Course Description

PSYB 111 INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY

This is a foundation course offering an introductory survey of the various areas of psychology from the perspective of psychology as the scientific study of behaviour. The course explores the major theories, methods, and research findings in such topics as personality, life-span development, social relations, as well as the biological bases of behaviour. The focus will be on relationship between research results and their applications to daily life.(Research Component)

Pre-requisite: None

PSYB 112 PSYCHOLOGY STATISTICS

This course provides the fundamental skills and knowledge needed to understand and use statistical procedures in basic psychological research. Topics cover basic descriptive and inferential statistics, including measures of central tendency and variability, probability, sampling, the normal distribution, hypothesis testing and statistical power, t-tests for means, analysis of variance, correlation and simple linear regression. Activities will include the use of statistical software packages to explore data and conduct an analysis

Pre-requisite: None

PSYB 121 DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY

In this course, students examine theories of human development across the life cycle of the individual from birth to death, in different domains including physical, cognitive, and social and personality. Research methods for studying developmental processes, as well as various issues related to the processes and challenges of developmental transitions in different life periods within a local context are discussed.

Pre-requisite: None

PSYB 122 SENSATION AND PERCEPTION

In this course, students will study the sensory process in acquiring information and how the information is understood and interpreted in our brains resulting in various perceptual experiences. Various sensory systems will be introduced with a primary emphasis on the visual system.

Pre-requisite: None

PSYB 150 PERSONAL AND SOCIAL COMPETENCE

This course is an overview of psychological knowledge applied to personal and social competence. The course emphasizes personal competence including psychology of success, self-growth, self-esteem, self-actualisation, learning competence, emotional competence, practical intelligence, and creativity. The course also covers social competence including general social skills such as persuasion, leadership skills, conflict resolution, and maintenance of close relationships.(Research Component)

Pre-requisite: None

PSYB 211 LEARNING AND COGNITION

This course introduces the theoretical and empirical research of learning and thinking. The course covers the fundamental concepts and theories of learning and conditioning, and levels of cognitive processes of how we perceive, attend, learn, remember (or forget), think, reason, decide, solve problem and so forth.

Pre-requisite: None

PSYB 212 SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

This course examines how people think, feel, and behave when they are in the actual or imagined presence of others. The course covers classical and contemporary topics in social psychology, including perceptions of the self in relation to others, attitudes, social cognition, and the interpersonal dynamics of social behaviours, such as attraction, persuasion, and conformity. Instruction may also include the application of social principles and research to various settings.

Pre-requisite: None

PSYB 221 PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY

In this course, students encounter the major theories and theorists that historically shaped the psychological understanding of personality. The focus is on different questions, units of analysis, assumptions about causes of behaviour, and approaches to personality change proposed by theories of personality. Students engage in examining the underlying assumptions, conceptual issues, and motivation of human behaviour based on contemporary research regarding human nature and personality.

Pre-requisite: None

PSYB222 PSYCHOLOGY OF TESTING

This course is a survey of psychological testing through an overview of measurement principles, the psychological assessment process, test construction and development, reliability and validity, and the use of test results in individual psychological evaluation. Examples relevant to clinical psychology (e.g., personality, mental disorders) and school psychology (e.g., ability, aptitude, learning, etc.) are given.

Pre-requisite: Introduction to Psychology, Psychology Statistics

PSYB250 CLOSE RELATIONSHIPS

Close relationships are central to our lives; friends, parents, siblings, romantic partners, social networks, and acquaintances, have an enormous influence on our thoughts, feelings and behavior. The purpose of this course is to help students understand the processes that regulate human social relationships, through the lens of psychological method. It will include an overview of the social-psychological theories of relationships research and an exploration of the current literature. Specifically, this course will focus on topics such as: our need for relationships, interpersonal attraction, intimacy, love, attachment, communication, relationship maintenance, sexuality, relationship trajectories, relationship dissolution, jealousy, and extra-dyadic relationships.

Pre-requisite: None

PSYB311 ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY

Abnormal Psychology introduces students to the scientific study of psychological disorders and dysfunctional behaviour. While the course surveys a broad selection of disorders, it focuses on the contributing factors, clinical presentation, and treatment implications of these selected disorders. At the same time, students will explore how biological, psychological, social and multicultural dimensions interact to cause a particular disorder.

