Psychology

This course offers an interdisciplinary perspective on influences on child and youth development. This course focuses on different societal issues related to child and youth development, such as the effects of being born preterm, minorities in classrooms, and vulnerability to substance abuse. This course provides a broad view on influences on child and youth development. In a series of lectures, experts from various disciplines discuss important findings of child research in their field (e.g., psychology, neuroscience, law, geography, animal models, philosophy, linguistics). Knowledge in integrated by discussing topical issues in child and youth development with other students during interdisciplinary working groups. Interdisciplinary knowledge is applied to a topic of choice by writing a literature review within a small group of students.

This course explores a wide range of core topics in social psychology, including how psychological functioning is socially embedded; the influence of social and societal structures on the behavior of individuals, groups, and institutions; the importance of attitudes and norms for social action; individualization and identity development; and social integration and participation in social institutions and groups. The course introduces classic and contemporary theories and empirical research in social psychology, as well as the historical-embeddedness and development of its themes. Various methodological traditions are also introduced, along with their capabilities and limitations. 

This course studies emotion from different cognitive-social and biological perspectives and understands its role in guiding/motivating human behavior. The course starts with the classic theories of emotion and then continues with several relevant topics, including: cognitive and biological perspectives on causation of emotion and motivation; emotion regulation and self-determination; social-communicative functions of emotion expressions; the interaction between genes, stress, and affective-emotional behavior; the relation between sleep, emotion regulation, and affective behavior; topics related to emotion and motivational problems as seen in work stress or problems with goal setting.

The course introduces students to the foundational concepts in the study of language from the perspective of cognitive science. It explores questions that are still a matter of debate in the field, critically evaluating both evidence and arguments. Students develop a deeper understanding of how language works, some of the principles governing the complex interactions between language and other cognitive dimensions (such as attention, perception, and thought), and a basic understanding of how language functions in the brain.

The course examines the collective nature of social, cultural, psychological, and historical processes. Topics include: social psychology, research, and psychosocial intervention; identity; social interaction: aggression, altruism, and interpersonal attraction; attitude; influence, conformity, and obedience; groups, social movements, and social institutions.

This course discusses sensory and cognitive processes. The course consists of an introductory methodological part which covers the main psychophysical methods for the measurement of the absolute and differential threshold and psychometric function, psychophysical laws, and the SDT. The second part of the course examines the way of action of the main mechanisms and visual processes including static spatial vision and central and peripheral dynamic, grouping and segmentation, recognition of faces and objects, visual research, visual attention, eye movements and reading, and learning and memory. This course requires students to have taken previous courses on the anatomy and physiology of sensory systems, and statistics as a prerequisite for the course.