MALK4000-401 Complexity, Science and Society Course description

Complexity is a term frequently used to describe relations in a society where formal and institutional boundaries decrease in importance. The complexity of the challenges we face today demands collaborative initiatives across levels of governments and administration, and across different sectors. The need for cooperation between traditional scientific disciplines is now acknowledged as a basic requirement for development of new knowledge.

It is inherent in complexity thinking that different but complementary perspectives are adopted to illuminate and analyze problems requiring solution. Graduates of the master program can work and lead independently of discipline, professional turf, sector or level of administration. The students’ varied background education and work experience shall create and sustain a culture based on respect for different perspectives, the ability to change perspective if and when required, and of looking for optimal solutions by de-focusing differences and re-focusing on compatibility.

Admission to the study program

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Admission to the study program.

On successful completion of the course, the student has the following learning outcomes classified as knowledge:

Knowledge

The student can

• argue for and against a natural-science approach to human behavior, focusing on how radical behaviorism explains behavior through behavior-environment interactions
• differentiate between various forms of behaviorism, and examine the influence of key scientific philosophies, such as pragmatism, dualism, positivism, empiricism, and contextualism, on these approaches
• discuss the role of prediction and control as critical principles for understanding causality in radical behaviorism
• account for selection as a causal model of behavior at the phylogenetic, ontogenetic, and cultural levels, and how this integrates into the behavior-analytic framework
• discuss how behavior analysis aligns with complementary fields, such as complexity science, network theory, neuroscience, and evolutionary biology
• discuss how ethical principles evolve over time and how they are relevant to the scientific study of behavior
• place behavior analysis in a larger societal context, explaining its relevance to topics such as values, freedom, and the ethics of influencing behavior

Skills

The student can

• apply radical behaviorism to interpret key psychological concepts such as motivation, thinking, problem-solving, and self-control from a theoretical perspective
• discuss and evaluate the theoretical alignment of radical behaviorism with complementary scientific fields

General Competence

The student can

• discuss radical behaviorism as a philosophy of science and how it can be used to understand various psychological and societal issues

The course content is divided into ten modules, with students’ learning supported by both live (on-campus and online) and pre-recorded lectures. Throughout the semester, students also have access to teaching assistants, who manage group and individual activities, and provide assistance with the course content.

The following required coursework must be approved before the student can take the exam:

• Complete an online instructional sequence consisting of 10 modules containing videos, texts, quizzes, and short essay questions (up to 750 characters, including spaces).

Individual home examination, 5 hours. Exam questions are in English. Students may submit their exams in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or English.

Grade scale A-F