Credit Hours - 3

This course introduces students to the nature of language, the various processes that underlie comprehension and how we produce and acquire language. Specific topics to be covered include comprehension and utilisation of sentences, language production, the representation of meaning, language and thought and second language learning and bilingualism.

Credit Hours - 3

The course examines the psychological factors that explain political behaviour. Theories and research in both Psychology and Political Science will be discussed. Other relevant topics include personality approaches to understanding political leaders and voters, the role of socialisation in the formation of political preferences, how voters process political information, form impressions of political candidates and make voting decisions. The role of stereotypes and how they affect the candidate evaluation process, the uses (and abuses) of persuasion in politics, the role of the mass media in politics, the effects of political advertising, attack campaigning, the role of the press in dictating how the public thinks and the role of women and minorities in politics will be discussed. 

Credit Hours - 3

This course focuses on the psychological and mental factors that relate to participation and performance in sport, exercise and physical activity and how these may improve personal development and well-being throughout the life span. Topics to be covered include an introduction to sports psychology, motivation and self-confidence in sports, aggression and violence in sports, leadership, cohesion and audience effects, relationships in sports, life skill training, and transitions in sport. 

Credit Hours - 3

This course deals with the application of psychological concepts, theories, methods, and ideas to the problems of organisations. The course is made up of organisational theory and organisational behaviour. Topics include: the nature of organisations, organisational structure, design of effective organisations, organisational development, organisational climate and culture, organisational change, organisational decline, organisational learning, group processes in organisations, employee motivation, job satisfaction, and organisational commitment. 

Credit Hours - 3

This course will examine how the theories and principles of social psychology can be applied to major issues affecting contemporary societies. Topics to be covered include intergroup conflicts and their management, the role of social psychology in the clinic and in politics and in the courtroom, and determinants of helping behaviour. Topical issues such as attitudes regarding sanitation and health will also be discussed. The course will be an interactive one, providing a forum to share ideas and discuss the strategies that students will develop based on the theories of social psychology. 

Credit Hours - 3

This course is designed to help students understand how psychology can be applied in various areas of national endeavours. Topics include: Economic Psychology, Psychology and Health, Psychology and Entrepreneurship, Attitude and Attitude change, Sports Psychology, Psychology and Politics, Psychology and Law, Psychology and Crime Prevention, Psychology and Poverty alleviation.

Credit Hours - 3

This course aims to explore the relationship between psychology and the environment with particular emphasis on how the environment influences human behaviour. The course takes a critical look at the natural, the built, and the psychological climate, and how they influence behaviour. It is aimed at creating awareness among students on the effects (with particular attention on the adverse ones) the environment has on the quality of life, and how to reduce and/or manage them. At the end of the course, it is expected that students should be able to identify environmental hazards, critically assess their effects, and learn how to control or manage them. 

Credit Hours - 3

This course is designed to help students develop a conceptual and pragmatic understanding of various issues and topics in community psychology. It introduces students specifically to the principles/philosophies of community psychology, community research and program evaluation, types and models of prevention, stress, coping and social support, psychological sense of community and reasons and strategies for social change. At the end of the course, students should be empowered to apply the principles/models of community psychology to social/community problems and to provide appropriate interventions. 

Credit Hours - 3

Comparative psychologists study differences and similarities in the behaviour of animals of different species. The discipline pays particular attention to the psychological nature of humans in comparison with other animals. At the heart of this perspective is the notion that human beings, like other animals, have an evolutionary history that predisposes them to behave in ways that are uniquely adaptive for survival and reproduction. The course aims to explain the extent to which insights gained from the study of psychological processes in different species of animals enhance our understanding of human psychology. It emphasises explaining and understanding the evolutionary relationship between animals and humans. 

Credit Hours - 3

Health psychology focuses on the role played by psychological factors in the cause, development and consequences of health and illnesses. The objectives of this course are to expose students to some of the significant theoretical and intervention issues in health/illness behaviours. The course will be based on a national health perspective, with the main emphasis on behavioural risk factors, which are the primary health concerns in Ghana. Topics to be covered include stress and coping, HIV/AIDS, lifestyle diseases in Ghana and disease prevention and health promotion. 

Credit Hours - 3

This course deals with children‘s abnormalities in the general context of human development. Topics to be covered include mental retardation, social isolation syndromes, infantile autism, minimal brain dysfunction, childhood and adolescent schizophrenia, school phobia, truancy, learning disabilities, academic underachievement and delinquent behaviour.

