Prospectus

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Child Neuropsychology: Theory and Assessment of Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Course
2021-2022

Entry requirements

Open for MSc Psychology students. For students from other specialisations than the master’s specialisation Clinical Neuropsychology, prior knowledge from an advanced bachelor course in clinical neuropsychology is strongly recommended.

Description

This course provides the theoretical foundation for neuropsychological assessment and treatment of children and adolescents, through a consideration of views and theories related to neurodevelopmental conditions. This course aims to provide an understanding of the neurological and neuropsychological characteristics associated with various conditions. The impact on cognitive, emotional, behavioural, academic, social functioning and family will be discussed. Additionally, it addresses topics related to neuropsychological assessment, from a developmental perspective.

The course involves lectures addressing the following topics:

  • General introduction into child neuropsychology

  • ADHD

  • Autism spectrum disorders

  • Epilepsy

  • Genetic and metabolic brain disorders

  • Preterm birth

  • Traumatic brain injury

In the book other topics are discussed as well.

Course objectives

On completion of this course students have obtained a detailed understanding of:

  1. core issues in child neuropsychology
  2. the neurological and neuropsychological characteristics associated with various neurodevelopmental conditions
  3. the impact these conditions can have on cognitive, emotional, behavioural, academic, social, and family functioning

Having sufficient knowledge and understanding of the abovementioned topics provides an important foundation for a career in child neuropsychology. In order to administer proper neuropsychological assessments and provide the necessary neuropsychological interventions, one needs to know what a certain condition entails and how that affects the development of a child. Only then one is able to determine what to assess and what to treat. This course aims to provide students with this fundamental knowledge.

Timetable

For the timetable of this course please refer to MyTimetable

Registration

NOTE As of the academic year 2021-2022, you must register for all courses in uSis.
You do this twice a year: once for the courses you want to take in semester 1 and once for the courses you want to take in semester 2.
Registration for courses in the first semester is possible from early August. Registration for courses in the first semester is possible from December. The exact date on which the registration starts will be published on the website of the Student Service Center (SSC)

By registering for a course you are also automatically registered for the Brightspace module. Anyone who is not registered for a course therefore does not have access to the Brightspace module and cannot participate in the first sit of the exam of that course.
Also read the complete registration procedure

Mode of instruction

The course consists of eight 2-hour lectures.

Assessment method

The final grade is fully (100%) based on a written exam (course objectives 1, 2, 3), consisting of both multiple-choice and open questions (to be answered in English). The exam material concerns most chapters of the book ‘Developmental Neuropsychology’, as well as the lecture slides.

There will be an opportunity to look at the exam after publication of the final grades. Information on this will be published on Brightspace.

The Institute of Psychology follows the policy of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences to systematically check student papers for plagiarism with the help of software. Disciplinary measures will be taken when fraud is detected. Students are expected to be familiar with and understand the implications of this fraud policy.

Reading list

  • Vicki Anderson, Elisabeth Northam & Jacquie Wrennall. Developmental Neuropsychology: a clinical approach, second edition (2019) Routledge. ISBN: 978-1-84872-202-6.

Contact information

Carolien van Houdt c.a.van.houdt@fsw.leidenuniv.nl