Minimum curriculum requirements for Magister programmes
in PSYCHOLOGY

1. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

Magister programmes in Psychology last 10 semesters. The total course load is ca. 2600 hours. The minimum curriculum requirements comprise compulsory courses and cover 1185 hours.

2. PROFILE OF THE GRADUATE

The graduate should: (a) possess basic theoretical and empirical knowledge in general psychology (cognition, emotions, motivation, personality, individual differences), social psychology and developmental psychology; (b) have the necessary methodological background (methodology with statistics, psychometrics, psychological diagnosis); (c) possess basic knowledge of logic, sociology, biological determinants of behaviour, psychopathology, etc.; (d) be equipped with basic practical skills as required to provide advisory services and carry out independent activities in areas such as:

• psychological assistance in difficult situations;
• prevention and correction of social pathologies;
• negotiation, mediation and inter-group conflict resolution;
• attitude research and market research;
• staff selection and motivation.

Good knowledge of the academic disciplines and methodology should enable the graduate to plan and implement his/her own cognitive projects as well as to plan and carry out psychological interventions concerning various areas of social life.

3. COURSE GROUPS AND MINIMUM COURSE LOAD

GENERAL COURSES	405 hours
BASIC COURSES	330 hours
MAJOR COURSES	450 hours
Total:	1185 hours

4. COURSES BY GROUP AND MINIMUM COURSE LOAD

GENERAL COURSES
Philosophy with Elements of Logic	45
Biological Basis of Behaviour	90
Modern Languages (including English as compulsory)	180
Physical Education	60
Course to chosen by the student (e.g. computer science, history of arts, natural sciences or another course not directly related to the field of study)	30
BASIC COURSES
Introduction to Psychology	60
History of Psychological Thought	30
Methodology with Statistics	120
Psychometrics and Psychological Diagnosis	120
MAJOR COURSES
General Psychology: cognitive processes	90
General Psychology: emotions, motivation	60
General Psychology: personality	60
General Psychology: individual differences	60
Social Psychology	120
Developmental Psychology	60

5. CURRICULUM CONTENTS

2. BASIC COURSES

1. INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY

Specificity of psychology. Psychological concepts and concepts of man in psychology. Accumulating experience (perception and learning). Storing experience. Processing experience (thinking, structuring, etc.). Processes of behaviour dynamics (emotions and motivations). Man as personality. Man as a social being. Development during life. Applications of psychology. Ethical problems in psychology.

2. HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGICAL THOUGHT

Philosophical origin of psychology. Hellenic tradition in psychology. Machine metaphor in psychology. Cartesian rationalism. Contribution of natural sciences to psychology. Wundt’s dual psychology (individual experimental psychology, historic and cultural psychology). Würzburg school and gestalt psychology. Rise and development of behaviourism. Psychoanalysis and its varieties. Humanist psychology. Polish psychological thought.

3. METHODOLOGY WITH STATISTICS

Methodology: aims of methodology teaching; psychology as an empirical science; stages of scientific (psychological) research; variables; operationalisation of variables; research problems and hypotheses; experimental model; ex post facto model; multiple regression model; interaction between psychologist and research subject as a source of artefacts; ethical problems of scientific research; methodological awareness, social practice and psychology.

Statistics; measurement in psychology; grouping of data; methods of graphic data presentation; statistical description of one variable; distributions of random variables; correlation and regression; correlation between ordinal and nominal variables; sample as a representation of the population; stages of statistical inference; assumptions for selected statistical tests; tests for interval and quotient data; tests for ordinal data; basic principles of variance analysis; basic principles of using statistical packages (with Statistica 5.1 or SPSS 8.1 /Polish version/ as an example).

