The course is divided into four modules.
1. Institutional form. It will deal with the historical evolution of the discipline in reference to the main theoretical orientations, research methods and their implications. Some areas of particular relevance will be illustrated, such as the processes of social cognition (schemas, heuristics, automatic and controlled processes, social attitudes and representations), interpersonal perception (impression formation, implicit personality theories, causal attribution), comprehension of the Self.
2. The processes of social influence (monographic module). The change in attitudes and processes of persuasion, conformity, obedience and the mechanisms of the influence produced by the majority and minority will be investigated.
3. The intra and inter-group psychosocial processes (monographic module). We will deepen the cognitive mechanisms and the thought processes that underlie cooperation and intergroup conflict (categorization, belonging, identification, stereotypes and prejudices). The module deals with the main theories on the prejudice reduction
4. The evaluation of morality in social perception (text by S. Pagliaro). The module deals with the theoretical models and the researches on the perception of morality and on their influence in the evaluation and in interpersonal and intergroup relations.
