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Biopsychological Aspects of the Person

Code: 105047 ECTS Credits: 6
2025/2026
Degree Type Year
Social Education FB 1
Education Studies FB 1

Contact

Name:
Francesc Xavier Borras Hernandez
Email:
xavier.borras@uab.cat

Teachers

Nair Elizabeth Zárate Alva
Joel Guillen Cots

Teaching groups languages

You can view this information at the end of this document.


Prerequisites

As this is a first-year course, it has no formal prerequisites, but students are recommended to review the basic knowledge of biology that they have acquired during their previous studies (brain, nervous system, genetics, hominisation, evolution and other related concepts). A review of psychological aspects that they have been able to study previously (sensation, attention, perception, consciousness, learning, memory, motivation, emotion, thinking, language, intelligence and personality) is also considered desirable.

In addition, high motivation, the ability to organise information, synthesis strategies, analysis and critical reflection are desirable.


Objectives and Contextualisation

The aim of this subject is to bring students closer to the study of human reality, both from a phylogenetic and ontogenetic point of view (life, development, psychological processes, gender, culture, society, etc.). Students are expected to understand and critically reflect on the biological and psychological bases that describe and explain the behaviour and mental processes of human beings.


Competences

    Social Education
  • Contextualize educational action based on the different theoretical paradigms that have developed in science and education in accordance with the socio-historical context of individuals, groups and institutions.
  • Master the theoretical and applied knowledge of Educational Sciences to develop the capacity for analysis and observation of the social and educational reality.
  • Recognize and evaluate the social reality and the interrelation between factors involved as necessary anticipation of action.
  • Take sex- or gender-based inequalities into consideration when operating within one's own area of knowledge. 
    Education Studies
  • Analyse and understand the theoretical, historical, cultural, political, environmental and legal references and situations involved in education and training proposals.
  • Recognize and evaluate the social reality and the interrelation between factors involved as necessary anticipation of action.
  • Take sex- or gender-based inequalities into consideration when operating within one's own area of knowledge.
  • Understand the processes that occur in educational and training activities and their impact on learning.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Consider how gender stereotypes and roles impinge on the exercise of the profession.
  2. Know and identify the main developmental and personality disorders, their impact on development and educational implications.
  3. Understand and analyse the biological basis of psychological processes.
  4. Understand and analyse the educational implications of learning theories and models.
  5. Understand how biological and psychological aspects affect development throughout the life cycle.

Content

1. Basic psychological processes applied to education (2 ECTS) (Block 1) / Basic Psychology Unit

1.1. Access to knowledge: the nature of sensation, perception, and conscious experience.
1.2. Knowledge processing: learning and memory.
1.3. Behavior activation: motivation and emotion.

2. Biopsychosocial foundations of human behavior (2 ECTS) (Block 2) / Department of Educational Theories and Social Pedagogy

2.1. Life, genetics, and evolution. The complexity of living beings.
2.2. Brain and mental processes: affective-emotional, cognitive-productive, and conative-volitional systems.
2.3. The nervous system and biopsychosocial processes: attachment and trauma.

3. Biopsychosocial factors influencing development and learning (2 ECTS) (Block 2) / Department of Educational Theories and Social Pedagogy

3.1. Phylogenetic aspects of human behavior (motor activities, primary key stimuli, complex cognitive processes for learning).
3.2. Protective and risk factors in mental health.
3.3. Bioethics with an interdisciplinary, intercultural, and gender perspective.


Activities and Methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Lectures 30 1.2
Seminars/practices 15 0.6
Type: Supervised      
Supervised tasks 30 1.2
Type: Autonomous      
Autonomus tasks 75 3

The teaching methodology proposed in this course has the following general lines:

 - Lectures (30 hours): presentation by the teaching staff of the central contents of the subject, presentations by groups of students to deepen the reflection and/or application related to specific topics, viewing of videos or films of interest for the subject, among others.

 - Seminars/practices (15 hours): work in smaller groups to organise different tasks (locating information, preparing oral presentations, etc.), analysis and discussion of cases, research articles and/or texts, extension, illustration and commentary on the contents of the lectures and the compulsory bibliography, preparation of concept maps, organisation and development of practices, discussion groups, among others.

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.


Assessment

Continous Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Assessment: Cognitive processess 33,3% 0 0 4, 3, 2
Biology assesment 33,3% 0 0 5, 3, 2
Group Work-Biology 33,3% 0 0 5, 3, 1

This couse has three sections of content (see Contents) divided in two thematic blocks. Students are required to acquire a minimum basic level of knowledge in each of them. Therefore, students must demonstrate evidence of these minimums in the different thematic blocks of the subject, structured as follows:

Block 1 (33.3%): topic 1.

Block 2 (66.7%): topics 2 and 3.

Assessments will be based on written exams and practical assignments. In BLOCK 1 there will be an individual exam at the end of the block: March 24, 2026 at 10 am (PEDAGOGY) and March 25, 2026 at 10 am (SOCIAL EDUCATION). BLOCK 2 will consist of a) a written group assignment (20%), which will be presented in class and will result in an individual grade (30%); and b) an individual exam at the end of the block (50%): June 16, 2026 at 9 am (PEDAGOGY) and June 17, 2026 at 9 am (SOCIAL EDUCATION). Thus, in general, the assessment of the subject is the product of individual effort.

