Personality and Social Psychology

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2016:

36 contact hours with an estimated 170 hours time commitment

No prerequsisites are required for this subject

No corequisites are required for this subject

Prior coursework in the two Level 1 psychology subjects, Mind Brain and Behaviour 1 and Mind Brain and Behaviour 2 is recommended.

512223 Personality and Social Psychology 2

512228 Personality and Social Psychology

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 identity, 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 should have developed:

• knowledge of the key concepts, theories and empirical findings relating to social and personality psychology
• skills to conduct a literature search pertinent to social/personality psychology
• skills to conduct basic statistical tests of relationships between variables
• skills to interpret and draw inferences from statistical tests and integrate empirical findings into theoretical background
• an ability to apply core knowledge in social and personality psychology to everyday human behaviour (e.g., prejudice, relationships, morality)

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.

There are no prescribed texts

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 appropriate 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