COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY AND NEUROSCIENCE

Knowledge and understanding. The learning outcomes of the course concern the fundamental elements of the study of the mind through cognitive psychology and neuroscientific disciplines. The specific topics to be explored are the connections between neuroscience, cognitive psychology and its applications, especially in the field of cognitive neurorehabilitation.

Applying knowledge and understanding. Ability to understand the current theoretical, experimental, empirical, and applied developments of the discipline.

Making judgements. Ability to argue personal interpretations inherent to the study of the mind and behavior.

Communication skills. Ability to present one's knowledge clearly and with proper language. Ability to communicate with specialists, using an appropriate psychological vocabulary and, at the same time, ability to communicate psychological concepts to non-specialists in a simple and correct way.

Learning skills. Ability to develop adequate learning skills that allow for continuous and autonomous updating of one's knowledge. Ability to consult specialized literature and use appropriate bibliographic and scientific resources to better define and develop one's study and research work.

Lectures

There are no “formal” prerequisites. It is useful to have knowledge of general psychology, physiological psychology, and methodology.

Attendance is not mandatory, but strongly recommended. Specifically, attendance is recommended for students who prefer not to limit themselves to studying the textbooks recommended for the exam but choose to delve deeper into the criteria and methods of research on cognitive psychology and neuroscience.

The Cognitive Psychology and Neuroscience course addresses the relationships between cognitive psychology and neuroscience, in the multidisciplinary approach that characterizes cognitive neuroscience. The course intends to provide the fundamental elements for the study of the mind through cognitive psychology and neuroscientific disciplines.

Among other things, the following contents are explored in depth:                         

• Historical development of cognitive psychology
• Methods and tools of experimental cognitive psychology
• Cognitive functions (perception, attention, learning and memory, language, emotions, decision making and cognitive fallacies) and their specific fields of application.
• Genetics and epigenetics in explaining the cognitive, emotional and relational aspects of the mind
• Applications of neuroscience to the study of different disorders, economics, aesthetics, and morality
• Consciousness, from basic attention to self-awareness
• The development of language and other cognitive functions and the possibilities of simulation from an 'artificial life' perspective
• Applications of simulation to educational technologies (edutainment) and relational skills (role-playing games)
• The use of 'assistive robotics' in the rehabilitation of developmental disorders and cognitive deficits

1. Pravettoni G. (a cura di). Psicologia cognitiva. Dalla teoria alla pratica. Mondadori Università, 2017 (Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10).
2. Di Nuovo S. Prigionieri delle neuroscienze? Giunti, 2014.
3. Di Nuovo S., Cangelosi A. (a cura di). Vita naturale, vita artificiale.  Franco Angeli, 2015. 

The assessment of learning takes place through a final exam, which ascertains the acquisition of the expected knowledge and skills via an oral exam.

Below are the evaluation criteria:

a) relevance of the answers to the questions asked; b) quality of contents; c) ability to connect with other topics covered in the programme; d) ability to report examples; e) property of technical language; f) overall expressive ability of the student.

The questions will focus on all topics covered in the course.

By way of example only, some sample questions are given below:

Sample question 1: describe the function of emotions.

Sample question 2: describe the role of attention in learning.

Sample question 3: describe robotics and its applications.