Year
2024Credit points
10Campus offering
No unit offerings are currently available for this unitPrerequisites
PSYC500 Introduction to Psychology: Science and Practice AND PSYC501 Foundations of Qualitative and Quantitative Data Analysis
Unit rationale, description and aim
Individual Differences and Social Psychology are fundamental topics within the discipline of psychology. Individual differences is the area of psychology devoted to the scientific study of people’s personalities and individual characteristic patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviours over time and across situations. Social psychology is the study of how people's thoughts, feelings, beliefs, intentions, goals, and behaviour are constructed within social contexts and through interactions with others. The focus of this unit is on the theoretical and scientific basis of social psychology and individual differences, as well as the application of the knowledge to real-world behaviour and a range of professional and applied settings. In this unit, the interaction between the individual and the social world, exploring issues of inequality and social justice at the individual and group level, and ethics will be explored. Issues that are relevant to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples that were introduced in PSYC500 will also be explored. The aim of this unit is to provide students with knowledge of the core theories, methods, and findings of social psychology and individual differences and how this knowledge can be applied in real-world situations.
Learning outcomes
To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.
Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.
Explore the graduate capabilities.
| Learning Outcome Number | Learning Outcome Description | Relevant Graduate Capabilities |
|---|---|---|
| LO1 | Discuss the major historical and contemporary models/theories in the fields of individual differences and social psychology | GC1, GC7, GC9, GC11 |
| LO2 | Critically examine key social psychological constructs of relevance to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and other cultural groups | GC1, GC5, GC7, GC9, GC11 |
| LO3 | Interpret individual differences measures and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of these measures | GC1, GC2, GC3, GC7, GC8, GC11 |
| LO4 | Appraise the strengths and weaknesses of social psychology and individual differences theories/models and identify the role of culture on these theories/models | GC1, GC2, GC3, GC7, GC8, GC11 |
| LO5 | Interpret empirical evidence and critically evaluate the relevant methodological and ethical issues from social psychology and individual differences research | GC1, GC2, GC3, GC7, GC8, GC9, GC11 |
Content
Topics will include:
- Theories, constructs, historical context, measures and research evidence of personality perspectives and individual differences
- Personality perspectives: Psychoanalytic, trait and biological approaches, cognitive and socio-cognitive approaches, humanistic
- Individual differences: motivation, social orientations and attitudes; sex, gender and sexuality; culture, including crucial considerations of the adequacy of applying models developed with White, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD) samples to Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples; individual differences in psychological health and wellbeing
- Self and Identity
- Theories and concepts relating to motivation including self-determination theory; social and biological motivations
- Person perception and biases
- Stereotyping and prejudice
- Group processes
- Interpersonal relationships
- Helping and aggression
- Conformity, compliance and obedience
- Contemporary issues of applied social psychology and individual differences including issues that are relevant to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
Learning and teaching strategy and rationale
Teaching and learning strategies utilised in this unit will support students in meeting the aims and achieving the learning outcomes relevant to this unit as well as to the broader course learning outcomes. This unit uses an active learning approach to support students in the exploration of knowledge essential to the discipline, and opportunities to practice and apply their learning in situations similar to their future professions. Students are provided with choice and variety in how they learn. Students are encouraged to contribute to asynchronous discussions, interact with peers through these discussion forums, and engage with online modules and readings via the online learning platform. Activities encourage students to bring their own examples to demonstrate understanding and application, and to engage constructively with their peers. Collaboration with peers in the online environment will support students in considering, discussing and debating the content of the unit. These learning and teaching strategies assist students in developing their knowledge and application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation of that knowledge in the fields of individual differences and social psychology. Students will receive regular and timely feedback on their learning, which includes information on their progress.
Assessment strategy and rationale
In order to pass this unit, students must:
- demonstrate the achievement of all learning outcomes
- complete and submit all of the assessment tasks
- obtain an aggregate mark of at least 50%
The assessment tasks have been designed to allow students to demonstrate the achievement of the learning outcomes of the unit and develop the associated graduate capabilities. For Assessment Task 1, students will prepare a written assignment that assesses their ability to summarise and critique a research article from the social psychological or personality literature that relates to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. In Assessment Task 2, students will complete a Case Report on a psychological assessment using personality and other individual differences measures to address a hypothetical client’s self-knowledge goal. The Case Report allows students to develop a familiarity with how personality and individual differences information is used to understand the person, and presented in professional settings. Assessment Task 3 is a Laboratory Report designed to enhance awareness of contemporary research in the field and to allow students to develop skills in laboratory report writing. Specifically, students will formulate hypotheses and test them using basic statistical analyses. Finally, in Assessment Task 4, students will complete an online quiz that will assess their understanding of unit content, and the ability to apply this understanding in a range of contexts.
Overview of assessments
| Brief Description of Kind and Purpose of Assessment Tasks | Weighting | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|
Assessment Task 1 - Summary and Critique of Social Psychology Research Related to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples Enables students to demonstrate the ability to summarise and critique current research with consideration of key social psychology concepts of relevance to research related to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. | 20% | LO1, LO2, LO5 |
Assessment Task 2 - Case Report Case reports are a key professional activity for practising psychologists. Case reports provide a summary of an individual’s (i.e., a client) psychological assessment using qualitative data from a brief interview and quantitative data from psychometric measures. As part of this assessment, students will demonstrate the ability to formulate an assessment aim; select, score, and interpret appropriate individual differences measures and client information; and propose evidence-based implementable recommendations. | 30% | LO3, LO4, LO5 |
Assessment Task 3 - Laboratory Report The laboratory report will allow students to demonstrate the ability to develop an argument leading to hypotheses by locating, discussing, evaluating, and synthesising the research literature. Further, students are to demonstrate the ability to describe the methodology and findings of a study, and to interpret and discuss these findings. | 30% | LO1, LO4, LO5 |
Assessment Task 4 - Online Quiz This task will assess student's knowledge and understanding of the topics covered in the unit. | 20% | LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4, LO5 |
Representative texts and references
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2012). Self-determination theory. In P. van Lange, A. W. Kruglanski, & E. T. Higgins (Eds.), Handbook of theories of social psychology (Vol. 1). Sage.
Dudgeon, P., Bray, A., D’Costa, B., & Walker, R. (2017). Decolonising psychology: Validating social and emotional wellbeing. Australian Psychologist, 52, 316-325. doi:10.1111/ap.12294
Kassin, S., Markus, H. R., Williams, L. A., Fein, S., & McBain, K. A. (2020). Social psychology (2nd Australian and New Zealand ed.). Pearson.
Kaufmann, L., & Findlay, B. (2020). How to write psychology research reports and assignments (9th ed). Pearson.
Smith, P. B., Fisher, R., Vignoles, V. L., & Bond, M. H. (2013). Understanding social psychology across cultures: Engaging with others in a changing world (2nd ed.). Sage
Twenge, J. M., & Campbell, W. K. (2020). Personality psychology: Understanding yourself and others (2nd ed.). Pearson.