Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU) • Psychologie

Lecture notes from Evolutionary Psychology (P_BEVOLPS) at VU Amsterdam covering foundational concepts in evolutionary theory. Topics include landmarks in evolutionary thinking from Lamarck to Darwin, the three essential ingredients of natural selection (variation, inheritance, differential reproductive success), sexual selection theory, genetic drift, and common misunderstandings about evolutionary psychology. These notes are ideal for exam preparation and understanding core concepts of how natu...

Lecture notes from the first session of Group Dynamics (P_BGRDYNA) at VU Amsterdam, covering foundational concepts in group theory. The document introduces Forsyth's definition of groups, explains key group characteristics (size, composition, interaction, goals, interdependence, boundaries, entitativity, structure), and distinguishes between primary groups, social groups, collectives, and social categories. Also included is an overview of group dynamics as a research field, Kurt Lewin's La...

Lecture notes from Management and Organization (P_BMANORG) at VU Amsterdam covering personality traits in managerial performance, coaching effectiveness, and employee burnout prevention. Topics include task vs. contextual performance, emotional stability and agreeableness effects on managers, stress recovery experiences, and self-determination theory with focus on autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Essential study material for understanding how psychological factors influence organizational ...

Lecture notes from Hoorcolleges of Brain & Behaviour Part 2: Cognitive Neuroscience (P_BBAC_2) at VU Amsterdam. Covers foundational concepts including the mind-body problem, modularity of mind, phrenology and brain localization, modes of explanation (box-arrow models, reductionism, mechanistic explanations), and Global Workspace Theory. Essential preparation for understanding how cognitive neuroscience bridges psychology, philosophy, and neurobiology—ideal for mastering core concepts before ex...

This document contains a summary of all lectures, complemented with information from the book (Myers, D. G., & Twenge, J. M. (2025). Social Psychology. McGraw Hill LLC.). Pictues and examples were added to further improve the understanding and to make remembering the material easier. By studying this summary I got a 9.3 on the exam.

This document includes the notes of all the lectures and topics from the book that arent discussed in the lectures. The summary is organised in chapters that discuss everything of the disorder discussed in the lecture with added details from the book. I studied this summary and got a 9.6 and a 7.9 for the exams.

This summary includes notes of all the lectures and topics in the book that are not explained in the lectures. There are a lot of examples and pictures added so that the topics are more easily understood and remembered. I had a 9.0 and a 9.6 studying this summary.

This document covers the complete Introduction to Psychology course (P_BINLPSY) at VU Amsterdam. The summary is organised in order of the lectures and are made complete with information in the book that has not been discussed in the lectures. I studied this summary and got a 9.4 for my exam.

Lecture notes from Ontwikkelingspsychologie en Psychopathologie (P_BOWPPSY) at VU Amsterdam covering major depressive disorder and personality disorders. The document covers depression diagnosis criteria, epidemiology, risk factors, subtypes, differential diagnosis, and treatment frameworks, plus personality disorder classifications including OCPD vs. OCD distinctions. Essential study material for understanding mood disorders and personality pathology as taught in the developmental psychopatholo...

Lecture notes from Biological and Cognitive Psychology (P_BBIOCOG) at VU Amsterdam covering memory cognition. Topics include encoding, maintenance and retrieval processes, short-term vs. long-term memory, explicit and implicit memory systems, memory testing methods (free recall, recognition, word completion), encoding specificity, context-dependent memory, familiarity, the word superiority effect, and understanding texts through situation models and inferences. These notes provide a clear breakd...

Lecture notes from Biological and Cognitive Psychology (P_BBIOCOG) at VU Amsterdam covering the foundational theories and experiments that shaped modern psychology. The document covers key topics including Wilhelm Wundt's experimental psychology, behaviorism (Pavlov, Watson, Skinner), the cognitive revolution (Chomsky, Tolman), attention models (Broadbent), and perception including the inverse projection problem, object constancy, and multisensory integration. These notes are essential for un...

Lecture notes from College 1 of Arbeids- en Organisatiepsychologie (P_BARORPS) at VU Amsterdam, covering the historical foundations and core theories of work and organizational psychology. Topics include classical theorists (Marx, Taylor), the Hawthorne Studies, motivation theory, human relations movement, workplace stress management, and violence at work including frustration-aggression and justice hypotheses. Essential study material that synthesizes key historical developments and contemporar...

Lecture notes from Psychofarmacologie (P_BPSYFAR) at VU Amsterdam covering the fundamentals of psychopharmacology. Topics include drug classification systems (ATC vs NbN nomenclature), psychotropic drug classes (antipsychotics, antidepressants, anxiolytics, mood stabilizers), and specific substances like alcohol and nicotine with their mechanisms of action and clinical effects. Essential reference material for understanding drug interactions with physiological processes and preparing for course ...

Tutorial preparation and notes for Arbeids- en Organisatiepsychologie (P_BARORPS) at VU Amsterdam, covering fundamental concepts in work and organizational psychology research methods. Topics include experimental vs. quasi-experimental vs. non-experimental designs, correlation and causation, validity and reliability, moderators and mediators, individual differences in work performance, multiple team membership, and the Job Demands-Resources model. These structured notes synthesize key learning m...

Lecture notes from Arbeids- en Organisatiepsychologie (P_BARORPS) at VU Amsterdam covering fairness, justice, and diversity in organizational settings. The document covers distributive, procedural, and interactional justice; diversity dynamics in work groups; managing diversity effectively; and multiple team membership consequences through social capital and role theory. Essential for understanding key organizational psychology concepts and ideal for exam preparation or assignments on workplace ...

Lecture notes from the course Samenspel van Genen en Omgeving (P_BSAGEOM) at VU Amsterdam covering Mendel's laws of inheritance and their exceptions. Topics include dominant and recessive alleles, Punnett squares, single-gene disorders (Huntington's disease, PKU, Scurvy), genetic linkage, and polygenic prediction methods. Essential study material for understanding classical and molecular genetics, with practical examples and ethical considerations in genetic research.

This is a research paper from the Meten en Diagnostiek 2 course at VU Amsterdam investigating the relationship between body attitude and loneliness among women, moderated by dating app usage. The study employs quantitative methods including self-report questionnaires (Body Attitude Test, UCLA Loneliness Scale) and ANCOVA analysis on 40 female participants, with findings on how body image and dating app use influence social isolation. This document is valuable for understanding empirical research...

Lecture notes from Neuropsychologie van de Veroudering (P_BNPSOUD) at VU Amsterdam covering the introduction to why ageing is relevant for study. The document explores lifespan developmental perspectives, theoretical approaches to cognitive ageing (information-processing, biological, and integrative models), societal demographics of population ageing, and age-related intellectual impairment including dementia. These notes provide a solid foundation for understanding the course framework and are ...

This summary is for the course Psychological Interventions for Complex Problems at Vrije University. It includes all the lecture slides and required readings—everything you need in one place for exam prep. The content is detailed but explained in a clear, easy-to-follow way, and it’s visually organized so it feels less overwhelming to study from. It also helps connect the different approaches (CBT, DBT, schema therapy, CBASP, ISTDP) rather than just listing them. I hope it makes studyi...

These notes provide a detailed overview of Work and Organizational Psychology lectures and literature. It covers core theories, models, and research findings discussed throughout the course.