2000

Learning is one of the most intriguing psychological processes. On one hand, it has an important role on the continuous process of adaptation of the body to the environment, and on the other, it is a process that requires very precise conditions to occur, as suggested by the relative infrequency of phenomena as the transfer of skills or knowledge from one context to another. In this course we will explore the main psychological theories on learning. (E.g. behaviorism theories, cognitive theory and socio-cultural theory) emphasizing on the conceptualization of the human learning and its implications in education.

The main objective of this course is to allow the psychology students to get in contact with the psychology of emotion. During this semester we organize activities so that the students have the opportunity to think about conceptual issues, but also to know some practical skills related to the study of emotions and the promotion of emotional health. The course offers the students the different theories dealing with the emotional phenomenon, as well as the main problems or current questions studied by the scholars. With this overview we expect students to widen their analysis skills in this field, and from this conceptual basis, they may start to make their personal conception on this topic.

This CBU course will have the development of the conception of family life in the West (Europe) as its core topic. However, there will also be references to research on family and private life in Colombia and punctual aspects on relationships with a partner and parent-children relationships in Eastern cultures. There will be reflections, from the contributions of history, sociology, psychology and other social sciences, on the economical, ecological and cultural factors that have shaped family life through time. Likewise, the tensions that have characterized the difference between what is private and public will be approached, the continuous struggle to preserve the private life of the political power private, and the unevenness and contradictions entailed within what is private and what directly compromises the relationships among family members: tensions between men and women, between the young and the old, between the nuclear and the extended family.

This subject goes over the topics, authors, events, concepts, methods and studies that have a special meaning when it comes to describing the emergence, development and consolidation of the Psychology of Motivation as a specialized field within Psychology, also, it points out its latest trends. Furthermore, the course attempts to offer a multi-level approach to different phenomena on peoples´ lives, and, through this perspective, we intend to articulate the contributions given by different and numerous conceptual and methodological constructs in this particular field of knowledge.

This course intends to understand the conceptual diversity of the term memory, learn the contribution of the most important characters that have studied the scientific concept, understand the paradigmatic diversity in this field, analyze the methodological strategies and techniques connected to the empirical study of such a process and to finally discover the great potential there exists to apply the basic concepts of this area.

This subject goes over the topics, authors, events, concepts, methods and studies that have a special meaning when it comes to describing the emergence, development and consolidation of Social Psychology as a specialized field within Psychology, also, it points out its latest trends. Furthermore, the course attempts to offer a multi-level approach to different phenomena on peoples´ lives, and, through this perspective, we intend to articulate the contributions given by different and numerous conceptual and methodological constructs in this particular field of knowledge.

This course intends to provide the theoretical elements that allow understanding the interactive and communicative process of interviews, regarded as one of the fundamental tools of the clinical method, which is the research method that allows attaining a comprehensive vision of human phenomena. Based on the aforesaid, we expect to train the student in the basic skills required for the conduction of interviews at personal and group level, as well as the analysis and interpretation of the information obtained through the said interviews.

This course attempts to familiarize the students with the theoretical and practical aspects related to the construction of psychometric tests, contemporaneous theory on psychometric evaluation, methodology for the construction of psychometrical tests, planning, construction and evaluation of measurement instruments, types of validity and reliability, regularization and standardization.

This course on evaluation is oriented towards two purposes a) that the students become acquainted with the basic concepts, procedures and general principles of the process of psychological evaluation on individuals, and b) that they develop the basic skills for the conduction of the said process under professional and ethical criteria. Bearing in mind the aforesaid, during the semester we combine elements of reflection on concepts and theoretical aspects with the practical application of those contents, through the brief psychological evaluation of an individual. The combination of theory and practice is conducted as per each phase of the process of psychological evaluation: initial interview, tests, qualification, and interpretation of results and drafting of the corresponding evaluation report.

How do we know if a psychological variable is the cause of another psychological variable? How can we design a study to find out whether a psychological intervention really achieves the changes we intend to? How do we know if the differences in the responses between men and women on an interview are the reflect of a true difference between men and women, or if they are merely the differences between the people we interviewed? These are some of the questions this course focuses on. Using statistical values as a research tool, we will try to begin to understand how to design quantitative research and how to analyze quantitative data in order to solve problems and to provide answers in psychology. We will seek for this understanding by conducting real-life exercises.

How can we design a research that allows us to identify if certain psychological characteristics are able to explain some others? How can we know what individual, familiar or contextual factors allow for a better understanding of behavior? What is the best way to match the mean values of certain variables among groups of peoples? How may we know if the frequency that some people conduct certain actions with depends on the context they are within? These are some of the questions that this course focuses on. Using statistics as a research tool, we will try to deepen on how to design quantitative research, and how to analyze quantitative data to solve questions in psychology. We will seek for this understanding by conducting exercises based on real-life examples, from the existing data.

This course introduces the study of several methodological alternatives of qualitative fashion in Psychology. Its objectives are: a) to place the emergence of the qualitative approach in Psychology, b) to understand and to criticize the epistemological methods and its differences with other approaches, c) to distinguish the methodological and instrumental characteristics of the approach d) to develop the necessary competences for the conduction of qualitative studies, and e) to know, analyze and criticize qualitative strategies. We study specific strategies such as history of life, case-study, ethno methodology and action-research.