Psychology Specialisation
Psychology Specialisation - Overview
Offered By: |
ANU Joint Colleges of Science |
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Corequisite major: 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, social psychology and personality. Students taking the Psychology specialisation with 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, and be eligible for entry into Psychology Honours.
Learning Goals:
Students who have completed the Psychology specialisation will be able to:
- Explain major concepts, theoretical perspectives, empirical findings, and historical trends in psychology.
- Differentiate theoretical and empirical frameworks that have defined and shaped the field.
- Define key concepts that characterise psychology as a field of scientific inquiry as well as things that differentiate it from other related disciplines.
- Relate how social (eg environmental/cultural), and biological (genes, hormones) factors jointly shape human behavior.
- Apply basic research methods in psychology to investigate psychological questions and to research design, data analysis, and interpretation.
- Use critical inquiry, and, when possible, the scientific approach to solve problems related to behavior and mental processes.
- Identify relevant psychological mechanisms/issues and apply to real world or other contexts.
- Apply psychological principles to personal, social, and organisational issues.
- Critically analyse data and research, including methodology, results and conclusions.
- Articulate some of the central questions and issues in contemporary psychology.
- Critically evaluate the presentation of scientific ideas and research in the popular media.
- Identify and critically evaluate appropriate disciplinary research sources
- Evaluate information from a statistical perspective drawing on basic statistical concepts.
- Develop competence in interpreting graphical data to understand what is being compared/manipulated (independent variables) and what is being measured (dependent variables).
- Clearly communicate psychological processes and principles to both science literate and non science literate audiences.
- Adapt the collaborative and independent experiences of psychology laboratory, project and course work to other contexts.
- Identify and reflect on the values that underpin the discipline of psychology and its practice.
Requirements
This specialisation requires the completion of 24 units, which must include:
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
12 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:
A specialisation in Psychology must be taken in conjunction with a Psychology major.
Honours entry requires both the Psychology major and the specialisation. Students are also required to take: PSYC3018, PSYC3025 and PSYC3026.
Students should seek further course advice from one of the academic conveners of the Psychology specialisation.
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.
