UnitLevel 5Postgraduate

EDF5565 Psychopathology and personality

Faculty of Education

EDF5565 Psychopathology and personality is a level 5, 6-credit-point, postgraduate unit from the Faculty of Education, offered in 2025 in Semester 2 at Clayton. It has no prerequisites.

Credit points: 6
Offered in 2025: Semester 2; Clayton
Assessment: No exam; 2 tasks
Workload: 144 hours; per semester

This is the 2025 handbook entry. See the 2027 entry.

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Requisites

Before EDF5565

No prerequisites or corequisites besides the enrolment rules below.

After EDF5565

No unit lists EDF5565 as a prerequisite in the 2025 handbook.

Enrolment rules

Prerequisite

Successful completion of an Australian Psychology Accreditation Council (APAC) accredited fourth year sequence in psychology.

Prohibitions

Overview

The aim of this unit is to develop general professional psychological competencies in the assessment of psychopathology and personality. You will undertake advanced exploration and analysis of the psychological assessment process, including scholarly consideration and debate of quantitative and qualitative approaches to assessing psychopathology, as well as personality across the lifespan. Theories and methods of assessment, as well as associated issues of validity and reliability, cultural and ethical considerations, and linguistic factors will be considered. You will acquire skills in the administration, scoring and interpretation of pertinent psychological tests, the integration of multiple sources of assessment data, and appropriate report writing. You will also develop skills for constructive critical appraisal and using clinical judgement in assessment and diagnosis of disabilities, psychopathology and human strengths (positive psychology). Case conceptualisation and intervention planning skills will also be developed.

Offerings in 2025

Teaching period	Campus	Mode
Second semester	Clayton	Flx blk
Second semester	Clayton	On campus

Assessment

Quizzes (1600 words or equivalent)Quiz / Test
40%
Psychological report (with oral assessment component) (2400 words or equivalent)Written
60%

Learning outcomes

When you finish this unit, you should be able to:

1
demonstrate knowledge of psychopathology and differential diagnosis
2
demonstrate knowledge of personality development, including adaptive and maladaptive trajectories across the lifespan
3
demonstrate knowledge of the professional ethical, cultural and psychometric issues that arise when assessing for psychopathology across the lifespan
4
demonstrate skills in administration, scoring, and interpretation of psychopathology and personality instruments, behavioural instruments, and diagnostic clinical interview tools
5
demonstrate written and verbal communication skills in reporting the conclusions of psychological assessment
6
demonstrate reflective skills regarding your personal role, interpersonal skills, impact, responsibilities and relationships as a clinician reporting psychopathology and personality assessments

Workload and teaching

Tutorials24 hours
Teaching approachActive learning

The minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per teaching period comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study.

Usually, you can expect to engage with:

A. On campus enrolment

• 24 hours of scheduled learning delivered on campus via weekly/regular directed learning activities; and

• the remaining hours to be allocated towards self-directed/independent study

B. Flexible enrolment

• 12 hours of scheduled learning delivered on campus via weekly/regular directed learning activities;

• 12 hours of scheduled learning delivered online via a combination of synchronous and asynchronous directed learning activities; and

• the remaining hours to be allocated towards self-directed/independent study

Scheduled learning activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

Teaching approaches for this unit include: case-based teaching, using case descriptions of real clients seen in practice, including community and mental health settings, educational settings, and private practice; peer-assisted learning, via online discussion of weekly readings and setting/answering questions; role play of psychological assessment skills; and professional experience via completion of test folio activities that provide practice in the administration, scoring and interpretation of a range of personality and psychopathology assessment batteries.

Learning resources

Recommended resources

Please visit the unit Moodle site for further information.

Contacts

Chief Examiners: Associate Professor Nicholas Gamble
Unit Coordinators: Associate Professor Nicholas Gamble

Common questions

What are the prerequisites for EDF5565?

EDF5565 has no prerequisites, but enrolment rules apply.

When is EDF5565 offered?

In 2025, EDF5565 runs in Semester 2 at Clayton.

How much work is EDF5565?

The handbook expects about 144 hours of study across the semester. No students have rated its difficulty yet.

Does EDF5565 have an exam?

No. EDF5565 has 2 assessment tasks and no exam.

More details

Credit points: 6
Level: 5
Study level: Postgraduate
Faculty: Faculty of Education

Type: Coursework
EFTSL: 0.125
Student contribution: SCA Band 4
Study abroad: Not available
Handbook years: 2020 2021 2022 2023 202420252026 2027