Attendance at practical work sessions (seminars) is mandatory. In any case, some justified absences may be taken into account as long as total attendance is at least 80%. Punctuality and proper use of electronic devices (mobile phones, computers, etc.) are required in all sessions.

To pass the course, studens must demonstrate minimum achievement in each of the two blocks mentioned above. If the student passes both blocks with a minimum grade of 5 points (out of 10), the final grade will be extracted from the weighted average of the achievement of the two thematic blocks (33.3% block 1 and 66.7% block 2), in accordance with their percentage weight in ECTS (2 ECTS and 4 ECTS, respectively).

If the student fails/does not pass any of the blocks, their final grade will correspond to the grade of the failed block (or the weighted average of the two failed blocks), and they will have to take the block's resit exam. In order to participate in the resit, students must have previously been assessed in a set of activities whose weight is equivalent to at least two-thirds of the total grade for the subject.

The retake exams for both blocks are individual. The grade obtained in the block 1 retake exam (out of 10 points) will replace the grade previously obtained in the block exam, regardless of it is higher or lower. Likewise, the grade obtained in the retake exam of block 2 (out of 10 points) will replace the grade previously obtained in the block exam, which corresponds to 50% of the total grade for the block, while the grades derived from the practical work, which is not retakeable, will remain unchanged.

The retake exam of BLOCK 1 will take place on June 23, 2026 at 10 am (PEDAGOGY) and on July 1, 2026 at 11:30 am (SOCIAL EDUCATION). The retake exam of BLOCK 2 will take place on June 30, 2026 at 9 am (PEDAGOGY) and on July 1, 2026 at 9 am (SOCIAL EDUCATION).

If the student ultimately fails to obtain a minimum grade of 5 points (out of 10) in any of the blocks, it will mean that they have not achieved the minimum expected and will fail the subject with the grade corresponding to the failed block (or the weighted average of the two failed blocks).

Students who have not taken any of the assessments for one of the blocks during the course or in the recovery assessment will receive a grade of Not assessable. When one of the assessments within a block is taken, the student will be considered to have taken the corresponding block, and therefore must take the rest of the assessments; otherwise, the average will be calculated using the grade of the assessment taken and the "zeros" corresponding to the rest of the assessments not taken within that block.

The results of each assessment will be published on the virtual campus within a maximum of 20 working days after it has been taken, and their review may be requested within 7 calendar days of their publication, with the exception of recovery exams, whose review must be requested within 24 hours after their publication.

To pass this subject,the student must demonstrate good general communication skills, both orally and in writing, and a good command of the vehicular languages that appear in the teaching guide. In all activities (individual and in groups) where applicable, linguistic correction, writing and formal aspects of presentation will be taken into account. Students must be able to express themselves fluently and correctly and must show a high degree of understanding of academic texts. An activity may be returned (not evaluated) or failed if the teaching staff considers that it does not meet these requirements.

For the assignments and presentations in this course, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies is permitted exclusively for support tasks, such as information or bibliographic searches, text correction, or translations, which must always be checked and verified. Students must clearly identify which parts have been generated with the help of this technology, specify the tools used, and include a critical reflection on how these have influenced the process and the final result of the activity. Failure to be transparent about the use of AI will result in a partial or total penalty in the activity grade.

Copying or plagiarism, as well as the detection during assessment tests of any type of document or device not authorized by the teaching staff, will be grounds for failure of the course with a grade of 0, with no option for recovery.

The course coordinator will ensure that the final assessment criteria for the overall grade for the course are adopted by consensus by the entire teaching team.

Students who are not enrolling in the course for the first time will be assessed using the same activities as those enrolling for the first time. No synthesis test is planned.

This course does not use a single assessment system.

This and other additional information will be uploaded at the beginning of the course on the course's virtual campus (Moodle), which we will use as an updated communication tool with students.


Bibliography

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Budayicioglu, G. (2019). La chica de la ventana. Sevilla: Lantia Publishing S.L.

Bueno, D. (2016). Cerebroflexia. El arte de construir el cerebro. Barcelona: Plataforma Editorial.

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Software

None program.


Groups and Languages

Please note that this information is provisional until 30 November 2025. You can check it through this link. To consult the language you will need to enter the CODE of the subject.

Name Group Language Semester Turn
(SEM) Seminars 111 Catalan/Spanish second semester morning-mixed
(SEM) Seminars 112 Catalan/Spanish second semester morning-mixed
(SEM) Seminars 113 Catalan/Spanish second semester morning-mixed
(SEM) Seminars 211 Catalan/Spanish second semester morning-mixed
(SEM) Seminars 212 Catalan/Spanish second semester morning-mixed
(SEM) Seminars 213 Catalan/Spanish second semester morning-mixed
(TE) Theory 1 Catalan/Spanish second semester morning-mixed
(TE) Theory 2 Catalan/Spanish second semester morning-mixed