The aim of this course is to equip students with a cognitive understanding of the fundamental concepts, historical development, theoretical approaches, and research methods of the science of psychology. The course aims to cover the principles of lifespan development, personality, perception, memory processes (recall/forgetting), motivation, intelligence, and theories of learning psychology. Additionally, the course aims to enable students to integrate this psychological foundation—gained through the analysis of defense mechanisms, problem-solving, and the dynamics of clinical and social psychology—into their ability to understand the behaviors of patients, their families, and individuals in crisis situations within pre-hospital emergency medical services, to establish effective communication, and to manage their own occupational stress.

This course covers the basic mechanisms of human behavior and mental processes, alongside their reflections in the healthcare field. The course content includes the definition, history, research methods, and subfields of psychology; major psychological approaches; principles of development and lifelong developmental stages; personality, self-concept, and defense mechanisms; perception, remembering, and forgetting processes; the sources of behavior, motivation, intelligence, emotions, and excitement; thinking, problem-solving, and creativity; foundational principles of learning psychology, and core concepts of clinical and social psychology