PSYC11010 - Fundamentals of Psychology 1: Understanding Human Behaviour

General Information

Unit Synopsis

This unit provides an introduction to the primary philosophies and key theories and frameworks that are fundamental to the study of psychology. You will examine the interplay of biological and social factors that underpin our understanding of people and behaviour. The biological content of the unit explores the structures and functions of the brain and nervous system, sensory and perceptual processes, learning and behaviour, and states of consciousness. The social content of the unit introduces you to motivation and emotion, human lifespan development, social cognition and perception and cross-cultural psychology, personality, psychological disorders, and intelligence. This unit is applicable to students studying a psychology course and those students from a variety of courses.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 1
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 4
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites There are no pre-requisites for the unit.

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).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 3 - 2024

Term 3 - 2024 Profile
Online
Term 1 - 2025 Profile
Bundaberg
Cairns
Online
Rockhampton
Term 2 - 2025 Profile
Bundaberg
Cairns
Online
Rockhampton
Term 3 - 2025 Profile
Online

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).

Assessment Overview

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.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Online Quiz(zes) 30%
2. Written Assessment 40%
3. Online Quiz(zes) 30%

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

Past Exams

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Previous Feedback

Term 1 - 2024 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 89.39% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 29.46% response rate.

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.

Source: Student evaluation feedback and in-class comments.
Feedback
Students found the cartoon videos helpful in understanding the mind map.
Recommendation
Continue providing videos to explain the mind map.
Action Taken
Cartoon videos were provided explaining the concept map.
Source: Student evaluation feedback and in-class comments.
Feedback
Currently, the weekly topics are alternated with one lecturer teaching social foundations of psychology (weeks 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11) and another teaching biological foundations of psychology (weeks 2, 4, 6, 8 10, and 12). Several students stated that they would like to not switch topics, and lecturers, each week. Instead, they would prefer to have half the term focused on biological foundations of psychology, and then the other half social foundations of psychology.
Recommendation
Alter the teaching schedule for this unit so that biological foundations of psychology is taught in the first half of the term, and social foundations of psychology during the last half of the term.
Action Taken
The teaching schedule was altered so that the social foundations of psychology section is taught in one six-week block and biological foundations of psychology is taught in the following six-week period.
Source: Student evaluation feedback and in-class comments.
Feedback
Students appreciated extra learning materials such as videos and Ted Talks.
Recommendation
Provide extra learning materials such as Ted Talks and explainer videos.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Student evaluation feedback and in-class comments.
Feedback
Students stated discussing real-world examples of psychological concepts assisted learning.
Recommendation
Present case studies that show real-world examples of psychological concepts.
Action Taken
In Progress
Unit learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. Describe the biological and social contributors to human behaviour.
  2. Discuss the major principles and theories related to the study of human behaviour.
  3. Reflect on, and engage with, key psychological concepts in an objective manner.

Learning outcomes are linked to the Australian Psychology Accreditation Council (APAC) Standards - Foundational Competencies:

Students will be able to
1.1 Comprehend and apply a broad and coherent body of knowledge of psychology, with depth of understanding of underlying principles, theories and concepts in the discipline, using a scientific approach, including the following topics:

  1. the history and philosophy underpinning the science of psychology and the social, cultural, historical and professional influences on the practice of psychology
  2. individual differences in capacity, behaviour and personality
  3. psychological health and well-being
  4. psychological disorders and evidence-based interventions
  5. cognition, language and perception
  6. motivation and emotion
  7. neuroscience and the biological bases of behaviour
  8. social psychology

1.2 Apply knowledge and skills of psychology in a manner that is reflexive, culturally appropriate and sensitive to the diversity of individuals.

1.3 Analyse and critique theory and research in the discipline of psychology and communicate these in written formats.

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3
1 - Online Quiz(zes) • • •
2 - Written Assessment • • •
3 - Online Quiz(zes) • • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3
1 - Communication • • •
2 - Problem Solving •
3 - Critical Thinking • •
4 - Information Literacy • •
7 - Cross Cultural Competence • • •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10