PSY2600 – Personality and Abnormal psychology

Course content

The course gives an overview of historic and current theory and research within the fields of personality psychology and abnormal psychology.

The personality psychology component focuses on theoretical and empirical approaches to personality with special relevance for understanding abnormal behavior. Domains include psychodynamic theory, the cognitive approach, motivation, the self concept, and the relationship between stress and health.

The abnormal psychology component focuses on historical and current understand of abnormal behavior, its classification, theoretical understanding, and treatment. Specific topics include anxiety disorders, mood disorders (including suicide), personality disorders, and schizophrenia.

The course complements and expands on topics covered in PSY1101 and lays the foundation for the Master's program in Health, Social and Personality Psychology.

Learning outcome

Knowledge

You should be able to:

  • Describe theories of personality covering intrapsychic functioning, cognitive aspects and issues related to stress and health
  • Describe personality assessment methods and diagnostic systems
  • Describe major diagnostic categories of mental disorders, their characteristics, prevalence, aetiology and treatment

Skills

You should be able to:

  • Illustrate how different conceptualizations of personality can complement and enhance our understanding of normal and abnormal functioning
  • Aquire a basic understanding of possible relationships between normal personality functioning and abnormal behavior
  • Recognize basic symptoms of mental disorders
  • Illustrate how different mental disorders are classified

General competence

You should:

  • Develop the ability to evaluate human behavior and individual differences as many-faceted and complex
  • Be able to apprechiate the complexity of defining what is normal and what is abnormal

Admission

Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for in Studentweb.

If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures.

If there are more applicants than available places, the students
that has this course as an obligatory course in their education plan will be preferred. Read more here (only in Norwegian)

Overlapping courses

5 studypoints overlap with PSYC4200 – Personlighetspsykologi (discontinued).

Partial overlap with PSY120 (The course is no longer taught).

Teaching