Studying Psychology under the Melbourne Model- Electives

Electives - Subject Descriptions


Title: Advanced Cognitive Psychology
This subject provides an in-depth coverage of key areas of cognitive psychology.  Two of the three areas will be taught in a given year.

Cognitive Neuropsychology -  Cognitive neuropsychologists attempt to understand normal cognitive processes by examining the different ways that these processes can be impaired following brain injury. This section examines how the cognitive neuropsychological approach has been used to develop and modify models of cognitive processing in a range of domains, including attention, object recognition, face recognition, memory and reading and writing. Case study data are drawn from extensively and students observe videos of subjects with particular patterns of neuropsychological impairment.

Language Processing -  This section provides students with an understanding of how speakers of a language use their accumulated linguistic knowledge to comprehend and produce words and sentences.  While the emphasis will be on how normal speakers process spoken and written language, reference will also be made to language impairments where appropriate.  Topics will be chosen from word processing, semantic memory, syntactic processing, discourse comprehension, word and utterance production, and reading and writing processes.

Visual Perception - This section examines the processing of visual information in human beings, focusing on the processing of sensory information in the visual system, and the way in which this information relates to cognitive processes such as object recognition, learning, and language. How the anatomical structures and computational functions of the brain underpin sensory and cognitive processing of visual information is also explored.

On completion of this subject, students should be able to: think critically about classical and current theoretical issues in psychology; evaluate theoretical issues critically on the basis of empirical evidence; be able to write a standard empirical research report; and locate and use web-based material effectively.

Title: Advanced Biological Psychology
The course approaches the understanding of behaviour from a biological perspective. The approach is illustrated by three specific content areas.

The Physiological Bases of Emotion covers a variety of topics relevant to the biological bases of emotions selected from theoretical approaches to the relationship of physiological and emotional phenomena; neuroanatomy, neurophysiology and neurochemistry of emotional networks in the human brain; somatovisceral substrates of emotion; and facial expression of emotion.

Laterality, Brain and Behaviour introduces some of the issues associated with human laterality research. Laterality is discussed in relation to asymmetries in lateral preference (handedness) and functional asymmetries between the cerebral hemispheres. Students become familiar with neuropsychological research and gain insight into the functional properties of the two cerebral hemispheres and how these relate to behaviour. Topics will be selected from the evolution of laterality in humans; laterality in other species; measuring lateral preference; the causes and development of handedness; handedness and its relation to other psychological functions; methods of research into cerebral laterality; clinical research; cerebral asymmetries for language and spatial processing; alternative descriptions of cerebral laterality; attention and laterality.

The Physiology and Psychology of Sleep provides students with a basic understanding of the nature of sleep. Topics will be selected from basic sleep phenomenology; the neurophysiology and neuropharmacology of sleep; regulatory controls exerted by sleep; sleep disorders; theories as to the functional significance of sleep; and the nature of dreams.

Title: Advanced Personality and Social Psychology
This subject examines advanced topics in the study of personality and social psychology, focusing on contemporary research and theory. The personality section investigates recent work on abnormal personality, personality change, values and positive psychology, and the psychology of creativity and aesthetic preference. The social psychology section explores advanced research and theory on social cognition, self and emotion, and the psychology of culture. The emphasis throughout is on detailed examination of current knowledge on human individuality and social life, and of the methods of discovery on which this empirical knowledge is based

On completion of this subject, students should be able to critically appraise current knowledge in personality and social psychology; critically evaluate the methods used to acquire this knowledge; critically analyse it within the larger socio-historical and intellectual context; appropriately interpret empirical data in light of contemporary theory and considerations of appropriate research methodology; and constructively plan a theoretical and empirical research project to advance knowledge.

Title: Cognitive & Neuropsychological Development
In developmental science the interaction between nature and nurture takes centre stage in answering questions about the reasons for variability in the emergence and growth of children’s cognitive abilities. Recent advances in neurological development and neuropsychological assessment procedures provide new ways of understanding changes in typical and atypical cognitive development.

