Specialisation Psychology Semester 1 Semester 2 An Introduction to Doing Research Politics, Power and Governance I Philosophy of the Social Sciences Economics, Markets and Organisations I Rhetoric Law, Justice and Morality I Statistics for Experimental Research Decision Making I Integrative seminar I Integrative seminar II Talent Development Programme Semester 3 Semester 4 Fundamentals of Psychology Law, Justice and Morality II Emotions Cultural psychology Group Processes Rhetoric or Statistics for Analysing Existing data Motivation and Cognition Politics, Power and Governance II Integrative seminar III Elective Talent Development Programme Semester 5 Semester 6 Political Psychology Economics, Markets and Organisations II Pro-social Behaviour Doing Research IV Intragroup processes Persuasion Thesis Elective Integrative seminar IV Thesis Talent Development Programme 8-week block 8-week block 4-week Interdisciplinary courses Methodology courses Specialisation and thesis
Fundamentals of Psychology Course name: Course number: Number of credits: Language: Prerequisite: Fundamentals of Psychology To be filled out by PPLE administration 6 EC English 54 EC from the first year Period: Semester 1, block 1 Education institute: Offered by: Lecturer(s): Tutor(s): More information: Part of: Amsterdam College of Law PPLE college To be announced To be announced To be announced Bachelor s in Politics, Psychology, Law and Economics (PPLE) Learning outcomes: After completing this course, students will be able to a) describe the most important theories with respect to a) the genetic and evolutionary foundations of behavior, the development and workings of the brain, learning, motivation and emotion, visual perception, memory, consciousness, intelligence and reasoning, cognitive and social development, social perception and attitudes, social influence, personality, mental impairments and psychotherapy and b) show how the discussed theories fit with observations from scientific studies and c) apply the content of the course to real world phenomena. Content: This course provides an overview of fundamental processes in psychology and describes research and theories on a broad range of psychological topics. The science of psychology is laid out by discussing fundamental assumptions and the research methods that are generally used in psychology. The most important topics in psychology are discussed such as the genetic and evolutionary basis of behaviour, learning, motivation and emotion, sensation and (visual) perception, memory, intelligence and reasoning, the development of thought and language, social development, social perception and attitudes, social influence, personality, mental disorders and treatment. This course thus provides the basic knowledge of psychology that is necessary for students who specialize in psychology and are considering pursuing a master in psychology. Teaching method: 2x2 hours of lectures and 2x2 hours of tutorials a week.
Contact hours: Teaching method Hours Week 1-7 Tutorials 4 hours per week Week 1-7 Lectures 4 hours per week Week 8 Final examination 3 hours Teaching schedule: Study material: ISBN: 9781464141959. To be confirmed. Gray, P. O., & Bjorklund, D. F. (2014). Psychology (7th ed.). New York: Worth. Assessment: Assignments and final exam.
Group processes Course name: Course number: Number of credits: Language: Prerequisite: Group processes To be filled out by PPLE administration 6 EC English 54 EC from the first year Period: Semester 1, block 2 Education institute: Offered by: Lecturer(s): Tutor(s): More information: Part of: Amsterdam College of Law PPLE college Dr. N. Millman tbc n.j.millman@uva.nl Bachelor s in Politics, Psychology, Law and Economics (PPLE) Learning outcomes: After completing this course students will be able to a) name, describe and judge the most important theories and lines of empirical research in the realm of intergroup processes; b) identify limitations of the various theoretical approaches of intergroup processes; c) explain what the processes are that lie at the root of intergroup processes and translate these insights to societally relevant matters. Content: Much of what humans think and do needs to be understood in terms of the relationship they have with their own group, and with competing out-groups. Individuals sometimes develop ethnocentric attitudes they have positive regard for their own group and its culture, and negative regard for competing out-groups and their culture. Sometimes, however, individuals from different groups mix and mingle, create stunningly diverse and seemingly well-functioning settings and societies. But how do group cultures develop, how are norms learned and enforced, why is cultural diversity leading to conflict and sometimes source of creativity and innovation? This course deals with these and related issues. Teaching method: 2x2 hours of lectures and 2x2 hours of tutorials a week.
Contact hours: Teaching method Hours Week 1-7 Tutorials 4 hours per week Week 1-7 Lectures 4 hours per week Week 8 Final examination 3 hours Teaching schedule: To be confirmed. Study material: - Stangor, C. (2004). Social groups in action and interaction. New York: Psychology Press. ISBN 9781841694078 (paperback, ± 38,-). - Brewer, M.B. (2003). Intergroup relations (2nd edition). Buckingham, UK: Open University Press. ISBN: 9780335209897, ± 36,-). Assessment: Assignments and final exam.
Emotions Course name: Course number: Number of credits: Language: Prerequisite: Emotions To be filled out by PPLE administration 6 EC English 54 EC from the first year Period: Semester 2, block 4 Education institute: Offered by: Lecturer(s): Tutor(s): More information: Part of: Amsterdam College of Law PPLE college Bachelor s in Politics, Psychology, Law and Economics (PPLE) Learning outcomes: After completing the course students will be able to a) reproduce and interpret the most important lines of emotion research; b) name, describe and explain the most important paradigms in emotion research; c) independently read research papers on emotion and place them in a broader theoretical perspective and d) interpret and judge insights from emotion research. Content: What are emotions, what causes them and what are their most important characteristics? How can we understand gender- and cultural differences in the experience and expression of emotions? In this course several theoretical approaches to the concept of emotions are discussed and compared. It is for example discussed what the role is of appraisals and how important physiological changes are for the experience of an emotion. Also it will be discussed what the role of emotions is in interpersonal contexts: how do emotions result from our interactions with other and how do emotions influence these interactions? Teaching method: 2x2 hours of lectures and 2x2 hours of tutorials a week.
