of drug use, heritability, and basic cognitive neuroscience. Consequently, course readings include chapters and papers on these topics.  

Other topics include Neuropsychopharmacology, Animal models of addiction, Types of drugs, Decision-making framework, Neuroimaging & Neural circuits and brain abnormalities in drug addiction, Risk factors, Adolescence and Addiction, Neurocognitive predictors of drug addiction, Behavioral addition, Pharmacological and psychological treatment of addiction.  

Prerequisite: Introduction to Experimental Psychology and Experiments