MASTER IN SOCIAL & DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY

Introduction

Why Social and Developmental Psychology?

Humans are social beings that keep changing through their life-span development. Developmental psychologists are interested in the study of human development as the interplay between biology and culture. On the other hand, social processes typically studied in Social Psychology (intergroup relations, interpersonal relationships, social influence, social representations, causal attributions, cooperation and competition) have a developmental history, and consequently, their understanding requires the formulation of ontogenetic questions. "But one is struck by the fact that the two ways have a common point of departure and are animated by such close underlying issues. Their different traditions and methods allow a deep similarity to show through and tie them together. It is as if social psychology and developmental psychology were concerned with the same thing, the former in space and the latter in time, the first by way of the exterior and the second by way of the interior. They are in sum the two faces of a single science, in which the one tries to resolve at the level of the group the enigma with which the other is concerned at the level of the individual" (Moscovici, 1990, p.169).

The need for a master's program in Social Developmental Psychology in Cyprus
Most contemporary Psychology Departments incorporate courses in Social and Developmental Psychology, because they are two of the four basic Psychology fields. Social and Developmental Psychology can make significant contributions in countries where socio-cultural needs and problems require social sciences for their resolution. A typical, and close to the Cypriot reality, example, is the significant growth of Social and Developmental Psychology in Northern Ireland and Israel during the past decades, which are divided communities with past and present national conflicts, and therefore they face issues such that of stereotyping, prejudice, heated discussions about national identity and approaches to interculturalism and managing diversity. Thus, the need for local research on social developmental psychology in Cyprus is immediate, especially concerning intergroup relationships and examination of the socio-psychological parameters of inter-community relationships through a developmental perspective.
Moreover, the recent economic growth and the emphasis on Knowledge based society create organizational and educational needs where applied Social and Developmental Psychology may contribute significantly. Lastly, the application of Social and Developmental Psychology in education is very important, since it focuses on the study of psychological changes taking place from birth to elderly life of a person in cognitive, emotional and social aspects. By observing the developing individual, psychologists focusing their research on this area acquire knowledge that allows them to describe changes in human thought and intelligence, personality, emotional world and many other parts of human's inner world that shape through the educational system.
Social and Developmental Psychology are currently considered "bridges" to other areas of psychology. Other main areas (i.e. Cognitive & Clinical) derive significant theoretical and methodological examples from Social and Developmental Psychology via the understanding of dynamic processes of shaping human development and social interaction.

Structure and Aims of the Master's Program
The Program consists of 120 Credit Units (ECTS). The students have the option to complete the programme with or without the undertaking of a postgraduate dissertation. If the student opts for undertaking a postgraduate dissertation the courses are structured in the following way: The first 75 ECTS are distributed in courses (obligatory and elective), and the 45 ECTS remaining are allocated for the obligatory dissertation (PSY 742, PSY 743 and PSY 744) (45 ECTS). If the student opts out of the dissertation the courses are structured in the following way: The first 97,5 ECTS are distributed in courses (obligatory and elective), and the 22,5 ECTS remaining are allocated for three obligatory postgraduate research courses (PSY 625, PSY 626 and PSY 627) (22,5 ECTS).Both the dissertation and the postgraduate research courses should be completed in two or three semesters. Successful completion of the programme allows continuation to Doctoral studies provided the student follows the established normal procedure (new application and interview).

The goals of this Program are:

• To provide theoretical and methodological training for designing, conducting and analyzing socio-psychological and developmental research.
• To facilitate the understanding of quantitative and qualitative methodological approaches.
• To facilitate the connection of theoretical and empirical questions with social and developmental problems.

The program may lead to doctoral level studies in Social or/and Developmental Psychology. It may also lead to immediate job placements in fields where graduates' qualifications are considered useful, e.g. in organizations working on social research and market research. However, admissions into the doctoral programs will need to follow the standard application and interview process.

