Introduction to Psychology and its Methods
Foundations of psychology and research methods: cognition, perception, and empirical approaches relevant to human-centred AI.
This course does not have tutor groups or mandatory workgroups. Assessment is based on multiple-choice exams only.
Learning objectives
Understand main theories and concepts in psychology, including perception, cognition, behavior, and learning. Identify and describe various research methods used in psychology, such as experiments, correlational studies, surveys, and observational studies. Understand basic principles of psychological measurement and assessment, including reliability, validity, and different types of scales (nominal, ordinal, interval, ratio). Understand how empirical research allows us to deduce things about the mind. Understand the differences between common misconceptions and psychological research.
This course consists of two parts. In the first part (weeks 1–4, 8 lectures), you get an overview of psychology with an emphasis on its biological and cognitive dimensions: What is the genetic and biological basis of behavior? What is consciousness? How do we see, learn, remember, and think? The concept of intelligence is also covered. In the second part (weeks 5–7, 6 lectures), research methods are discussed so you can evaluate research from a methodological perspective. Topics include: scientific reasoning, validity, measurement scales, reliability, descriptive, correlational, and experimental research, within-subjects and between-subjects designs, factorial designs, small-N designs, and quasi-experimental designs. The course is taught by Dr. Duru G. Özkan from the Department of Behavioural and Movement Sciences (Cognitive Psychology). There are no prerequisites — this is a true introductory course open to all first-year AI students.
Assessment
Multiple-choice exam with 56 questions. Grades are chance-corrected (cut-off of 35/56 = passing grade of 5.5). There is one resit opportunity.
Teaching methods
14 lectures across 7 weeks (2 per week): 8 lectures on psychology topics, 6 lectures on research methodology. Canvas provides guided self-study questions for each topic. Estimated workload: 24.5 hours lectures, 2.5 hours exam, 141 hours independent study.
Literature
Phelps, E.A., Berkman, E.T., & Gazzaniga, M.S. (2022). Psychological Science (7th edition). Norton. Morling, B. (2020). Research Methods in Psychology: Evaluating a World of Information (4th edition). Norton.