Course Descriptions

Application and interpretation of basic psychological research concepts and methods used in psychological research, introduction to the positivistic methodology, experimental design and survey techniques. Basic concepts in experimental and non-experimental research, teaching of concepts in basic statistical techniques, application and interpretation of basic statistical techniques on SPSS program. Application of basic descriptive analyses, correlation, t-test, and anova statistical methods.

Improvement and practice of writing and presentation skills through research design in line with the report format required by TÜBİTAK, implementation, analysis of data and discussion of results, writing brief reports and articles on these research results based on American Psychological Association (APA) guidelines/style/format. Preparation of posters reflecting the research design and implementation. Verbal presentation of research design and implementation.

An introduction to the principles of psychological testing and measurement. Test design, test construction, definitions of validity, test-retest reliability, internal reliability, face validity, content validity, convergent and discriminant validities, basic psychometric analysis, test norming, test administration. The history of measurement and the current state of the art. Introduction to psychological tests used in professional area. Criticism of scientific journal articles based on the method sections.

Investigation of the past and recent research in clinical psychology. Examination of the basic characteristics of clinical evaluation and psychotherapies implemented in clinical intervention. Discussion of observation and interview techniques, importance of research, measurement and ethical principles from a clinical psychology perspective. Introduction to the basic features of forensic and health psychology, child clinical psychology, and other clinical fields. Discussion of prerequisites for becoming a clinical psychologist.

Area Elective-I

A historical review of the key episodes and figures in the history of psychology. The interplay of theory, methodology and practice in the emergence of today’s psychology and its place in contemporary society. Comparison of assumptions related to ontology, epistemology, human nature and research methodologies. Discussion of the mediations between the psychological issues and the socio-political atmosphere. Discussion of the importance of the theories in psychology.

Teaching of advanced psychological research concepts and methods, introduction to advanced research techniques, application of advanced research techniques on SPSS program and the interpretation of results. Application of basic regression, multiple regression, chi-square, mediational and moderational analyses. Design and application of simple research projects by students and the presentation of findings as academic posters.

Job description of psychologists. Examination of various ethical codes. Investigation of ethics in research, psychotherapy, and the education of psychology. Investigation of various theoretical approaches from a historical perspective; and the comparison of ontological and epistemological approaches to human (and animal) behavior and research methods. Discussion of cases in various sub-disciplines of psychology, such as developmental, clinical and industrial.

Introduction to the principles, skills, and ethical aspects of interviews in clinical and research settings, development of skills such as active listening, attention, evaluation, collecting personal narrative, emphatic behavior and report writing via examination of clinical case studies. Writing a report about clinical psychology applications. Presentation and discussion of student reports from a critical and cultural perspective.

Area Elective-II