This module provides insights into an area of psychology specializing in Judgment and decision making (JDM), which is a branch of cognitive psychology. Much of cognitive psychology gives a purely descriptive account on how people think. In contrast, JDM research focuses on readily observable judgments and decisions and also address whether these behaviors are consistent with how people should think. The module also covers topics from another branch of psychology, namely social cognition (SC). This course examines research literature on selected topics within JDM, SC and the social context of thinking. The students are expected to learn the specific models, understand their application and participate in the general discussion following on each topic.

The purpose of this module is to provide the students with a foundation for doing research on master's degree level. The course gives the students an up-to-day overview of selected JDM-, SC- and social context of thinking research. Students will get training in analyzing and presenting research literature. Judgment and decision making (JDM) is a branch of cognitive psychology. Much of cognitive psychology gives a purely descriptive account on how people think. In contrast, JDM research focuses on readily observable judgments and decisions and also address whether these behaviors are consistent with how people should think. For example, memory psychologists investigate how information is categorized in memory. JDM researchers interested in memory focus on how memory influences judgments and decisions. Judgments and decisions are an essential part of most professions. JDM research is therefore highly relevant to applied disciplines in various fields, including health care, organizational behavior, computer science, economics, law etc. The course may also contains topics in Social Cognition (SC) and the social context of thinking. SC lies in the intersection between social and cognitive psychology and deals with how we perceive, interpret, describe, and explain events and actions related to self and others in daily life. SC is the study of such questions as: How do we make judgments about the characteristics of ourselves and other people? How do we figure out what other people are thinking and feeling? What role do our self-concepts and our various goals and motives play in guiding our behavior? This course examines research literature on selected topics within JDM, SC and the social context of thinking. The students are expected to participate in the general discussion following each topic presentation.

On successful completion of this module, students will be able to: 1. Critically compare different theories and methods and find commonalities and differences. 2. Lead theoretical and methodological discussions 3. Evaluate new theories and methods 4. Write on current topics in JDM, SC or the social context of thinking for the public 5. Deal with larger bodies of scientific texts about the same topic 6. Evaluate theory and research 7. Present theories and methods in JDM, SC or the social context of thinking

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Teaching is delivered in the form of lectures. Evaluations are via individual coursework.