Overview
This unit introduces you to major perspectives of studying personality, including psychoanalytic, humanistic, cognitive, dispositional, and behavioural. Representative theories within each approach will be discussed with the consideration of both theory and application. Apart from requiring you to familiarise yourself with theoretical materials and research findings regarding personality theories, this unit encourages you to look at your own personality and encourages you to explore the practical applications of the theories.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
PSYC11008 and PSYC11009
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).
Offerings For Term 1 - 2020
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of 'pass' in order to pass the unit. If any 'pass/fail' tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully ('pass' grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the 'assessment task' section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback - Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Feedback from Student Feedback ("Have your say")
Assessment tasks felt a little understated and were only sporadically discussed in the workshops.
It is recommended that details regarding each assessment item is made in Week 1, as well as regularly throughout the Term. Reminders of assessment deadlines and links should also be provided under the relevant weekly tab.
Feedback from Student Feedback ("Have your say")
The group discussion assessment was only worth 5%, but it required contribution most weeks. Some students reported that the weighting of the assessment could be increased.
This group discussion assessment is designed to keep students engaged each week of the entire term. It is recommended that the group discussion assessment is retained, however, the weighting of the assessment increased from 5% to 10%.
- Distinguish the study of personality as a psychology discipline from the talk of personality as an everyday common sense
- Identify basic issues in contemporary personality research
- Understand significant ideas and themes of major theories within each domain within the textbook
- Display certain critical thinking skills in evaluating, comparing and applying various theories.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Group Discussion - 10% | ||||
| 2 - Essay - 30% | ||||
| 3 - Written Assessment - 30% | ||||
| 4 - Online Quiz(zes) - 30% | ||||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Communication | ||||
| 2 - Problem Solving | ||||
| 3 - Critical Thinking | ||||
| 4 - Information Literacy | ||||
| 5 - Team Work | ||||
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | ||||
| 7 - Cross Cultural Competence | ||||
| 8 - Ethical practice | ||||
| 9 - Social Innovation | ||||
| 10 - First Nations Knowledges | ||||
| 11 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | ||||
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | |
| 1 - Group Discussion - 10% | |||||||||||
| 2 - Essay - 30% | |||||||||||
| 3 - Written Assessment - 30% | |||||||||||
| 4 - Online Quiz(zes) - 30% | |||||||||||
Textbooks
Personality Theories
- Edition: 9th (2014)
- Authors: Engler, B.
- Cengage
- Belmont Belmont , CA , USA
- ISBN: 978-1-285-08880-8
- Binding: Hardcover
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association
- Edition: 7th (2019)
- Authors: American Psychological Association
- American Psychological Association
- US
- ISBN: 9781433832161
- Binding: Other
Additional Textbook Information
Copies are available for purchase at the CQUni Bookshop here: http://bookshop.cqu.edu.au (search on the Unit code)
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
- ZOOM
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: American Psychological Association 6th Edition (APA 6th edition)
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
m.lastella@cqu.edu.au
Week 1
Begin Date: 09 Mar 2020Module/Topic
Sigmund Freud and Psychoanalysis
Chapter
Chapter 1 & 2
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 2
Begin Date: 16 Mar 2020Module/Topic
Carl Jung and Analytic Psychology
Chapter
Chapter 3
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 3
Begin Date: 23 Mar 2020Module/Topic
Alfred Adler, Harry Stack Sullivan and Individual/Interpsychic Psychology
Chapter
Chapter 4
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 4
Begin Date: 30 Mar 2020Module/Topic
Psychoanalytic Social Psychology: Karen Horney and Erik Fromm
Chapter
Chapter 5
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 5
Begin Date: 06 Apr 2020Module/Topic
Anna Freud, Erik Erickson, Dan McAdams, and Ego Analytic Psychology
Chapter
Chapter 6
Events and Submissions/Topic
Vacation Week
Begin Date: 13 Apr 2020Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 6
Begin Date: 20 Apr 2020Module/Topic
Human Relations: Object Relations Theory
Chapter
Chapter 7
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 7
