Introduction to Cognitive Psychology and Neuropsychology

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 through childhood to reach its full capability. This course is intended for anyone with an interest in Psychology, it does not require any previous expertise or knowledge of the subject.

Learners 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, learners will understand 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 learners an understanding of the historical development of modern Psychology, and 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.

Unit 1: What is Cognitive Psychology: history and current core debates

• To learn about the key findings and assumptions of Cognitive Psychology.
• To familiarise learners 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.

Unit 2: How do we measure the mind? Introduction to Psychology’s main research methods

• To provide an understanding of 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

Unit 3: Introduction to the psychology of human language

• 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 different components of language.
• To develop a critical approach to theories highlighting the crucial role of learning context during language acquisition (shared attentional orienting).

Unit 4: Introduction to memory, perception and cross-modal interactions

• 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 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.

Unit 5: Introduction to attention, consciousness and free will

• 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 literature on the relationship between attention and consciousness.