PSYCHOLOGY COURSES IN ENGLISH (2015-2016)
Most of the study units possible to do in English are so called literature examinations or book
exams (marked BE), which include independent reading and a written exam.
There are also some courses which are possible to complete by writing a review (marked Literature
review).
Instructions for Book Exams
Instructions for a Literature Review
The courses where the language of instruction is English are written in blue in this list. Please check
always the latest timetables and course information at https://weboodi.helsinki.fi
COURSES INCLUDED IN THE BACHELOR OF ARTS (Psychology) PROGRAMME
PSY100 Basic Studies in Psychology (1 st year)
Autumn 2015
PSY111a Cognitive psychology I 2,5 cr, BE
PSY111b Neuropsychology I 2,5 cr, BE
PSY131 Developmental Psychology I 5 cr, BE
PSY151 Clinical Psychology I 5 cr, BE
See also Cog152 Language, Cognition and the Brain 3 cr, Lecture course
Spring 2016
PSY111a Cognitive psychology I 2,5 cr, BE
PSY111b Neuropsychology I 2,5 cr, BE
PSY131 Developmental Psychology I 5 cr, BE
PSY151 Clinical Psychology I 5 cr, BE
PSY200 Intermediate (Subject) Studies in Psychology (2 nd year)
Autumn 2015
PSY221 Psychology of Perception I 6 cr, BE
PSY225 Cognitive Psychology II 6 cr, BE
PSY231 Developmental Psychology II 7 cr, Online course and BE
PSY241 Personality Psychology II, 7 cr, BE
PSY251 Clinical Psychology II 5 cr, BE
Spring 2016
PSY211 Neuropsychology II 4 cr, A video-mediated lecture series
PSY221 Psychology of Perception I 6 cr, BE
PSY225 Cognitive Psychology II 6 cr, BE
PSY231 Developmental Psychology II 7 cr, BE
PSY241 Personality Psychology II, 7 cr, BE
PSY251 Clinical Psychology II 5 cr, BE
PSY300 Methodological Studies in Psychology (2 nd - 3 rd year)
Autumn 2015
See also Cog409 R kickstart x cr, Practical Course
Spring 2016
PSY384a Laboratory Course in Experimental Psychology 3 cr, Practical Course
(only for Psychology major students)
PSY400 Optional Studies in Psychology (2 nd - 3 rd year)
Autumn 2015
PSY412b Neuropsychological rehabilitation 5 cr, BE
PSY413 Neuropsychology IVc 3-10 cr, BE
PSY421 Psychology of Perception II 3-10 cr, BE
PSY425 Cognitive Psychology III 5-10 cr, BE
PSY443 Personality Psychology IIIc 3-10 cr, BE
PSY443 Workshop on Concepts of Wellbeing at Work 5 cr, Workshop
PSY431 Developmental Psychology III 10 cr, BE
PSY452b Clinical Psychology IIIb: Mental Disorders 4 cr, BE
PSY453 Clinical Psychology IIIc: Psychological Interventions 3 cr, BE
PSY471 Traffic Psychology I 3-10 cr, BE
PSY472 Traffic Psychology II 10 cr, BE
PSY491 Basic Practice 3-10 cr, Practical work
PSY492 History of Psychology 3-8 cr, BE
PSY493 Introduction to Music Psychology 4 cr, Lecture Course
See also Cog229 Explaining the mind 5 cr , Lecture course
Cog209 Research seminars in Cognitive Science 2 cr, Seminar
Spring 2016
PSY412b Neuropsychological rehabilitation 5 cr, BE
PSY413 Neuropsychology IVc 3-10 cr, BE
PSY421 Psychology of Perception II 3-10 cr, BE
PSY425 Cognitive Psychology III 5-10 cr, BE
PSY431 Developmental Psychology III 10 cr
PSY452b Clinical Psychology IIIb: Mental Disorders 4 cr, BE
PSY453 Clinical Psychology IIIc: Psychological Interventions 3 cr, BE
PSY471 Traffic Psychology I 3-10 cr, BE
PSY472 Traffic Psychology II 10 cr, BE
PSY491 Basic Practice 3-10 cr, Practical work
PSY492 History of Psychology 3-8 cr, BE
PSY425 Introduction to Bilingualism 3 cr, Online course
PSY493 Behavioural genetics in the lifespan context , 5 cr
See also Cog259 Clinical neurolinguistics 3 cr / Cog259 Aphasiology 3 cr, Lecture Course
Cog259 Cognitive neuroscience of music 5 cr, Seminar
Cog209 Research seminars in Cognitive Science 2 cr, Seminar
COURSES INCLUDED IN THE MASTER OF ARTS (Psychology) PROGRAMME
PSY500 Advanced Studies in Psychology (1 st - 2 nd year in Master level)
Autumn 2015
PSY511b Neuropsychology Vb 10 cr, BE
PSY512a Psychology of Perception IV 10 cr, BE
PSY512b Cognitive Psychology IV 10 cr, Literature review
PSY513 Developmental Psychology IV 10 cr, Literature review
PSY514 Personality Psychology IV 10 cr, BE
PSY515 Clinical Psychology IV 10 cr, Literature review (Jokela Markus)
PSY517 Traffic Psychology III 10 cr, BE
PSY519 Research Practice 3-12 cr, Practical work
Spring 2016
PSY511b Neuropsychology Vb 10 cr, BE