Credit Hours - 3

This course deals with selected topical issues in the military. These include leadership and group dynamics (unit identity, unit cohesion, morale and heroism), stress and combat performance, combat stress behaviours, combat misconduct stress behaviours, battle fatigue and post-traumatic stress disorders. 

Credit Hours - 3

This course covers mainly topics in Personnel Psychology. It deals with how psychological principles, theories, concepts and methods are applied to shape individuals for effective job performance. It also deals with how to design work and improve work environments. Topics include: Job Analysis, Personnel Selection, Training and Development of human resources, Performance Appraisal, Safety and Accidents at the workplace. 

Credit Hours - 3

This is a course that will introduce students to a general overview of the anatomy of the brain (both cortical and subcortical). The course is also designed to help students understand the functions of the brain's structures with respect to human behaviour and brain-related diseases. The course will be in two parts. The first part is an overview of selected brain functions (e.g. perception, language, memory, attention, sensory/motor control, executive functions) in both normal functioning and brain damage syndromes. The second part of the course will review clinical assessment and rehabilitation issues. 

Credit Hours - 3

Psychology of religion deals with the application of psychological principles, theories and methods of research in studying religious behaviour, religious cognition, religious motivation, and the role of religion in human life. The course draws on the contributions of other fields of psychology, and focuses on the attitudes, values and experiences of people and their relationship with the supernatural. Topics to be covered include the emergence of psychology of religion, approaches to the study of psychology of religion, religious experience, religion and morality, coping and adjustment and functions of religion in adult life. 

Credit Hours - 3

This course is designed to provide an insight into guidance and counselling. Specific topics to be covered include: the historical development of guidance and counselling, the counselling process, techniques of counselling, the therapeutic relationship, theory and practice of counselling, special problems in counselling, and ethical issues in counselling. 

Credit Hours - 3

This course is designed to provide insight into the problems of teaching and learning and to develop the necessary professional skills and competencies for prospective educationists and teachers. This is intended to enable them to effectively understand, predict and control the behaviour of learners in the educational process. 

Credit Hours - 3

The course focuses on an introductory survey of the field. The topics explore the history of clinical psychology, including the development of the field in Ghana, its scope, functions and future perspective. The course also covers the latest developments in clinical research and techniques in health psychology, behavioural medicine, psychopathology and mental health.

Credit Hours - 1

This course is a compulsory practical component of PSYC 401. Students are expected to participate in experiments based on the theories learned in PSYC 401, and then submit a research report based on the approved experiment. 

Credit Hours - 3

This course focuses on the study of the social dimensions of human behaviour. Unlike other domains of psychology that focus mainly on the individual as the unit of analysis, social psychology examines behaviour in its social context. Students will be introduced to the main theories, research methods and significant research findings in social psychology. Emphasis will also be placed on key concepts such as attribution, cognition, attitudes, and social influence. At the end of this course, students should be able to demonstrate an understanding of the basic principles of social influences on behaviour. 

Credit Hours - 3

The course builds on Cognitive Psychology I. The aims are to acquaint students with essential theoretical principles and findings in cognitive psychology, along with the methods by which such knowledge is acquired. Topics include sensation and perception, attention, visual imagery, thinking and reasoning, decision-making, problem solving, language and comprehension, and individual and gender differences in cognition. I'd like to point out that cognitive psychology is applied to real-world settings and implications. 

Credit Hours - 3

This course is for students who are offering PSYC 490 (Research Project). They are expected to orally present their research proposals at the Departmental Seminar before going to the field for data gathering. 

Credit Hours - 3

This course is research-based and runs from the first semester to the second semester. Under the supervision of faculty members, students are expected to select a researchable topic in psychology, conduct an empirical study on it, write a research report and submit it to the Department for examination. 

Credit Hours - 3

This course of study is designed to expose students to the basic conceptual, theoretical, technical and methodological principles in the development, administration, and interpretation of psychological tests and measurements. Applications/uses of psychological tests in industrial/organisational, educational and clinical settings are also covered. 

Credit Hours - 3

This course examines basic themes in life-span development, particularly in adulthood. Topics cover: the concept of adulthood, physical development, including changes in sense organs, cardiovascular organs, sex, reproductive organs and their psychological consequences. Others are health, vitality and diseases, the process of ageing, cognitive and psychosocial development during adulthood, retirement and widowhood, and culture and ageing.

