Psychology of typical and atypical development

Educational objectives

The general purpose of the module is to provide an in-depth knowledge
of the theoretical and methodological issues related to the study of
language acquisition in its various components, discussing the
theoretical models, and analyzing the main stages of both typical and
atypical development, in the perspective of the course of life. Risk
factors for possible developmental delays will also be considered as
well as aspects relating to diagnosis, with presentation of tools to
assess language development for the identification of language delays
and disorders, and proposals for intervention programs. Finally, the
relationship between language development and other aspects of human
cognition will be discussed, with reference to executive functions.

The module is divided into three parts. In the first part, the main
theoretical approaches to language development will be explored,
comparing them based on the arguments proposed in relation to three
themes: nature and origin of language, structure and functioning of
the linguistic system, mechanisms of language acquisition. The second
part will discuss the phases of typical language development
(pre-grammatical complexity, grammaticalization of utterances,
development of recursion, reorganization based on the discourse),
illustrating the risk factors for delays and / or impairments in the
linguistic area, and the profiles of atypical development. In the
third part of the course, a laboratory activity will be implemented
which will be defined at the beginning of the course.

At the end of the course, the student will have acquired
theoretical-practical knowledge that will allow to analyze the
infantile spontaneous language, distinguish the levels of linguistic
development of a child, identify the suitable tools to evaluate
aspects of strength and weakness, based on the theoretical reference,
elaborate its development profile, and recognize any risk and / or
pathological indices to define a diagnosis.

Educational objectives

General aims
The course provides theoretical and applicative contents related to:
biological bases of social development
Theories of social development
(10 hours)
attachment relationships
peer relationships
empaty,prosocial and moral reasoning
emotions regulation and effortfull control
gender identity and segregation
identity processes in adolescence
Vulnerabillty and health risk behaviors in adolescence
(30 hours)

The course is based on lectures, encouraging active student participation. There will be exercises in small groups aimed at the application of evaluation tools of socio-emotional development and quality of interpersonal relationships into classrooms.
((8 hours)
Students who have attendance problems will still have to carry out a practical activity by e-learning.
Attendance to the lessons is considered not mandatory.

Specific aims. Knowledge and understanding: passing the exam would imply being capable of knowing and understanding social development, determinants and correlates across different ages
Applying knowledge and understanding: passing the exam would imply mastering appropriate tools to identify typical and atypical social/emotional profiles
Making judgment: passing the exam would imply mastering the ability to make informed judgments and evaluations on determinants and correlates of typical and atypical social/emotional profiles. Communication skills: passing the exam would attest that students master the communication abilities and tools needed for an efficacious scientific communication. Learning skills: passing the exam would attest the acquisition of skills conducive to further learning related to psychological test and programs in the field of social and emotional development. During the traditional lessons such abilities would be transmitted by emphasizing different perspective

Educational objectives

The course aims at offering a solid basic and methodological background on neuropsychology and conceptual tools useful for describing, assessing, and interpreting pathological behavior in terms of neuropsychological models.

Knowledge and understanding: Students will acquire a solid background on the basic principles of neuropsychology, the historical evolution of related concepts, neuropsychological research methods and techniques, and tools for assessment and intervention; will become familiar with the most frequent cognitive deficits following cerebral lesions and dysfunctions, their clinical properties, diagnostic criteria, and most prominent theoretical-explanatory models.

Applying knowledge and understanding: Students will be able to acquire relevant information from the observation of the behavior of a patient with cognitive deficits following brain damage, and to describe and explain it using appropriate terms; will be able to read and understand scientific papers on neuropsychological and cognitive neuroscience topics.

Making judgements: Students will learn to formulate judgments about patients’ behavior and to make choices about the diagnosis based on a limited amount of information, while critically defending them and discussing their limitations.

Communication skills: Students will summarize the results of observations and tests with a clear and specific language; will communicate the results of their evaluation in written and oral form; will adapt their communication to the listener’s knowledge.