Contact hours: Teaching method Hours Week 1-7 Tutorials 4 hours per week Week 1-7 Lectures 4 hours per week Week 8 Final examination 3 hours Teaching schedule: To be confirmed. Study material: Niedenthal, P., Krauth-Gruber, S., & Ric, F. (2006). Psychology of emotions. New York: Psych. Press, ISBN 9781841694023 ( 37,-). Assessment: Assignments and final exam.
Cultural psychology Course name: Course number: Number of credits: Language: Prerequisite: Cultural psychology To be filled out by PPLE administration 6 EC English 54 EC from the first year Period: Semester 2, block 4 Education institute: Offered by: Lecturer(s): Tutor(s): More information: Part of: Amsterdam College of Law PPLE college Contact information of (main) lecturer Bachelor s in Politics, Psychology, Law and Economics (PPLE) Learning outcomes: At the end of this course, students have a fundamental awareness and understanding of the role that culture plays in shaping human thinking, feeling, and behaviour. More specifically, students are able to explain a) how culture is acquired and evolves, b) the most profound cross-cultural differences in developmental experiences, self, social relations, motivation, emotion, cognition and perception. The student can also c) describe research findings that theories are based on and e) give examples of and explain cultural differences in mental and physical health. Additionally, the student can f) name and apply the methodological challenges of (cross-) cultural research and provide possible solutions. Content: Cross-cultural psychology studies differences and similarities in psychological functioning across cultural and ethnic groups, and tries to explain these differences and similarities in terms of sociocultural, ecological, and biological factors. Theoretical, empirical, and applied issues in the cross-cultural study of humans are explored and universal versus culture-specific aspects are discussed. Teaching method: 2x2 hours of lectures and 2x2 hours of tutorials a week.
Contact hours: Teaching method Hours Week 1-7 Tutorials 4 hours per week Week 1-7 Lectures 4 hours per week Week 8 Final examination 3 hours Teaching schedule: To be confirmed. Study material: Heine, S. J. (2012). Cultural psychology. (2nd ed.). New York: W.W. Norton. ISBN 978-0- 393-91283-8 (+/- 43). Assessment: Assignments and final exam.
Motivation and Cognition Course name: Course number: Number of credits: Language: Prerequisite: Motivation and Cognition To be filled out by PPLE administration 6 EC English 54 EC from the first year Period: Semester 2, block 5 Education institute: Offered by: Lecturer(s): Tutor(s): More information: Part of: Amsterdam College of Law PPLE college Contact information of (main) lecturer Bachelor s in Politics, Psychology, Law and Economics (PPLE) Learning outcomes: After completing this course, the student is able to a) name and describe key questions, concepts and theories as well as classic and recent research in social cognition and motivation in his/her own words; b) understand and select typical research methods in social cognition and motivation and conceive of an experiment himself/herself; c) explain and interpret social and motivational phenomena from daily life based on insights gained from this course; d) apply theories and insights from research in social cognition and motivation to questions of societal relevance and design programs to address such questions in practice. Content: This course features some of the basic principles underlying human motivation and social cognition. Those principles include psychological dimensions that have been part of both classic and recent theorizing. Key questions are: How do we perceive others and how do we perceive ourselves in relation to others? What drives human behaviour? How do we select and effectively maintain goals? How do we resist strong but inappropriate impulses? The course will also focus on applications of these insights into the primary driving forces underlying human behaviour. Teaching method: 2x2 hours of lectures and 2x2 hours of tutorials a week.
Contact hours: Teaching method Hours Week 1-7 Tutorials 4 hours per week Week 1-7 Lectures 4 hours per week Week 8 Final examination 3 hours Teaching schedule: To be confirmed. Study material: Articles and book chapters (links will be made available on Blackboard before the beginning of the course). Assessment: Assignments and final exam.
Year 3: Political psychology Third year, semester 5, block 1, 6EC What makes a president popular? What is the influence of media on politics? What roles do rational and emotional processes play in voting behaviour? How does genocide arise? Why do people commit acts of terrorism? How can we explain racism? What factors play a role in the context of international security? These and other questions are addressed in this course on political psychology. It is a course on the intersection of political science and psychology and often revolves around the question how psychological insights can be used to explain political issues. Intragroup processes Third year, semester 5, block 2, 6EC This course focuses on human behaviour and performance in small groups, such as work teams in organizations, and project teams preparing and implementing policy and political decision-making. It covers three core facets of group life input (such as individual personality characteristics, and structural features such as power differences among members), processes (such as the emergence and management of conflict, mutually beneficial cooperation, and information processing and exchange), and outputs (such as negotiated agreements, creativity, and high quality group decisions). Fundamental social psychological theory will be integrated with research on organizational behaviour to highlight applied relevance to a variety of settings in which groups work and perform. Pro-social behaviour Third year, semester 6, block 4, 6EC Pro-social behaviour, such as helping others in need, or giving donations is a classic social psychological research theme that receives much attention in society. Given that individuals feel that governments and institutions retract in many domains, or that people become more individualistic and self-centred, many call for more care-taking among each other. Social psychology has a tool-box to offer how we can help to achieve that. Therefore, in this course we will focus on selected topics of pro-social behaviour (e.g., helping behaviour, donations), look at their determinants and investigate how this highly desirable behaviour can be propagated (e.g., increasing volunteerism or spontaneous help among strangers). The aim of the course is to prepare students with knowledge of this important field who are maybe interested to later work for government institutions, in charities, non-government-organizations (NGO) or corporate social responsibility contexts Thesis Third year, semester 6, block 5-6