Psychology and social processes

The course is divided in three parts: 1. The first part (25 hours of traditional lessons and 20 hours of practical activities ) deals with the issues of emotions, of the description and explanation in personality psychology, and in particular the importance of the study of personality individual differences for psychological research and practice. This part is articulated in the following thematic cores: a)Theories of emotion and their self-regulation; b) Origins and development of personality psychology; c) the study of personality individual differences (personality traits and temperament); c) The interactionism and the cognitive perspective in the study of personality; During this first part of the course, trhough laboratory activities students will be introduced to methological aspects of studying personality and emotions and to the main instruments for the evaluation of personality and temperament traits, to the use of the instruments and how to interpret scores. 2. The second part of the course (8 hours ) present the main issue and research line on personality across life-span, with particular attention to the biological basis of indiviudal differences and to continuity and discontinuity of personality development. 3. The third part of the course ((25 hours of traditional lessons and 20 hours of practical activities) addresses: a) Cognitive structure of personality: b) The main motivational theories; b) Self-regulatory and self-directional processes. During the third part of the course students will participate to practical exercises aimed to: a) acquire knowledge concerning some instruments for the evaluation of emotional and motivational functioning, their use and their score interpretations; b) develop capacities of critical reasoning and to integrate ifomration concerning different levels of psychological functioning.

To achieve the goals of the course, it is important for students the knowledge of the main theories of psychology (psychoanalisis, behaviorism, cognitivism), of some of basic cognitive process (perception, memory and learning), some basic knowledge of biology, psycho-biology, and developmental psychology.

The following texts will be used during the course: Cervone e L. Pervin (2017). La scienza della personalità, Raffaello Cortina. (cap. 6 and 10 excluded) For the third part of the program: Caprara G.V. (2013). Motivare è riuscire. Bologna Il Mulino. Further materials will be available on elearning platform at the beginning of the course

The course includes frontal lessons with the active participation of students practical activities delivered in during classes, seminars and sub-groups work during classes

Attending classes is not mandatory but strongly recommended

Goals of the evaluation Evaluation includes written exams aimed at examining students’ knowledge of the main contents of the course (theoretical perspectives and addressed issues), students’ capacity to describe clearly and exhaustively some of the main themes presented during the course, and to apply acquired knowledge in a critical way either to a) the reading of a scientific article on personality psychology, psychology of emotions or of motivation; or b) to the description of an individual’s profile of psychological functioning. Organization and schedule of the evaluation Evaluation will include a single final exam concerning all the contents of the course. 2.3 Exam method Evaluation will be conducted through written exams as following: Twentyfive multiple choice questions and two open questions on the entire program ; b) description and score interpretation of a profile obtained through different instruments of psychological evaluation 2.4 Grading To pass the exam the final grade must be equal or higher than 18/30. Students need to have learned a sufficient knowledge of the main themes of psychology of emotions, personality and motivation, and to be able to apply at a basic level theoretical knowledge to the description of a profile of psychological functioning . To obtain a score of 30/30 cum laude, students need to have acquired a excellent knowledge of all the issues addressed in the course, to be capable to connect those issues meaningfully and to apply those knowledge to the interpretation of a psychological profile . The final grading will be obtained as following. Twenty-five multiple choice questions (scored up to 25 points) will contribute to 25/30 to the finals grade; b) two multiple choice questions (scored 0 =wrong; 2= correct ) will contribute to 6/30 to the final score Multiple choice questions have four alternatives and only one is correct. Each wrong answer will be scored 0. The final grade will be the sum of the scores obtained at the different parts of the exam . When results of the exam are not completely clear, teachers may ask students to make a brief oral exam

The course includes frontal lessons with the active participation of students practical activities delivered in during classes, seminars and sub-groups work during classes