Offered By	ANU Joint Colleges of Science
Academic Contact	Dr Kristen Pammer and Professor Don Byrne
Areas of Interest	Psychology

Description:

Psychology is the scientific study of how people behave, think and feel.  It is a broad ranging discipline that spans topics including perceiving and thinking, the biological basis of behaviour, research methodology, child development, perception and cognition, social psychology and personality. Students taking the psychology major will gain an understanding of how to apply the scientific perspective to psychological phenomena in the laboratory and in the real world.Within the major there is flexibility to select courses to meet individual career objectives. The intention of the Psychology major is to ensure the acquisition of contemporary knowledge in psychological theory and evidence across core themes in psychological science.

Learning Goals:

Students who have completed the Psychology major will be able to:

1. Explain major concepts, theoretical perspectives, empirical findings, and historical trends in psychology.
2. Differentiate theoretical and empirical frameworks that have defined and shaped the field.
3. Define key concepts that characterise psychology as a field of scientific inquiry as well as things that differentiate it from other related disciplines.
4. Relate how social (eg environmental/cultural), and biological (genes, hormones) factors jointly shape human behavior.
5. Apply basic research methods in psychology to investigate psychological questions and to research design, data analysis, and interpretation.
6. Use critical inquiry, and, when possible, the scientific approach to solve problems related to behavior and mental processes.
7. Identify relevant psychological mechanisms/issues and apply to real world or other contexts.
8. Apply psychological principles to personal, social, and organisational issues.
9. Critically analyse data and research, including methodology, results and conclusions.
10. Articulate some of the central questions and issues in contemporary psychology.
11. Critically evaluate the presentation of scientific ideas and research in the popular media.
12. Identify and critically evaluate appropriate disciplinary research sources
13. Evaluate information from a statistical perspective drawing on basic statistical concepts.
14. Develop competence in interpreting graphical data to understand what is being compared/manipulated (independent variables) and what is being measured (dependent variables).
15. Clearly communicate psychological processes and principles to both science literate and non science literate audiences.
16. Adapt the collaborative and independent experiences of psychology laboratory, project and course work to other contexts.
17. Identify and reflect on the values that underpin the discipline of psychology and its practice.

Requirements

This major requires the completion of 48 units, which must include:

A total of 18 units from the following compulsory courses:

PSYC1003  Psychology 1: Understanding Mind, Brain and Behaviour

PSYC1004  Psychology 2: Understanding People in Context

PSYC2009  Quantitative Methods in Psychology

 A total of 30 units to be chosen from the following courses including:

• 12 units chosen from the following 2000 level courses:

PSYC2001  Social Psychology

PSYC2002  Developmental Psychology

PSYC2007  Biological Basis of Behaviour

PSYC2008  Visual Perception and Cognition

• 18 units chosen from the following 3000 level courses:

PSYC3002  The Social Psychology of Groups Processes and Social Change

PSYC3011  Perception

PSYC3015  Issues in Cognitive Psychology

PSYC3016  Issues in Behavioural Neuroscience

PSYC3018  Advanced Research Methods

PSYC3020  Health Psychology

PSYC3023  Special Topics in Psychology

PSYC3025  Abnormal Psychology across the Life Span

PSYC3026  Personality and the Assessment of Individual Differences

PSYC3027  Late-life Development and Ageing

Advice to Students:

What 1st year courses should you enrol in?  PSYC1003 and PSYC1004

Students should seek further course advice from the academic convener of this Psychology major.

Students should note that the 48 unit Psychology major alone does not constitute the accredited Psychology sequence that will allow entry into honours. The accredited sequence must include at least a major and a minor in Psychology, the Psychology major and the specialisation is suggested.

The information published on the Study at ANU 2012 website applies to the 2012 academic year only. All information provided on this website replaces the information contained in the Study at ANU 2011 website.