Psychology

COURSES OFFERED

The following postgraduate courses are available:

1. Doctor of Philosophy
2. Doctor of Philosophy (Clinical Psychology)
3. Honours Master of Science
4. Graduate Diploma in Applied Psychology
5. Master of Science
6. Master of Psychology (Clinical)
7. Doctor of Psychology (Clinical)

CURRENT RESEARCH AREAS

The following areas of research are available to candidates undertaking the Master of Science degree (Honours) and the Doctor of Philosophy degree by research:

Clinical and community psychology: including clinical psychopathology and cognitive behaviour therapy, the psychology of drug dependence, constructivist and psychodynamic approaches, ADHD, psychotherapy research and professional psychological help seeking.

Cognitive processes: in particular, attention, memory, reading, imagery, the human/computer interface, and applied decision-making and problem solving.

Conditioning in humans, Comparative learning and cognition.

Emotions: including moods, and emotional intelligence.

Health Psychology: including psychology of diet, exercise and the metabolic syndrome, population and behavioural studies of physical activity and health.

Lifespan development: including development of deductive and inductive reasoning, and children’s conceptual development.

Metatheoretical issues in psychology

Psychometrics and quantitative psychology

Psychophysiology: including the orienting reaction, and psychophysiological indices of cognitive processes; applications in clinical populations.

Social psychology: in particular, social cognition and belief systems; social psychology of adolescent behaviour; dependency.

Theoretical approaches to psychology: Personal construct psychology; Jungian and transpersonal psychology; psychoanalytic child psychology.

Visual perception

Doctor of Philosophy (3 years full-time or equivalent part-time)

To qualify for entry to the Doctor of Philosophy research degree, candidates must have an Honours degree in a relevant discipline of at least Class II, Division 1 standard. Only a limited number of places are available, so the required standard may well be higher than this. This degree is a three-year full-time degree, the usual minimum period of study. For part-time study the duration will be approximately twice as long.

Doctor of Philosophy (Clinical Psychology)

To qualify for entry to the Doctor of Philosophy professional degrees, candidates must have an Honours Bachelor Degree of at least Class II, Division 1 standard. The program will normally involve eight academic sessions of full-time or equivalent part-time study.

The program for the professional PhD candidates will require successful completion of:

Honours Master of Science *
(2 years full-time or equivalent part-time)

To qualify for entry to the Honours Master of Science degree candidates must have an Honours degree of at least Class II, Division 2. Only a limited number of places are available, so the required standard may well be higher than this. The usual minimum period of study is two years full-time. For part-time study the duration will be approximately twice as long.

  Each year students enrol in:

* This degree is currently under review for 2003. Please refer to the Faculty for further information.

Graduate Diploma in Applied Psychology

This degree offers a fourth year of Psychology, accredited by the Australian Psychological Society, to graduates with a three-year major in Psychology. It is aimed at those interested in studying Psychology at an advanced level, as an alternative to the fourth year Honours degree. The course is designed to extend and enrich undergraduate studies in Psychology. The course can be completed in one year of full-time study or part-time equivalent.

Entry requirements

It is possible to admit only a limited number of students each year. If the number of applicants exceeds the quota, admission will be based on academic qualifications.

Program of Study
Students complete the following subjects:

GHMC952	Professional Skills for Psychologists	6
GHMC975	Health Psychology	6
GHMC976	Assessment in Applied Psychology	6
GHMC977	Counselling Psychology	6
GHMC978	Child and Adolescent Psychology	6
GHMC979	Major Research Project	18

Master of Science

This degree is available to applicants with a major study in Psychology. It is not an APS accredited fourth year of Psychology, and therefore is not suitable for Australian students who intend to become practicing psychologists. The course structure allows international students to tailor their studies to suit the requirements of the profession in their own countries. This course is available as a one-year full-time or two-year part-time course.

Entry requirements
Bachelor degree or equivalent qualification with a major in Psychology.

Program of Study
Students complete the following subjects:

GHMC952	Professional Skills for Psychologists	6
GHMC976	Assessment in Applied Psychology	6
GHMC977	Counselling Psychology	6
GHMC979	Major Research Project	18

Plus two electives chosen from the following:

GHMC975	Health Psychology	6
GHMC978	Child and Adolescent Psychology	6
GHMD965	Principles and Practices of Psychosocial Rehabilitation	6
GHMD971	Assessment and Diagnosis in Mental Health	6
GHMD973	Case Management in Mental Health*	6
GHMD983	Statistics in Health Research	6

* Enrolment in this subject requires prior approval from the Head of the Graduate School of Public Health.

Master of Psychology (Clinical)

The Master of Psychology (Clinical) is a fully accredited professional 5^th and 6^th year of study for the purpose of membership of the Australian Psychological Society College of Clinical Psychologists. Entry to the Master of Psychology program will be from an Honours degree in Psychology at a standard of Class II, Division 2 or its equivalent. Places in this course are limited and will be based on academic merit and personal suitability. The program will involve four sessions of full-time study or their equivalent part-time.

The program requires the successful completion of at least 96 credit points as follows:

Doctor of Psychology (Clinical)

To qualify for entry candidates must have an Honours Bachelor Degree of at least Class II, Division 1 standard or its equivalent. The program will normally involve six academic sessions of full-time or equivalent part-time study. In addition to coursework and practicum requirements, the program for Doctor of Psychology candidates will require successful completion of a supervised research program on a topic that is in the field of Clinical Psychology. The research program will be written up as a thesis and constitutes one-third of the course program.

The program requires successful completion of a total of 144 credit points as follows:

(i) 72 credit points of coursework subjects:

GHMC908	Professional Issues in Psychology	4
GHMC910	Child and Family Psychology	4
GHMC919	Clinical Applications of Health Psychology	4
GHMC926	Counselling Skills	4
GHMC931	Clinical Neuropsychology	4
GHMC932	Sociocultural Aspects of Applied Psychology	4
GHMC933	Professional Workshop Series A (or GHMC934 Advanced Professional Workshop)	4
GHMC939	Introduction to Cognitive Behavioural Therapy	4
GHMC969	Advanced Cognitive Behavioural Therapy	8
GHMC970	Assessment & Psychopathology A	8
GHMC971	Assessment & Psychopathology B	8
GHMC993	Advanced Training in Personality Disorders A*	4
GHMC994	Advanced Training in Personality Disorders B*	4
GHMC995	Advanced Training - Clinical Supervision A*	4
GHMC996	Advanced Training - Clinical Supervision B*	4

(ii) 24 credit points of supervised clinical practica:

GHMC938	Practicum 1A	4
GHMC942	Practicum 1B	4
GHMC943	Practicum 2A	4
GHMC944	Practicum 2B	4
GHMC991	Advanced Practicum A	4
GHMC992	Advanced Practicum B	4

(iii) 48 credit points of independent but supervised research in the subjects:

GHMC946	Research Project A	8
GHMC981	Research Project C	16
GHMC982	Research Project D	24

Coursework will be graded in the same manner as coursework completed by candidates for the degree of Master of Psychology.

Award of the degree of Doctor of Psychology is governed by the University Rules for the award of Doctoral degrees as described elsewhere.

* In certain circumstances these subjects may be substituted by another subject approved by the Director of the Clinical Programs.