Fields of Research

Students in the Program have the opportunity to participate in the following research programs:
• Social representations of national identity
• Social representations of gender
• Greek-Cypriots and Turkish-Cypriots contact and trust development
• Intergroup relationships and teaching history
• Social construction of knowledge and cooperative learning
• Social representations of HIV/AIDS and development of prevention programs
• Ecological consciousness and behavior
• Driving behavior and development of driving violence prevention programs
• Consumer behavior and consumer attitudes
• The psychology of minority social influence
• Parental involvement and child development
• School aggression in preschool and school age children
• Parent, child, teacher and attribution theories
• Parental style and developmental difficulties in childhood and adolescence
• Adolescence, antisocial behavior, and substance use
• Developmental psychopathology and developmental disorders
• Emotional divergence and relevant disorders
• A systemic approach to conflict resolution in school

Social and Developmental Psychology Labs

The Social and Developmental Psychology Labs (SDPL) are already active in order to fulfill the goals of the master's program. http://www.ucy.ac.cy/goto/sdp/en-US/FacilitiesInfrastructure.aspx

The Social and Developmental Psychology Labs comprise the following:

• Genetic Social Psychology Lab
• Developmental Psychopathology Lab
• Developmental Psychology Lab

The main goals of the Laboratories are:

• The analysis of mechanisms of social knowledge development and change through various levels analysis of socio-psychological reality (intra-individual, inter-individual, intergroup and representational/ ideological level).
• The use of qualitative methodology in Social and Developmental Psychology
• The study of small group dynamics, cooperation and competition in educational settings.
• The study of social representation microgenesis, ontogenesis and sociogenesis.
• The study of learning and cognitive development as a social psychological process.
• The study of parents-children relationship and interaction.
• The study of pre-social and antisocial behavior between children.
• The study of individual differences using neuropsychological and developmental research methodology.
• The analysis of mechanisms involved in typical and non-typical development.

Program Description

All courses, obligatory and electives are credited with 7.5 ECTS each.

PROGRAMME WITH A DISSERATION

Required courses (75 ECTS in total):
• PSY 604 MULTIVARIATE STATISTICS FOR THE BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES
• PSY 630 CONTEMPORARY THEORIES OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
• PSY 637 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN SOCIAL CONTEXT
• PSY 640 SOCIAL INFLUENCE AND SOCIAL REPRESENTATIONS

Master Thesis (45 ECTS in total)
PSY 742 MASTER THESIS I (15 ECTS)
PSY 743 MASTER THESIS IIA (15 ECTS)
PSY 744 MASTER THESIS IIB (15 ECTS)
PSY 745 CONTINUATION OF MASTER THESIS (1 ECTS) - OPTIONAL

Elective courses (6 courses, 45 ECTS in total):
• PSY 602 GRADUTE SEMINAR: ADVANCED ISSUES IN PSYCHOLOGY
• PSY 610 PSYCHOLOG Y OF EDUCATION
• PSY 619 INTELLIGENCE: DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION
• PSY 627 GRADUATE RESEARCH STUDY VI
• PSY 642 CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHOPATHOLOGY (7.5 ECTS)
• PSY 632 ADOLESCENCE
• PSY 677 HUMAN AGGRESSION AND ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR
• PSY 689 INDEPENDENT STUDY
• PSY 707 FAMILY AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
• PSY 715 LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT AND LANGUAGE DISORDERS
• PSY 722 CROSS-CULTURAL PSYCHOLOGY
• PSY 741 INTERGROUP RELATIONS IN DIVIDED SOCEITIES
• PSY 746 SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF EDUCATION
• PSY 749 QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS IN PSYCHOLOGY
• PSY 788 ADVANCED RESEARCH METHODS ΙΙ
• PSY 7XX DISCOURSE, COMMUNICATION AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

An appropriate course of another Department or another Graduate Program of the Psychology Department may also be considered as an elective course as long as the student's supervisor approves the substitution.

PROGRAMME WITHOUT A DISSERATION

Required courses (52,5 ECTS in total):
• PSY 604 MULTIVARIATE STATISTICS FOR THE BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES
• PSY 630 CONTEMPORARY THEORIES OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
• PSY 637 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIAL SETTING
• PSY 640 SOCIAL INFLUENCE AND SOCIAL REPRESENTATIONS
• PSY 625 GRADUATE RESEARCH STUDY IV
• PSY 626 GRADUATE RESEARCH STUDY V
• PSY 627 GRADUATE RESEARCH STUDY VI

