OVERVIEW

The course deals with the theoretical and methodological foundations of the main research topics in cognitive psychology, with particular regard to their applications in working, technological and everyday life contexts.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course aims to complete the competence on the cognitive processes through the deepening of the theoretical and methodological aspects of the application tools. The necessary empirical foundations and interdisciplinary aspects of these instruments will be considered.
A special emphasis will be placed on applications concerning ind ividuals and organizations, related to the development of cognitive systems and models.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

This year's course will have a monographic character and aims to illustrate the most recent multidisciplinary methodologies and techniques used in research and psychological applications.

At the end of lessons students will be able to:

- know the theoretical and methodological principles underlying tools, softwares, and techniques used in cognitive psychology research;
- critically evaluate the application use of models, tools and technological platforms, in the psychological field;
- deepen the innovative theoretical and practical implications of recent studies in embodied cognition, cognitive ergonomics and robotics.

PREREQUISITES

Knowledge of the essential concepts about cognitive processes is particularly recommended.

TEACHING METHODS

The lessons will be held in presence and/or on-line (in accordance with the progressive measures for the containment and management of the Covid-19 epidemiological emergency). Attendance of the Laboratory of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences is also possible on telematic platform.

Together with the frontal lessons held by the professor, students will be actively involved in the processes of acquisition, analysis and discussion of the addressed topics through cooperative learning activities, brainstorming and flipped classroom. In addition, philosophical reflection will be stimulated with stimulus-questions starting from the open problems of the discipline, and the ability to apply the notions learned to concrete situations will be promoted.

Given the interactive nature of the course, attendance is recommended.

Students are required to register for the course on Aulaweb in order to find the didactic materials provided by the professor.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

The first part of the course provides a general overview of the research methodology in cognitive psychology, from the experimental method to simulation modelling, to explicit and implicit measurement techniques. The fundamental concepts of statistical data analysis will be addressed and exercises will be carried out to understand and discuss scientific articles.
The second part of the course focuses on the main areas of application of cognitive psychology. Specifically, the theoretical and practical implications of experimental findings on perception, attention, memory, representation, language, judgment, decision making, and reasoning will be explored. Particular attention will be devoted to recent studies on embodied cognition, cognitive ergonomics and robotics

 

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bibliography for students who follow the course for 6 credits

For attending students lecture notes and slides of the course will be sufficient, relative to one of the two parts of the course. Slides will be available on “Aulaweb”.

For non-attending students:
- Pravettoni G., Psicologia cognitiva: dalla teoria alla pratica, Mondadori Università, 2017.
- Greco A., Sistemi e modelli cognitivi, Aracne, 2011. (exclude chapters 4 and 6)
- One paper to to be chosen among those that will be made available on Aulaweb.

Bibliography for students who follow the course for 8 or  9 credits

Attending students:
For attending students lecture notes and slides of the course will be sufficient. Slides will be available on “Aulaweb”.

Non-attending students:
- Pravettoni G., Psicologia cognitiva: dalla teoria alla pratica, Mondadori Università, 2017.
- Greco A., Sistemi e modelli cognitivi, Aracne, 2011. (exclude chapters 4 and 6)
- Palmiero M. & Borsellino M. C., Embodied cognition: Comprendere la mente incarnata, Aras Edizioni, 2018
- One paper to be chosen among those that will be made available on Aulaweb.

One book of the following:
- Kahneman D., Pensieri lenti e veloci, Mondadori, 2012. (part two and part five)
- Arielli E., Cognizione e comunicazione. Le basi psicologiche dell’interazione umana, Il Mulino, 2006. (chapters 1 and 3)
- Ferlazzo F., Metodi in ergonomia cognitiva, Carocci, 2005
- Caruana F. & Borghi A. M., Il cervello in azione, Il Mulino 2016

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

STEFANIA MORETTI (President)

LESSONS

LESSONS START

28.09.2021

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

For attending students, an oral interview on topics chosen from the topics covered in class is sufficient.

For students who cannot attend, the study of the texts recommended in the bibliography is required.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

For attending students, the degree and quality of participation in the activities carried out during the course will be evaluated (up to 20 points). The final oral interview will evaluate the student's ability to correctly expose and elaborate in a thorough and critical way the chosen topic (up to 10 points).

Non-attending students are required to have knowledge of the texts indicated in the bibliography (up to 20 points) and to be able to expose and critically elaborate the topics discussed (up to 10 points).

In both cases, the following will be taken into consideration for the final evaluation:
- the knowledge and understanding of the several theories and methodologies illustrated;
- the ability to connect the theories to their respective fields of application;
- the ability to analyze, make connections, and critically discuss the investigated topics;
- the correct exposition and the pertinent use of the specific vocabulary of the discipline.
 

Exam schedule

FURTHER INFORMATION

Students who cannot attend the lessons or a part of them are required to get in touch with the professor.
For any request or particular need related to the activities of the course or to the exam procedures, it is recommended to contact the professor at the beginning of the course or reasonably in time before the exam dates.
The pre-registration for the exam is mandatory and must be completed at least one week before the selected date.