Pre-requisite: Introduction to Psychology

PSYB312 CROSS-CULTURAL PSYCHOLOGY

The course examines the relationship between individual psychological functioning and cultural contexts, both from a theoretical and practical/research point of view. The focus is on cross-cultural comparisons of behaviour, cognition, self, attribution, reasoning, decision making, communication, emotion, motivation, socialization, and more, with the aim of raising awareness and understanding of human commonality and diversity.

Pre-requisite: Social Psychology

PSYB321 PSYCHOLOGY OF GAMBLING AND ADDICTIVE BEHAVIOURS

The main objective of this course is to understand addictive behaviour and its paradoxes using fundamental psychological concepts and focusing on the psychological causes of pathological behaviours such as drug abuse, alcoholism, and irrational decision-making. Addictive behaviours are examined from different perspectives such as personality, social, and cognitive psychology, as well as the growing body of knowledge in the field, including assessment, treatment, and prevention strategies.

Pre-requisite: None

PSYB322 RESEARCH METHODS

This course focuses on the nature of scientific inquiry and the methods used by psychologists to understand behaviour, with an emphasis on the quantitative approach and the application of basic statistics in actual research. It covers basic concepts and procedures such as reliability and validity in measurement, experimental designs, survey, data collection, and questionnaire construction. Activities are designed to foster analytical thinking, resulting in the ability to formulate research questions and plan a psychological research.

Pre-requisite: Psychology Statistics

PSYB350 BIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY

This course focuses on introducing the fundamental principles of brain structures and their associated functions, and the biological basis of behaviour. Topics include anatomy and physiology of the nervous system, genetic influences on behaviour, the biological bases of emotional behaviour (e.g., anxiety & stress), and the study of psychological disorders (e.g., alcoholism, drug abuse, & depression).

Pre-requisite: None

PSYB351 COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY

The course provides advanced study in the research, theory and practice of community and social psychology applied to individuals, families, groups and social systems. The focus is on prevention and interventions in applied settings using primary, secondary and tertiary intervention approaches.

Pre-requisite: None

PSYB352 INTRODUCTION TO CLINICAL NEUROPSYCHOLOGY

The course focuses on the study of brain-behaviour relationships emphasizing neurobiological disorders, procedures for diagnosis, neuropsychological intervention and treatment planning, and professional practice issues in clinical neuropsychology from conception to adulthood.

Pre-requisite: None

PSYB353 INTRODUCTION TO SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY

The course introduces the study of professional issues and problems concerning the school psychologist, including certification and licensure requirements, confidentiality, legal and ethical issues, roles and responsibilities, and services in schools and other settings. The focus is on international service models and professional requirements.

Pre-requisite: None

PSYB354 PSYCHOLOGY OF LEADERSHIP

This course examines how leadership is defined and how views of leadership have changed over time. Psychological contributions to understanding leadership form the main basis of the course, including topics such as the types of power, personal characteristics, interpersonal interactions, hierarchical relationships, and others. Readings and discussions address the question of how people become leaders, how environmental circumstances can encourage or inhibit potential leaders, and the various personal qualities needed to be a successful leader.

Pre-requisite: None

PSYB355 QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS

This course focuses on qualitative designs for psychology research. Topics include qualitative approaches such as case study, narrative inquiry, discourse analysis, and auto-ethnography, as well as mixed models. The course also focuses on a number of issues related to the philosophy of science, and ethics and interviewing skills appropriate for collecting data. At the end of the course, students should be able to engage critically with the paradigm both from a theoretical and practical perspective.

Pre-requisite: None

PSYB356 SELECTED TOPICS I

Intensive focus concerning a selected topic of contemporary interest in psychology forms the basis for this course. The course can also include extensive fieldwork experience and may require additional hours of practical work at a selected site in the local community. Topics change with the interests and speciality of the faculty and the content varies from semester to semester. The instructor will select a topic or area of interest for discussion based on current developments in psychology and her or his expertise.

Pre-requisite: None

PSYB357 SELECTED TOPICS II

Intensive focus is given to a selected topic of contemporary interest in psychology. The course can also include extensive fieldwork experience and may require additional hours of practical work at a selected site in the local community. Topics change with the interests and speciality of the faculty and the content varies from semester to semester. The instructor will select a topic or area of interest for discussion based on current developments in psychology and her or his expertise.

