PSYC13020 - Individual Differences and Assessment

Showing: 2026 HE Term 1
General Information

Unit Synopsis

This unit will introduce you to the principles, processes, applications, and issues pertaining to the development and use of psychological assessment. This unit is presented through a number of themes, covering topics such as origins, ethics and uses of psychological testing; testing in adults, children and vulnerable populations; neuropsychological testing and testing for industry and career development. The psychometric basis of psychological assessment and testing is emphasised. You will focus on a variety of common psychological procedures and tests measuring individual differences. Consideration of individual differences and assessment in an Australian context will be a key component of your studies in this unit.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 3
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 4
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

96 credit points in CC43, CF59, CL51, CL55, CM62, CC13, CG85, CG93 or CA10, OR admission to CC10 and completion of PSYC11010.

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 2 - 2026

Term 2 - 2026 Profile
Bundaberg Cairns Online Rockhampton

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

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

Previous Feedback

Term 2 - 2025 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 96.67% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 20.13% 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 feedback
Feedback:
Students requested more feedback on their written assessment task.

Recommendation:
Review feedback processes and develop a video of general feedback to help contextualise the individual feedback provided to students on their assessment tasks.

Action Taken:
Detailed individual feedback was provided via marking rubrics and in-text comments, alongside cohort-level feedback for each assessment to contextualise individual feedback. The development of a general feedback video will be considered in future offerings.
Source: Student feedback
Feedback:
Students requested support in identifying psychometric information for a test from journal articles to support them in writing the psychological test evaluation report (Assessment 3).

Recommendation:
Deliver tutorial activities designed to build students' skills in identifying relevant psychometric information about individual tests from journal articles.

Action Taken:
Planned tutorial activities addressing psychometric concepts were delivered as scheduled. Questions about identifying relevant psychometric information from journal articles arose and were addressed during live Q&A within these sessions. Opportunities to further enhance planned activities will be considered in future offerings.
Source: Marker feedback on student assessments.
Feedback:
Some students experience difficulty critically comparing psychometric properties of psychological tests.

Recommendation:
Further integration of explicit instruction and practice in critically comparing psychometric properties is recommended within live workshops.

Action Taken:
In Progress
Source: Student evaluation qualitative responses; Unit Coordinator
Feedback:
The blended delivery format, combining pre-recorded lectures with live workshops, supports flexible access to content while providing opportunities for interaction, clarification, and applied learning.

Recommendation:
Continue the blended delivery format combining pre-recorded lectures with live workshops.

Action Taken:
In Progress
Unit Learning Outcomes
This information will not be available until 8 weeks before term.
To see Learning Outcomes from an earlier availability, please search via a previous term.