Psychology

COURSES OFFERED

Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy (Clinical Psychology)
Master of Science (Research)
Postgraduate Diploma in Psychology
Master of Science
Master of Psychology (Clinical)
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, forensic psychology, ADHD, schizophrenia, depression, 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.

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.

Each year students enrol in:

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:

(i) 56 credit points of coursework subjects:

(ii) 16 credit points of supervised clinical practica:

(iii) a supervised research program on a topic which is in the field of Clinical Psychology. The research program, to be written up as a thesis, constitutes two-thirds of the course program, and includes 144 credit points as below:

MASTER OF SCIENCE - RESEARCH
(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 or equivalent. 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:

POSTGRADUATE DIPLOMA IN 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

• Bachelor degree from the University of Wollongong with a major in Psychology; or
• an equivalent qualification from another tertiary institution approved by the Council of the University of Wollongong and accredited by the Australian Psychological Society.

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:

GHMC988	Contemporary Issues for Professional and Research Psychologists	6
GHMC984	Social Psychology and Health	6
GHMC985	Principles and Practices of Psychological Assessment	6
GHMC989	Advanced Abnormal 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:

* 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:

(i) 56 credit points of coursework subjects:

(ii) 16 credit points of supervised practical clinical experience:

(iii) 24 credit points of independent but supervised research in the subjects:

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. Candidates who have completed a Master of Psychology (Clinical) degree are also eligible to apply for entry and are given specified credit, assessed on a cas-by-case basis, for the subjects completed during their Masters degree. 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:

(ii) 24 credit points of supervised clinical practica:

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

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.