Aims of the course
- To introduce participants to the history and key debates in psychology and neuropsychology, exploring the main different cognitive functions and how they interact with one another.
- To learn the key techniques and methods to study the mind.
- To introduce participants to the main theories, models, and concepts of attention, memory, language, perception, and emotional processing.
Target audience
Anyone with an interest in psychology. This course will touch on the fundamental theories, models, and methods of cognitive psychology with a specific focus on the different functions (attention, memory, language, language, perception, and emotional processing).
Course content overview
Psychology is the study of how we feel, see, hear, speak, learn and narrate our story in the world. Cognitive psychologists primarily focus on how our mind works and how it develops from the moment we are born and during childhood to reach its full capability.
This course is intended for anyone with an interest in psychology and it does not require any previous expertise or knowledge of psychology. We will explore the key ideas, models, and findings of the main cognitive functions, including memory, language, attention, and perception.
The course will also provide insights into the core research methods used to study the mind, brain, and behaviour (from behavioural experiments, to the study of patients with brain damage and the use of neuroimaging techniques). In doing so, participants will learn about the main methods and materials used to explore human feelings, sensations and thinking, as well as the way humans learn and interact with their own selves and others.
This course will give students an understanding of the historical development of modern psychology, a familiarity with what we now know about our own mind-body system through an exciting journey inside our mind and how it evolves throughout our lives with the help of brain plasticity.
Schedule (this course is completed entirely online)
Orientation Week: 10-16 April 2023
Teaching Weeks: 17 April-21 May 2023
Feedback Week: 22-28 May 2023
Teaching week 1 - What is Cognitive Psychology? History and current core debates
This week will give an overview of the main ideas that underlie modern research in psychology. Content will explore key debates such as the nature and nurture discussion and their role in forming personality and behaviour; the relationship between brain, mind and behaviour and the extent to which the mind-body system can be observed and investigated scientifically; the extent of plasticity in the adult brain; and the extent to which the mind can be conceived in a modular way, with different functions regulated by different neural paths. This will stimulate a critical understanding of psychology in a broad way and of the principles at the heart of its research.
Learning outcomes
- To learn about the key findings and assumptions of cognitive psychology;
- To get familiar with some of the central debates in cognitive psychology
- To understand the relationship between the mind and the brain, as well as the role of genes and experience in shaping human behaviour.
Teaching week 2 - How do we measure the mind? Introduction to psychology's main research methods
This week explores the key research methods of psychology. It will outline the most important techniques at the heart of cognitive psychology and evaluate the contribution they can make to what we now know about the mind and its development. Content will introduce the role of neuropsychological research in understanding how brain lesions can help us understand how the brain normally functions. A review of the key neuroimaging techniques will be given, including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), positron emotion tomography (PET), electroencephalogram (EEG), magnetoencephalography (MEG) and single cell recordings. The podcast will also consider techniques for actively manipulating neural activity (e.g. transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS).
Learning outcomes
- To understand the main methods in cognitive psychology.
- To learn about neuroimaging techniques and neuropsychological findings and how they contribute to our knowledge of the human brain.
- To develop a critical approach to methods and how each of them helps answer specific research questions.
Teaching week 3 - Introduction to the psychology of human language
This week provides an introduction to the study of language and to the core aspects of language processing. Particular focus will be given to how we learn language and whether we have an innate predisposition to language acquisition. Content will provide an overview of the main theories of language acquisition and the nature of the learning context, discussing the theory of shared attentional orienting (between the parent and the infant) during language development. Lectures will also provide an overview of the different components of language from phonology and morphology to semantics and syntax.
Learning outcomes
- To learn the main theories and models related to human language acquisition and to critically evaluate the extent to which empirical studies support different theoretical claims.
- To understand the main models accounting for the development of the different components of language.
- To develop a critical approach to theories highlighting the crucial role of the learning context during language acquisition (shared attentional orienting).
Teaching week 4 - Introduction to memory, perception, and cross-modal interactions
This week will introduce the concepts of working memory and the most influential models theorised to explain its role. We will also explore evidences for the idea of a ‘phonological loop’ and ‘visuo-spatial’ sketchpad for short term memory. Content will also highlight how language and memory interact with perception to facilitate some aspects of our daily life. In particular, cross-modal effects will be explored, that is how one sensory system (for example what we see) can influence another sense (what we hear); or how perception and language have an influence on each other (such as how language influence how we see colours); or how perception influences memorization.
Learning outcomes
- To learn the main ideas and models of working memory and its role in relation with short- and long-term memory.
- To understand how language and memory interact with perception to facilitate some aspects of our daily life.
- To develop a critical approach to the modular understanding of the mind and appreciate how sensory modalities greatly influence each other.
Teaching week 5 - Introduction to attention, consciousness, and free will
This week will explore the idea of attention and the idea that our experience is shaped by what we focus on. In particular, this week will be dedicated to the influence of attention in our mind’s life and on how our internal and external landscape is designed by our attention (such as the role of attention on memory, language and perception). Videos will also discuss cases of impaired attention and the symptoms it causes (such as the visual spatial neglect). Finally, the session will also provide an overview of the relationship between attention and consciousness, of their co-dependency as well as dissociation. Content will also be dedicated to the relationship between consciousness and free will.
Learning outcomes
- To learn the psychological concept of attention and how it shapes thinking.
- To understand the contribution of neuropsychology to our understanding of human attention.
- To develop a critical approach to the literature on the relationship between attention and consciousness.
Each week of an online course is roughly equivalent to 2-3 hours of classroom time. On top of this, participants should expect to spend roughly 2-3 hours reading material, etc., although this will vary from person to person.
While they have a specific start and end date and will follow a weekly schedule (for example, week 1 will cover topic A, week 2 will cover topic B), our tutor-led online courses are designed to be flexible and as such would normally not require participants to be online for a specific day of the week or time of the day (although some tutors may try to schedule times where participants can be online together for web seminars, which will be recorded so that those who are unable to be online at certain times are able to access material).
Virtual Learning Environment
Unless otherwise stated, all course material will be posted on the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) so that they can be accessed at any time throughout the duration of the course and interaction with your tutor and fellow participants will take place through a variety of different ways which will allow for both synchronous and asynchronous learning (discussion boards etc).
Certificate of participation
A Certificate of Participation will be awarded to participants who contribute constructively to weekly discussions and exercises/assignments for the duration of the course.
What our students say
"This course offered a variety of fascinating insights into cognitive and neuropsychology. It is amazing how much science has discovered and how much still is to uncover. Comparing evolving theories and receiving glimpses of ongoing debates was very enriching to me."
"Dr Mangiaracina has a very effective way of explaining complex topics and making them accessible to laymen. The course was well structured to allow a high level understanding of neuropsychology and cognitive psychology."
"I like the way Dr. Giulia Mangiaracina presents the course very much. And I also appreciate the clear explanations and perfect preparation of materials which make it easier for me to understand this new stuff better. I´ve already attended one course of Dr. Mangiaracina before and I chose this one partly because of the fact, Dr. Mangiaracina is the tutor. I find her really very good."
