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PS4545: EMOTION AND AGEING IN SOCIAL COGNITION (2020-2021)

Last modified: 05 Aug 2021 13:04


Course Overview

By the end of the course students will have a greater understanding of how emotion and aging influence social cognition, focusing on perception and attention to social stimuli in particular. Students will also gain experience in critical appraisal and evaluation of methods used to derive theory and evidence in this area.

Course Details

Study Type Undergraduate Level 4
Term Second Term Credit Points 15 credits (7.5 ECTS credits)
Campus Aberdeen Sustained Study No
Co-ordinators
  • Professor Louise Phillips
  • Dr Margaret Jackson

What courses & programmes must have been taken before this course?

What other courses must be taken with this course?

None.

What courses cannot be taken with this course?

Are there a limited number of places available?

No

Course Description

Broad overview:

The way we interact with others can depend on the emotions that they express at a particular moment in time, and how we perceive and understand these emotions. Interpersonal communication depends upon our monitoring of the social and emotional cues of other people in order to plan and execute our own behaviour. Social cognition is a field of Psychology in which we investigate experimentally the role of cognitive mechanisms (such as attention, cognitive resource capacity, and theory of mind) in how we process social cues (such as facial expressions of emotion and gaze direction) to interact with others.

 

In the first half of this course we will explore the basic mechanisms (attentional and cognitive) which might underlie these social and emotional phenomena. The role of motivation and context will also be considered. We will be looking in detail at the methodology used in the field to understand social cue processing. Key theories of social attention, emotion and attention will be evaluated.

 

The second half of the course will investigate the impact of adult aging on how social cues are processed. The role of cognitive changes with age in understanding others’ intentions and emotions will be explored. Also the role of motivational changes with age in interpreting social cues will be evaluated.

 

Teaching Methods

The course comprises six 2-hour sessions which involve a combination of lectures, in-class participation and discussion. In class discussion may involve preparation such as reading one or two papers in depth before coming to each session. Students should be prepared to interact in class and discuss key theoretical and empirical issues. There will also be two x one hour consolidation sessions to address any questions arising from the course, and help with exam preparation.

 

MJ Topics: Emotion perception and social attention

  • Perception of emotion from facial expressions
  • Traditional and modern emotion theories
  • The importance of social attention (such as joint attention/shared gaze, perspective-taking)
  • The influence of emotional expressions on attention. Theoretical and methodological considerations

 

 

LP Topics: Aging and emotional and social cognition.

  • Theoretical perspectives on age changes in perception, cognition, neural function and motivation
  • How cognitive aging and motivational changes influence relate to social cue processing
  • The influence of adult aging on social attention, emotion perception and social cognition.
  • The role of ecological validity and context in understanding age differences in social cue processing

 

 


Contact Teaching Time

Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.

Teaching Breakdown

More Information about Week Numbers


Details, including assessments, may be subject to change until 30 August 2024 for 1st term courses and 20 December 2024 for 2nd term courses.

Summative Assessments

Exam

Assessment Type Summative Weighting 100
Assessment Weeks Feedback Weeks

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Learning Outcomes
Knowledge LevelThinking SkillOutcome
Sorry, we don't have this information available just now. Please check the course guide on MyAberdeen or with the Course Coordinator

Formative Assessment

There are no assessments for this course.

Resit Assessments

Exam

Assessment Type Summative Weighting 100
Assessment Weeks Feedback Weeks

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Learning Outcomes
Knowledge LevelThinking SkillOutcome
Sorry, we don't have this information available just now. Please check the course guide on MyAberdeen or with the Course Coordinator

Course Learning Outcomes

Knowledge LevelThinking SkillOutcome
ConceptualApplyTo apply theories of lifespan adult aging to the field of social cognition, and appraise the effects of aging on social and emotional aspects of attention and wider cognition
ConceptualEvaluateTo develop critical appraisal skills in evaluating the methods used to research emotional and social cognition.
FactualUnderstandTo gain knowledge and understanding of the literature describing emotion perception, social attention and social cognition.
ConceptualEvaluateTo understand and evaluate key theories about how social and emotional cues influence perception, attention and cognition.

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