Theoretical and Historical Fundamentals of Psychology

3 ECTS credits
90 h study time

Offer 2 with catalog number 1023399AEW for working students in the 1st semester at a (A) Bachelor - preliminary level.

Semester

1st semester

Enrollment based on exam contract

Possible

Grading method

Grading (scale from 0 to 20)

Can retake in second session

Yes

Enrollment Requirements

For this course you have to meet certain enrolment requirements. For an overview of the enrolment requirements check https://www.vub.be/en/studying-vub/practical-info-for-students/study-guidance/study-path/individual-study-path#paragraph--id--71647 Students must have taken ‘General Psychology’, before they can enroll in ‘Clinical Psychiatry and Theoretical and Historical Fundamentals of Psychology’. Students who are enrolled in a shortened study program can take this course unit. Registration for this course is only possible for working students. Day students can register for courses whose code ends with an R. At Inschrijven / studentenadministratie@vub.be you must be registered at the VUB as a working student for the current academic year.

Taught in

Dutch

Faculty

Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences

Department

Klinische- en Levenslooppsychologie

Educational team

Willem Van Den Broeck (course titular)

Activities and contact hours

26 contact hours Lecture

Course Content

In this course the most important philosophical and historical foundations of current empirical psychology are studied. Two central questions are: what is science and what is the mind and how can the mind be investigated scientifically. After rehearsing the main approaches in philosophy of science (logical positivism, relativism and the analytical tradition of Wittgenstein), the core questions since the cognitive revolution in psychology are discussed. Mind, intentionality, consciousness, representation and free will are central issues which are studied from different points of view. The cognitive revolution started from an abstract-linguistic approach to cognition. This mechanistic-logical view formed the basis to research into artificial intelligence (AI). With the ascent of the neurosciences, evolutionary psychology, and insights into mind-body relationships, shortcomings of the abstract-linguistic view became apparent, and new theories and models about human cognition were developed.

Course material

Digital course material (Required) : Theoretische en historische grondslagen van de psychologie, Uitvoerige PowerPoint slides opgesteld door de docent, aangevuld met nota's genomen tijdens de hoorcolleges.
Handbook (Recommended) : A History of Psychology. Main currents in psychological thought, (Hoofdstukken 1 t/m 6.), Leahey, T.H., 6th, BIB, 9780131114470, 2004

Additional info

A syllabus has been developed by the instructor + notes taken by the students during the classes.

Complementary study material:
Leahey, T.H.: ' A History of Psychology. Main currents in psychological thought', Pearson Prentice Hall, 2004 (6th edition).

Learning Outcomes

General competencies

Students acquire fundamental knowledge of the most important orientations in the history and philosophy of psychology. Students can recognize relationships among ideas, theories and methods of research in the different stages of the develoment of psychology as a science.

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Written Exam determines 100% of the final mark.

Within the Written Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

Written exam with a relative weight of 100 which comprises 100% of the final mark.

Note: Written multiple choice exam: 100%.

Additional info regarding evaluation

Multiple-choice exam: 100%.
Second exam session: idem

The multiple-choice exam will be graded by positive scoring with Higher Pass Mark. No points will be deducted for a wrong answer. On the other hand, getting points by guessing is calculated in the end point by increasing the pass limit (= cut-off score). The cut-off score for the exam and the exact conversion table will be communicated in a timely manner on Canvas and in the exam instructions. The exam strategy is simple because of this method: Do your best on the entire exam, answer questions you don't know or partially know to the best of your ability, without worrying about possible deduction of points.

Allowed unsatisfactory mark

The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.

Academic context