Psychology

In this subject, students will acquire research skills and methods to critically investigate, measure and assess psychological research. In addition, students will acquire an understanding of fundamental principles in the psychological assessment of individual traits and dispositions. Emphasis will be placed on how (a) the skills and techniques being taught are tools for gathering evidence relating to real-world problems that are typically encountered in the psychological sciences and (b) meaningful inferences can be generalised beyond the particular sample data at hand. Topics to be covered may include research design, implementation, and evaluation; techniques for measuring human behaviour, emotions, and interactions; the application of relatively simple quantitative models to data in order to identify group differences, associations, and predictions.

This Capstone subject draws together students’ undergraduate experiences in psychology by emphasising links between the science and practice of psychology in contemporary life.

In the lecture series, students engage with topics relating to current applications of psychological research and practice such as the ethical practice of psychology and the measurement of attitudes, behaviour, and behavioural change as related to contemporary issues such as climate change, indigenous cultural respect, drug addiction, and psychological health and wellbeing.

In the research seminars, students work in small groups to design and conduct a research project under the supervision of an academic researcher.

Together, the lecture and research streams prepare students for further studies in psychology or to enter the workplace having developed skills in applying psychological knowledge, conducting research, working collaboratively, and communicating effectively about psychological theories and findings. Students’ achievements are celebrated in a final poster presentation evening at which the research conducted by groups over the semester is presented to peers and academic staff.

Ever since Freud, the unconscious mind has been a critical part of our understanding of the human mind and behaviour. Despite its power to captivate popular imagination, scientific psychology's treatment of unconsciousness has a history of vicissitudes. This subject has three main components: historical background, contemporary theory and research, and applications and implications in contemporary culture and society. First, the subject traces the historical origin and subsequent development of the idea of the unconscious mind in psychological theories and practice. In so doing, Freud's notion of unconsciousness, as well as lesser known, but critically important theorists' contributions are examined and their contemporary implications are discussed. Second, the modern methods used in the contemporary examination of unconscious processes are introduced, and the current understanding of psychological unconsciousness is discussed from neuroscientific, perceptual, cognitive, developmental, social, and clinical perspectives. Third, we survey the uses of the scientific understanding of unconscious processes in a variety of applied contexts and explore implications of the psychological knowledge about the unconscious mind in contemporary culture and society. This includes a critical examination of the evidence for the role of unconscious processes in abnormal human behaviour and discussions about implications of the unconscious mind for identity and responsibility.

This subject investigates issues of social and emotional development across all life periods of the life-span: childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, middle adulthood, and late adulthood. Students taking this subject will learn about major developmental tasks and issues for each life period, including: identity development, gender and sexuality development, moral development, family and peer relationships, and education.

Perception, Memory and Cognition covers a variety of cognitive processes ranging from the initial perception of a stimulus all the way through to decision making. The lecture topics may include visual perception, visual illusions, attention, awareness, consciousness, memory, learning, categorization, decision making and various cognitive disorders. The tutorials will focus on current theoretically important questions and provide an opportunity for students to develop an understanding of experimental techniques and scientific writing skills. By increasing our understanding of normal cognitive processes, we are placed in a better position to understand abnormal behaviours and cognitive disorders. The material is distinct from that covered by PSYC20007 Cognitive Psychology and students are not required to have previously taken that subject.

This subject explores the relationship between the brain and psychological attributes, such as behaviour and cognition. It covers a number of specific areas which may include:

• the structure and function of the brain in general and clinical populations
• how to measure brain activity, and how brain activity can be used to inform models of cognitive function
• a variety of cognitive functions and their neural underpinnings, such as: representation of objects, rules, intentions, decisions, laterality, memory, number processing, attention and perception.

This subject covers phenomena such as hallucinations and delusions, anxiety, somatisation, depression, dissociation, and changes in memory and cognition, and places them in the context of everyday experiences. It discusses the various factors, processes and mechanisms thought to lead some people who experience such phenomena to develop full-blown disorders. A theoretical basis for this continuum model is provided and students are encouraged to consider mental health issues from this humanistic perspective in comparison to the traditional categorical model.

This subject provides students with an overview of theories, principles, methods, and findings in applied psychology, with a focus on domains such as health and well-being, education, work, and consumer behaviour. Topics will be selected from motivation and emotion; personality and abilities as predictors of real-world outcomes; economic decision-making; performance and achievement; expertise; health promotion; market research and consumer psychology. Tutorial exercises develop and extend these areas.

The subject will provide students with an opportunity to evaluate the relationship between cognitive and neuropsychological typical and atypical development in pre-adolescent children.

Contemporary theory and research methods for investigating cognitive and neuropsychological development will be reviewed. The focus will be on the adequacy of research methods for answering questions about typical and atypical cognitive and neuropsychological development. Subject themes will include:

• Characterizing the development of thinking and reasoning abilities.
• Characterizing neuropsychological development in pre-adolescent children.
• Understanding links between the adequacies of research questions, research methods and data analyses.
• Understanding the meaning and significance of variability in cognitive and neuropsychological change in pre-adolescent children.
• Formulating research questions that investigate typical and atypical development.
• Writing research reports that reflect an awareness of differences in typical and atypical developing pre-adolescent children. 

The overall aim of the subject is to help students acquire an understanding of the issues associated with identifying typical and atypically cognitive and neuropsychological development in preadolescent children.

There are more connections in a human brain than there are stars in the universe. This subject focuses on the brain as an integrated system and looks at how its many connected networks achieve coordinated effects, linking the mind to the brain and the body.

In exploring integration across the nervous system, this subject will examine topics such as the effects of neurotransmitters on emotions and behaviour, the nature of sleep and wakeful states and transitions between them, and mechanisms underlying the control of body movement. The connections between social factors and brain function will also be explored, as well as current ethical dilemmas in the field, such as the ethical consequences associated with recent technologies designed to alter our minds, or enhance brain function beyond normal healthy ranges.

This subject has two components.

Personality: discusses major contemporary issues in the study of personality, and selected areas of contemporary research. Topics will be selected from the neuroscience of personality; personality processes; the emotional and motivational correlates of personality; personality change and stability; trait and type approaches to personality; the interface between personality and abnormal psychology.

Social Psychology: extends the understandings gained in the first two levels of the undergraduate program to consider more advanced theoretical and empirical work in the areas of individual, interpersonal and group processes. Topics will be selected from advanced research in attitudes and social cognition, interpersonal, small group and sociocultural processes.