Learning skills: Students will develop instrumental and research skills useful for acquiring further knowledge; will use bibliographic search engines aimed at elaborating on the topics discussed during the course.

Educational objectives

General aims. The course aims to deepen the understanding, the use and the interpretation of the main basic statistics measures, and to provide knowledge on the use, planning and interpretation of the principal multivariate analysis techniques. A part of the course presents the basic foundations of psychological research, focusing in particular on the methodological aspects and ethical problems concerning studies aimed at verifying the effectiveness of interventions in the rehabilitation or educational field.
In the first part of the course some topics in the descriptive statistics area will be revised (variables, measurement levels, measures of central tendency and variability, use of percentile ranks, percentages, contingency tables, correlation and simple regression) with examples on their use in clinical practice and research. The expected learning outcomes would be: correctly use and interpret z scores and percentiles in individual case studies; understand results of research studies; design and implement simple experimental plans for hypothesis testing; perform statistical analyses with subsequent interpretation of the results; critically address the examination of the literature on a topic, evaluating any ethical and methodological problems
These objectives will be achieved through lectures and practical laboratory activities, organized as follows.
The main part of the course will deal with the main multivariate statistical techniques: Univariate Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) for one-way and factorial designs with and without repeated measures; Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA); Univariate and Multivariate Planned Comparisons and Trends Analysis; Multiple Regression with standard, stepwise and hierarchical procedures; Log-linear modeling procedures for multi-way frequency tables; Multivariate exploratory techniques: Clusters Analysis and Factor Analysis.
The third part of the course covers basic elements of research methodology: different types of research; research validity; threats to the validity of research; the control of the disturbance variables; ethical and methodological problems in the before-after study designs aimed to verify the effectiveness of either rehabilitative treatments or school or cognitive abilities enhancement interventions.
For each topic described practical activities are provided by the teacher, to be carried out in the classroom during laboratory hours. Practical activities presents statistical or methodological problems and asks students to perform one or more of the following tasks: define the variables involved and specify their characteristics, define the experimental design, identify any disturbance variables and explain how to control them, calculate statistical indices, verify hypotheses and comment the results. Each practical activity is followed by the teacher's presentation of the correct procedures for solving the proposed problems and by the discussion of the mistakes made by the students.
Further classroom laboratory activities include the critical examination of methodological and ethical problems in research articles; moreover the students will analyze research data in the classroom through statistical software, and will discuss the results.
Student’s learning outcomes will be checked in the classroom in the middle and the end of the course, in the form of the exam simulation. The solution of the proposed problems will be provided by the teacher at the end of each test so that students will be able to self-evaluate their performance. The result of these checks will allow students to orientate the study on the topics on which they show more gaps.

Specific aims. Knowledge and understanding. Passing the exam allows students to be able to understand the meaning and use of the main statistical indices used in clinical practice, and to know the basic elements of the research methodology and the assumptions underlying the use of significance tests. Students will also have knowledge on the use, setting of data and interpretation of results in relation to the following statistical techniques: correlation, simple and multiple regression, univariate and multivariate analysis of variance, planned comparisons and analysis of trends, loglinear models, analysis of clusters and factor analysis. Applying knowledge and understanding. Practical laboratory activities will enable students to: build performance profiles in the study of individual cases using the comparison with the normative data; understand results of research studies; design and implement simple experimental plans for hypothesis testing; collect data through instruments and perform statistical analyses with subsequent interpretation of the results. Making judgment. Laboratory activities train students to critically address the examination of the literature on a topic, evaluating any ethical and methodological problems. Communication skills. Passing the exam implies the ability to communicate, even to non-experts, the results of statistical analysis. Learning skills. The knowledge of the course topics and the mastery of the skills acquired through laboratory activities provide the basis for autonomously continuing the study of further statistical techniques and methodological procedures typical of psychological research.

Educational objectives

General aims. The course aims at providing the students with theories for analyzing groups and educational organizations and with the methodological practices to develop psychosocial interventions in educational organizations.