PSY512a Psychology of Perception IV 10 cr, BE
PSY512b Cognitive Psychology IV 10 cr, BE
PSY513 Developmental Psychology IV 10 cr, BE
PSY514 Personality Psychology IV 10 cr, BE
PSY515 Clinical Psychology IV 10 cr, BE
PSY517 Traffic Psychology III 10 cr, BE
PSY518 Current research themes in methodologies, values and personality 3 cr, Seminar
PSY518 Applied vision science 5 cr, Seminar
PSY519 Research Practice 3-12 cr, Practical work
See also Cog356 Biology of language and cognition 3 cr, Lecture Course
491664 Cog152 Language, Cognition and the Brain 3 cr
Teacher: Alina Leminen
Target group: Major and minor students of cognitive science and psychology
Preceding studies: Basic course in neuropsychology
Contents: During the course, students will acquire basic knowledge of the neural basis of language
processing. The lecture topics include language learning, meaning and grammar comprehension,
bilingualism as well as language disorders.
Completion: Lectures and exam
Evaluation: 0-5
Study materials and literature: Scientific Articles (to be announced later)
Timing: Autumn 2015
Evaluation: 0-5
477524 PSY231 Developmental Psychology II 7 cr
Teacher: Kati Heinonen
Target group: Psychology major and minor students
Preceding studies: PSY131 Developmental Psychology I
Completion: Online course and written assigments / mini- essays
Contents: This course deepens the knowledge of the central questions of the research and theory
formation in development psychology. The focus areas are the significance of heritability and
prenatal factors in the individual’s development, the basis, the mechanisms, and the significance of
dyadic interaction, the fundamentals and the significance of the attachment theory in life span
perspective, as well as understanding the connections between research and clinical applications
Timing: Autumn (2nd period)
Evaluation: 0-5
477402 PSY211 Neuropsychology II 4 cr
Teacher: Petri Paavilainen
Target group: Psychology majors and minors
Preceding studies: Cognitive and Neuropsycholgy I
Contents: Special topics in Cognitive Neuroscience. A video-mediated lecture series. Researchers
from various Finnish universities speak about current topics in cognitive neuroscience and present
their own related research.
Completion: Lecture course, video mediated expert lectures and exam.
Study materials and literature: J.W. Kalat: Biological Psychology,chapters 9-15, 8.-10. ed.
Timing: Spring 2016
Evaluation: 0-5
477568 PSY493 Introduction to Music Psychology 4 cr
Teacher: Caitlin Dawson
Target group: Bachelor and master students of psychology
Objectives: The course aims to provide a broad introduction to the many facets of music
psychology including the physiology of hearing, history of music and the mind, and contemporary
literature and research methodology. Students will understand how the different fields come
together in music psychology as well as how these studies allow for applications in therapy,
musicology, and neuroscience.
Week 1: the history of music psychology, introduction to research methods (perspectives in early
literature from musicology and physiology/neuroscience on how music interacts with the mind; an
introduction to research methods covering the basics of quantitative behavioural research,
neuroimaging and stimulation techniques, and qualitative research)
Week 2: introduction to the physiology of hearing: the hearing organ and the brain (tracing sound
from the ear to the brain in structure and function, covering the outer and middle ear, cochlea,
basilar membrane, auditory nerve; brainstem, corticofugal tract, and primary auditory cortex)
Week 3: music perception: turning sound into music (streaming effects etc., perception of harmony
and dissonance, models of timbre)
Week 4: development of music perception and musicality (sound perception development, amusia)
Week 5: music and language (perception of speech, effects of music and language on the brain)
Week 6: music as therapy, music’s social function (applications in speech therapies, gait training,
autism spectrum disorders, behavioural and emotional therapies, music in early childhood
education)
The course will be an interactive seminar style with lectures plus group work and discussion time.
