Clinical Neuropsychology

Code:

PCS04

Acronym:

NC

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
CNAEF	Psychology

Instance: 2022/2023 - 2S

Active?	Yes
Web Page:	http://moodle.up.pt/course/view.php?id=881
Responsible unit:	Psychology
Course/CS Responsible:	Master Degree in Psychology

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
MPSIC	54	Plano de Estudos 2021	1	-	6	54	162
MTP	4	Official Curricular Structure	1	-	6	54	162

Teaching language

Suitable for English-speaking students

Objectives

Clinical neuropsychology is an advanced and specialized area of psychological professional practice. Thus, it is critical that students can have access to current and advanced scientific knowledge in this domain, acquire it, and have an opportunity to practice, so that they may be ready to face professional practice. The syllabus shows the vast domain of clinical neuropsychology and frames it in a life span perspective, showing the differing neuropsychological practices with children, adolescents, adultos and elders. In each age group the principal neuropsychological conditions are reviewed considering the state of the art in conceptualization, assessment, and multidisciplinary intervention. One expects that students can develop a panoptic view of clinical neuropsychology at the same time that and opportunity is also given to deepen understanding on specific neuropsychological themes. As a result, it is expected that in a forthcoming professional practice, students may be able to situate, think reflexively, search criteriously, understand, and intervene in the neuropsychological syndromes that may show in clinical practice.

Learning outcomes and competences

At the end of this course the students should be able to:

- To characterize clinical neuropsychology as a specific and advanced form of psychological professional practice

- To critically reflect on the common usage of the notions of brain, mind and neuropshychology.

- To understand the forms and systemic impact of brain lesion from a life cycle perspective.

- To know the principal clinical conditions in which neuropsychology intervenes.

- To show deep understanding of selected neuropsychological symdromes focusing on brain injury, behavioral assessment, and multidisciplinary intervention.

- To be able to analyze, interpret, and critically synthesize advanced scientific literature in the domain of clinical neuropsychology.

- To establish connections between acquired knowledge and the professional practice of clinical neuropsychology.

Working method

Presencial

Pre-requirements (prior knowledge) and co-requirements (common knowledge)

Being able to understand written English.

Program

- Fundamentals of clinical neuropsychology across the life span (viz., child, adolescent, adult, and elder).

- Multidisciplinary psychological interventions Basic notions of psychopharmacology and laboratory testing.

- Neurodevelopmental disorders (viz., language, motor development, reading, writing, calculus, autism, hyperactivity, and epilepsy)

- Traumatic brain injuries in children, youngsters, and adults. 

- Neuropsyhological syndromes (viz., amnesia, aphasia, apraxia, neglect, and executive)

- Neuropsychiatric disorders (e.g., schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive, depression)

- Neurodegenerative disorders (e.g., multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer, Parkinson, Huntington, Pick, and vascular)

Mandatory literature

Laura H. Goldstein; Clinical neuropsychology. ISBN: 0-470-84391-8
Gurd Jennifer M. 340; Handbook of clinical neuropsychology. ISBN: 978-0-19-964581-7
Kreutzer, J. S., DeLuca, J., & Caplan, B. ; Encyclopedia of clinical neuropsychology, Springer, 2018
Morgan, J. E. & Ricker, J. H. ; Textbook of clinical neuropsychology, Routledge, 2018
Morgan, J. E., Baron, I. S., & Ricker, J. H. ; Casebook of clinical neuropsychology, Oxford University Press, 2011
Parsons, M. W. & Hammeke, T. A. ; Clinical neuropsychology: A pocket handbook for assessment , American Psychological Association
Cecil R. Reynolds; Handbook of clinical child neuropsychology. ISBN: 0-306-42879-2

Teaching methods and learning activities

The classes happen weekly in two forms: lectures and seminars. The course has an e-learning component hosted at the University of Porto moodle platform, wherein materials used in the course are available.
Lectures are given to the whole group and deal with the syllabus. After each lecture, students are asked to reply to a reflection question using the moodle platform (PPA). Seminars function in small group and students perform skills training, an individual written work (a review on a specific neuropshycological theme), and a group work (presentation and discussion of a clinical case).

Software

Moodle

keywords

Social sciences > Psychological sciences > Cognitive science
Health sciences > Neuroscience > Neuropsychology

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation without final exam

Assessment Components

designation	Weight (%)
Participação presencial	10,00
Trabalho escrito	60,00
Trabalho prático ou de projeto	30,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

designation	Time (hours)
Estudo autónomo	78,00
Frequência das aulas	54,00
Trabalho escrito	20,00
Trabalho de investigação	10,00
Total:	162,00

Eligibility for exams

In order to be admitted to final grading, students are required to attend at least 75% of the weekly sessions.

Calculation formula of final grade

Evaluation is continuous without final exam. Students that miss more than 25% of the workshops will need to register again for the course. In the evaluation of the course the following elements are weighted: a) PPA (30%); b) review (30%); c) clinical case discussion (30%); d) participation and engagement (10%). Written assignments are submitted through the moodle platform using the Turnitin tool.     

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

Special situations to be discussed with the professor on a  case-by-case basis.

Classification improvement

According to a University of Porto regulation*, the student wishing to improve the classification obtained will be able to do it by enrolling in the following year in the same course("unidade curricular"), provided that the course is in operation.




*General Regulation for the Assessment of University of Porto study cycles, Article 11 ( "Regulamento Geral para Avaliação dos discentes de primeiros ciclos, de ciclos de estudos integrados de mestrado e de segundos ciclos da Universidade do Porto; Artigo 11º")