Elective courses (67,5 ECTS in total):
• PSY 602 GRADUTE SEMINAR: ADVANCED ISSUES IN PSYCHOLOGY
• PSY 610 PSYCHOLOG Y OF EDUCATION
• PSY 619 INTELLIGENCE: DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION
• PSY 625 GRADUATE RESEARCH STUDY
• PSY 642 CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHOPATHOLOGY (7.5 ECTS)
• PSY 632 ADOLESCENCE
• PSY 677 HUMAN AGGRESSION AND ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR
• PSY 689 INDEPENDENT STUDY
• PSY 707 FAMILY AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
• PSY 715 LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT AND LANGUAGE DISORDERS
• PSY 722 CROSS-CULTURAL PSYCHOLOGY
• PSY 741 INTERGROUP RELATIONS IN DIVIDED SOCIETIES
• PSY 746 SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF EDUCATION
• PSY 749 QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS IN PSYCHOLOGY
• PSY 788 ADVANCED RESEARCH METHODS ΙΙ
• PSY 7XX DISCOURSE, COMMUNICATION AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
An appropriate course of another Department or another Graduate Program of the Psychology Department may also be considered as an elective course as long as the student's supervisor approves the substitution.

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

PSY 602 Graduate Seminar: Advanced Issues in Psychology
Specialized course in a seminar form, which discusses specific psychology issues.

PSY 604 Multivariate Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences
The course is designed to provide an integrated, in depth, but applied approach to multivariate data analysis and linear statistical models in psychological research. The focus will be on practical issues such as selecting the appropriate analysis, preparing data for analysis, performing the analysis with SPSS, interpreting output and presenting results of psychological research. This course will provide an overview of some of the most common multivariate methods, namely: factor analysis, analysis of variance and covariance, multivariate analysis of variance and covariance,discriminant function analysis, multiple and logistic regression and cluster analysis. The course will strongly emphasize the applications of multivariate methods, rather than their theoretical derivation. All multivariate procedures will be discussed, analyzed, and interpreted in practical manner.

PSY 610 Psychology of Education
This course presents the contribution that psychological research can make to educational practice and discusses relevant issues that concern classroom educators. It critically examines contemporary theories of human development and learning in order to apply accumulated knowledge in educational settings and situations. Additionally, it examines topics such as individual differences, home school relations and cooperation among the educational psychologist, teachers and parents.

PSY 619 Intelligence: Development and Evaluation
This course aims to inform students of the current research and theory in the area of cognitive development. Theories and models of cognitive change will be taught, as well as methods for determining conceptual change. Students will be required to study the relevant bibliography and present reports on relevant topics of the bibliography both orally and in written form. Students will also be asked to participate in small-scale experiments for practical experience with the models taught.

PSY 630 Contemporary Theories of Human Development
The main theories of human development from conception to the end of life will be critically presented and discussed. There will also be discussions concerning intra-personal and inter-personal influences on biological, cognitive, emotional and social development.

PSY 632 Adolescence
This course will cover the main theories and research on cognitive, physiological, socio-emotional, moral, and personality development during adolescence. Furthermore, various problems faced by adolescents will be discussed. Factors contributing to the development of problematic behavior, emotional, social and academic problems will be emphasized. The importance of discussing various psychological and other problems faced by adolescents lies upon the fact that they are connected to risk and extreme behaviors, such as suicide, criminality and aggression.

PSY 637 Social Development in a Social Context
This course aims at giving students an introduction on classic and contemporary theories of human development, which consider development as a social-psychological process. There will be a historical review of theories that placed the theoretical bases of the contemporary socio-genetic approach to human development, e.g. the classic theories of Mead, Baldwin, Piaget and Vygotsky. There will be also in-depth discussions about recent meta-Piagetian theories of the Geneva social school, and about meta-Vygotskian theories such as those of Bruner, Cole, Rogoff, Wertsch and Valsiner.

PSY 640 Social Influence and Social Representations
This course will offer in-depth exploration of two of the most significant areas of Social Psychology: social influence and social representations. There will be discussion about the functional and the genetic model of social influence, as well as about classic and contemporary advancements in the areas of social influence and social representations. Moreover, the development of social representations of gender and national identity will be discussed. The application of social influence and social representation theories on the fields of health promotion and prevention, advertising, communication and political communication will be discussed.

PSY 642 Child and Adolescent Psychopathology
This course will review the most common disorders of childhood and adolescence with an emphasis on diagnostic criteria, developmental course, possible etiologies and the role of the environment in the development and maintenance of problem behaviours. Scientifically based treatments for these disorders will also be discussed.