Begin Date: 27 Apr 2020Module/Topic
Experimental Analysis of Behaviour: John Dollard, Neal Mill & B.F. Skinner
Chapter
Chapter 8
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 8
Begin Date: 04 May 2020Module/Topic
Social Learning Theories: Albert Bandura, Julian Rotter, and Walter Mischel
Chapter
Chapter 9
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 9
Begin Date: 11 May 2020Module/Topic
Humanism: Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers
Chapter
Chapter 13
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 10
Begin Date: 18 May 2020Module/Topic
Existential Analysis: Rollo May
Chapter
Chapter 14
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 11
Begin Date: 25 May 2020Module/Topic
Cognitive Behavioural Theories: Albert Ellis, Aaron Beck, and Arnold Lazarus
Chapter
Chapter 16
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 12
Begin Date: 01 Jun 2020Module/Topic
Eastern Theories: Zen Buddhism, Yoga and the Hindu Tradition
Indigenious Australian perspectives on personality
Chapter
Chapter 17 and assigned reading
Events and Submissions/Topic
Critical Thinking Tasks Due: Week 12 Monday (1 June 2020) 9:00 am AEST
Review/Exam Week
Begin Date: 08 Jun 2020Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Exam Week
Begin Date: 15 Jun 2020Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
1 Group Discussion
You will be required to make 5 genuine contributions related to each week's topic (1 per topic), to the group discussion forum.
As you have been afforded the flexibility to choose 5 of the 12 topics on which to make assessment posts, no extensions will be granted under any circumstances for this assessment.
Week 12 Monday (1 June 2020) 9:00 am AEST
Review/Exam Week Monday (8 June 2020)
Weighting 10%
You will be required to make 5 genuine contributions related to each week's topic (1 per topic), to the group discussion forum.
As you have been afforded the flexibility to choose 5 of the 12 topics on which to make assessment posts, no extensions will be granted under any circumstances for this assessment.
- Distinguish the study of personality as a psychology discipline from the talk of personality as an everyday common sense
- Identify basic issues in contemporary personality research
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Information Technology Competence
2 Essay
Objectives
The purpose of this assessment is to give you the opportunity to explore a selected area of personality theory in greater depth. In general this will involve comprehensive reading of primary sources (wherever possible), a critical approach to the material, and the development of an argument reflecting your own reasoning and viewpoint about the topic.
Details
You must choose ONE (1) topic question from the following list:
1. Can Karen Horney be considered a true feminist? Evaluate her work and contributions to personality theory and compare it to the ideas/theory of modern Feminist psychology (e.g. Chodorow, Klein, The Stone Center Group).
2. How do traditional Eastern theories of personality differ from those of Western psychology? Compare the Buddhist or Hindu approach to personality with one of the theorists/theories discussed in this course. How might diagnosis and treatment of psychological problems differ between the two approaches? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each?
3. Is free will an illusion? Do external forces outside of our control predominately determine our behaviour or do individuals have the capacity to influence the course of their lives and personality development? Compare Skinner’s Behaviourist perspective with the Social Learning theory of Albert Bandura and ONE (1) other theory/theorist from this course (*note, Humanism or Zen Buddhism might be good theories to consider).
Week 5 Monday (6 Apr 2020) 9:00 am AEST
Week 7 Monday (27 Apr 2020)
Essay Structure
An essay usually comprises three main sections: an introduction, body and conclusion, with an abstract and a list of references.
· Title: Give your essay a concise but informative title. Avoid using the essay topic question as the title. Your title page should follow APA guidelines but no cover page is required as submission is electronic.
· Abstract: Your abstract should be between 150-300 words. Highlight the aim or purpose of your work, summarise your major themes and arguments and highlight your key conclusion/s. The abstract should be placed as a single un-indented block of text on a separate page after the title page. The heading should be centred but un-bolded.
· Introduction: A brief description of the area to be discussed along with a clear statement of major themes and details of your key arguments. You may choose to outline any key terms to which y0ou will repeatedly refer throughout the essay. The essence of the introduction is to provide your reader with a clear road map of your work. It informs your reader what to expect in the body of your essay. A heading is not necessary.
