PSICHIATRIA E PSICOLOGIA CLINICAModule PSICOLOGIA GENERALE
Academic Year 2026/2027 - Teacher: DANIELA CONTIExpected Learning Outcomes
The course aims to provide the fundamental knowledge of general psychology, with particular reference to cognitive, emotional, motivational and relational processes involved in human behaviour within healthcare and rehabilitation settings. The course adopts a scientific approach based on current psychological research and promotes the understanding of psychological processes involved in health promotion, therapeutic relationships and rehabilitation.
At the end of the course the student will have acquired the following objectives:
1) Knowledge and understand
Demonstrate knowledge of perceptual, cognitive, emotional, motivational and social processes and understand their role in human development and healthcare settings.
2) Ability to apply knowledge and understanding
Apply psychological knowledge to understand patients' behaviour, interpersonal communication and the psychological factors involved in rehabilitation, integrating the biopsychosocial model into professional practice.
3) Autonomy of judgment
Develop the ability to critically analyse clinical and rehabilitation situations considering cognitive, emotional, motivational and social factors, making evidence-based and ethically informed judgments.
4) Communication skills
Communicate effectively with patients, families and multidisciplinary healthcare teams using appropriate scientific terminology.
5) Learning skills
Develop autonomous learning skills and continuously update psychological knowledge relevant to healthcare and rehabilitation.
Course Structure
Lectures
Required Prerequisites
As specified in the degree programme curriculum.
Attendance of Lessons
Attendance requirement
Detailed Course Content
Foundations and methods of General Psychology. Sensation, perception, and perceptual organization. Learning and major forms of conditioning. Memory, memory systems, and retrieval processes. Thinking, reasoning, problem solving, decision-making, and heuristics. Language and verbal and non-verbal communication. Emotions, their components, and emotion regulation. Motivation and behavior. Attention, executive functions, consciousness, and experiential states. Psychological development across the lifespan. Applications of psychological processes to healthcare professions, with particular emphasis on communication, the therapeutic relationship, clinical reasoning, and the psychological processes involved in health and illness.
Textbook Information
Learning Assessment
Learning Assessment Procedures
Examination Grading Criteria
30/30 cum laude: the student demonstrates comprehensive and in-depth knowledge of the programme topics and is able to integrate and critically analyse the situations presented promptly and accurately. The student shows excellent communication skills and full command of scientific terminology.
26–28/30: the student demonstrates good knowledge of the programme topics and is able to integrate and critically analyse the situations presented in a coherent and structured manner. Topics are presented clearly using appropriate scientific language.
22–25/30: the student demonstrates satisfactory knowledge of the programme topics, mainly limited to the principal aspects. The student is able to integrate and critically analyse the situations presented, although not always consistently, and communicates with reasonable clarity and adequate use of terminology.
18–21/30: the student demonstrates the minimum required knowledge of the programme topics and shows limited ability to integrate and critically analyse the situations presented. Exposition is sufficiently clear, although command of specialised terminology remains limited.
Not passed: the student does not demonstrate the minimum required knowledge of the core course content. The ability to use discipline-specific terminology is very limited or absent, and the student is unable to apply acquired knowledge independently.
Examples of frequently asked questions and / or exercises
What is the role of motivation in the rehabilitation process? Which psychological factors can influence adherence to speech and language therapy? - Why is the therapeutic relationship important in speech and language therapy practice?