PRÄSENZ: Masterseminar: "Social Cognition and Social Neuroscience" - Einzelansicht

Kindly prepare for each session with the help of the literature provided. Preparing ahead will facilitate our discussions and improve your understanding of the materials, tasks and questions. Please check Moodle for updates on materials prior to each lecture.

If you are new to psychology or (cognitive) neuroscience, you are strongly encouraged to read the literature provided to ensure that you are acquainted with the necessary background knowledge required to participate in the discussions. 

Oral and/or written exams

ECTS: 3

The final exams on 20.02.2023 from 14:00 to 17:00 hours will be a take-home, open book exam. You are allowed to use any materials and aids during the exams.

Seminar description

As humans, we want to know who we are and why we do the things we do. We also want to understand other people, explain and anticipate their behaviours. What we think about ourselves and others does not only affect our social interactions and behaviours, it also shapes how we make sense of the world. Drawing on research from social psychology, cognitive psychology and neuroscience, we will explore the cognitive and neural bases of our sense of self and social interactions and the psychological processes underlying our social behaviours. Some of the topics we will explore involve intrapersonal processes (i.e., self and identity [e.g., self-concept, self-esteem, self-control], attitudes and attitude change, judgement and decision making), interpersonal processes (e.g., emotion and cognition, person perception) and intergroup processes (e.g., stereotypes, prejudice and political ideology).

Learning objectives

The aim of this seminar is to get you acquainted with some of the major themes in social cognition and social cognitive neuroscience which are central to our understanding of social behaviour. You will be familiarized with some of the historical and current research perspectives on cognitive, motivation and emotional processes influencing human interactions. Moreover, the seminar aims to improve your critical thinking skills to ensure that you are able to appreciate the conceptual and methodological challenges in this area of research. You will also gain some insights into how to apply basic concepts and theories to everyday experiences.