DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY AT UNIVERSITY OF GHANA – erykme.com

COURSE DESCRIPTIONSPSYC 101: Elements of PsychologyThis course is designed to introduce students to the history, basic theories, research methods andprinciples of Psychology. It is aimed at laying the foundation for higher level courses inPsychology. At the end of the course, it is expected that students will have basic knowledgeofsome psychological theories and principles underlying behaviour and also be in the positiontorelate what they have learnt to issues of everyday life.PSYC 102: Psychology for Everyday LivingThis course deals primarily with issues of everyday life. It employs psychological principles,theories and research findings in an attempt to explain and understand matters of everyday life.Itsmain objective is to demonstrate the relevance and applicability of psychology in the daily lifeofthe individual and thus draw links between what students learn in the lecture halls and what theyexperience in real life. Specific topics to be covered include motivation and goal setting,community and diversity, assertiveness and leadership, problem solving and creativity.LEVEL 200 COURSESFirst SemesterPSYC : Introduction to General PsychologyThis course is designed to introduce students to Psychology as a discipline and a profession.Theemphasis is on the history of psychology, the different orientations available in the field andthebasics of research in psychology. The course will also look at two interesting areas inpsychology namely, intelligence and social behaviour. By the end of this course, students shouldknow whatpsychology is, why it is important for them to study psychology and be adequatelyprepared forbuilding up on their knowledge in higher levels of their study in psychology.PSYC 223: Biological PsychologyThis course examines the neurobiological bases of behaviour. The course will cover the natureofneurons and neuronal communication, the translation of the external world intointernalperceptions (vision, hearing, touch, etc.) and the role of the nervous system in thecognition skillsof thinking, learning, memory, and language.Second SemesterPSYC 222: Motivation and EmotionThis course is intended to introduce students to motivational causes of behaviour and theemotionsexperienced. Understanding motivation and emotion is fundamental to understandinghumanbehaviour. Emphasis will be placed on the theories, sources and types of motivation andemotion.At the end of the course, students should be able to understand motivational causes ofbehaviourand the expression of emotions.PSYC 224: Introduction to Experimental PsychologyThis course is designed to introduce students to the general principles of experimentalresearchmethod. Emphasis will be placed on design, control of extraneous variables and ethicsgoverningpsychological research. At the end of the course, it is expected that students will be ableto designsimple experiment, identify flaws in basic design and control for extraneous variables.345LEVEL 300First SemesterPSYC 331: Statistics for PsychologistsThis course deals with statistics and the behavioural sciences. It delves into descriptive andinferential statistics, populations, samples, parameters, etc. furthermore, the concept ofvariability,strategy of inferential statistics, the normal curve and inferences about the means oftwopopulations will also be discussed. One way analysis of variance, two way analysis ofvariance,parametric and non-parametric methods, chi square, Kruskal–Wallis H test, the Wilcoxontest andthe rank-sum test will also be taught.PSYC 333: Psychology of PersonalityThe course emphasizes the major personality theories, research and measurements of personality.It will explore the foundations of normally functioning individuals as well as problems. The topicswill include definitions, psychodynamic, traits, cognitive, phenomenological/existential theoriesassociated with personality development. The effect of folk stories, “KwekuAnanse” storiesonpersonality development will be examined.PSYC 335: Developmental Psychology IThis course is concerned with understanding and explaining the changes that occur betweenconception and adolescence. Emphasis is placed on the major changes that occur in the physical,cognitive and the psychosocial domains and their implications for parents, educators, andhelpingprofessionals.*PSYC 337: LearningThis course basically deals with the psychology of learning and its application to everydaylifesituations. It covers the various types of learning (e.g. Pavlovian, Instrumental, observationalandverbal learning). Specific topics that are taught include: reasons for using animals in researchinlearning, elements/features of classical and instrumental conditioning, use of reinforcement

andpunishment, learning principles and behaviour change.Othersare cognitive learning,

observational learning and various types of verbal learning. At the end of the course,studentsshould be able to apply learning principles to their own life situations as well as that ofothersaround them.*The course has a compulsory practical component.Second Semester*PSYC 332: Cognitive Psychology IThis course is to provide a survey of selected problem areas in cognitive psychology withemphasison memory. Both experimental work and theoretical accounts of memory will becovered. Topicsinclude structural and processing accounts of memory – how people acquire, store,transform, retrieve and communicate information.*The course has a compulsory practical component.PSYC 334: Research Methods in PsychologyThe course is intended to provide the student with basic skills needed to conductpsychologicalresearch, develop critical thinking skills regarding research and gain the capacity todesign andconduct research as well as writing research reports. Topics include an overview of thescientificapproach to knowledge, definitions of basic concepts, types of scientific research, design,sampling, questionnaire construction, interviews and report writing.346PSYC 338: Abnormal PsychologyThis course is designed to introduce students to the psychology of abnormal behaviour. It exploresthe history, definitions and current status of abnormal behaviour. The topics include thefiveparadigms or theoretical models of psychodynamic trait, phenomenological, cognitiveandbehavioural approached to abnormal behaviour. It will examine research, abnormal patternsoffunctioning and methods of treatment.PSYC 336: Developmental Psychology IIThis course examines basic themes in life-span development: the concept of adulthood,physicaldevelopment including changes in sense organs, cardiovascular organs, sex, reproductive

