PSY2011

Psychology 2A

Dr Nikki Rickard (Caulfield/Peninsula), Dr Jim Phillips (Clayton) and Dr Dianne Wuillemin (Gippsland)

8 points
* Four 1-hour lectures and one 3-hour laboratory per week
* First semester
* Caulfield/Peninsula, Clayton, Gippsland, and Distance
* Prerequisites: PSY1011 or APY1010 or GAS1501 and PSY1022 or APY1020 or GAS1502
* Prohibitions: any of the following psychology subjects taught in 1997 or earlier: PSY2011, PSY2022, APY2010, GAS2501, GAS2503, GAS2504, GAS2505
* Distance students must complete a minimum of 12 hours on-campus weekend school laboratory work

Objectives On the completion of this subject students will have acquired conceptual and practical skills in designing and analysing psychological research; will have developed an appreciation of the full range of human sensory modalities; will have a knowledge of the effects of our early perceptual environment, the way in which external stimuli are internally encoded, and the principles governing our perception of objects in space; will have learned how human behaviour, both simple and complex, is underpinned by physiological and neural processes; and will have acquired an understanding of the interplay between local and distal, and familial and cultural, factors in determining the course of development from birth through to old age. Students will also have developed more advanced skills in research design and analysis, report writing, and oral presentations.

Synopsis This subject covers at a more advanced level four of the areas presented in first-year psychology at an introductory level. The topics comprise research design and analysis, sensation and perception, biological psychology, and human development. The methodological component builds on the basic research skills taught in first year, and equips students with more advanced tools that can be employed in laboratory work. Sensation and perception covers sensory processes involved in audition, touch, kinesthesis, proprioception, smell and taste; and perceptual development, spatio-temporal coding, and object perception. Biological psychology covers states of consciousness, mechanisms and disorders of learning and memory, and the regulation of emotional and motivational states. Human development encompasses physical, cognitive, and social-emotional changes across the life span, and how these are shaped by macrosystems such as culture, and microsystems such as peers and the family. The laboratory program complements the lecture series, and provides further training in research techniques, report writing, and oral presentations.

Assessment Examination (3 hours multiple-choice): 55%
* Two research design and analysis assignments (500 words each): 5% each)
* One seminar presentation (10 minutes): 5%

Prescribed texts

Gravetter F J and Wallnau L B Statistics for the behavioural sciences 4th edn, West, 1996
Gravetter F J and Wallnau L B Study guide to accompany statistics for the behavioural sciences 4th edn, West, 1996
Gray P Psychology 2nd edn, Worth, 1994
O'Shea R P Writing for psychology: An introductory guide for students Harcourt Brace, 1996
Shaughnessy J J and Zechmeister E B Research methods in psychology 4th edn, McGraw-Hill, 1997
Zechmeister E B, Zechmeister, J S and Shaughnessy J J A practical guide to research methods in psychology 3rd edn, McGraw-Hill, 1997