46487 - Psychology of Intercultural Communication (1)

Learning outcomes

The course focuses on the effects of cultures and of languages on cognitive processes.

Course contents

The course aims to introduce students to the effects of cultures and languages on cognitive processes. After an overview of the paradigms and methodologies of research in psychology, the recent empirical research aimed at examining the following topics will be discussed:

• Culture: costruct issue
• Religious practices and self-control
• Psychology and WEIRD societies: representativeness
• Cognitivism vs. Embodied Cognition
• Grounded, embodied and situated cognition
• Simulation, mirror system and empathy
• Body Objectification vs. Body Self
• Internal motivations, environment, intersubjectivity and body perception
• Action-based methods
• Individual dimension: classic and psychoanalytic psychodrama
• Social and cultural dimension, roles: sociodrama and sociometry
• Socio-cultural crystallizations and objectification of a group
• Intergroup boundaries and their restructuring
• Language, languages, body
• Language acquisition: concrete and abstract words
• Bilingualism
• Language and action, words as tools (Words as Social Tools)
• Language and affective affordances
• Time, space and culture
• Gender concept
• Gender: stereotypes and expectations.

The different themes will be explored through group simulations of the research work (identification of the problem; planning of the experimental design; data collection; analysis and interpretation of the results; dissemination, not only in scientific contexts).

Circumscribing the theoretical question and selecting the most appropriate methods, we will address central and current issues of psychology related to the influence of cultural processes on cognitive activity and their impact on social interactions.

Prerequisites: considering the backgrounds of students from different degree courses, depending on the composition of the group of attending students, there will be additional explanations of methodology and/or general psychology.

 

The course will take place in the first semester - second period, from Thursday, November 10.

> Tuesday, on Wednesday 13-15; on Thursday 11-13.

Following the last DPCM (Nov. 3), lectures will be online until December 3 (see University updates).

 

The following examination program (Readings/Bibliography) is exhaustive. The documents on Virtuale are ONLY for the attending students who participate in the teamwork and/or present the essay-project: therefore, they are NOT exam readings for all the other students.

Readings/Bibliography

The list of documents may be subject to change: do not purchase them before the beginning of the course. For attending students, more specific literature can be discussed with the professor.

A) Books:

1- Liuzza, M., Cimatti, F. e Borghi, A. Lingue, corpo e pensiero: le ricerche contemporanee. Carocci, 2010.

2- Tomasello, M. Le origini culturali della cognizione umana. Il Mulino, 2018.

[In case of unavailability due to Covid emergency: after notifying the professor, as an alternative to Tomasello's book, you can opt for the book: Lotto, L. e Rumiati, R. Introduzione alla psicologia della comunicazione. Il Mulino, 2013, II edizione, CAP. 1-8; 11; 15; or for the paper: Heinrich, J. e Heine, S.J. (2010). The weirdest people in the world? Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 61-135]

 

B) In addition, a scientific paper or a chapter (preferably a paper) of your choice.

> Papers:

- Borghi, A., Flumini, A., Cimatti, F., Marocco, D. & Scorolli, C. (2011). Manipulating objects and telling words: A study on concrete and abstract words acquisition. Frontiers in Psychology, 2:15. (disponibile online).

- Borghi, A.M., Scorolli, C., Caligiore, D., Baldassarre, G. & Tummolini, L. (2013). The embodied mind extended: Using words as social tools. Frontiers in Psychology. 4:214 (disponibile online).

- Caravà, M., & Scorolli, C. (2020). When affective relation weighs more than the mug handle: investigating Affective Affordances. Frontiers in Psychology, 11:1928 (disponibile online)

- Paglieri, F., Borghi, A.M., Colzato, L.S., Hommel, B. & Scorolli, C. (2013) Heaven can wait. How religion modulates temporal discounting. Psychological Research, 77, 738-747. (disponibile online accedendo da unibo)

- Scorolli, C., Borghi, A.M. & Tummolini, L. (2018). Cues of control modulate the ascription of object ownership. Psychological Research, 82, 929-954 (disponibile online accedendo da unibo)

- Pesciarelli, F., Scorolli, C., & Cacciari, C. (epub 2019). Neural correlates of the implicit processing of grammatical and stereotypical gender violations: A masked and unmasked priming study. Biological Psychology. 146:107714. (disponibile online accedendo da unibo)

- Scorolli, C. (2019). Re-enacting the Bodily Self on Stage: Embodied Cognition meets Psychoanalysis. Frontiers in Psychology (disponibile online)

 

> Books for chapter selection (for Erasmus students, preferably in Italian):

- Shapiro, L. (Ed.) (2014) The Routledge Handbook of Embodied Cognition. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

- Lotto, L. e Rumiati, R. Introduzione alla psicologia della comunicazione. Il Mulino, 2013 (II edizione).

 

Articles different from those listed in this syllabus can be agreed upon with the professor ONLY during the course. After the end of the course, ONLY the articles listed in this syllabus can be chosen.

 

* For attending students only:

- Slides, other materials and information about team and individual works will be available on the platform https://virtuale.unibo.it/

- Additional scientific articles (other than those mentioned above) will be identified during the course, according to the specific interests of the students.

In this regard, the databases of interest for psychological areas can be found here: http://www2.sba.unibo.it/cgi-bin/bdati/banchedati.pl?keys=Psicologia (e.g.: PsycINFO; Pubmed; Scopus; Web of science).

For papers in Italian: Giornale Italiano di Psicologia: https://www.rivisteweb.it/issn/0390-5349 o Sistemi Intelligenti: https://www.rivisteweb.it/issn/1120-9550

Teaching methods

- Lectures;
- group exercises aimed at learning to plan and evaluate an experiment;
- group presentations followed by discussions.

Assessment methods

The (oral) exam will be aimed at verifying the achievement of a critical vision of the topics addressed during the lecture

The materials selected among those of your choice must be provided to the professor for the exam, in paper or electronic format (not the translations, but only the original texts, pdf).

Attending students can discuss with the professor the writing of an essay-project, i.e. a written essay on one of the themes dealt with during the course, developing the subject through the final proposal of a synthetic research project (more info will be provided on the platform Virtuale). The essay must be sent, by email, 10 days before the date of the exam (except for the first exam date). The essay will be discussed at the oral examination, together with the related bibliography and the topics covered in the course. This modality of examination is applicable only for the first three exam sessions, and refers to materials that can be agreed upon with the professor only during the course (not after the end of the course).

Evaluation criteria:

Excellence for

• excellent knowledge of the acquired contents;
• critical remarks on those contents;
• congruity of the used terminology;
• acquisition of a consistent-organic vision;
• ability to orientate between different theoretical and methodological views.

Average for

• a mnemonic knowledge of the subject;
• synthesis and analysis articulated with a correct language, but not always appropriate.

Insufficient in case of

• knowledge gaps and / or inappropriate language;
• poor mastering of bibliographic materials provided during the course.

Teaching tools

Lectures with power point presentations.

Office hours

See the website of Claudia Scorolli