Department of Psychology
Postgraduate Diploma in Psychology
Unit Outlines
Note that not all units will be offered each year and availability depends on student numbers, whilst some units MAY have quotas.
PSYC846 Advanced Issues in Developmental Psychology: Child Abuse and Neglect
3 cp (Associate Professor K Bussey)
This unit will cover social, economic and psychological factors associated with the physical, sexual and emotional abuse of children; methods of public education prevention, intervention and treatment; and legal and criminological issues.
PSYC875 Health Psychology
3 cp (Dr J Cunningham)
Health psychology is devoted to understanding the psychological influences on how people stay healthy, why they become ill, and how they respond when they do get ill. It encompasses both health promotion and adaptation to illness. Attention will also be given to stress, pain and their management, practitioner-patient relations, coping with chronic illness, psychoneuroimmunology, and relaxation training.
PSYC880 Introduction to Theories of Counselling
3 cp (Dr C Schniering)
The unit will introduce students to a number of theories of counselling, specifically focusing on the translation of the theory into practice. The aim is to familiarise students with the key concepts in each theory. Students will not be prepared by this unit to conduct therapeutic counseling of individuals or families.
PSYC881 Psychological Assessment & Evaluation
3 cp (Dr N Todorov)
This unit is designed to provide a forum for the discussion of issues to do with the assessment of intelligence, memory and personality. The majority of the lectures will discuss theories of intelligence and their application to the administration and interpretation of the WAIS-III and WISC-III, the two most commonly used IQ tests.
PSYC883 Ethical, Conceptual and Professional Issues
3 cp (Dr J Franklin)
This compulsory unit is designed to provide a comprehensive overview of ethical, conceptual and professional issues in relation to the practice of psychology. Familiarisation with local, national and international codes of conduct will be provided together with training in interviewing.
PSYC885 History and Theory in Psychology
3 cp (Dr C Wastell)
This unit explores the philosophical and scientific pre-suppositions of Psychology, and examines the historical root of modern Psychology with a view to critiquing the current models of Psychology. It will introduce students to issues in modern Psychology that involve such topics as Theory of Mind, Emotion Processes and Rationality as well as Constructivist approaches to meaning and research.
PSYC886 Research and Design
3 cp (Dr T Case)
This compulsory unit aims to prepare students to undertake survey or experimental research. Students receive lectures on survey and experimental research design, statistical and computing procedures Students also complete wither an experimental or a survey project dependent on the type of research project (PSYC943) they intend to complete.
PSYC887 Advanced Issues in Organisational Psychology
3 cp (Dr B Searle)
The unit investigates past, present and future themes of scientific psychology as they apply to organisations. It explores such issues as motivation, occupational stress, work design, teamwork and small group behaviour, creativity and decision-making. Classes cover both research and practice issues. There is a strong focus on recent developments in the field.
PSYC943 Research Project
17 cp (Dr C McMahon and staff)
This unit will involve students working on a research project in groups of three or four under the direction of a staff member. Students will work as a team on the project, but the staff member will ensure that each student provides appropriate input. Once the data are collected, students will work individually on analysing the data and will individually present results of the research in thesis style (40 pages maximum).
PSYC950 Advanced Issues in Developmental Psychology: Developmental Challenges across the Lifespan
3 cp (Dr C McMahon, Associate Professor J Ungerer)
This unit will use a “problem-based learning” approach to etiology and management of developmental challenges at different points in the lifespan. Students will be encouraged to identify and seek out the information needed to fully understand the problems presented. In doing so, they will be expected to integrate different theoretical explanatory models to develop a holistic understanding of development. Finally they will consider evidence-based approaches to supportive interventions.
PSYC951 Advanced Issues in Social Psychology
3 cp (Dr T Case)
The overall objective of this unit is to provide an understanding of the approaches used by social psychologists to investigate social phenomena. This will be achieved by presenting and attending seminars on a range of contemporary topics drawn from the scientific literature on social psychology.
PSYC952 Advanced Topics in Physiological Psychology
3 cp (Dr J Cornish)
In this unit, physiological aspects of addiction (pynaptic transmission, blood brain barrier, methods of administration, tolerance and withdrawal) will be examined. The mechanisms of action of commonly prescribed drugs (eg sedatives, antianxiety agents, antipsychotic and antidepressant medications) will be discussed. The use of common drugs of abuse (eg alcohol, amphetamines, caffeine, cocaine, cannabis and nicotine) will then be explored from a learning and biopsychological perspective.