Integrated Social and Cognitive Psychology

The first study year is characterized by a university-specific offering of disciplinary education that builds on and expands upon the students' entrance qualifications. Students select introductory modules for a total of 45 CP from the CHOICE area of a variety of study programs, of which 15-45 CP will belong to their intended major.

Students can still change to another major at the beginning of their second year of studies, provided they have taken the corresponding mandatory CHOICE modules in their first year of studies.

To pursue ISCP as a major, students need to take the following CHOICE modules (15 CP) as mandatory (m) modules:

• CHOICE Module: Essentials of Cognitive Psychology (m, 7.5 CP)
• CHOICE Module: Essentials of Social Psychology (m, 7.5 CP)

The Essentials of Cognitive Psychology module establishes a general framework for human cognition in which the many phenomena of associated with thinking, interaction, and communication can be analyzed and predicted. Attention, perception, learning, and memory will be some of the topics addressed in the first semester, as well as intelligence, language, emotion, motivation, and personality. In the Essentials of Social Psychology module, you will deal with the influence that the actual or perceived presence of others can have on people's behavior and analyze how individual experience is embedded in different contexts at different levels of complexity, from immediate social situations, and institutions, to cultural meaning systems

In their second year, students take a total of 45 CP from a selection of in-depth, discipline-specific CORE modules. Building on the introductory CHOICE modules and applying the methods and skills acquired so far, these modules aim to expand the students' critical understanding of the key theories, principles, and methods in their major for the current state of knowledge and best practice.

To pursue ISCP as a major, at least 30 CP from the following mandatory elective (me) CORE modules need to be taken:

• CORE Module: Learning and Memory (me, 5 CP)
• CORE Module: Social Cognition (me, 5 CP)
• CORE Module: Organizational Psychology & Communication (me, 5 CP)
• CORE Module: Neurobiology of Behavior (me, 5 CP)
• CORE Module: Neuroscience Methods (me, 5 CP)
• CORE Module: Attention, Sensation, and Perception (me, 5 CP)
• CORE Module: Judgment & Decision Making (me, 5 CP)
• CORE Module: Health Psychology (me, 5 CP)
• CORE Module: Cultural Psychology (me, 5 CP)

The Learning and Memory module is geared toward understanding how information is stored and retrieved, why we forget, and whether we can improve memory. In the Neurobiology of Behavior module, students will acquire knowledge about basic brain structures and how they contribute to cognitive processing and social interactions, and how neuropsychologists arrive at their insights in the Neuroscience Methods module. In the Attention, Sensation and Perception module, students learn how humans perceive the world through their senses; how (and why) perceptions deviate from the physical world; how attention shapes perception; and how all this can be investigated through psychophysical methods.

In the Social Cognition module, students will take an in-depth look -- from the lab to the 'real world' -- at the role of the actual or imagined presence of others. Students will also look at culture as one of the less obvious drivers in the Cultural Psychology module, analyzing why people from different corners of the world perceive the same things in very different manners. In the Organizational Psychology and Communication module, students will adopt a social cognition perspective in the study of behavior in organizations, as well as of the fundamental processes of (non-)verbal communication and interaction.

As a rule, this requires ISCP students to:

• select two CHOICE modules (15 CP) from the desired minor program in the first year and
• substitute 15 CP of mandatory elective ISCP CORE modules in the second year with the default minor CORE modules of the minor study program.

During their third year, students prepare and make decisions for their career after graduation. To explore available choices fitting individual interests, and to gain professional experience, students take a mandatory summer internship.

The fifth semester also opens a mobility window for a diverse range of study abroad options. Finally, the sixth semester is dedicated to fostering the students' research experience by involving them in a Bachelor thesis project.

