Psychology

In this course, students explore how children acquire language and the factors influencing early language development. While language learning may seem effortless,  students examine various aspects of acquisition to understand this complex process. Topics include gestures and accents, vocabulary growth, the role of sleep, language learning in non-laboratory environments, and the impact of television and electronic devices. Students focus primarily on typical development but also consider insights from children with developmental disorders and learning differences.

This course introduces theoretical concepts of personality, that is, people's behavior under influence of internal and external forces. Topics: significant 19th- and 20th-century theorists who have contributed to the history and development of personality theory, examining how their theories were shaped by the period in which they lived, and assessing the utility of these theories today. The theorists studied include Sigmund Freud, Alfred Adler, Carl Gustav Jung, Eric Erikson, James McKeen Cattell, Hans Jurgen Eysenck, Albert Bandura, George Kelly, Carl Rogers, Abraham Maglow, and Francis Hsu. 

There are more connections in a human brain than there are stars in the universe. This course focuses on the brain as an integrated system and looks at how its many connected networks achieve coordinated effects, linking the mind to the brain and the body. In exploring integration across the nervous system, this course examines topics such as the effects of neurotransmitters on emotions and behavior, the nature of sleep and wakeful states and transitions between them, and mechanisms underlying the control of body movement. The connections between social factors and brain function is also explored, as well as current ethical dilemmas in the field, such as the ethical consequences associated with recent technologies designed to alter our minds, or enhance brain function beyond normal healthy ranges.

This course examines human development from the preschool period through adolescence.

As for other species, many abilities and behaviors that we take for granted - from perception to learning, communication, handedness and sexual preferences - are the result of our evolutionary history. Our history has shaped our psychology and influences our daily behavior. Are we the only species that is deceived by visual illusions? Who is the most intelligent species? Are we the only ones that exhibit handedness? Which are the mechanisms of learning? To understand what makes as human, we have to look at ourselves from a broader perspective. In this course, students explore differences and similarities between humans beings and other species. Students learn how to access and compare the mind and behavior of individuals that do not possess language such as human neonates, newly-hatched chicks and other models currently used in understanding of healthy and pathological behavior.

This course examines the main theoretical models of personality and the current criteria for establishing the normality or abnormality of behavior. It discusses normal and pathological human diversity, the advantages and disadvantages of diagnostic systems, the main clinical manifestations of psychopathology, and main areas of action of the clinical psychologist. The course provides an opportunity for practical work in personality analysis, psychopathological exploration, and therapeutic skills.