Applied cognitive psychology
Class: LM-51 - Psychology
The course explores the aspects of "cold cognition" such as memory, attention, and language, with the integration of "hot cognition" which is the relationship between cognitive processes such as emotions, motivation, decision making, communication and how they apply to situations of everyday life. Students will learn how to reflection on the ways in which knowledge of cognitive psychology supports the development of assessment tools, intervention, and cognitive enhancement throughout life. The application of cognitive psychology is addressed by analysing the cognitive mechanisms involved in non-psychological professional fields. Students can work in areas such as ergonomics, learning psychology, as well as health and aging where cognitive psychology is central and in other areas where its contribution is documented such as law (with forensic psychology), economics (with decision psychology), and the study of the environment (with environmental psychology).
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Characteristics and objectives
Pursuant to Law no. 163 of 8 November 2021 and subsequent implementation decrees, the holders of a Master's degree in Applied Cognitive Psychology are qualified to work as professional psychologists in Italy.
The Master Degree offers the possibility to deepen the knowledge of a range of cognitive, motivational, and emotional aspects as well as their applications in many contexts also not exclusively psychological such as decision making, forensic, sport, musical or fine arts, learning and education. It includes two complementary paths focused, respectively, on fostering individual well-being throughout the life span and on the effective interaction person-environment-technology. Both leads to acquiring knowledge about assessing, devising and implementing interventions to promote well-being and prevent psychological distress in different contexts either traditional or innovative such as cyberpsychology, traffic psychology, designing and evaluating user-friendly devices, buildings and urban spaces. In summary, the Master Degree in Applied Cognitive Psychology prepares for the emergent and demanding changing societal requests in many contexts. It also offers the knowledge and the methodological tools to face post-graduate training courses: PhD or specialization programs.
Occupational opportunities
The employment opportunities concern not only the more traditional areas of the psychological profession but also more innovative and emerging areas in which a psychologist with a solid background in applied cognitive psychology could foster processes. Graduates in Applied Cognitive Psychology find employment in fields such as learning psychology, health psychology,environmental psychology, psychology of aging, sports, ergonomics, user experience analysis, user-centered design, in which they contribute to promote psychological well-being across the lifespan through the analysis of the characteristics of the environment and individual resources. Moreover, graduates in Applied Cognitive Psychology find employment in professional fields in which the contribution of cognitive psychology has been widely documented, such as forensic, economics, environmental and traffic psychology, aesthetic psychology, cyberpsychology and human-machine interaction.