The course will develop across three different modules: 1. Cultural psychology of groups and organizations – this is to provide students with knowledge on practices of social, discursive and material interaction in groups and communities of practices and on the analysis of educational organizations. 2. Theory of Situated learning and organizational development – this is to provide students of knowledge on situated learning models, on work practices and competences in groups and educational organizations and on strategies for fostering innovation in educational organizations. 3. Laboratory on Methodology for the analysis of groups and educational organizations – this is to provide students with the methodological competence and practices (observations, interviews; analysis of interactions) for analyzing and fostering interventions on groups and educational organizations.
The expected learning outcome would be: to know the interpretative framework and the main dimensions of cultural psychology of groups and organizations; to know how to analyze and assess groups and educational organization considering their interactional, communicative and social dimensions; to know the social and formative strategies for the development of groups and educational organizations; to know the epistemological principles, methods and tools of situated and qualitative research for analysis and fostering psychosocial interventions on groups and organization.

Specific aims. For the students, passing the exam would imply being capable of: 1) Knowing the interpretative framework and the main dimensions of cultural psychology of groups and organizations (Knowledge and understanding); 2) acquiring the ability to analyze empirically the practices of social, discursive and material interaction in groups and communities of practices and the main dimensions of educational organizations; to be able to identify strategies of social and educational intervention to foster organizational innovation; to be able to use, with methodological reflexivity, methods and instrument of situated and qualitative research (ethnographic observations, narrative interviews, analysis of interactions) for analyzing work and organizational practices. (Applying knowledge and understanding). 3) Acquiring the ability to make informed judgments and critical evaluations through the collective assessment of programs of psychosocial intervention in educational organizations and through the practical and methodological affordances acquired during the participation to the Laboratory on Methodology for the analysis of groups and educational organizations (Making judgment); 4) acquiring skills in public speaking through the presentation of the project work’s results and acquiring scientific writing skills through the preparation of a written report at the end of the Laboratory on Methodology for the analysis of groups and educational organizations (that will be evaluated) (Communication skills); 5) acquiring ability to further and autonomous learning related to theoretical, methodological and applicative knowledge on social psychology of groups and organizations, through the different framework, knowledge and competence discussed and evaluated during the course (Learning skills).

Educational objectives

Developmental assessment techniques

General aims. The course aims at providing the students with theoretical and practical knowledge about the various phases of the developmental psychological assessment with children and the main diagnostic tools used. The expected learning outcomes would be: competence about planning and conducting a developmental assessment, knowledge of principal characteristics of tools used, capacity to write a report for resume the results of the assessment.

The traditional lessons would allow students to analyze and to talk about the issues regarding the client and the referral of child, the interface with different type of informants involved in the assessment (parents, teachers, physicians, etc.), the choice of tools to use, the characteristics of feedback to the interested subjects. Laboratory lessons would provide students to manage assessment procedures and to examine in depth the characteristics of some of the principal psychodiagnostic tools (especially methods of administration, coding and interpretation), also using role-play, videotapes and clinical case reports.
Laboratory activities thus ensures acquiring practical and technical ability related to the assessment of typical and atypical development. Attendance to the laboratory lessons must be considered mandatory.

Specific aims.
Knowledge and understanding: passing the exam would imply being capable of knowing the phases of a developmental assessment and the most widely used tools.
Applying knowledge and understanding: passing the exam would imply to be able: a) to planning a developmental assessment considering different people involved and the characteristics of the examined child; b) to use some of the main tools employed.
Making judgment: passing the exam would imply mastering the ability to planning appropriately the various phases of assessment and to make informed judgments about assessment tools, knowing their areas of application, strengths and weaknesses. These abilities would be attained in the traditional lessons as well as during the laboratory sessions, through clinical role-play, analysis of videotapes and clinical protocols, writing of psychodiagnostic assessment reports.
Communication skills: passing the exam would attest that students master the communicative-relational tools implemented in all phases of psychodiagnostic assessment, from reception to parents and child, to the administration of psychological assessment tools, up to the drafting of reports (addressed to parents and/or to the various professional figures they are in charge of the child) and conducting interviews to communicate the results obtained.
Learning skills: passing the exam implies the acquisition of transversal learning skills that will allow the student to deepen in the course of his/her academic and professional career the main tools used in psychological assessment in preschool and school age, which are subject to continuous reviews and updates

