Psychology

Learn about perception, cognition, emotion, personality, behaviour and interpersonal relationships, and how psychologists examine, explain and predict what people do as individuals and in groups.

Your first year is interprofessional and taken with other health sciences students. In your second year you will gain greater knowledge in learning, motivation, perception, child development and social psychology.

You will prepare a research proposal in your third year and develop advanced knowledge in abnormal psychology, adult development, community psychology, cognition, cross-cultural psychology, Indigenous psychology and individual differences.

Your fourth year includes a year-long research project and you will develop skills in areas such as program evaluation, psychological assessment, and counselling.

Note on fourth year: Due to stringent accreditation requirements, you must attain a minimum credit average in your second and third year core psychology units to continue into the fourth year of the course. If you do not attain the credit average required, you will graduate at the end of the third year with the intermediate award, Bachelor of Science (Psychology). High achieving students may be offered a place in the honours program.

Please refer to the handbook for additional course overview information.

Why study

• You will graduate with in-depth theoretical and practical knowledge together with research skills.
• There are diverse career opportunities in health and other fields such as human resources, economics, industrial relations, market research, advertising and public relations.
• Curtin was listed in the top 151-200 universities for psychology in the QS World University Rankings by Subject in 2021.

Student profile

View our student profile table to get an indication of the likely peer cohort for new students at Curtin University. This table provides data on students that commenced undergraduate study and passed the census date in the most relevant recent intake period for which data are available. It includes those admitted through all offer rounds and international students studying in Australia.

Professional recognition

This course is accredited by the Australian Psychology Accreditation Council. On graduation from the fourth year of the program, you are eligible to apply for an associate membership of the Australian Psychological Society.

Note: For provisional leading to full registration with the Psychology Board of Australia, you must complete a further two years of skills-based training.

Career information

Careers

With further study:

• Endorsed psychologist
• Registered psychologist.

Industries

• Government
• Hospitals
• Local community
• Not-for-profit sector
• Schools
• Sports organisations.

What you'll learn

• apply psychological theory to evidence based practice and extend the boundaries of knowledge through research; discriminate between valid discipline knowledge and questionable esoteric theory and practice
• apply logical and rational processes to critically analyse problems and generate innovative solutions to psychological questions
• access, evaluate and synthesise relevant information and evidence from a range of sources applicable to psychology
• communicate effectively with individuals, groups and communities
• select and effectively use appropriate technologies relevant to psychological research and practice
• demonstrate ability for self directed learning and reflective practice
• demonstrate knowledge and understanding of international perspectives in psychology
• demonstrate understanding and respect for human rights and cultural diversity
• independently and collaboratively apply professional skills in an ethical manner