PSY 677 Human Aggression and Antisocial Behavior
This course aims at examining the phenomenon of aggression, by presenting the various theories suggested in order to explain it, as well as empirical research trying to locate its parameters. Terms such as pre-active and counteractive aggressiveness, emotional resiliency and its relationship to psychopathology, family as an aggressive behavior development setting and the development of an aggressive personality will be analyzed. There will be special reference to bullying and the profile of children participating in it (bullies, victims, aggressive victims). There will also be discussions about issues related to antisocial behavior in general and do not necessarily include aggressiveness, such as substance abuse, youth violation of rules and youth criminality.

PSY 707 Family and Child Development
This course examines the influences of structural and functional features of the family microsystem on its members, especially on developing members. The main theories of family development and function will be presented, with emphasis on the systemic approach. There will also be presentations and discussions about contemporary research data concerning the interaction of intra-personal and interpersonal variables on the cognitive, psycho-social and personality development of the child.

PSY 715 Language Development and Language Disorders
The human language is one of the most dynamic and complex functions. The purpose of this advanced course is to discuss the theoretical and scientific bases for language acquisition and development and the resulting disorders due to developmental, organic, and neurological etiologies. The course will cover the spectrum of ages beginning with infancy and will conclude with the aging process. Disorders like aphasia, specific language impairment, language learning disabilities, as well as language impairments resulting from brain injuries and dementia and the relationship between language, cognition, and other psychological functions will be presented. Assessment techniques and intervention strategies based on contemporary theoretical, research, and clinical models will be included.

PSY 722 Cross-cultural Psychology
A review of contemporary theory and research on social, cognitive and emotional development of children from minority groups. Application on the Cypriot reality and emphasis on the possible problems faced by students and families being in Cyprus due to economic or civil immigration etc. The course will also discuss other minority groups which often become victims of social discrimination.

PSY 741 Intergroup Relations in Divided Societies
This course will offer in-depth discussions concerning classic and contemporary theories of intergroup relations. The concepts of stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination will be discussed. We will focus on the theories of Frustration-Aggression, Authoritarian Personality, Realistic Group Conflict, Social Identity, Contact Hypothesis, as well as recent developments of these theories, such as Social Dominance Orientation, Integrated Threats model and theories combining Contact Theory with Social Identity Theory. There will also be discussions about empirical findings and applications of these theories on mixed schools and on the resolution of intergroup conflicts in Northern Ireland, South Africa, Israel, Palestine and other post-conflict societies.

PSY 746 Social Psychology of Education
This course aims to discuss the social psychological bases of intercultural education. Students will have the opportunity to learn about the main theories discussing the generation and decrease of prejudice, stereotypes and discrimination, as well as their application in educational settings. There will be discussions about the phenomenon of immigration through both the minority and majority perspectives, and about the phenomenon of national conflicts, as well as the role that the educational system may play in peace consolidation, through the application of the discussed theories.

PSY 749 Qualitative research methods in Psychology
The aim of this course is to introduce and familiarize students with qualitative research methods in psychology, through theoretical review and empirical applications. The course will involve the study of qualitative research projects coming from the areas of social, developmental, educational, cognitive and clinical psychology. It will include the study of: 1) the epistemological principles of qualitative and quantitative methodology 2) principles and application of methods of data collection 3) analytical theoretical models and 4) organization, conduct and presentation in class of an original small research project.

PSY 788 Advanced Research Methods ΙΙ
Research design, review of Regression analysis, basic functions of Structural Equation Modeling, review of Exploratory Factor Analysis, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (First-order CFA model, CFA models with Higher-Order factors), The Multitrait-Multimethod model, The Full Latent Variable model, Growth Modeling, Logistic Modeling, Multiple-Group Analyses (Testing for invariant factorial structure of a theoretical construct, Testing for invariant latent mean structure, Testing for Invariant Causal Structure), Item Response Theory, Rasch measurement models (The dichotomous Rasch Model, Partial Credit Model, Rating scale analysis), Multiple-Group IRT theory.

PSY 7XX Discourse, communication and social psychology
This course examines the ways that social psychology can facilitate understanding of discourse as social and communicative practice. It will examine the ways through which, discourse-written and spoken-constructs and creates different social realities and is structured in order to achieve specific communicative ends. During the course, reference will be made to research that critically analyses everyday communicative discourse as well as institutional discourse (media, political). Special reference will be made to representations in the discourse of media of specific social and psychological issues, such as psychopathology, gender, disability, sexuality, homosexuality, racism and nationalism.