Abnormal Psychology (Previously Psychology of Mental Health)
PSS330
Overview
Warning: Mature Content
This unit contains mature content including Adult Themes, Drug use and Sex / Sexual References and may not be suitable for some students. Any student under the age of 16 who would like to enrol in this unit must first complete a Parental Consent Form.
Level of study: What does Undergraduate Level 3 mean?
Undergraduate Level 3
EFTSL: What does EFTSL mean?
0.125
Delivery Method: What does delivery method mean?
Fully Online
Prerequisites: What are the prerequisites?
Duration:
13 weeks
Description
This unit examines the causes, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of a range of mental health issues in connection with the sufferers and society at large. Issues such as schizophrenia, dissociation, depression, and anxiety will be addressed.
Please note: Assessment values are indicative only; details will be advised at the start of the unit.
Prerequisites
Mandatory prerequisites
You must have successfully completed the following unit(s) before starting this unit:
- PSS110 — Introduction to Psychology 1
- PSS120 — Introduction to Psychology 2
- STA102 — Foundations of Statistics (Previously STA15)
- STA210 — Analysis of Variance
If you have completed equivalent study at another university, please contact a Student Advisor for advice.
Recommended prerequisites
You are recommended to have completed the following unit(s) or have equivalent knowledge before starting this unit:
-
One of the following two units:
- PSS240 — Cognition and Human Performance
- PSS250 — Developmental Psychology
Assessment
- Assignments — (40%-50%)
- Group Project — (10%-20%)
- Invigilated Exam — (40%-50%)
Learning Outcomes
The unit of study is designed to introduce students to the ways in which human behavioural patterns have been conceptualised as 'abnormal' or dysfunctional. In examining such abnormal behaviours, students are introduced to major systems of classifying mental disorders, in particular the multiaxial system adopted in DSM-IV-TR. The unit focuses on major examples of psychological disorders in terms of their phenomenology and nosology, as well as theories about aetiology.
At the completion of this unit students will have developed these generic skills:
- analytical and problem solving skills
- understanding of research methodology, including ethics
- writing in a clear, scientific manner, and the critical evaluation of research
- ability to work independently
- ability to tackle unfamiliar problems.
Topics
This unit addresses the following topics.
| Number | Topic |
|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction - history, systems of classification |
| 2 | Diagnostic issues |
| 3 | Personality disorders |
| 4 | Disorders of childhood and adolescence |
| 5 | Cognitive disorders and ageing |
| 6 | Sexual variants, abuse, and dysfunctions |
| 7 | Therapy |
| 8 | Ethical issues in abnormal psychology |
Study Resources
This unit is delivered using the following methods and materials:
Instructional Methods
- Chat rooms
- Discussion Forum/Discussion Board
- Embedded Multimedia
- Online Quizzes/Tests
- Online assignment submission
- Standard Media
- Web links
Print based materials
- Welcome Letter
Online materials
- Printable format materials
Textbooks are subject to change within the academic year. Students are advised to purchase their books no earlier than one to two months before the start of a unit.
Click on the titles of the listed books below to find out more:
Required textbooks
Recommended textbooks
Relevant Courses
This unit is a core requirement in the following courses:
This unit may be eligible for credit towards other courses:
- Many undergraduate courses on offer through OUA include 'open elective' where any OUA unit can be credited to the course. You need to check the Award Requirements on the course page for the number of allowed open electives and any level limitations.
- In other cases, the content of this unit might be relevant to a course on offer through OUA or elsewhere. In order to receive credit for this unit in the course you will need to supply the provider institution with a copy of the Unit Profile in the approved format, which you can download here. Note that the Unit Profile is set at the start of the year, and if textbooks change this may not match the Unibooks textbook list.