Students will be expected to read and discuss both current and classic literature related to the topics
of the meetings and will be responsible for completing an essay at the end.
Completion: Lectures, seminar discussions and exam.
Timing: autumn 2015
Evaluation: 1-5
PSY443 Workshop on Concepts of Wellbeing at Work 5 cr
Teacher: Maria Törnroos
Target group: The workshop is targeted at bachelor and master’s students in psychology. Doctoral
students, who wish to participate, are also welcomed.
Completion: Lectures, report and presentation
Evaluation: 1-5
Study materials and literature: Scientific articles handed out by the teacher during the course +
articles the students acquire during the course in order to complete the final assignment. Other
course material will be determined before the course.
Contents and aims: The aim of the workshop is to give a broad view of the research on wellbeing
in I/O psychology. The topics are wellbeing at work from the positive psychology point of view,
wellbeing and health at work and person-environment fit. The aim is to broaden the view from the
previous I/O psychology and wellbeing courses offered at the Institute of Behavioural Sciences and
to incorporate positive psychology in the curriculum. The workshop will have a more hands-on
approach to different current topics and issues in the research field of I/O psychology. The purpose
is to give the students a more active role and to help them develop their research skills. The topics
discussed are:
1) positive psychology in I/O psychology (e.g. work engagement, meaningful work)
2) wellbeing and health at the workplace
3) interventions, organizational change and organizational development
4) person-environment fit or person-job fit
The lectures are 3 hours long (plus 15 minute break) and contain some group or pair work during
the lectures. The students are also expected to design and prepare a 20-minute presentation and a
report on a subject from the course (in groups of max. 4). These presentations will be held at the last
session of the workshop. The students will be rated on their activity during the workshop and their
final assignment (presentation + report).
The course will have 8 sessions once a week and the students are expected to complete the
assignment for the 8th and final session.
Overview of the course timetable:
1st lecture: Introduction to research in I/O psychology and positive psychology, course details and
practical issues (90 + 90 minutes)
2nd lecture: Visiting lecture on work engagement (90 minutes) followed by a workshop-session on
research on positive psychology in I/O psychology (90 minutes)
3rd lecture: Wellbeing and health – theories, models and research on workplace health (90minutes)
and Person-environment fit (90 minutes)
4th lecture: Visiting lecture on organizational development (90 minutes) followed by workshop
session on research on interventions, organizational change and development (90 minutes)
5th – 7th lecture: Independent work on the course assignment supervised by two university students
8th lecture: Students’ presentations (90+90 minutes)
Timing: autumn 2015
Cog259 Clinical neurolinguistics 3 cr / Aphasiology 3 cr
Teacher: Suzanne Hut
Target group: Bachelor (3rd year students) and Master students of cognitive science and
psychology.
Contents: The course will cover three important areas in clinical (neuro)linguistics: aphasia,
dyslexia and specific language impairment (SLI). Some prior basic knowledge about the topics is
recommended, as we will discuss and work with clinical data to put prior knowledge into practice.
Completion: The course will be evaluated through three topic-specific assignments and a final
exam.
Timing: spring 2016
Evaluation: 1-5
477681 PSY518 Current research themes in methodologies, values and personality, 3 cr
Teacher: Markku Verkasalo
Target group: Psychology Master and Doctoral students.
Completion: Students participate in the seminar in which researchers present their current research
themes about above mentioned topics. Students write learning journal of the presentations and write
summaries of articles of the topics and send it to Moodle in one text.
Timing: Spring 2016 (Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 14-16). Timetable to be confirmed
later.
Evaluation: 0-5.
PSY518 Applied vision science 5 cr
Teacher: Jukka Häkkinen
Target group: Psychology Master and Doctoral students.
Preceding studies: PSY221 Psychology of Perception I and PSY211 Neuropsychology II (or
equivalent knowledge).
A good understanding of visual system is a requirement for the course, as we will go through
advanced topics in vision science. On the other hand, knowledge of the technologies is not required,
as the course starts from basic concepts in this area.
