Unit of study_

PSYC5215: Brain, Behaviour, and Mental Health

2026 unit information

​​This unit explores four foundational areas in psychology: learning and behaviour, clinical psychology, developmental psychology, and neuroscience. The lecture series emphasises the underlying processes that shape behaviour, emotions, and motivation, examining both typical development and the emergence of psychopathologies. In tutorials, students will develop a behaviour change campaign for a relevant health behaviour. This project is particularly relevant for students interested in applied and clinical psychology. Additional tutorial modules focus on developmental psychology and neuroscience, providing a comprehensive understanding of these key areas.​

Unit details and rules

Managing faculty or University school:

Science

Study level Postgraduate
Academic unit Psychology Academic Operations
Credit points 6
Prerequisites:
? 
None
Corequisites:
? 
None
Prohibitions:
? 
None
Assumed knowledge:
? 
Previous or concurrent completion of PSYC5111 or PSYC5112

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

  • LO1. Understand and apply the principles, theories, and concepts of the following core areas of Psychology: Learning and Motivation, Mental Health Conditions and Clinical Psychology, Developmental Psychology, and Neuroscience and Biological Psychology
  • LO2. Design and evaluate the effectiveness of a health behaviour campaign
  • LO3. Apply the principles of cultural safety to the design of a community mental health research project in a manner that is reflexive, culturally appropriate and sensitive to the diversity of individuals, including with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
  • LO4. Critique methods used in neuroscience for examining the biological bases of behaviour and design improvements
  • LO5. Conduct collaborative projects demonstrating interpersonal skills and teamwork
  • LO6. Communicate the project outcomes in a range of formats, including APA style written reports and oral presentations

Unit availability

This section lists the session, attendance modes and locations the unit is available in. There is a unit outline for each of the unit availabilities, which gives you information about the unit including assessment details and a schedule of weekly activities.

The outline is published 2 weeks before the first day of teaching. You can look at previous outlines for a guide to the details of a unit.

Session MoA ?  Location Outline ? 
Semester 1 2026
Normal day Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney
There are no availabilities for previous years.

Find your current year census dates

Modes of attendance (MoA)

This refers to the Mode of attendance (MoA) for the unit as it appears when you’re selecting your units in Sydney Student. Find more information about modes of attendance on our website.

Disclaimer

Important: the University of Sydney regularly reviews units of study and reserves the right to change the units of study available annually. To stay up to date on available study options, including unit of study details and availability, refer to the relevant handbook.

To help you understand common terms that we use at the University, we offer an online glossary.