B2809 - Practicum Training 6 CFU - Internal (C2)

Learning outcomes

By the end of the activity, the student will be able to:

• Choose the most suitable tools in relation to the goal to be achieved;
• Choose the most appropriate technique in relation to the objective of the service in which he is called to operate;
• Identify complementary professional resources to complete his intervention;
• Establish the methods for evaluating the effectiveness of interventions;
• Analyze the relational and institutional context in which he carries out his intervention

Course contents

The internship content includes the following activities:

Activities carried out in the presence of the tutor: Within the framework of motor and/or cognitive assessment, enhancement, and rehabilitation, activities such as welcoming inquiries and needs, interviewing requesters, preparing informed consent forms and data processing for participants in accordance with professional ethics, research methodology, putting into practice theories and techniques of testing, and introduction to statistical analysis are foreseen. Additionally, the internship will involve administering the main test batteries, scoring and interpreting results, developing a test battery containing validated or ad-hoc instruments for assessing identified psychological dimensions, evaluating and preparing possible actions to be taken following the emergence of incidental findings, and exploring the practical implications of the results for the design and evaluation of rehabilitation interventions.

Activities carried out with increasing autonomy under the supervision of the tutor: Within the framework of motor and/or cognitive assessment, enhancement, and rehabilitation, activities such as welcoming inquiries and needs, interviewing requesters, designing and drafting informed consent forms and data processing for participants in accordance with professional ethics, applying research methodology and theories and techniques of testing, practicing statistical analysis, independently administering test batteries, scoring and discussing the interpretation of results with the laboratory team, generating proposals on actions to be taken following the emergence of incidental findings and on the practical implications of the results, and evaluating rehabilitation interventions are foreseen.

Professional contexts of application include schools, healthcare settings, companies, and research institutions.

Areas of intervention include applied research in sports psychology, cognitive-motor rehabilitation, and the life cycle (children and the elderly).

The target population includes adults, the elderly, students, children, adolescents, patients with cognitive and/or motor deficits, or specific physical conditions (e.g., amputation).

Professional tools that the intern will acquire include the administration and interpretation of standardized maximum performance psychological tests (e.g., MOCA; Short Test for IdeoMotor Aapraxia; Raven's progressive matrices; attentive matrices; barrage test; semantic and phonemic fluency; trail making task; Rey's word list for memory; Stroop), personality and clinical tests (e.g., Dusseldorf Ortorexia Scale; Muscle Dismorphia Inventory; International Personality Item Pool; Toronto Alexitymia Scale; Eating Attitude Test), anamnestic interview, conducting and evaluating behavioral observations, using statistical analysis software, and other specific technical tools (e.g., EEG, EMG, autonomic recordings, eye movement recordings, kinematic recordings).

Readings/Bibliography

Scientific papers and additional teaching materials supplied by the tutor.

Teaching methods

Methods for acquiring competencies: Participation in discussions with the tutor, observation of the tutor for practical demonstrations and simulations, group activities with other trainees, guided activities supervised by the tutor, and activities with progressive autonomy under deferred supervision by the tutor.

Location: Department of Psychology "Renzo Canestrari", Bologna.

Assessment methods

The tutor will assess the skills acquired by the intern throughout the internship and at its conclusion using a standardized procedure established by the Department of Psychology, which will result in a suitability assessment valid for admission to the Practical Evaluation Test.

Teaching tools

Slides, scientific articles, statistical software, programming software.

Office hours

See the website of Alessia Tessari

See the website of Giovanni Ottoboni