The subject examines the significance of cognitive, biological/genetic, neurological and neuropsychological factors in typical and atypical cognitive development in the period birth to adolescence. Current research on developmental plasticity and sensitive periods in cognitive development will be reviewed. Special attention will be paid to the prenatal and postnatal development of the central nervous system, as well as the impact of neurological insult on children's cognitive development. Of particular interest are the challenges associated with assessing the changing nature of children's cognitive competencies (e.g., executive functioning, reasoning, working memory, theory of mind, attention, planning and strategic skills), as well as how these competencies are manifest in children with specific disorders (e.g., autism spectrum disorder, ADHD) or with particular physical difficulties (e.g., deaf and blind children). Special attention will be paid to typical and atypical development in language, reading, number and mathematical abilities, focusing specifically on the diagnosis and remedial interventions of children with dyscalculia and dyslexia.

Upon completion of this subject students should be able to critically evaluate perspectives on the relationship between cognitive and neuropsychological development; evaluate the adequacy of research methods used to study cognitive-neuropsychological developmental issues; interpret cognitive-neuropsychological development research data; understand analytic issues associated with studying variability in development; construct meaningful research hypotheses about cognitive-neuropsychological development; and write detailed laboratory reports that reflect an understanding of core issues in cognitive-neuropsychological development.

Title: Developing Persons in Social Worlds
We all live in complex socio-cultural settings. We affect our socio-cultural environments and they also impact on us. How do we conceptualise and investigate the changing nature of these transactional interactions as we develop and grow?

This subject examines personal and social development in its social and cultural contexts (eg. family, school, work, and community). A range of theoretical perspectives on personal and social development are considered including sociogenetic, dialectical, transactional and psychosocial models. Methodological problems involved in the study of development are analysed, with attention focused on issues of change and stability within persons, variability between persons, interpersonal relationships, and person-culture exchanges. Topics will be selected
from developmental tasks; relationships with parents, children and peers; development of self and identity; transition points and rites of passage; processes leading to emotional and behavioural adjustment and maladjustment; and development in specific cultural contexts (eg. indigenous, migrant, Anglo-Australian).

The subject is designed to give students opportunity to develop both: generic skills related to their self directed management of their own learning, and problem-solving related to: summarising, analysing and integrating material from different sources [written, computerised, verbal, practical]; specific skills related to the domain of study - developmental psychology - in the analysis of prior research and theory; in conducting and analysing developmentally-oriented interview; and in administering and analysing a life structure diagram on the computer.

Title: The Unconscious Mind
This subject reviews how the unconscious mind has been described and used to explain human behaviour throughout the history of psychology. It will also include contemporary accounts of unconsciousness and automatic processes from perspectives of neural, perceptual, cognitive and social psychology. Special attention will be given to examining the evidence for the role of unconscious processes in abnormal human behaviour. Modern methods used in the observation and identification of unconscious processes will be critically reviewed and potential applications of an understanding of automatic processing in human behaviour will be explored.

Title: Psychology and Sociocultural Dynamics
However complex our globalising world is, without a doubt, human thoughts and actions are responsible for what we have in contemporary culture and society. How are our minds and behaviours shaped by culture and society, and how do our thoughts and actions constitute the ongoing socio-cultural processes around us? The scale of these questions is immense. This subject considers the complex interplay between psychological processes and socio-cultural dynamics, examines theoretical concepts and methodological tools for observation and analysis, and explores implications and utilities in a variety of settings from small groups, organisations, communities and societies. Making use of diverse methods from experimentation, surveys, computer simulations, to mathematical modelling, special attention will be given to the dynamic processes involving the psychology of individuals and the social networks that surround them. This subject will consider how these processes contribute to cultural diversity in the globalizing world today, where the forces of convergence and diversification operate side by side, leading to the stability and change of contemporary culture and society over time.

Title: Mathematical Psychology
This subject examines applications of mathematics to the study of behaviour by introducing how mathematical modeling can be applied in the study of psychological phenomena. The role of quantification in the development of psychology is reviewed and the cotemporary mathematical approaches to the representation of psychological phenomena are explored. In addition, the modelling of a number of specific psychological phenomena are examined in depth. The specific topics for in-depth study will be selected from psychophysics; the foundations of psychological measurement; models for response times; models for memory and attentional processes; judgment and decision making; motor control; computational models for cognitive processes; psychological scaling and latent variable models; social and organizational processes.

For more information:

tel:+61 3 8344 6377
fax:+61 3 9347 6618
email: enquiries@psych.unimelb.edu.au
web:www.psych.unimelb.edu.au

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