The Psychology of Aging course falls within the field of cognitive psychology and focuses on cognitive and socio-cognitive changes associated with aging in clinical and research settings. The course will cover various topics of interest in the Psychology of Aging, including theoretical and experimental aspects, as well as many clinical application contexts. The underlying theme throughout the course will be the interaction among aging and cognitive, emotional, and social functioning changes in older adults. The course will begin with an overview of the major theories and research methods used to study aging. Following this, students will delve deeper into recent advancements in the aging process from both theoretical and practical perspectives. The course will specifically focus on changes in cognitive functioning related to age, such as fluid and crystallized intelligence, attention, memory, reasoning, and executive functioning. Additionally, the course will examine the differences between normal and pathological aging, including subjective cognitive decline, mild cognitive impairment, and dementia. Furthermore, the course will explore age-related changes in decision-making competence, and ways to improve this ability in older adults. Finally, the course will discuss theories and empirical studies on prosocial behavior in aging. By the end of the course students will be able to explain the major theories and empirical data in the domain of psychology of aging with an emphasis on critical evaluation of new research findings. Moreover, they will be able to apply research methods in studying the psychology of aging and describe age-related changes in cognitive and socio-cognitive abilities, recognize the distinction between normal and pathological aging and be familiar with the main psychological and neuropsychological tests to assess cognitive and socio-cognitive abilities in older adults.
- Teacher: ALESSIA ROSI