PD:Psicologia de la Personalitat

Teaching plan for the course unit

Català

Castellano

English

General information

Course unit name: Personality Psychology

Course unit code: 361088

Academic year: 2019-2020

Coordinator: Maria Jayme Zaro

Department: Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology

Credits: 6

Single program: S

Estimated learning time

Total number of hours 150

Face-to-face and/or online activities

- Lecture	Face-to-face	32
(Lectures)
- Lecture with practical component	Face-to-face	18
(Activities included in the theory)
- Group tutorial	Face-to-face	10
(Group work tutorials)

Supervised project	40
(Group work on a chosen topic to present it orally and in a written assignment)

Independent learning	50
(Compulsory reading, preparation and completion of assessment questionnaires, group work)

Competences to be gained during study

-	Ability to interact with others in a range of social and professional contexts involving different people and objectives: interpersonal skills (capacity to adapt to different people and settings/show respect and consideration for the ideas and feelings of others/respect authority or assume leadership and show initiative).
-	Personal profile suited to academic and professional activities: personal skills (sense of responsibility and commitment/ability to accept the consequences of one's own actions/ability to seek and accept help/capacity to analyze, control and express emotions and feelings/awareness of strengths and weaknesses/ability to rectify errors).
-	Understanding of and respect for human diversity (sensitivity to differences of gender, culture, skills and resources/sensitivity to social and economic injustice/personal and professional commitment to ongoing social change).
-	Capacity to organize and plan work efficiently and effectively and to achieve academic and professional goals (the ability to manage time, workspace and materials/set and prioritize targets and determine the procedures through which to achieve them).
-	Capacity to produce university-level spoken and written communication (capacity to understand and produce spoken and written Catalan, Spanish and a third language/write reports/demonstrate advanced communication skills for standard conversation, interviews, debates and exchanges of information/present academic and professional subjects fluently/express and defend personal views).

-	Basic research skills (use different sources of written information/apply the different strategies required to obtain the correct information and assess the research requirements of each situation/gather, organize and classify data and research materials (documents, clinical histories, archives, etc) /understand the foundations of psychological research methods/analyze and critically appraise data on the basis of extensive knowledge of the discipline/understand the procedures and formal aspects involved in the dissemination of psychology research).
-	Ability to detect cases in which psychological intervention is required (identify and analyze the needs and demands of individuals, groups or organizations in different settings, and establish the necessary priorities).
-	Commitment to ethical and responsible professional practice (take decisions and act in accordance with the code of professional ethics in general practice and research, and understand the concept and importance of evidence-based psychology as a guarantee of professional responsibility).

-	Aprendre a considerar les diferents qüestions tractades a l¿assignatura des de la perspectiva de gènere.

Teaching blocks

1. Introduction to personality psychology

* Historical considerations, scientific definition and current scope of personality psychology

Methodological perspectives in the study of personality: clinical, correlation and experimental

Systematising the main models and theories of personality

2. Models of personality according to a trait approach

* Biological/neurophysiological models

Lexical models

3. Interpersonal models of personality

* Premises of interpersonal models

Circumplex models

Biosocial model of interpersonal affect and communication

4. Evolutionary model of personality

* Evolutionary psychology, premises and limitations of the model

Human nature (personality) and study fields

5. Personality disorders

* Definition of disorder and its relation with the role of personality traits

Categorical perspective and dimensional perspective in the study of personality disorders

Classification and description of personality disorders

Teaching methods and general organization

The subject is divided into four main blocks: lectures, class exercises, oral presentations by students and participation in tutorials.

During the lectures, the lecturer explains the basic concepts of the subject and clarifies doubts. These lectures may be complemented with reading assignments students must complete individually.

Students are given exercises to be completed and submitted each session, as a means to acquire a more detailed understanding of some of the previously-explained content, and as part of the continuous assessment.

Participation in tutorials and the oral presentations allows students to acquire a more detailed understanding of certain topics of the teaching blocks.

Organisation of group work

— Students must join groups and work on a topic that is assigned to them, and on a specific date they present it to the rest of students.

— Group work implies the development of competences such as critical abilities, ability to draw conclusions and to synthesise and systematise concepts. In the tutorial sessions with the lecturer, group members share the information they have gathered and their reflections on them, to draw conclusions and discuss the best way to present the results to the rest of the class.

— Face-to-face sessions for oral presentations imply that all group members present a specific aspect of the topic based on a presentation (PowerPoint, Prezi, etc.) and the material they consider most adequate.

Official assessment of learning outcomes

Continuous assessment for this course is based on a series of activities and exercises that are evaluated independently.

— Two face-to-face written examinations on the contents of the subject (each teacher informs their group of the characteristics of the examinations). These are worth 40% of the final grade, with 2 points maximum per examination. Requirements: both test sections must be passed (minimum grade: 2); otherwise, students have to repeat assessment for these contents, independently of the rest of grades obtained.

— Exercises to be completed during class sessions and handed in at the end, on all topics, including those presented by groups. These are worth 30% of the final grade (of which 20% corresponds to exercises related to the teaching blocks and 10% to the individual assessment of all group work presented in class).

— A group assignment on a topic from the teaching blocks. As well as a written assignment, an oral presentation must be delivered in class (both oral communication skills and the quality of the presentation are assessed). These are worth 30% of the final grade.

Tutorial classes with the teacher are compulsory, for supervision of progress and guidance on the contents of the assignment. Important note: given that each group presentation is followed by a short assessment exercise, students are not admitted to class if they arrive more than 15 minutes after the presentation has begun.

Grading scale

— 0-4.9: Fail.

— 5-6.9: Pass.

— 7-8.9: Merit.

— 9-10: Excellent.

— 9.5-10: Possibility of Excellent with honours, through an additional examination with open-ended questions on the contents of the subject*

Repeat assessment

In the case of the continuous assessment, the contents that can be re-assessed are the ones evaluated in the two theoretical examinations. The rest of the activities completed throughout the course cannot be re-assessed, as they are considered scheduled training activities that allow for a more detailed understanding of the theoretical contents (class exercises, group oral presentation).

Therefore, those students who fail one or two of the examinations can be re-assessed on the relevant material through a second examination of open-answer questions.

Examination-based assessment

Students who follow this procedure sit a final examination determined by the group’s lecturer.

Important note: Students who wish to follow the single assessment option must submit a written request to their teacher during the first 20 days of class, as established in the complementary regulations governing the assessment and grading of learning outcomes for the Faculty of Psychology.

Grading scale

— 0-4.9: Fail.

— 5-6.9: Pass.

— 7-8.9: Merit.

— 9-10: Excellent.

— 9.5-10: Possibility of Excellent with honours, through an written examination with open-answer questions.

Repeat assessment

Students who do not obtain a mark of 5 out of 10 in the examination, and therefore cannot be considered to have acquired the basic competences of the subject, may sit a repeat assessment examination of open-answer questions.

Once the repeat assessment grades are published and the corresponding revisions have been concluded, the official records for the subject will be signed and closed.

Grading scale

— 0-4.9: Fail.

— 5-6.9: Pass.

— 7-8.9: Merit.

— 9-10: Excellent.

— 9.5-10: Possibility of Excellent with honours, through an additional examination with open-ended questions on the contents of the subject*

* It should be noted that the number of honours grades that can be assigned represents a maximum of 5% of the students enrolled in the subject. If the number of requests surpass this limitation, each teacher will apply a certain criteria, of which students will be informed, to determine who receives honours grades.