Overview

All of us observe our social worlds and try to understand why people behave, think, and feel as they do. In this unit you will study a number of infl uential theories, philosophical and empirical approaches in Personality and Social Psychology. You will examine key topics in the scientific assessment of personality, attitudes and emotions, including an introduction to psychometric testing (e. g. , validity and reliability) in Personality and Social Psychology.

Specifically, in the Personality component you will be exposed to conceptual analysis and will be expected to examine critically theories from the Social Cognitive and Psychometric traditions. In the Social Psychology component you will examine salient social constructs such as social infl uence, the causes of prejudice and possible reduction strategies, and explore how cognitive processes affect social judgment and behaviour. In this unit you will develop a broad understanding of the leading theories and research in the areas of Personality and Social Psychology.

Details

Enrolment rules

Teaching staff and contact details

Assessment

Research Report (45%): The 2000-word written research report is an assignment

based on a study conducted in the Week 2 Psyc2017 tutorial. The research report is due on Monday, September 15 (Week 7). Standard late penalties apply to all submissions

made after the DUE DATE, unless modified by Special Consideration or a DSU Academic Plan.

Research Participation (5%): Research Participation requires you to sign up to

participate in real studies run by researchers in the School of Psychology. You will

receive 1 credit point for every 1 hour of research participation, with up to 5 credit

points obtainable (i.e. five hours). In addition to participation, a brief survey/quiz

component is required – more information about this survey/quiz requirement will be announced on Canvas. Research participation is not compulsory – if you do not

complete any or all of your five hours of research participation, you simply will not

receive the marks associated with it. If you miss a research participation appointment without cancelling in advance and without excuse, you may be penalised by the

researcher, and may be docked credit points – a successful Special Consideration    application may result in the penalty being waived. Please note, applying for Special  Consideration for this component as a whole implies you were incapacitated for the entire semester in which case you would be advised to discontinue the unit entirely.

Final Exam (50%): The Final Exam is a hurdle task and runs during the exam period and will assess tutorial focus papers and lecture content. Exams are never moved forward  so ensure you are available for the entire Central Main exam period. A successful application for Special Consideration or Special Arrangements for the Final Exam will result in you being offered a Replacement Exam during the Central exam period. Please note that the structure and content of the Central Main exam and Replacement exam may differ. Any differences will be noted on the announcements page on the Psyc2017 CANVAS site closer to the exam period.

Detailed information for each assessment can be found on the Psyc2017 Canvas site.

Assessment criteria

The University awards common result grades, set out in the Coursework Policy 2014 (Schedule 1).

As a general guide, a high distinction indicates work of an exceptional standard, a distinction a very high standard, a credit a good standard, and a pass an acceptable standard.