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PSY1020 Foundation Psychology B

Semester 2, 2023 Ipswich On-campus
Units : 1
School or Department : School of Psychology and Wellbeing
Grading basis : Graded
Course fee schedule : /current-students/administration/fees/fee-schedules

Staffing

Course Coordinator:

Overview

Psychology is concerned with understanding why people think and act as they do, and how people differ. This course is designed to provide students with a basic understanding of the main concepts, techniques and theoretical perspectives in psychology, and complements the material presented and examined in PSY1010 Foundation Psychology A. Students will gain an appreciation of the major fields within the discipline, including Memory and Learning Strategies, Research Methods in Psychology, the Biological Basis of Behaviour, Motivation and Emotion, Sensation and Perception, Learning through Classical and Operant Conditioning, Intelligence, Thought and Language, and Consciousness. Learn about the research process, and build skills in writing research reports in the APA standard format. In addition, students will participate in psychological research for course credit (Assignment 2). Thus, it provides the foundational knowledge and core skills built on in subsequent undergraduate and postgraduate psychology courses to deepen discipline knowledge and strengthen skills.

Course learning outcomes

On completion of this course students will be able to demonstrate:

  1. An understanding of the scope of Psychology and the relationships between its fields;
  2. An understanding of what is meant by being scientific, and thinking critically;
  3. An understanding of research methods in Psychology, and the place and function of methodology in the behavioural sciences;
  4. Knowledge of the topics Memory, Research Methods, & Biological Aspects of Behaviour (Quizzes 1-3), Motivation and Emotion, Sensation and Perception, & Learning (Quizzes 2-3), Intelligence, Thought and Language, & Consciousness (Quiz 3);
  5. An ability to summarise and evaluate research findings related to aspects of the above topics;
  6. An ability to follow specific writing, organisation, and style guidelines in accordance with the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA).

Topics

Description Weighting(%)
1. Practical Report - critical evaluation of literature - identification of variables - formulation of hypotheses 50.00
2. Memory - approaches to memory - sensory memory - short-term memory - long-term memory - forgetting - memory improvement - biology of memory 6.00
3. Research Methods - characteristics of good research - the experimental process - descriptive methods - correlational research - ethics - critical evaluation 6.00
4. Biology and Behaviour - neurons - the nervous system - the brain - the cerebral cortex - the endocrine system - evolution and evolutionary psychology - heredity 6.00
5. Motivation and Emotion - perspectives - drives - goal setting - self-determination - intrinsic motivation - implicit motives - hierarchy of needs 6.00
6. Sensation and Perception - thresholds, signal detection, feature detectors, and sensory adaptation - vision - visual perception - hearing - smell and taste - skin and vestibular senses 6.00
7. Learning - classical conditioning - operant conditioning - latent and observational learning 5.00
8. Intelligence - theories of intelligence - measurement of intelligence - extremes of intelligence - testing controversies - determinants of intelligence 5.00
9. Thought and Language - concept formation - problem solving - creativity - reasoning - decision making - language 5.00
10. Consciousness - sleep and dreams - hypnosis and meditation - meditation and biofeedback - depressants, stimulants, and hallucinogenics 5.00

Text and materials required to be purchased or accessed

Burton, L 2020, An interactive approach to writing essays and research reports in psychology, 5th edn, John Wiley and Sons, Brisbane.
Burton, L, Westen, D & Kowalski, R 2022, Psychology: Australian and New Zealand edition, 6th edn, John Wiley & Sons, Brisbane, Australia.

Student workload expectations

To do well in this subject, students are expected to commit approximately 10 hours per week including class contact hours, independent study, and all assessment tasks. If you are undertaking additional activities, which may include placements and residential schools, the weekly workload hours may vary.

Assessment details

Approach Type Description Group
Assessment
Weighting (%) Course learning outcomes
Assignments Written Quiz A1 of 3 No 10 1,3,4
Assignments Written Workbook No 25 1,2,3,5
Assignments Written Quiz A2 of 3 No 17 1,3,4
Assignments Written Report No 25 1,2,3,5,6
Assignments Written Quiz A3 of 3 No 23 1,3,4
Date printed 9 February 2024