Personality and Social Psychology

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2010:

Lectures and Laboratory/Practical classes

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards of Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Description, Subject Objectives, Generic Skills and Assessment Requirements of this entry.

The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the disability support scheme can be found at the Disability Liaison Unit Website: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/

This subject examines human individuality and relatedness, the core themes of personality and social psychology. Its focus is on how we are unique individuals but also connected to others. The personality section investigates the nature and structure of individual differences, how these differences are assessed, and how they can be explained psychologically and biologically. The social psychology section examines how individuals construct their sense of self and identitiy, how they perceive and evaluate other people, how they form relationships, and how their behaviour is influenced by their social groups and cultural context.

A quantitative methods component will be integrated into the lecture, tutorial, and assessment structure of this subject. The aim is to provide an understanding of, and practical experience with, the appropriate experimental design and statistical analysis techniques used to evaluate theories in Personality and Social Psychology.

On completion of this subject, students be able to:

• give a critical account of some of the main theories in one or more topic areas in personality and social psychology
• derives testable empirical predictions from a theory that are expressed in abstract, personality, or social psychological terms
• assess the adequacy of a personality or social psychological theory in relation to a given set of experimental findings
• summarise and analyse data in a way that is appropriate to the empiricial test of personality or social psychological theory, and
• communicate clearly the relationships that exist between theory, predictions, empirical test, and subsequent inferences.

Written work of no more that 2000 words due mid-semester (40%)

An examination of no more than two hours (60%) to be completed at the end of semester during the specified University examination period.

Each piece of assessment must be completed (hurdle requirements). Attendance at 80% or more of the laboratory classes and a class presentation are hurdle requirements. In case of failure to meet either hurdle requirement, additional work will be required before a passing grade can be awarded.

This subject potentially can be taken as a breadth subject component for the following courses:

• Bachelor of Biomedicine
• Bachelor of Commerce
• Bachelor of Environments
• Bachelor of Music

You should visit learn more about breadth subjects and read the breadth requirements for your degree, and should discuss your choice with your student adviser, before deciding on your subjects.

Students will be given appropraite opportunity and educational support to develop skills to:

• critically appraise current knowledge and its internal structure
• critically evaluate the methods used to acquire the current knowledge
• critically analyse the current knowledge within the larger socio-historical and intellectual context
• appropriately interpret empirical data in light of the current knowledge and methodological considerations
• constructively plan a theoretical and empirical research project to advance knowledge