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2009 Course Information
Department of Psychology
Programs of Study
- Minimum Course Requirement
- Australian Psychological Accreditation Council (APAC) Accredited Degrees
- Interdisciplinary Programs
Minimum Course Requirement
The minimum requirements for graduation are set out in the Bachelor Degree Rules which list, among other things, at least 18 credit points above 200 level, including one of the following approved combinations:
For the BA degree:
At least 12 credit points from units in the range PSY301-PSY361.
For the BSc degree:
At least 12 credit points from units in the range PSY301-PSY361.
Psychology and Philosophy
At least 8 credit points from units in the range PSY301-PSY361 together with at least 4 credit points from PHIL358, PHIL363, PHIL380, PHIL381
Psychology and Linguistics
At least 8 credit points from units in the range PSY301-PSY361 together with at least 4 credit points from SPH301, SPH302, SPH304, SPH305, SPH306, SPH307.
Psychology and Biology
At least 8 credit points from units in the range PSY301-PSY361 together with at least 6 credit points from BIOL316, BIOL334, BIOL345, BIOL346, BIOL357, BIOL358.
For the BSocSc degree:
At least 12 credit points from PSY307, PSY314, PSY318, PSY334, PSY345
Australian Psychological Accreditation Council (APAC) Accredited Degrees
Bachelor of Arts-Psychology/Bachelor of Science-Psychology
100 Level
| PSY104 | Introductory to Psychology I | 3 |
| PSY105 | Introduction to Psychology II | 3 |
| STAT170 | Introductory Statistics | 3 |
Students are required to undertake other first-year units from a wide range of disciplines.
200 Level
Entry into 200-level units requires a pass (ie at (P) Grade or above) in the three 100-level core units listed above.
Students are required to pass the following units:
| PSY222 | Design and Statistics II (from 2006, this unit will be a single semester unit) | 4 |
| PSY234 | Social and Personality Psychology | 3 |
| PSY235 | Developmental Psychology | 3 |
| PSY236 | Biopsychology and Learning | 3 |
| PSY237 | Cognition and Perception | 3 |
300 Level
| PSY332 | Principles of Psychological Assessment | 4 |
PLUS additional credit points in 300-level psychology units to make a total of 12 credit points. Note that 18 credit points at 300 level are required to graduate.
Change to Prerequisites
From 2006, the Department of Psychology will discontinue the practice of other units being deemed to be equivalent (NCCW) to PSY222 (Design and Statistics II) and PSY331 (Design and Statistics III).
Note that any student who undertook STAT270, STAT271 or BIOL235 prior to 2006, will be permitted to count that unit towards degree requirements (ie study patterns will remain unchanged for these students). However, the changes to prerequisites and corequisites for some 200-level units and most 300-level units, including PSY331, will come into effect in 2006. From 2006 PSY222 will be the prerequisite for PSY331. This means that if you have achieved a pass (at P Grade or above) in STAT270 prior to 2006 you can be considered for Honours, but from 2006 on, students must take and achieve a pass (at P Grade or above) in PSY222 if they want to proceed to PSY331.
Bachelor of Psychology (Honours)
The Honours Bachelor of Psychology degree requires 96 credit points over a minimum of a four-year period.
An initial group of students is admitted into the BPsych(Hons) degree in the first year based upon their UAI. In 2005 the UAI cut off for entry into the degree was 94.05.
A further pool of places is available at the end of the student's third year of full-time study (or part-time equivalent). Entry is competitive, based on the completion of six compulsory units at 200 level; 24 credit points at 300 level (including two compulsory units); a GPA of 3.25 in 300-level psychology units; and an overall GPA of 2.5 in at least 72 credit points.
Students who are enrolled in the BPsych(Hons) and fail to meet the requirements to enter 4th year (see requirements above), will be required to take out a BA-Psychology or a BSc-Psychology.
100 Level
| PSY104 | Introductory to Psychology I | 3 |
| PSY105 | Introduction to Psychology II | 3 |
| STAT170 | Introductory Statistics | 3 |
Students are required to undertake other first-year units from a wide range of disciplines.
200 level
Entry into 200-level units requires a pass (ie at (P) Grade or above) in the three 100-level core units listed above.