organsand their psychological consequences. Others arehealth, vitality and diseases, the process

ofageing, cognitive and psychosocial development during adulthood, retirement and widowhood,culture and aging.PSYC 342: Psychological Tests and MeasurementsThis course of study is designed to expose students to the basic conceptual, theoretical, technicalandmethodological principles in the development, administration and interpretation ofpsychologicalmeasurements. It is essential that students who intend to offer this course have goodbackground inBasic Statistics and/or Statistics for psychologist.LEVEL 400First SemesterPSYC 490: Research ProjectThis course is research based and runs through the first semester to the second semester.Studentsare expected to select a topic of their own, conduct an empirical study on it, write aresearch reportand submit to the Department.PSYC 441: Cognitive Psychology IIThe course builds up on Cognitive Psychology I and aims to acquaint the student withimportanttheoretical principles and findings in cognitive psychology along with the methods bywhich thisknowledge is acquired. Some of the areas of interest are sensation and perception,attention, visualimagery, thinking and reasoning, decision-making, problem solving, language andcomprehension, individual and gender differences in cognition etc. Application of cognitivepsychology to real-worldsettings and implications will be emphasised.PSYC 443: Social PsychologyThis course focuses on the study of the social dimensions of human behaviour. Unlike otherdomains of psychology that focus mainly on the individual as the unit of analysis, socialpsychology examines behaviour in its social context. Students will be introduced to the maintheories, research methods and major research findings in social psychology. Emphasis will alsobeplaced on key concepts such as attribution, cognition, attitudes, social influence and manymore. Atthe end of this course, students should be able to demonstrate an understanding of thebasicprinciples of social influences on behaviour.PSYC 449: Practicals in Cognition IIThis course is the practical component of PSYC 401, and is compulsory for all studentsofferingPSYC 401. Students are expected to participate in experiments based on the theorieslearned inPSYC 401 after which they submit a research report.347PSYC 445: Clinical PsychologyThis is an introductory course designed for level 400 students. The course focuses on athoroughsurvey of the field, which does not go into all the details typically found in “graduatestudy only”.The topics explore the history of clinical psychology, including Ghanaiandevelopment of thefield, its scope, functions and future perspective. The course also covers the

latest developments inclinical research and techniques inhealthpsychology, behaviourmedicine,

psychopathology and mental health.PSYC 447: Educational PsychologyThis course is designed to give insight into the problems of teaching and learning and todevelopthe necessary professional skills and competencies for prospective educationist/teachers toenablethem effectively understand, predict and control the behaviour of learners in theeducationalprocess. To this end, the course should more importantly be perceived as an area ofappliedpsychology rather than a unique subject matter.PSYC 451: Guidance and CounsellingThis course is designed to provide an insight into guidance and counseling. Specific topics tobecovered include the historical development of guidance and counseling, the counseling process,techniques of counseling, the therapeutic relationship, theory and practice of counseling,specialproblems in counseling and ethical issues in counseling.

PSYC 453: Psychology ofReligion

Psychology of religion deals with the application of psychological principles, theories andmethods of research in studying religious behaviour, religious cognition, religious motivation, therole of religion in human life. The course draws on the contributions of other fields ofpsychologyand focuses on the attitudes, values and experiences of people and their relationshipwith thesupernatural. Topics to be covered include the emergence of psychology of religion,approaches tothe study of psychology of religion, religious experience, religion and morality, andreligion, coping and adjustment and functions of religion in adult life.PSYC 455: Introduction to Neuropsychology

This is a course that will introduce students to a general overview of theanatomyof the brain

(both cortical and subcortical). The course is also designed to help students understand thefunctions of the structures of the brain with respect to human behaviour and diseases that arebrain-related. The course will be in two parts. The first part is an overview of selected brainfunctions (e.g. perception, language, memory, attention, sensory/motor control, executivefunctions) in both normal functioning and brain damage syndromes. The second part of thecoursewill review clinical assessment and rehabilitation issues.PSYC 457: Industrial PsychologyThis course is made up of Personnel Psychology and Engineering Psychology. It deals with howpsychological principles, theories, concepts and methods are applied to shape individualsforeffective job Performance and to also design work, work environments, tools, machinesandequipment to match human abilities and limitations. Some of the areas covered in this courseare: Job Analysis, Personnel Selection, Training and Development human resource, Jobevaluation, Job Design work schedules, Human Factors Engineering characteristics of the workenvironment,Employee Health, Safety and Accidents at the workplace.348PSYC 459: Military PsychologyThis course deals with selected topical issues in the military. These include leadership andgroupdynamics (unit identity, unit cohesion, morale and heroism), stress and combat performance,combat stress behaviours, combat misconduct stress behaviours, battle fatigue and posttraumaticstressdisorders.PSYC 461: Atypical DevelopmentThis course deals with children’s abnormalities in the general context of human development.Topics to be covered include mental retardation, social isolation syndromes, infantile autism,minimal brain dysfunction, childhood and adolescent schizophrenia, school phobia truancy,learning disabilities, academic underachievement and delinquent behaviour.PSYC 463: Health PsychologyHealth psychology focuses on the role played by psychological factors in the cause,developmentand consequences of health and illnesses. The objectives of this course are to exposestudents tosome of the major theoretical and intervention issues in health/illness behaviours. Thecourse willbe based on a national health perspective, with the main emphasis on behavioural risk