· Body: This is the main part of your essay. The most important factor in the body is how you choose to organise your material. This is largely personal choice however, it is expected that you shall systematically organise your information in a coherent, logical and integrated manner. Successful organisation of the body of your essay will convince your reader that your arguments are articulate and well grounded regardless of whether or not they agree with your viewpoint. A smooth flow through appropriate use and arrangement of paragraphs is helpful to this goal. Especially important are the links between paragraphs. Subheadings may be used if you wish but if you choose to do so you must use the correct levels of headings as shown in the APA Publication Manual 6th ed. (2009), p. 61-62.
· Conclusion: This is where you summarise your main points to conclude your work. It is also a chance to leave your reader with the overriding message you wish your work to convey. This section is usually no more than 2 paragraphs and no new information should be introduced here.
· References: This is not a bibliography; only include sources that you have cited in-text. The list of references indicates the depth of your research. An essay with a single reference is not sufficient in most cases; yet an extremely lengthy reference list with many irrelevant sources will not be considered favourably either. There is no set number of references but it is unlikely that you’ll be able to make a convincing argument with less than 10 or so references.
· It is expected that you will use peer-reviewed books and journal articles as well as other proper sources. Wikipedia, Ask.com, Sparknotes etc. are not considered proper academic references. Likewise there is a stipulation in this course that you do not use the set text book as a reference. This inevitably upsets some students but one of the aims of the course is to foster skills in reviewing and researching the literature. Note that the textbook has a large reference list that may provide a good starting point for your research and consulting it is not only within the course rules but is encouraged. Additionally other textbooks on personality or advanced level psychology topics may be used (just avoid general first year textbooks).
- Distinguish the study of personality as a psychology discipline from the talk of personality as an everyday common sense
- Identify basic issues in contemporary personality research
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
3 Online Quiz(zes)
Weighting 30%
100 Multiple choice questions
90 minutes to complete the quiz.
All questions have equal weight.
You will only have 1 attempt at this quiz. Once you begin, you cannot repeat the exam but you can go back to previous question BEFORE you press the final 'submit' button. You will receive your grade out of 100 immediately after you complete the quiz.
1
Other
Week 10 Monday (18 May 2020) 9:00 am AEST
Week 12 Monday (1 June 2020)
100 Multiple choice questions
90 minutes to complete the quiz
All questions have equal weight.
- Understand significant ideas and themes of major theories within each domain within the textbook
- Display certain critical thinking skills in evaluating, comparing and applying various theories.
- Critical Thinking
- Information Technology Competence
4 Written Assessment
Objectives
The purpose of this assessment is for you to critically examine and demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of relevant personality theories.
Task:
There will be five (5) critical thinking tasks that have been adapted from your text book chapters available in Week 5 on the Unit Moodle site. You are required to select and complete a total of three (3) of the critical thinking tasks available between Week 5 to Week 11. Each of the critical thinking tasks should be between 400 - 500 words. Additional instructions pertaining to the structure of the critical thinking task will be provided to you in Week 1 on the Unit Moodle site. You are required to use appropriate APA formatting in-text and for your referencing. Please submit the assessment via the Unit Moodle site as a Word doc or docx file.
Week 12 Monday (1 June 2020) 9:00 am AEST
Exam Week Monday (15 June 2020)
Each of the three (3) critical thinking tasks are worth a maximum of 20 marks. The total marks for this assessment is 60 marks.
You will be assessment on the following criteria
- On topic, concise and all parts of the questions addressed
- Theoretical and conceptual knowledge demonstrated
- Evidence of critical evaluation and discussion
- Overall readability/flow of writing
- Correct APA Format in-text, reference list and relevance of support
All three (3) critical thinking tasks are due as a collective
- Understand significant ideas and themes of major theories within each domain within the textbook
- Display certain critical thinking skills in evaluating, comparing and applying various theories.
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.
What can you do to act with integrity?