Credit Hours - 3

This course is designed to introduce students to the psychology of abnormal behaviour. It explores the history, definitions and current status of abnormal behaviour. The topics include major paradigms / theoretical models, and approaches to abnormal behaviour: psychodynamic trait, phenomenological, cognitive, and behavioural. It will examine research, abnormal patterns of functioning and methods of treatment.

Credit Hours - 3

The course is intended to provide the student with basic skills needed to conduct psychological research, develop critical thinking skills regarding research and gain the capacity to design and conduct research as well as write research reports. Topics include an overview of the scientific approach to knowledge, definitions of basic concepts, types of scientific research, design, sampling, questionnaire construction, interviews and report writing. 

Credit Hours - 3

This course is to provide a survey of selected areas in cognitive psychology with emphasis on memory. Both experimental work and theoretical accounts of memory will be covered. Topics include structural and processing accounts of memory – how people acquire, store, transform, retrieve and communicate information. 

*The course has a compulsory practical component. 

Credit Hours - 3

This course basically deals with the psychology of learning and its application to everyday life situations. It covers the various types of learning such as Pavlovian, instrumental, observational and verbal learning. Topics include: reasons for using animals in research in learning, elements/features of classical and instrumental conditioning, use of reinforcement and punishment, learning principles and behaviour change. Others are cognitive learning, observational learning and various types of verbal learning. 

*The course has a compulsory practical component.

Credit Hours - 3

This course is concerned with understanding and explaining the changes that occur between conception and adolescence. Emphasis is placed on the major changes that occur in the physical, cognitive and the psychosocial domains and their implications for parents, educators, and care-giving professionals. 

Credit Hours - 3

The course covers the major personality theories, research and measurements of personality. It will explore the foundations of normally functioning individuals and problems. The topics will include definitions, psychodynamic, traits, cognitive, phenomenological/existential theories associated with personality development.

Credit Hours - 3

This course deals with statistics and the behavioural sciences. It delves into descriptive and inferential statistics, populations, samples, and parameters. The concept of variability, the strategy of inferential statistics, the standard curve and inferences about the means of two populations will also be discussed. Some topics in parametric statistics, such as t-tests, Pearson correlation, one-way analysis of variance, two-way analysis of variance, and non-parametric methods such as chi-square, will also be taught. 

Credit Hours - 3

This course is designed to introduce students to the general principles of experimental research methods. Emphasis will be placed on design, control of extraneous variables and ethics governing psychological research. At the end of the course, it is expected that students should be able to design simple psychological experiments, identify flaws in basic designs and control for extraneous variables.

Credit Hours - 3

This course is intended to introduce students to motivational causes of behaviour and the emotions experienced. Understanding motivation and emotion is fundamental to understanding human behaviour. Emphasis will be placed on the theories, sources and types of motivation and emotion. At the end of the course, students should be able to explain motivational causes of behaviour and the expression of emotions. 

Credit Hours - 3

This course examines the neurobiological bases of behaviour. The course will cover the nature of neurons and neuronal communication, the translation of the external world into internal perceptions (vision, hearing, touch, etc.) and the role of the nervous system in the cognitive skills of thinking, learning, memory, and language.

Credit Hours - 3

This course is designed to introduce students to psychology as a discipline and a profession. The emphasis is on the history of psychology, the different orientations available in the field and the basics of research in psychology. By the end of this course, students should be able to explain what psychology is, why they need to study psychology, and be adequately prepared to build on their knowledge in higher levels of their study in psychology.

Credit Hours - 3

This course deals primarily with issues of everyday life. It employs psychological principles, theories and research findings in an attempt to explain matters of everyday life. Its main objective is to demonstrate the relevance and applicability of psychology in the daily life of the individual and thus draw links between what students learn in the lecture halls and what they experience in real life. Specific topics to be covered include motivation and goal setting, community and diversity, assertiveness and leadership, problem solving and creativity. 

Credit Hours - 3

This course is designed to introduce students to the history, fundamental theories, research methods and principles of Psychology. It is aimed at laying the foundation for higher-level courses in Psychology. At the end of the course, it is expected that students will have basic knowledge of what psychology is, its goals, some psychological theories and principles underlying behaviour, and also be in a position to relate what they have learnt to issues of everyday life.