Introduction to Cognitive Psychology and Neuropsychology

A Certificate of Participation is awarded to participants who contribute constructively to weekly discussions and exercises/learning activities for the duration of the course. This tutor-led, cohort-based online course is 7-weeks in duration and is made up of 5 teaching units. Unit 1 - What is Cognitive Psychology? History and current core debates This unit 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. Unit 2 - How do we measure the mind? Introduction to psychology's main research methods This unit 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. Unit 3 - Introduction to the psychology of human language This unit 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). Unit 4 - Introduction to memory, perception, and cross-modal interactions This unit 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. Unit 5 - Introduction to attention, consciousness, and free will This unit will explore the idea of attention and the idea that our experience is shaped by what we focus on. In particular, this unit 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 unit 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.