Dive into the complex world of psychological assessment with our advanced course, designed as part of the Graduate Certificate in Applied Psychology. This course offers a comprehensive exploration of psychological assessment methods, focusing on the theory, principles, and application of standardised psychometric tests. We will develop the skills to understand our own biases and how to account for these in assessments, while integrating essential cultural, developmental, and ethical considerations. Whether you're aiming to enhance your professional skills or deepen your theoretical understanding, this course covers a broad spectrum, from traditional tests to innovative assessment strategies.
Engage in a dynamic learning experience where you will conceive, develop, and administer your own psychological scale, gather real data, and refine your skills in analysing and effectively communicating your findings within a practical framework.
Through a series of practical workshops and interactive sessions, you'll apply these skills in real-world scenarios, preparing you to handle complex assessment tasks in diverse settings. This course is perfect for professionals in the workforce, psychology graduates, or those aiming to specialise in applied psychology, providing a robust platform to advance your career and enhance your ability to make informed, ethical decisions in psychological testing and measurement.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
- Understanding and apply ethical guidelines and considerations crucial to the psychological measurement and assessment, emphasising confidentiality, cultural competences and an awareness of potential biases and ethical dilemmas in psychological test administration and interpretation.
- Understand and apply core psychometric concepts including reliability, validity, and standardisation, enabling critical evaluation of the quality and relevance of psychological tests and measures.
- Design and construct effective psychological tests and surveys, considering factors such as test format/length, item selection, item clarity, test structure, scoring, and utility.
- Analyse, interpret, and communicate psychological assessment results proficiently, ensuring that findings are conveyed clearly and ethically to diverse audiences.
Work Integrated Learning
Other
No work-integrated learning option is available.
Indicative Assessment
- Written critical evaluation of an existing psychological measurement instrument (40) [LO 1,2,4]
- Non-Clinical Psychological Test / Survey construction project - develop a new measure as a cohort (10) [LO 1,2,3,4]
- Non-Clinical Psychological Test / Survey construction project - write individual report and communicate this via a short presentation (50) [LO 1,2,3,4]
The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.
Workload
The expected workload will consist of approximately 130 hours throughout the semester including:
- Face-to face component which may consist of 3 hours of face-to-face activities including lectures and/or workshops per week.
- Approximately 94 hours of self-directed study which will include preparation for lectures, presentations, and other assessment tasks.
Note that much of this material will be provided before each workshop. Students are expected to have learnt the relevant pre-content information before attending each workshop, to allow for knowledge consolidation.
Requisite and Incompatibility
Prescribed Texts
Zuckerman, E. L. (2019). Clinician's thesaurus: The guide to conducting interviews and writing psychological reports. Guilford Publications (available in library).
Preliminary Reading
The essential readings for this course are prescribed journal articles and book chapters that will be made available on the learning management system once students are enrolled.
- Cronbach, L. J., & Meehl, P. E. (1955). Construct validity in psychological tests. Psychological Bulletin, 52(4), 281–302. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0040957
- Dawes, R. M., Faust, D., & Meehl, P. E. (1989) Clinical versus actuarial judgment. Science, 243:1668-1674
- Lilienfeld, S.O., Wood, J.M., & Garb, H.N. (2000). The scientific status of projective techniques. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 1(2), 27–66. doi:10.1111/1529-1006.002. doi:10.1111/1529-1006.002
- Nunnally, J. C. (1978). Psychometric theory. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
Commonwealth Support (CSP) Students
If you have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). More information about your student contribution amount for each course at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 4B
- Unit value:
- 6 units
If you are a domestic graduate coursework student with a Domestic Tuition Fee (DTF) place or international student you will be required to pay course tuition fees (see below). Course tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 6.00 | 0.12500 |
Course fees
- Domestic fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2025 | $4680 |
- International fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2025 | $7080 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.