Students are required to pass the following units at P grade or above:
| PSY222 | Design and Statistics II (from 2006 this unit will be a single semester unit) | 4 |
| PSY232 | Research Methods in Psychology (from 2006 this unit will be replaced with PSY240 Research Methods in Psychology I (2 cps) and PSY241 Research Methods in Psychology 2 (2 cps) | 3 |
| PSY234 | Social and Personality Psychology | 3 |
| PSY235 | Developmental Psychology | 3 |
| PSY236 | Biopsychology and Learning | 3 |
| PSY237 | Cognition and Perception | 3 |
300 Level
Students are required to pass (at P Grade or above) the following units:
| PSY331 | Design and Statistics III | 4 |
| PSY332 | Principles of Psychological Assessment | 4 |
PLUS additional credit points in 300-level psychology units to make a total of 24 credit points
400 Level
Note that 400 level can only be commenced at the beginning of first semester and requires one year of full-time study or two years of part-time study. It is not available by external study.
The honours program consists of:
| Empirical thesis | 13 |
| Research Design IV | 3 |
| Ethical, Conceptual and Professional Issues | 2 |
Plus another two units from a varying selection of advanced topics in psychology. For more information on the fourth-year program.
Change to Prerequisites
From 2006, the Department of Psychology will discontinue the practice of other units being deemed to be equivalent (NCCW) to PSY222 (Design and Statistics II) and PSY331 (Design and Statistics III).
Note that any student who undertook STAT270, STAT271 or BIOL235 prior to 2006, will be permitted to count that unit towards degree requirements (ie study patterns will remain unchanged for these students). However, the changes to prerequisites and corequisites for some 200-level units and most 300-level units, including PSY331, will come into effect in 2006. From 2006 PSY222 will be the prerequisite for PSY331. This means that if you have achieved a pass (at P Grade or above) in STAT270 prior to 2006 you can be considered for Honours, but from 2006 on, students must take and achieve a pass (at P Grade or above) in PSY222 if they want to proceed to PSY331.
Bachelor of Arts-Psychology (Hons)/Bachelor of Science-Psychology (Hons)
Entry is competitive based on an overall grade point average of 2.5 in at least 68 cp and a grade point average over all 300-level units of not less than 3.25.
100 Level
| PSY104 | Introductory to Psychology I | 3 |
| PSY105 | Introduction to Psychology II | 3 |
| STAT170 | Introductory Statistics | 3 |
Students are required to undertake other first-year units from a wide range of disciplines.
200 Level
Entry into 200-level units requires a pass (at (P) Grade or above) in the three 100-level core units listed above. Entry into PSY232 Research Methods require a GPA of 2.5.
Students are required to pass (at P Grade or above) the following units:
| PSY222 | Design and Statistics II (from 2006, this unit will be a single semester unit) | 4 |
| PSY232 | Research Methods in Psychology (from 2006 this unit will be replaced with PSY240 Research Methods in Psychology I (2 cps) and PSY241 Research Methods in Psychology 2 (2 cps) | 3 |
| PSY234 | Social and Personality Psychology | 3 |
| PSY235 | Developmental Psychology | 3 |
| PSY236 | Biopsychology and Learning | 3 |
| PSY237 | Cognition and Perception | 3 |
300 Level
Students are required to pass (at (P) Grade or above) the following units:
| PSY331 | Design and Statistics III | 4 |
| PSY332 | Principles of Psychological Assessment | 4 |
PLUS additional credit points in 300-level psychology units to make a total of 16 credit points. Note that 18 credit points at 300 level are required to graduate.
400 level
Note that 400 level can only be commenced at the beginning of first semester and requires one year of full-time study or two years of part-time study. It is not available by external study.
| Empirical thesis | 13 |
| Research Design IV | 3 |
| Ethical, Conceptual and Professional Issues | 2 |
Plus another two units from a varying selection of advanced topics in psychology. For more information on the fourth-year program.
Interdisciplinary Programs
Bachelor of Arts-Psychology/Bachelor of Laws [BA-Psychology LLB]
This five-year program provides a joint qualification in psychology and the law. The psychology component of the combined degree is equivalent to the BA-Psychology. The law component is intended to provide a basic grounding in legal concepts, which is then built on in the final two years.
For more information, refer to the Division of Law.
