Teaching code

4S00798

Teacher

Roberto Burro

Coordinator

Roberto Burro

Credits

9

Language

Italian

Scientific Disciplinary Sector (SSD)

M-PSI/01 - GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY

Period

Sem. 1A, Sem. 1B

Lessons timetable Moodle Seminars 0

Learning objectives

General aims: 1. knowing and understanding the psychological theories that can explain the fundamental processes for individuals to function in, and adaptat to, their material and social environments; 2. knowing and understanding the pedagogical theories subsumed to learning processes and techniques for the training and development of individuals and of different working communities, and which take into account also to the processes of social and cultural inclusion; 3. applying pedagogical methodologies and techniques to the analysis of learning processes in vocational training and in the development of communities of practices; 4. choosing among, and applying, teaching methods and strategies that are suitable to response to personal and social needs, in diverse and complex training contexts. 5. Using legal, sociological, ethical and anthropological knowledge to the reading and understanding of diversity and migratory phenomena in order to favor and support processes of social and cultural inclusion. SPECIFIC TRAINING OBJECTIVES Starting from the analysis of the historical path done by Psychology to define itself as an experimental discipline, the most important topics dealing with cognitive processes will be discussed. The first one will deal with methodological and epistemological aspects, in order to understand the relationship between psychology as an experimental discipline and the other humanistic disciplines contributing to the study of human thought. The other topics which will be discussed will be the classical ones dealing with the study of perceptual experience, psychophysics, the theories, models and research about consciousness, attention, memory, thinking, intelligence, learning, motivation, emotions, communication. Such topics as the nature and the treatment of mental desease, the development of personality in the lifetime and the biology of beahaviour will be also touched, as they contribute to the organization of the cognitive architecture of people.

Prerequisites and basic notions

Being a first-year, first-semester examination, there are no specific prerequisites other than those required for admission to the degree course

Program

1) Psychology as a Science
What is Psychology?
The Birth of Psychology as a Science
Main Currents in the Development of Psychology
2) Methods and procedures of Psychology
The Scientific Method in Psychology
Ethics
Understanding the Search Results
3) Evolution, and Behavior Heritability
Development of the Science of Evolution
Natural Selection and Evolution
Heritability and Genetics
The Sociobiology
4) The Biology of Behavior
The brain and its components
Chemicals and Behavior
The study of the brain
The control of the behavior and physiological functions of the body
5) Learning and Behaviour
Procedures for the study of the basic processes of learning
Conditions necessary for learning
Results of learning
The cellular mechanisms of reinforcement
The behavior of subjects who have had multiple experiences of learning
6) The Sensation
The sensory processes
The vision
Hearing
The taste
Smell
The bodily senses
7) The Perception
Brain mechanisms of visual perception
The perception of objects
Perception of Space and Motion
8) Memory
Sensory memory
The short-term memory or working memory
Learning and coding in long-term memory
The organization of long-term memory
Remember
9) The Conscience
Consciousness as a social phenomenon
Selective attention
The consciousness and the brain
Hypnosis
Sleep
10) The Language
The comprehension and production of language
The reading
The acquisition of language in children
11) Intelligence and Thought
Intelligence: global or multi-component?
The assessment of intelligence
The role of inheritance and environment
Thinking and problem solving
12) The development over the life
Prenatal development
Physical development and perception in the infant and childhood
Cognitive development in the infant and childhood
Social development in infant and childhood
The development of gender differences
Developing Moral
Adolescence
Adulthood and Old Age
13) Motivation and Emotion
What is the motivation?
Motivation and reinforcement
Aggressive behavior
Sexual behavior
Emotions
Expression and recognition of emotions
Feelings
The feeding behavior
14) Personality
Theories of Personality Traits
Psychobiological approaches
Approaches Sociocognitivi
The Psychodynamic Approach
The Humanistic Approach
Assessment of Personality
15) The Social Psychology
The social cognition
Attitudes: their training and their change
Stereotypes and prejudices
Social influences and behaviors of group
The interpersonal attraction and love
16) Lifestyle, Stress and Health
Cultural evolution: the choice of lifestyles and their consequences
Healthy Lifestyles and not
Prevent unhealthy lifestyles through self-control
Stress and health
Coping with the stresses of everyday life
17) The Nature and Causes of Mental Disorders
The classification and diagnosis of mental disorders
The anxiety disorders, somatoform disorders and dissociative disorders
Personality disorders
Disorders related substances
Schizophrenia
Mood disorders
18) Treatment of Mental Disorders
The Scientific Method in Psychology
Therapies introspective
Behavioral therapies, cognitive therapies and cognitive-behavioral therapies
The group therapy and community psychology
Biological therapies
The relationship between client and therapist

Bibliography

Didactic methods

Frontal teaching. Video recordings of the lectures will be made available in the Panopto box in the elearning/moodle section of the course.

Learning assessment procedures

The examination taken during an official call will consist of a written test with thirty multiple-choice questions to be taken in 30 minutes (3 answer alternatives of which only one is correct).

Evaluation criteria

For the purposes of the final grade expressed in thirtieths, a correct answer has a value of 1 point, an incorrect answer has a value of 0 points, an answer not given has a value of 0 points).

Criteria for the composition of the final grade

For the purposes of the final grade expressed in thirtieths, a correct answer has a value of 1 point, an incorrect answer has a value of 0 points, an answer not given has a value of 0 points).

Exam language

Italiano