Studies in Psychology aim at providing all students with
specific professional skills and with a general ability to work in positions
requiring scientific psychological knowledge. The curriculum covers five main
sectors: 1) educational, developmental and personality psychology, 2),
psychology of health and mental health, 3) cognitive and neuropsychology, 4)
psychology of work and organizations, and 5) research methods.
There are
three lines of research in the department. Research in ‘Social cognition, emotions, and social functioning’ is directed at
perception of socially relevant information and its neural bases. More
specifically, the research is focused on how perceiving a human face and the
information it conveys affects the recipient’s attention and emotions. Most of
this research is basic research but a part of it is also directed at developing
diagnostic and intervention methods. In the area of ‘Work, environment, and well-being’, the researchis targeted at questions of well-being both
in the work environment and more broadly, the physical and social environment. Well-being
is studied from the viewpoints of stress, burnout and recovery. Research in ‘Mental health and interventions’ analyzes
the prerequisites for mental health, healthy development and psychological
well-being. It entails basic mental health studies as well as intervention and
prevention research for upholding mental health and well-being and preventing
mental health problems.
The department organizes teaching with other Finnish
universities (Psykonet) at under- and postgraduate levels and arranges
specialised professional education for psychologists, leading to the
postgraduate degree, Licentiate of Psychology. The Licentiate’s degree can be
taken with an emphasis either on the professional or on the academic
psychology. In December 2007, there were 195 undergraduate and graduate
students and 77 postgraduates in the Department of Psychology.
Degree Programmes
In the Department of Psychology, the following degree
programmes are offered: Bachelor of Psychology, Master of Psychology, Master of
Philosophy, Licentiate in Psychology, and Doctor of Psychology. The language of
instruction in these programmes is Finnish. However, it is also possible to
study psychology independently in English, for example, as a minor subject in
the Bachelor of Social Sciences programme. This is done by following the module
below, which consists of independent work in the form of literature
examinations and essay writing.
Instruction
in English
There is no
tuition in English. The modules are to be completed by individual study and
assessed on the basis of either a written examination or an essay written
individually by the student.