01231 - General Psychology II

Learning outcomes

a) Basic cognitive processes (attention, language, communication, intelligence, motivation, emotion)

b) Theories of personality (trait, biological, phenomenological, behavioral, socio-cognitive theory);

c) Comparison between main cognitive models and theories.

Course contents

The course is divided into two modules. Module 1 will be taught by Prof. Matteo Valsecchi (70 hours) and will cover the following topics:

1) Sensation and Perception
2) Motivation and Emotion
3) Language and Communication
4) Personality
5) Intelligence
6) Animal and Comparative Psychology

Module 2 will be taught by Prof. Andrea De Cesarei (20 hours) and will address the following topics:

7) Stress, Health, and Coping
8) The Placebo Effect
9) Pain Perception

Readings/Bibliography

AModule 1:

Books for the exam:

Marini A. Che cos’è la psicolinguistica, Carocci 2021 (Chapters 1 to 6).

Occhionero M. (a cura di). Introduzione alla Psicologia Generale. Carocci, 2018. Chapter 7 (except pp. 203-207) and 9.

Atkinson & Hilgard’s. Introduzione alla psicologia (16° edizione), Piccin. Chapters: 4,5,10,12 (except pp. 450-454), 13 (except pp. 475-484 and pp. 501-3).

Chiandetti, C. & Degano, E. Animali. Abilità uniche e condivise tra le specie, Mondadori Università, 2017 (all chapters).

Urbina S. Tests of Intelligence. In: Sternberg RJ, Kaufman SB, eds. The Cambridge Handbook of Intelligence. Cambridge Handbooks in Psychology. Cambridge University Press; 2011:20-38.

The slides covering the topics of “mathematical cognition” and “spatial cognition” are provided as supplementary material. For all other topics, the slides available on Virtuale constitute an integral part of the exam syllabus.

Module 2:

Atkinson & Hilgard’s. Introduzione alla psicologia (16° edizione), Piccin. Chapter 14

Fabrizio Benedetti, Il Dolore, Carocci Editore (all chapters)

Fabrizio Benedetti, L'effetto placebo. Breve viaggio tra mente e corpo. Carocci Editore (all chapters)

Slides from the lessons

Teaching methods

Frontal lessons, videos, power-point presentations, digital presenter.

Assessment methods

The exam consists of a 90-minute written test with 6 open-ended questions. Four questions will cover Prof. Matteo Valsecchi’s module, and two questions will cover Prof. Andrea De Cesarei’s module. Each module will be assigned a score ranging from 0 to 31, and the final grade will be the weighted average of the scores from the individual modules (Module 1 weight: 6/9; Module 2 weight: 3/9).


For each module, the score will be determined by the average of the scores assigned to each question.


The evaluation criteria for the open-ended questions are as follows:


- 0 for no answer or a completely incorrect answer;


- 6 for an extremely incomplete and insufficient answer, or one that is completely off-topic;


- 12 for an answer that is slightly incomplete and/or contains incorrect concepts or fails to address the specific question directly;


- 18 for an adequate level of argumentation and content;


- 25 for good argumentation and high-quality content;


- 31 for excellent argumentation and comprehensive coverage of the syllabus concepts relevant to the specific question.


Students with Specific Learning Disorders (SLD) or temporary/permanent disabilities are advised to contact the relevant University office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/it) well in advance. That office will propose any necessary accommodations to the students; these proposals must be submitted to the course instructor for approval at least 15 days beforehand, so the instructor can assess their suitability in relation to the course's learning objectives.


To protect their privacy, students are advised not to share specific information regarding their medical condition or any medical certificates with the course instructors.


Registration via Almaesami is required to take the exam.

The use of AI is prohibited for assessments. Any use constitutes a violation of academic integrity.

Teaching tools

Videos, power-point presentations, digital presenter, self assessment questionaires on wooclap.

Office hours

See the website of Matteo Valsecchi

See the website of Andrea De Cesarei