4. PSYCHOMETRICS and PSYCHOLOGICAL DIAGNOSIS

Diagnosis: concept of diagnosis (definitions: characteristic – manifestation – symptom; diagnostic value of characteristics); diagnosis as a process of collection, aggregation and modelling of information about behaviour; types of diagnoses: diagnosis of process and diagnosis of interaction; social context of diagnosis; diagnosis and the theoretical paradigm (semantics of characteristics and rules of inference: psychoanalytical, behavioural, cognitive, humanistic models); diagnosis as integration of data (interpretation – diagnosis – judgement; empirical and theoretical strategies); qualitative and quantitative diagnosis; application of qualitative diagnosis in description, classification (typology), explanation and psychological intervention.

Psychometrics: psychological test as a tool for obtaining quantitative data which provide the basis for psychological diagnosis (the problem of test objectivity, standardisation, accuracy, reliability and normalisation); planning the diagnostic process and formulating diagnostic conclusions; basic diagnostic skills (observation and interview; experimental techniques; questionnaire techniques /the example of MMPI/; diagnosing the level of intellectual functioning /the example of WAIS-R(PL); projection techniques /the example of Rorschach’s test and TAT/; group diagnosis).

3. MAJOR COURSES

1. GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY: COGNITIVE PROCESSES

Cognitive psychology: research on behaviour. Perception processes. Perceptive categorisation and identification of cognitive structures. Attention and mechanisms of information selection. Cognitive control and consciousness. Learning. Memory: structure and functions. Imaginary and conceptual representation of the reality. Thinking and reasoning. Language and communication. Decision-making processes. Applied cognitive psychology.

2. GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY: EMOTIONS AND MOTIVATION

Emotion generating mechanisms. Theories of emotions. Drives and primary affects. Drives and secondary affects. Emotional states. Emotional expression. Cognition and emotion. Regulation and self-control of emotions. Basic approaches to motivation (ethological, socio-biological, psychodynamic, behaviouristic, cognitive, humanistic). Affective and cognitive motivation mechanisms. Motivations specific to human beings.

3. GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY: PERSONALITY

Basic trends in personality psychology. Theory of personality characteristics. Theory of learning. Psychodynamic theories. Cognitive approach to personality. SELF psychology. SELF as a cognitive representation. SELF as a source of motivation. Social SELF. Control, self-control and self-regulation. Regulatory potential of the personality.

4. GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY: INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES

Factors determining individual differences. Basic methods of behaviour genetics used to assess genetic and environmental contribution to behaviour variance. Basic theories of temperament, intelligence and cognitive styles. Methods for measuring temperament and intelligence, with special regard to psychometric techniques. Outstanding abilities, talent and creation, and cognitive styles. Role of intelligence, temperament and abilities. Role of individual characteristics as co-determinants of resistance to stress. Individual differences between people, and the principle of social equity.

5. SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

Specificity of social psychology. Small groups. Social influence. Conformism. Punishments and rewards. Cognitive dissonance. Attitudes and their change. Interpersonal attractiveness. Cognitive schemes and social knowledge. Social perception. Judgements about people. Attribution processes. Social values. Social identity. Stereotypes and prejudices. Aggression. Pro-social behaviour. Social conflict.

6. DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY

Subject of developmental psychology and its evolution: from child and young people psychology to psychology of life-long human development. Concept of development, criteria of developmental change. Approaches to development. Factors of development: interaction between nature and culture. Comparative analysis of the theories of development (their origin, questions posed, the concept of development and its determinants, developmental change mechanism). Strategies for research on development. Factors undermining the accuracy of research on development. Basic research tools. Ethical problems in research on development. Periodization of human life. Characteristics of phenomena playing a key role in development in subsequent phases of human life (from the pre-natal period to advanced maturity): predominant type of activeness, intellectual structures, organisation of personality, and relations with the environment.

6. RECOMMENDATIONS

The minimum curriculum requirements defined above should serve as the starting point and the necessary prerequisite for further specialist studies. Furthermore, the implementation of both the minimum curriculum requirements and a specialist programme requires teaching methods which encourage active student involvement (workshops, internships, individual practical placements, etc.) and are adjusted to the overall profile of a given institution.