Psychology

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 

This seminar functions as a collaborative lab meeting in which weekly progress updates and group brainstorming sessions shape the core activities. Sessions consist entirely of peer-led presentations rather than formal lectures. Approximately half of the presentations address topics in forensics, while the remainder explore diverse areas of cognitive neuroscience such as auditory perception, visual illusions, and memory. Presentation topics are selected by individual presenters, so the content varies widely and may extend beyond the scope of forensic neuroscience.

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor. The aim of the course is to develop semiotic skills for understanding the perceptual, affective, and cognitive dimensions of psychopathologies, as well as the discourses built to describe and understand them. The course provides a dual focus: first, it offers an overview of psychopathological literature from a philosophical perspective, reinterpreted through semiotic theories. Second, it equips students with tools to analyze the relationship between patients' expressive forms (including narratives, poetry, speech, and artistic productions), their lived experiences, and the surrounding sociocultural context. 

The course of this year (Fall 2025) begins with a general overview of the role of semiotics in understanding psychopathology, emphasizing how psychiatric and psychological knowledge is embedded within a broader cultural network. This network selects and organizes notions such as normality and abnormality, reason and madness, sense and nonsense, through biopolitical mechanisms and discursive practices. Special attention is devoted to the cultural dimension in the construction of concepts related to mental illness and in the emergence of specific psychopathological conditions. The theoretical frameworks introduced in the first part of the course are applied to a range of diagnostic constructs, including Borderline Personality Disorder, depression, Narcissistic Personality Disorder, psychopathy, Dissociative Identity Disorder, and Autism Spectrum Disorder. These cases serve to test the analytical potential of semiotic theory and its relevance for contemporary mental health discourse.

In the second part of the course, the focus shifts to schizophrenia, one of the most enigmatic and debated psychiatric conditions. This topic is explored through a range of interdisciplinary perspectives that contribute to a richer understanding of psychopathology. Cognitive and phenomenological approaches are examined for their capacity to illuminate the lived experience of mental illness, and are critically integrated with semiotic analysis, as well as with insights from anthropology and the philosophy of mind. The aim is to develop comprehensive and context-sensitive frameworks for interpreting the symbolic, narrative, and experiential dimensions of schizophrenia.

Key topics in this section include:

a) the cultural dimension of schizophrenia and its representations across different media;
b) the historical process of constructing and categorizing the disorder;
c) communicative and linguistic features associated with the condition;
d) narrative structures shaping patients’ experiences and the role of psychotherapy;
e) the disruption of experiential meaning and a semiotic account of delusion formation.

This course aims to provide students with a foundational understanding of common brain disorders-such as depression, brain tumors, and Alzheimer’s disease-covering their current status, epidemiology, and underlying pathogenesis. Students will also become familiar with mainstream diagnostic and treatment approaches, while enhancing their awareness of preventive strategies, thereby fostering a more resilient and proactive mindset in facing life.

This course examines psychological theory, research, and skills training related to sport performance, exercise motivation, and adherence.