Pre-requisite: None

PSYB358 CONSUMER PSYCHOLOGY

This course explores how consumer think, feel and act. We will focus on applying theories in social psychology, cognitive psychology and assessment in consumer decision making processes. Topics include attitude formation and change, consumer information processing, decision processes, assessment of cultural and individual differences etc.

Pre-requisite: None

PSYB411 SENIOR THESIS RESEARCH I

Senior Thesis I and II is a two-semester course in which students conduct independent psychological research on a topic of their interest, from designing a research project and conceptualising a research proposal (Semester 1) to writing the thesis report (Semester 2). The course is a capstone module in which previous learning in different sub-areas of psychology is integrated, and the course concludes with a symposium for the public dissemination of knowledge. It engages the student in practical experience conducting psychological research from the proposal to writing up the thesis. In this course, a literature review, the research proposal, data collection, and writing up the thesis are discussed. Each student is supervised by an individual faculty member through either group consultation (class work) and/or individual consultation.

Pre-requisite: Research Methods

PSYB412 SYSTEMS AND THEORIES IN PSYCHOLOGY

This course focuses on an integration of all fields of psychology and tracing the historical development of ideas that have contributed to the field of psychology. Students explore the roots of modern psychological thought from their origins in philosophy and the natural sciences, through the early schools and systems (e.g., Functionalism, Structuralism, Gestalt, etc.), to the current views of psychology. In addition to the major schools, the lives and work of the men and women whose ideas created the foundation of psychology are discussed.

Pre-requisite: Introduction to Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Learning and Cognition, Social Psychology, Personality Psychology

PSYB421 SENIOR THESIS RESEARCH II

A continuation of Senior Thesis Research I

Pre-requisite: Senior Thesis Research I

PSYB450 INTRODUCTION TO CLINICAL AND COUNSELING PSYCHOLOGY

This course introduces students to the specialization of clinical and counselling psychology. It covers the basic theoretical assumptions when understanding and treating pathological behaviours; spectrum of subfields and their prospects; and paradigms and implications in clinical and counselling psychology as a profession.

Pre-requisite: Introduction to Psychology

PSYB451 MULTIVARITE STATISTICS FOR PSYCHOLOGY

This course focuses on multivariate statistical procedures necessary for addressing complex research questions. Topics covered relate to contemporary trends in data analysis with state-of-the-art psychology research, which may include exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, moderator and mediators in multiple regressions, and a basic understanding of structural equation modelling. Activities will include the use of statistical software packages to conduct the advanced analysis.

Pre-requisite: Psychology Statistics

PSYB452 ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY

This course examines human behaviour in organizations based on classical organizational theory and contemporary empirical research at the micro (individual, interpersonal, and group) and macro (organizational/environmental) levels. Theoretical bases include the principles of scientific management, the human relations movement, and organizations as systems. Empirical and applied foci will be on traditional organizational psychology topics, such as motivation, groups as teams, leadership, decision-making, and organizational socialization, as well as organizational analysis and change.

Pre-requisite: None

PSYB453 FIELD EXPERIENCE I

This course includes supervised field work/internship experiences in different work settings or counseling settings pertinent to formal academic training in applied psychology or counselling psychology. Students’ performance in the Field Experience will be evaluated by the individual supervising faculty member and students’ immediate supervisor in the work settings. In addition to learning how to apply psychological concepts with clinical populations, the field experience course provides students the opportunity to conduct supervised applied field research, to apply their analytic skills toward investigating ways to evaluate community health programs and gather data to improve local services.

Pre-requisite: None

PSYB454 FIELD EXPERIENCE II

Pre-requisite: None

PSYB455 GLOBAL MENTAL HEALTH

Global mental health is an emerging transdisciplinary scientific field. It utilizes approaches from multiple fields including psychology, anthropology, sociology, medicine, public health and epidemiology. Students in this course will explore 1) public health and global health approaches to the treatment and prevention of ill mental health, substance abuse and neurological disorders, 2) the role of culture in mental illness and its definitions, 3) epidemiological approaches to study and measure the prevalence and incidence of mental health globally, 4) public policy implications for ill mental health, and 5) mental health systems. Readings in the course will focus on peer-reviewed research literature. A particular emphasis will be placed on research and case examples from Asian country contexts (e.g., East and South East Asia), including Macau and Mainland China, so the course will have particular local and regional relevance to students.

Pre-requisite: None