The course gives students an introduction to the biological and cognitive foundation of the field of psychology, combined with developmental psychology. The course focuses on providing a foundation for understanding behaviour among people and animals. Through the three main blocks of the course, students will familiarize themselves with the biological and cognitive foundation of psychology. They will also gain knowledge of central theories about and methods in the study of human development.
Biological psychology is the study of the brain, and the course will give students a basic understanding of how the brain produces behaviour and mental processes. Students will therefore learn about the structure and function of the brain. Students will also learn about the evolutionary basis for animals' and people's adaptation to the environment. Key phenomena like learning, memory and emotions are presented, as well as their significance to health and illness.
Cognitive psychology will give students a general introduction to theories about, perspectives on, and methods for studying cognition. The course will provide a review of key findings and a discussion of some important applications of cognitive psychology.
Developmental psychology will give students a further introduction to perspectives, methods and theories in developmental psychology. Key theories and findings are reviewed, and important challenges in this discipline are explained.
Biological psychology (5 credits)
Knowledge
When the course it completed, the candidate must be able to:
- Account for the historical development of our understanding of the interaction between brain and behaviour.
- Account for modern methods for studying brain structures involved in language and cognition, like CAT, PET and fMRI.
- Account for the organization of the central and peripheral nervous system and how neurons communicate.
- Account for how the brain regulates bodily organs via the autonomous nervous system and the endocrine system.
- Account for the main thinking in evolutionary theory, evolutionary psychology and sociobiology; particularly the terms 'natural selection, 'inclusive fitness', 'kin selection' and 'reciprocal altruism'.
- Account for basic genetic principles, especially the terms chromosome, gene, DNA and RNA.
- Account for the main aspects of the relationship between brain structures and behaviour; especially emotions, learning, memory, language and cognition.
- Account for situational, affective, physiological and instrumental/behavioural aspects of emotions.
- Account for the term 'stress' and factors of importance to development of stress-related diseases.
- Account for sexual development, differentiation and behaviour.
- Account for homeostatic regulation, like hunger.
- Account for biological rhythms, especially sleep.
Skills
When the course it completed, the candidate must be able to:
- Discuss the function of learning and emotions in an evolutionary perspective.
- Discuss different theories on the relationship between stimulus/context, emotions and emotional behaviour / physiology, such as the James-Lange and Cannon-Bard theories.
- Discuss the relationship between biological and psychological aspects of motivation, emotions, memory and language.
- Discuss the relationship between mental burden and bodily changes, how this can be handled and how long-lasting activation leads to development of bodily illnesses.
- Discuss the interaction between the individual's genetic prerequisites (genotype) and the individual's experiences (phenotype).
- Be able to discuss sociobiology and evolutionary psychology as an explanation of human behaviour.
General competence
When the course it completed, the candidate must:
- Be able to identify and reflect on ethical issues in psychobiological research, sociobiology and behavioural genetics in a basic way.
- Have built basic competence on the different components that make up biological psychology, and apply knowledge from biological psychology in order to explain phenomena involving human thought and behaviour.
Cognitive psychology (5 credits)
Knowledge
When the course it completed, the candidate must be able to:
- Account for the process of visual and auditory object recognition.
- Account for key theories related to attention, and characteristics of shared and selective attention.
- Account for theories regarding the structure and function of long-term memory.
- Be familiar with different memory strategies.
- Account for characteristics of mental images and cognitive maps.
- Account for the roles of the terms 'form' and 'script' in cognitive psychology.
- Account for problem-solving, including different problem-solving strategies.
- Account for central characteristics of people's reasoning and decision-making.
Skills
When the course it completed, the candidate must be able to:
- Demonstrate central experimental set-ups for studying different parts of cognitive psychology.
- Discuss general tendencies in human thought.
- Explain how elements of cognitive psychology like memory, attention and perception function in interaction with each other.
- Apply knowledge from cognitive psychology in order to plan effective study techniques.
- Discuss the historical development of knowledge within the different areas of cognitive psychology.
General competence
When the course it completed, the candidate must:
- Have built basic competence on the different components that make up cognition, and apply knowledge from cognitive psychology in order to explain phenomena involving human thought.
Developmental psychology (5 credits)
Knowledge
When the course it completed, the candidate must be able to:
- Account for the historical roots of developmental psychology.
- Account for the term development and how development can be influenced by genetic and environmental factors.
- Account for key perspectives in the field, like learning psychology, evolutionary psychology, ecological system theory and psychodynamic perspectives.
- Account for key topics in the field, like attachment, cognitive development, intelligence, temperament, theory of mind, development of morals, language development and social development.
- Account for key theoreticians in the field like Piaget, Vygotsky, Bowlby, Ainsworth, Chomsky, Rothbart, Skinner and Bandura.
Skills
When the course it completed, the candidate must be able to:
- Demonstrate central experimental set-ups for studying different perspectives on developmental psychology.
- Discuss key topics related to the development of people, like inheritance/environment and continuity/discontinuity.
- Discuss how key theoreticians in the field have different views on development.
- Explain how development in different areas, like society, language and cognition, are related to and work in interaction with each other.
General competence
When the course it completed, the candidate must:
- Have acquired basic competence on the different elements that make up the field of developmental psychology, and be able to apply knowledge from the field in order to explain psychological developmental traits, especially among children and youths.
Lectures in biological psychology 6 x 2 hours; a total of 12 hours.
Lectures in cognitive psychology 6 x 2 hours; a total of 12 hours.
Lectures in developmental psychology 6 x 2 hours; a total of 12 hours.
Seminars in groups 2 hours per week for 9 weeks; 18 weeks total.
Academic overlapping
- PS103 + PSYK101 = a reduction of 10 credits.
- PSYK120 + PSYK101 = a reduction of 10 credits.