Behavioural Sciences and Scientific Method

Assessment of the reliability of the methods of collection and measurement of biomedical data. position and dispersion indices. Correlation coefficient.
Gaussian model
Screening tests
Sample estimate of population parameters and sampling distribution
Confidence interval and its interpretation
Hypothesis test: Z, t and chi-squared tests.

The aim of this course is to provide concepts of evidence based medicine, to explain the importance of literature and bibliometric indexes in the scientific world, and to teach how to search and evaluate scientific literature using the currently available tools.
Topics:
1. Introduction to Evidence-Based Medicine: the weight of information deriving from scientific literature in daily therapeutic choices. The scale of evidence: what are the most reliable information depending on the type of study. Characteristics of the main experimental designs in medicine and dentistry.
2. How an experimental research is organized: from the formulation of the working hypothesis based on the objective of the study, to the collection of data according to the quantitative analysis.
3. Primary and secondary studies: systematic reviews of the literature, what they are and what they serve for. The Cochrane Library.
4. History and meaning of bibliometric indicators: Impact factor, Citation Index, Hirsch index, etc. The Web of Science. How dentistry is placed in the field of biomedical sciences in terms of impact factor of dental journals, quality of published studies, value of researchers.
5. Research sources of scientific literature. How the main electronic databases are made and used to obtain information and to identify the relevant literature (Medline, Embase, Google Scholar, etc.), with practical examples.

The purpose of this course is to provide students with the knowledge of the fields of study and application fields of special Pedagogy; the evolution of the regulatory framework supporting inclusion; the ability to identify and define models of understanding and intervention towards subjects in situations of fragility, hardship, handicap, illness; the acquisition of operational tools aimed at building "learning units" within an educational project centered on the analysis of needs and the enhancement of resources.
1) General concepts of Pedagogy: - Definition, fields of study and application fields of special pedagogy - Italian legislation and international provisions. - Pedagogical models of understanding and intervention towards subjects in situations of fragility, hardship, handicap and illness. - Pedagogical skills of the dentist: examples of applicability in a dental operating context
2) The development of learning skills: - The stages of development of cognitive function - Multiple intelligences according to Gardner - The memory - Learning disorders (DSA)
3) The educational relationship - Different styles - Communication as a working tool in the dentist-patient relationship - Obstacles and barriers to effective communication - Approach to children of families with migration problems: use of graphic symbols as an element of facilitation - Psycho-pedagogical aspects of child abuse: the interceptive role of the dentist - Reading and meaning of the drawing as a support tool in the relationship between dentist and pediatric patient - The "fear of the dentist": indicators of discomfort, anxiety and suffering in children's drawings
4) Construction of educational courses and learning units: realization of a "pedagogical project" oral hygiene education in different age groups

The course aims at providing students with knowledge and understanding of perception, cognition, emotion, motivation and individual differences with a special focus on recent empirical evidence about cognitive process and relevant implications for dentistry.

1. History of psychology
2. Scientific method in psychology
3. Sensation and perception
4. Attention
5. Learning and memory
6. Thinking and reasoning
7. Language and communication
8. Emotion
9. Stress and coping
10. Motivation
11. Personality
12. Health and illness
13. Doctor-patient relationship
14. Pain
15. Dentophobia
16. Stress and burnout