Educational objectives

Other activities aimed to improving professionals skills contained in the Program include studies and research (including attendance at conferences, seminars, workshops) for a total of 75 hours (3 credits) that can be distributed over the two years.

In particular, the other activities aimed to improving professionals skills may include the following activities:

• Participation in conferences and seminars organized by the departments or faculties or to which it has given legal aid;
• Participation in conferences and seminars sponsored by outside organizations or bodies recognized very high quality;
• Practical activities carried out by external companies or organizations in the form of internships or practical experiences that has identified a qualified project manager training and that certifies the hours worked;
• Specific activities organized by the courses;
• Participation in research projects managed and certified by teachers of the degree program;
• Learning activities of advanced informatics useful for the profession (eg. Courses on the use of statistical software for data analysis, etc.);
• Learning activities for scientific English language learning or other activities useful to the profession;
• Courses for bibliographic research organized by the Library of the Faculty;
• External training courses or advanced training recognized for their very high quality.

The Course Board on the basis of the documentation submitted by the student will certify the credits.

Any other information will be posted on the homepage of the Department of Developmental and Social Psychology.

Educational objectives

General aims
This course aims to promote students’ theoretical and practical competences to get knowledge of the main theoretical models in the study of temperament and personality-related characteristics across the life-span, with particular attention to the role of individual differences in those interventions which goal is promoting well-being and preventing maladjustment across the life-span.
Expected learning goals are: competences in critical comprehension of theoretical models in Psychology of temperament and personality across the life-span, competences in the identification and analysis of in-dividual differences in temperament and personality across the life-span, competences in preparation and management of universal intervention promoting well-being and preventing maladjustment.
Frontal lessons will promote students’ knowledge of basic principles that guide them in identifying indica-tors connected with individual differences’ examination aimed to promote well-being and prevent malad-justment across the life-span. In addition, students will have the opportunity to examine in depth recent studies about temperamental factors and personality development, as well as about the most effective universal evidence-based interventions.
Specific aims. Knowledge and comprehension: passing the exam guarantee to be able to comprehend and to handle scientific tools to evaluate temperament and personality dimensions, as well as evidence-based intervention programs. Skills to apply knowledge and comprehension: passing the exam guarantee to be able to identify the indicators to evaluate personality across the life-span, and to be able to plan intervention programs directed to children, adolescents, and adults. Independent judgment: passing the exam imply getting the capacity to critically evaluate theoretical models and evaluation tools, being able to recognize correspondent advantages and disadvantages. In addition, passing the exam promotes capabilities related to planning promotion and prevention intervention programs. Those skills are acquired during the lessons through students’ exposure to scientific reports and case-studies on personality profiles during frontal lessons and during in-class group activities. Communicative skills: passing the exams imply the capacity to effectively use communicative tools to present profiles and scientific reports focusing on temperament and personality factors. Learning skills: passing the exam imply acquisition of transverse learning skills that will allow students to examine theoretical and practical models, and related intervention programs, in depth across the course of their professional and academic career. Such learning skills are acquired during this course, with particular emphasis – especially during frontal lessons – to the discussion on theoretical models and profile analysis, and the presentation of alternative methods to prepare and to write promotion and prevention intervention programs.

Educational objectives

The dissertation consists in the presentation and discussion of thesis (presented
according to the modalities established by the faculty) before the Commission appointed by the Degree Course. The thesis, of a theoretical nature
and / or empirical must document the theoretical and methodological skills acquired during the training activities as
scientific report.