factorswhich constitute the main health problems inGhana. Topics to be covered include stress

and coping, HIV/AIDS, lifestyle diseases inGhanaand disease prevention and health promotion.PSYC 491: Research SeminarThis course is for students who are offering PSYC 410 (Research Project). They are expectedtoverbally present their research proposals prior to going to the field for data gathering.Second SemesterPSYC 446: Comparative PsychologyComparative psychologists study differences and similarities in the behaviour of animals ofdifferent species. The discipline pays particular attention to the psychological nature of humans incomparison with other animals. At the heart of this perspective is the notion that human beings,like other animals, have an evolutionary history that predisposes them to behave in ways thatareuniquely adaptive for survival and reproduction. One of the aims of comparative psychology istouse insights gained from the study of psychological processes in different species of animalstoadd to our understanding of human psychology. Any way of achieving this aim must depend,tosome extent, on understanding the evolutionary relationship between animals and man.PSYC 448: Community PsychologyThis course is designed to help students develop a conceptual and pragmatic understanding ofvarious issues and topics in community psychology. It introduces students specifically totheprinciples/philosophies of community psychology, community research and programevaluation, types and models of prevention, stress, coping and social support, psychological senseofcommunity and reasons and strategies for social change. At the end of the course, studentsshould be empowered to apply the principles/models of community psychology tosocial/communityproblems and to provide appropriate interventions.PSYC 452: Environmental PsychologyThis course aims at exploring the relationship between psychology and the environment withparticular emphasis on how the latter influences human behaviour. The course, which is aseminartype, will take a critical look at the natural, the built as well as the psychologicalenvironment andhow they influence behaviour. The course is thus aimed at creating awareness349among students onthe effects (with particular attention on the adverse one) the environment hasover the quality oflife and how to reduce and/or manage them. At the end of the course, it isexpected that studentsshould be able to identify environmental hazards and critically assess theeffects of these hazardsand how to control or manage them.PSYC 444: Psychology and National DevelopmentThis course is designed to help students understand how psychology can be applied in variousareas of national endeavours. The course will treat topics such as introduction to PsychologyandNational Development, Economic Psychology, Psychology and Health, Psychology andEntrepreneurship, Attitude and Attitude change, Sports Psychology, Psychology and Politics,Psychology and Law, Psychology and Crime Prevention, Psychology and Poverty alleviation.PSYC 454: Applied Social PsychologyThis course will examine how the theories and principles of social psychology can be appliedtomajor issues affecting contemporary societies. Topics to be covered include intergroupconflictsand their management, the role of social psychology in the clinic and in politics and inthecourtroom, and determinants of helping behaviour. Topical issues such as attitudesregardingsanitation and health will also be discussed. The course will be an interactive one,providing aforum to share ideas and discuss the strategies that students will develop based on thetheories of social psychology.PSYC 456: Organizational PsychologyThis course deals with the application of psychological concepts, theories, methods and ideastoproblem of organizations. The course is made up of organizational theory and organizationalbehaviour. Topics treated include: the nature of organizations, organizational structure, designofeffective organizations, organizational development, organizational climate andculture,organizational change, organizational decline, organizational learning, group processesinorganizations, employees work attitudes and motivation, communication inorganization,conflicts in organizations and organizational commitment.PSYC 458: Sports PsychologyThis course focuses on the psychological and mental factors that relate to participationandperformance in sport, exercise and physical activity and how these may improve personaldevelopment and well-being throughout the life span. Topics to be covered include an introductionto sports psychology, motivation and self-confidence in sports, aggression and violence in sports,leadership, cohesion and audience effects, relationships in sports and life skilltraining andtransitions in sport.PSYC 462: Political PsychologyThe course examines the psychological factors that explain political behaviour. Theories andresearches in both Psychology and Political Science will be examined. Other relevant topicsinclude personality approaches to understanding political leaders and voters, the role ofsocialization in the formation of political preferences, how voters process political information,form impressions of political candidates and make voting decisions. The role of stereotypesandhow they affect the candidate evaluation process, the uses (and abuses) of persuasion inpolitics,the role of the mass media in politics, the effects of political advertising, attackcampaigning, therole of the media in dictating how the public thinks and the role of women andminorities in politics will be discussed.350PSYC 464: Introduction to PsycholinguisticsThis course introduces students to the nature of language, the various processes that underliecomprehension and how we produce and acquire language. Specific topics to be coveredincludecomprehension and utilization of sentences, language production, the representation of

meaning, language and thought and second language learning and bilingualism.