Bachelor of Arts-Psychology/Bachelor of Science-Psychology/Bachelor of Health
[BA-Psychology/BSc-Psychology B Health]
This four-year double degree equips students with the skills and knowledge needed in a variety of health-related occupations: in health promotion, policy, planning, and research to name just a few. It includes a major in psychology accredited by the Australian Psychological Society and a Bachelor of Health.
For more information on the Health requirements, refer to the Department of Health and Chiropractic in the Division of Environmental and Life Sciences.
Bachelor of Arts-Psychology/Diploma in Education [BA-Psychology DipEd]
This four-year degree includes a major in psychology accredited by the Australian Psychological Society and also meets the requirements for the Diploma in Education. The psychology component of the degree is identical to the BA-Psychology. The program includes the required education and professional units for teachers wishing to teach at primary school level.
For more information, refer to the School of Education.
Bachelor of Business Administration/Bachelor of Arts-Psychology [BBA BA-Psychology]
This four-year double degree program provides a joint qualification in business and psychology. The program of study is exactly the same as that leading to the straight BBA except that students must take the elective in Organisational Psychology. The psychology component of the double degree includes a major in psychology accredited by the Australian Psychological Society.
For more information on the BBA program, refer to the Business Department in the Division of Economic and Financial Studies.
The Degree of Bachelor of Medical Sciences [BMedScs]
A Bachelor of Medical Sciences meets the demand for well trained medical and health professionals. The degree is designed to equip graduates with a flexible range of skills for a number of health-related occupations in the medical sciences, in medical research, and in allied health care areas. Graduates might work in hospitals, in medical research laboratories and institutes, in psychological research, or go on to higher degrees. The degree will also provide excellent preparation for entry to postgraduate medical degrees.
Entry to the degree is restricted. Students must have obtained superior HSC grades and are expected to have studied Mathematics (Band 2) plus Chemistry (Band 3). Students complete a common first year and then have the choice of specialising in one of three strands: Biology, Medical Chemistry or Psychomedical Science.
Consult Dr Judi Homewood, the Psychology representative for the BMedScs for further information.
Bachelor of Speech and Hearing Sciences [BSpHSc]
The Bachelor of Speech and Hearing Sciences consists of a number of core units covering introductory studies in Psychology and Linguistics, together with at least some basic studies in each of Statistics, Biology, Mathematics and Physics.
There are four major areas of study or specialisation: Audiology; Cognitive Psychology; Speech and Language Pathology; and Speech Research.
For more information, refer to the Department of Linguistics.
Cognitive Psychology Specialisation
200 Level
All students must take:
| LING210 | Phonetics and Phonology |
| LING214 | Introduction to Psycholinguistics or |
| PSY238 | Introduction to Psycholinguistics |
| PSY222 | Design and Statistics II |
| PSY237 | Cognition and Perception |
| Students should also take at least 6 credit points from the following 200-level units (at least one of PSY235 or PSY236 should be chosen): | |
| PSY234 | Social and Personality Psychology |
| PSY235 | Developmental Psychology |
| PSY236 | Biopsychology and Learning |
| Students who wish to qualify for honours in Psychology must take the following unit (note: this unit must be taken with PSY222, PSY234, PSY235, PSY236 and PSY237): | |
| PSY232 | Research Methods in Psychology |
| Further 200-level units may be selected from (but are not restricted to) the following | |
| Other 200-level units in Psychology | |
| LING211 | Grammar and Meaning |
300 Level
All students must take:
| PSY303 | Cognitive Processes II |
| SPH302 | Speech Physiology |
| SPH307 | Auditory Physiology and Psychoacoustics |
| SPH304 | Introduction to Audiology, or |
| SPH305 | Developmental Speech and Language Disorders, or |
| SPH306 | Acquired Speech and Language Disorders |
| Students should take at least 8 credit points from the following 300-level units (at least one of PSY315 or PSY321 should be chosen): | |
| PSY315 | Perception |
| PSY321 | Neuropsychology |
| PSY331 | Design and Statistics III |
| PSY332 | Principles of Psychological Assessment |
| Further 300-level units may be selected from (but are not restricted to) the following: | |
| BIOL357 | Physiology I |
| BIOL358 | Physiology II |
| COMP329 | Knowledge Systems |
| SPH301 | Acoustics of Speech |
| Other 300-level units in Psychology | |