Cognitive Forensic Sciences

The course will provide the student with an updated body of knowledge on the complex relationships between genotype and environment in the development of behavioral phenotypes of particular relevance in the context of forensic sciences. This key understanding will be applied to the study of cognitive processes and emotions and their implications in the context of forensic sciences. An emphasis will be placed on the relationship between stress, emotions, and memory as well as on mechanisms associated with the formation of emotional memories, which have an important adaptive value under physiological conditions. Nevertheless, memories of aversive events, such as traumatic events, can have a maladaptive profile that may alter physiological levels of aggression, resulting in significant clinical and behavioral repercussions. In view of the important social reflections, the course will explore in-depth the study from an evolutionary perspective of the mechanisms underlying aggression and the behavioral consequences of its alteration Knowledge and understanding. At the end of the course, the student will demonstrate a broad knowledge of the complex interactions between environmental events and the individual characteristics underlying genetic heritage in adapting to aversive situations that possess the potential for pathogenic and maladaptive alteration of social behavior. Particular attention will be paid to the implications of these interactions in the context of behaviors that assume relevance in forensic science. Applying knowledge and understanding. By the end of the course, students will have acquired skills that will enable them to address, both in research contexts and in the workplace, issues characterized by interdisciplinary elements ranging from genetics to the development of pathologies that result from adverse events, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, which can affect levels of aggression and social behavior. The professional and research areas to which the knowledge gained during the course may be transferred will relate particularly, but not exclusively, to the forensic science context. Making judgements. The structure of the course and its contents are designed in order to promote independent judgment. The course provides a complex of interdisciplinary knowledge that the student will progressively view from an integrating perspective. For example, the topic of the interaction between psychology, cognitive neuroscience, psychiatry, and genetics in forensic activities exemplifies the ethical reflection that current scientific knowledge entails and that the student will address in the course. Writing papers and preparing presentations on specific topics will also contribute to this end. Communication skills. Contributing decisively to the development of communication skills will be activities in the course involving the oral presentation of work done, either independently or in collaboration, on specific topics by delving into the literature of the field of study. Learning skills. The student will be led to develop skills in autonomous knowledge acquisition on topics of interest by learning the most effective ways to master the scientific literature in the field, such as through the use of "online libraries" such as PubMed and acquiring the ability to deal effectively and independently with reading up-to-date scientific material.