Course Offerings

The purpose of this course is to introduce fundamental concepts and theories in psychology specifically in the daily life context. Upon completion of this course, students should have acquired basic understanding of the major theories and research findings in various areas of psychology, and how these major psychological theories can be used to examine and explain human behaviours, emotion, cognition and mental health.

This introductory course is designed to provide basic theories and skills in business and organisational management reinforced with insights from the discipline of psychology as a social and behavioural science. By integrating the critical and analytical methods of psychology with the work setting, this course describes an overall picture of business psychology to ensure that students acquire a common and firm foundation before taking other major courses, including Industrial and Organisational Psychology, Psychology Applied to Occupational Safety and Health, Managing Diversity in Organisation, and Negotiation, Judgement, and Decision Making in Organisations.

This course provides an overview of major research methods used to conduct surveys and experimental studies in psychology.  The course encompasses the explanation of the purposes and scope of survey and experimental studies; plan and design of simple research projects; illustration of the importance of reliability and validity of psychological assessment tools, etc. The course emphasises underlying principles and practical application rather than technical details.

This course provides an overview of basic statistical techniques in modern applied statistics, especially in relation to conducting surveys and experimental studies in psychology.  Statistical techniques such as t-tests, analysis of variances, correlation analyses, regression are covered.  Students will have hands-on practice in actual data analyses using common statistical software [e.g. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS)].

(Prerequisite(s):  At least one research methods course offered in the programme. From 2026-27, at least one research methods course offered in the programme, plus PSY2003 Statistics for Psychology)

The ability to conduct independent research is an important learning outcome for business psychology graduate. This course provides a platform for students to employ and develop their research skills. Students will receive individual supervision from instructors and work towards the production of a project which incorporates key elements of a business psychology research project. These elements include (but are not limited to) a literature review, development of a theoretical framework, and the formulation of appropriate research questions and methods of data analysis etc. This project could be further developed to form part of students’ (optional) Senior Thesis. Students who choose to do a Senior Thesis may submit a complete research project (with data and policy analysis, etc.) but is not a requirement for the overall assessment of the project.

(Prerequisite: PSY2101 Introduction to Psychology) 

With little effort, we can process complex information and make judgment and decisions within a short period of time. Yet, most people remain largely unaware of how their minds accomplish complex tasks. This course describes a comprehensive framework on how people make judgment and decisions, describes various biases and heuristics that can influence judgment and choice, outlines potential flaws in negotiation and conflict management, and provides important insights on how to make better managerial decisions in organisations.

(Prerequisite: PSY2101 Introduction to Psychology) 

This course introduces the underlying psychological processes that explain choices of consumers and how they respond to the influence of marketing, as well as the external stimuli that convince people to purchase certain items. The benefits of studying consumer psychology have significant bearing on marketing and public relations decisions. Consumer psychologists lay a critical role not only in helping sellers promote and market their products and services to buyers, but also in helping consumers to make wise consumption decisions.

Engineering psychology is a sub-discipline of psychology that is concerned with understanding human capabilities and limitations in interacting with technology. The goal is to understand how we can optimise machine design for human operation. In this applied course, we will extend selected topics from cognitive psychology (e.g. attention, memory, decision making, etc.) to examine how they relate to the interaction between humans and interactive systems. We will also cover a number of design and evaluation techniques from human-computer interaction (HCI) –a closely related discipline.

(Prerequisite: PSY2101 Introduction to Psychology) 

Social Psychology is an inter-discipline situated between psychology and sociology. The former examines inner lives and selves while the latter examines the relationships between collectivises and organisations. Social psychologists examine how the self and the social interplay, as well as how individuals influence one another. In other words, social psychology is the study of the influences on and consequences of social interaction. Topics cover in this course included theories and research on social cognition (attitude, stereotypes, judging others), social influences (conformity, obedience to authority, and persuasion) and social relations (attraction, love, prejudice, altruism, and aggression).

(Prerequisite: PSY2101 Introduction to Psychology) 

This course introduces students to individual differences in both personality and intelligence by examining theories, research, measurements, and practical applications in daily life. We will examine, compare and evaluate the major theoretical perspectives on personality, and review relevant research supporting or refuting the theoretical formulations. Students will learn to appreciate the contributions and limitations of each personality paradigm, and how it has impacted on other areas of specialisation in psychology. We will also learn the implicit theory of intelligence, and its impacts on students’ learning motivation and performance. The issue of emotional intelligence will also be discussed.

(Prerequisite(s): PSY2002 Research Methods for Psychology or PSY3101 Research Methods and Statistics for Psychology I) 

This course will provide an overview of basic issues involved in the field of psychological testing, as well as examine the application of various psychological assessments. The course is organized around three domains relevant for psychological testing and assessment: (1) principles of psychological testing; (2) application of psychological assessments in various contexts; and (3) professional issues related to psychological assessment. This course will require that students have some knowledge of statistics and quantitative methods prior to taking this course.

(Remark: It is preferable for students to have taken PSY2101 Introduction to Psychology or PSY3102 Exploring Psychology in Western and Chinese Cultures before taking this course.) 

This course focuses on different aspects of scientific study of human behaviour in and related to the workplace to advance knowledge on the work well-being of employees and the economic well-being of work organisations. A cross cultural perspective of industrial and organisational psychology, in particular Mainland China, will be discussed.