PSY4041 · Psychological testing and ethics

Overview

In this unit, you will be introduced to two major components of psychological research and practice including: 1. Ethics in psychology and 2. Psychological testing. The ethics in psychology component is designed to provide you with a strong understanding of professional ethics for psychologists including the ethical, legal, and professional responsibilities.There is a focus on practical application in this unit, which will aim to increase your self-awareness of the development of personal beliefs and how these might relate to ethical principles and theoretical perspectives. In addition, you will utilise your knowledge of ethics to evaluate the ethical behaviour of psychologists and generate solutions based on ethical principles. In the psychological testing component, you will learn about the stages of psychological test development and critically appraise different theories of intelligence. During the unit, you will also be introduced to some widely used psychological tests and develop skills to evaluate these tests. You will apply your knowledge and expertise in evaluating strengths and weaknesses of testing approaches, gather information from a psychological interview, interpret results from psychological assessments that will culminate in a psychological assessment report.

Offerings

Assessment

The Handbook does not list a final examination among the assessment items. That is not a guarantee there is none.

Assessment details may change. Please refer to the assessment information in Moodle closer to the start of the teaching period.

Requisites

Learning outcomes

1. Apply knowledge of key ethical principles surrounding psychology practice and assessment to generate informed solutions to ethical dilemmas.
2. Reflect on personal biases and assumptions in relation to ethical principles and theoretical perspectives for application in professional contexts.
3. Apply all of the steps involved in psychological test development through critical analyses of the test-development processes.
4. Critically evaluate a range of psychological testing approaches and applications, including concepts, theories, tests, psychometrics, and applications.
5. Generate a psychological report which accurately summarises relevant clinical information derived from psychological assessment for diverse audiences.

Workload

You should expect to spend a minimum of 20 hours per week on this unit to achieve the learning outcomes. This time will cover: a) video lecture materials; b) synchronous & asynchronous discussion; c) synchronous web-based 'class-time' for skills-based activities; d) weekly readings; e) weekly skills-based assessment tasks; and f) content-based assessment, including revision and formative assessment. Each week there will be a one hour ‘Live class’, facilitated by your instructor. This will be followed by a live office hour, where you can ask questions and chat with your classmates and instructor about anything to do with the unit or psychology in general. There is also a 1 hour live chat with the Senior Instructor that you can attend each week for additional discussion and guidance.

Student experience, not official rules. Nothing here changes what the Handbook says.