The booklet form of the Prospectus for Undergraduate Psychology - 2013 is available as a PDF file.
Psychology Undergraduate Prospectus 2013 (282 KB)
Students can study psychology as part of most degree programmes. Students who wish to major in psychology can complete a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree, a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree or a Bachelor of Health Science (BHlthSc) degree. Those who major in Business Psychology complete a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree. Students who already hold a university degree can complete the equivalent of a major in psychology by enrolling for the Graduate Diploma in Arts or Sciences.
Undergraduate Papers in Psychology listed with location and semester.
Psychology can be defined as the scientific study of behaviour and mental processes. However, this definition does not reveal the diversity of content that characterises psychology. Psychology can be considered to be both a natural science and a social science. As a natural science, psychology focuses on perception, cognition, learning and the biological bases of behaviour. As a social science, psychology focuses on development, personality, social processes, and abnormal behaviour. The natural science and social science aspects of psychology are linked together by a common core of research methods, which includes experimental design, data analysis, and psychometrics. Another important aspect of psychology is its applicability to the world outside the laboratory, to assist in the solution of individual and social problems.
The range of psychology papers offered at Massey reflects the diversity of psychology. Undergraduate papers cover the natural science aspect of psychology, the social science aspect of psychology, research methods used in psychology, and applications of psychology. The table below shows how the various papers offered at Massey fit into the different categories. An introduction to both the natural science and the social science aspects of psychology is provided by the two 100-level papers. The 200-level papers offer further study of both aspects, and research methods are introduced. At 300-level, all aspects of psychology are covered in a wide range of papers, and applied areas of psychology are included.
Majoring requirements in psychology are structured so that students include papers from the natural science category, the social science category, and the research methods category within the major. There is also flexibility within the majoring requirements, so that students can pursue their particular interests within psychology.
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Psychology: |
Research Methods |
Psychology: |
Applied Psychology |
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Learning, Cognition, Biological Bases, Perception, Animal Behaviour |
Research Design, Statistics, Psychometrics |
Developmental, Personality, Social, Abnormal |
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100- |
175.102 Psychology as a Natural Science |
175.101 Psychology as a Social Science |
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200- |
175.205 Brain and Behaviour 175.206 Memory and Cognition |
175.203 Introduction to Psychological Research |
175.201 Social Psychology 175.210 Ngā tirohanga rua o te taha hinengaro: Bicultural Perspectives in Psychology |
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300- |
175.310 Psychological Aspects of Animal Behaviour 175.316 Evolution, Culture and mind 175.318 Experimental Psychology |
175.303 Practice of Psychological Research 175.306 Assessment of Individual Differences |
175.302 Abnormal and Therapeutic Psychology 175.305 Psychology of Adult Development and Ageing 175.311 Psychology of Women |
175.301 Community Psychology 175.309 Forensic Psychology 175.317 Health Psychology 175.343 Personnel Psychology and Career Development 175.345 Organisational Psychology |
The School of Psychology encourages students to acquire skills in areas beyond psychology that will enhance their continued study of Psychology. Specifically, we encourage all students majoring in psychology or business psychology to:
Acquire or improve their understanding of Māori culture
The School of Psychology strongly recommends that students complete one of the following Māori Studies papers:
150.110 Te Kākano o te Reo: Māori Language and Tradition 1A
150.114 He Tirohanga o Mua: Māori Custom, Lore and Economics
The School of Psychology also recommends that students consider taking one of the following papers:
150.201 Te Kawenata o Waitangi: The Treaty of Waitangi in New Zealand Society
150.202 Hauora Tangata: Māori Health Foundations
Acquire or improve their skills in critical thinking and statistics
The School of Psychology recommends that students complete the following Philosophy paper:
134.103 Critical Thinking
The School of Psychology also recommends that students complete one of the following Statistics papers:
161.120 Introductory Statistics (recommended for BA students)
161.130 Biometrics (recommended for BSc students)
Acquire or improve their understanding of human development
209.102 Human Development
Acquire or improve their understanding of human factors within ergonomics
128.300 Ergonomics/ Human Factors: Work, performance, health, and design
An inter-disciplinary holistic practice-based approach to integrate work, leisure and people in occupational, organisational, and leisure contexts.
Acquire or improve their skills in using the library effectively
The School of Psychology recommends that students attend tutorial sessions conducted by the library on the use of library resources and information retrieval. The Library publishes a tutorial programme for internal students at the beginning of each semester, and conducts sessions for extramural students during the contact course periods.
Recommendation for those considering postgraduate study
If you are planning to do postgraduate study in psychology, it is recommended that you take at least one extramural paper because postgraduate papers are delivered in a manner similar to extramural papers. They are taught in block mode which involves attending compulsory campuses course for short intensive periods of time, as this enables distance study for a number of postgraduate qualifications.