To pursue ISCP as a major, 15 CP from the following major-specific Specialization Modules need to be taken:

• ISCP Specialization: Human Neuroscience Advanced Lab (Intersession) (me, 2.5 CP)
• ISCP Specialization: Abnormal and Clinical Psychology (me, 2.5 CP)
• ISCP Specialization: Managing Demographic Change in Organizations (me, 2.5 CP)
• ISCP Specialization: Social Neuroscience (me, 5 CP)
• ISCP Specialization: The Science of Happiness (me, 5 CP)

The specialization modules are intended to let you apply the general psychological skills you acquired during your first two years of study to specific fields of empirical research or professional practice in order to expand and refine those skills and to foster self-reflection on your career perspectives

At Constructor University, students are given a unique opportunity to boost their employability through a mandatory two-month internship worth 15 credits. This opportunity usually takes place during the summer between the second and third year of study, providing students with the chance to gain practical experience in a professional setting. Through this internship, students can apply the knowledge and understanding they have gained from their major to real-world contexts, evaluate the significance of their major in the employment sector and society, reflect on their role in employment and society, and make informed career decisions. For students interested in starting their own company, an alternative to the full-time internship is offered as a start-up option, which allows them to focus on developing their business plan.

The CONSTRUCTOR Track is another important feature of Constructor University's educational model. The Constructor Track runs orthogonal to the disciplinary CHOICE, CORE, and CAREER modules across all study years and is an integral part of all undergraduate study programs. It provides an intellectual tool kit for lifelong learning and encourages the use of diverse methodologies to approach cross-disciplinary problems. The CONSTRUCTOR track contains Methods, New Skills and German Language and Humanities modules.

Methods Modules

Methods such as mathematics, statistics, programming, data handling, presentation skills, academic writing, and scientific and experimental skills are offered to all students as part of the Methods and Skills area in their curriculum. The modules that are specifically assigned to each study programs equip students with transferable academic skills. They convey and practice specific methods that are indispensable for each students' chosen study program. Students are required to take a minimum of 20 CP in the Methods area. The size of all Methods modules is 5 CP.

To pursue ISCP as major, the following Methods modules (20 CP) must be taken as mandatory modules:

• Methods Module: Academic Writing and Academic Skills (m, 5 CP)
• Methods Module: Applied Statistics with R (m, 5CP)
• Methods Module: Qualitative Research Methods (m, 5CP)
• Methods Module: Data Collection and Empirical Research Methodologies (m, 5CP)

New Skills Modules

This part of the curriculum constitutes an intellectual and conceptual tool kit that cultivates the capacity for a particular set of intellectual dispositions including curiosity, imagination, critical thought, and transferability. It nurtures a range of individual and societal capacities, such as self-reflection, argumentation and communication. Finally, it introduces students to the normative aspects of inquiry and research, including the norms governing sourcing, sharing, withholding materials and research results as well as others governing the responsibilities of expertise as well as the professional point of view.

All students are required to take 20 CP of New Skills modules in their second year and third year of studies. Students choose New Skills modules from the following portfolio:

• New Skills Module: Logic* (me, 2.5 CP)
• New Skills Module: Causation and Correlation* (me, 2.5 CP)
• New Skills Module: Argumentation, Data Visualization and Communication* (me, 5 CP)
• New Skills Module: Models, Matrices and Theories of Complex Systems (me, 5 CP)
• New Skills Module: Complex Problem Solving (me, 5 CP).
• New Skills Module: Agency, Leadership and Accountability (me, 5 CP)
• New Skills Module: Community Impact Project (me, 5 CP).

Some of these modules (marked by *) will be offered with two different perspectives from which the students can only choose one for the fulfillment of graduation requirements of their degree program. The module perspectives are independent modules which examine the topic from different points of view. Please see the module description in chapter 6 for more details such as scheduling, content and assessment.

German Language and Humanities Modules

Students are required to take 5 CP of German language or Humanities modules. German language abilities foster students' intercultural awareness and enhance their employability in their host country. They are also beneficial for securing mandatory internships (between the 2nd and 3rd year) in German companies and academic institutions. Constructor University supports its students in acquiring basic as well as advanced German skills in the first year of the Constructor Track. Non-native speakers of German are encouraged to take two German modules (2.5 CP each) but are not obliged to do so. Native speakers and other students who are not taking advantage of this offer take alternative modules in Humanities in each of the first two semesters:

• Humanities Module: Introduction to Philosophical Ethics (me, 2.5 CP)
• Humanities Module: Introduction to the Philosophy of Science (me, 2.5 CP)
• Humanities Module: Introduction to Visual Culture (me, 2.5 CP)

The curriculum of the study program is outlined in the schematic study plan:

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