Course Details

1. Outline the various areas of specialisation and approaches to the science of psychology. Implement elements related the research methods in psychology and describe the features of the major methods of psychotherapy.
2. Describe elements of the following: characteristics of the functional persons, creation of a personal life plan, a theory of personality as a base of explaining human behaviour and classifying abnormal behaviour.
3. Understand the system of values of individuals and groups, aiming at the study of the uniqueness of the individual. Distinguish the relationship between heredity and the environment to the development of our personality.
4. Use the abilities of individuals to construct theories of human behaviour. Understand and adopt a theory of human development. Know various methods and personality tests of evaluating malfunctional behaviour.
5. Analyse the basic characteristics of the normal and the abnormal individual. Develop innovative ways and methods of studying human behaviour and the creation of functional relationships and families.

�         Psychology and personality formation: Origin of psychological perspectives. The main areas of concentration of psychology. Psychology as a profession. Methods of Psychology: Experimental, correlational, and observational. Basic elements of the theories of personality. The main differences between the psychoanalytic theory, the behavioural, the theories of social learning and the humanistic theories.

�         Development and learning methods: The role of heredity and environment to the psychosocial development of individuals.  The different stages of development according to E. Erickson and Jean Piaget. The importance of the first experiences in life to future development. The main feeling, thoughts and behaviours of people at different stages of life.  Learning within the context of behaviourism and factors facilitating learning.  The theoretical perspective of behaviourism and classical conditioning. Methods of learning and behavioural modification.  

�         Perception, learning and conditioning: The study of the relationship between the brain, the nervous system and that of human behaviour. Basic elements of knowledge related to the perception of humans, memory and thinking. The major theories on perception, the basic processes of memory and models of organising information. The main concepts of thinking, structures and thinking mechanisms. Elements related to subjective social perception due to incoming information and experience from intimate others. Learning, classical, operant conditioning and the nature of reinforcement.

�         Motivation and attitude change: The importance of psychological motivators, feelings and conscience for the average individual. Elements related to Maslow’s theory of motivation. An overview of the important approaches to motivation and the goal setting theory. Feelings and their relationship to our conscious processes.  Attitudes and attitude change: the functions of attitudes, the development of attitudes, attitudes and behaviour. The change of attitudes after a group discussion and cognitive dissonance.  

�         Groups processes: The main characteristics of small groups. Elements related to group performance and group polarisation. Social influence and experiments on conformity. Obedience to authority and its consequences to our everyday life. Factors that contribute to maintaining changes of behaviour.

�         Methods of therapy: The main benefits of psychotherapy to individuals. The differences between the main psychotherapeutic methods: the psychoanalytic model, the behavioural therapy model, Gestalt, humanistic psychotherapy and the systemic approach to therapy. The basic methods of objective evaluation of intelligence and personality. Projective techniques TAT and CAT. Innovative ideas related to the future and functions of psychology.

• Βοσνιάδου, Σ. ( 2004) . Εισαγωγή στην Ψυχολογία Τόμος Α & Β., Gutenberg
• Culkin,J. & Perrotto, R. (2008) Θεμελιώδεις Αρχές της Ψυχολογία., Έλλην

• Νασιάκου, Μ. (2002). Η ψυχολογία σήμερα Τόμος. Α & Β., Παπαζήση
• Hayes, N. (2008). Εισαγωγή στη Ψυχολογία., Τόμοι Α, & Β. Ελληνικά Γράμματα

The major teaching methods to be implemented are the following: a).Direct dialogue: the lecturer, by using carefully selected and formulated questions, leads students towards a specific topic of knowledge. b).Brain storming: the topic to be studied is presented to students and then they are requested to express freely their ideas and thoughts related to the specific topic. c). Group work: students are divided in groups, with the aim to exchange ideas and experiences related to a specific subject that they are studying. d).Role play: the scenario related to situations, at the professional or social level is presented to students. Students play roles, like actors, which aim to understand better the situation that is presented in the scenario.