Contents and aims: The purpose of the course is to give the students understanding how to apply
the methods and theory of vision science in various areas of technology research. The aim is to give
an idea what kind of technology research a psychologist can do in academic context or in a
technology company.
The course will cover compression and image quality, stereoscopic 3D displays, head-mounted
displays and flexible displays. In each technology area we will go through the necessary technical
and vision science background as well as the main research questions from vision science point of
view.
Completion: Lectures (online) and exam
Study materials and literature: The material for it will be announced later.
Timing: spring 2016
Evaluation: 0-5
PSY425 Introduction to Bilingualism 3 cr
Teacher: Teija Kujala
Target group: Psychology Master and Doctoral students.
Contents: This is an introductory course to the study of bilingualism from a cognitive, neural,
developmental and sociolinguistic perspective.
The aim of the course is to give an overview of how our mind and brain processes language, with an
emphasis on bilingualism. The lecture topics cover first and second language acquisition, lexical
and grammatical aspects of the bilingual language systems, and neuropsychology of bilingualism.
Several examples are drawn from research on Finnish-Swedish bilinguals.
Study materials and literature: The material for it will be announced later.
Completion: Lectures (online) and exam
Timing: spring 2016
Evaluation: 0-5
477568 PSY493 Behavioural genetics in the lifespan context , 5 cr
Teachers: Prof. Markus Jokela, Anna Suarez Figueiredo, Kadri Haljas and guest lecturers
Target group: Bachelor and Master’s students in psychology and cognitive science and Exchange
students.
Preceding studies: basic knowledge in developmental psychology (PSY131 Developmental
Psychology I and PSY231 Developmental Psychology II or equivalent knowledge).
Contents: Students are learning the basics of genetics and recent advances in the field. They can
identify different study designs and know their strengths and weaknesses. Students are able to
participate in nature vs nurture debate. Students are familiar with changes across the human
lifespan. They are learning various types of endogenous human developmental milestones and
diverse exogenous environmental factors that influence human health in a chronological context.
Students are familiar with the reciprocal relationship between environment and (epi)genetic profile
in a way that they understand that the environment presents various factors to the individual that
influence our epigenome, and the unique epigenetic and genetic profile of each individual also
modulates the specific response to these factors . Students know that there is constant interaction
between the external and internal environments - required for normal development and health
maintenance as well as for influencing disease development. Students are able to apply learned
knowledge in a disease/specific phenomenon context.
The course will have 10 contact sessions, 1.5 hours each (lectures, seminar, group work, general
discussion) & individual work (reading assignments for each session; final assignment). Attendance
at least 8 sessions is required.
Overview of the preliminary course timetable:
1. Basics of genetics
2. Study design 1
3. Study design 2
4. Gene x environment interaction
5. Fetal development
6. Childhood
7. Adolescence and early adulthood
8. Adulthood, aging and disease development
9. Health, prevention & treatment 1
10. Health, prevention & treatment 2
Completion: Attendance of at least 8 classes.
Pre-course assignment: questionnaire about students’ motivation and goals; not graded, but is
mandatory in order to complete the course.
Reading assignments: for each session, students need to read one article (not for the first session)
Extra assignments: to complete the course, students can miss max. 2 classes. To compensate that,
extra assignment needs to be submitted. Extra assignment is a critical review (1-2 pages) of reading
assignment for that session.
Final assignment: Grading is based on final assignment – an essay of 2000 words. The general idea
is that a student has to choose a mental disorder/ behavioural deviation / psychological
characteristic /somatic illness of his/her personal interest, and then describe the development of the
chosen phenomenon throughout the lifespan of a person from the behavioural genetics perspective.
Study materials and literature: Scientific articles (to be announced later) + articles the students
acquire during the course in order to complete the final assignment. Other course material will be
determined before the course.
Timing: Spring 2015 in fourth period. Time will be confirmed later.
Evaluation: 0-5
Cog356 Biology of language and cognition 3 cr
Teacher: Tommi Gröndahl
Target group: Bachelor (3rd year students) and Master students of cognitive science and
psychology.
Preceding studies:
Contents:
Study materials and literature: The material for it will be announced later.
Completion:
Timing: spring 2016
Evaluation: 0-5
Cog259 Cognitive neuroscience of music 5 cr
Teacher: Mari Tervaniemi
Target group: Major students of psychology, Major students of cognitive science and Major
students of Musicology
Preceding studies:
Contents:
Completion:
Study materials and literature: scientific articles (to be announced later)
Timing: Spring 2016
Evaluation: 0-5