Course

The Psychology of Addiction - PSYC1022

Faculty: Faculty of Science

School: School of Psychology

Course Outline: www.psy.unsw.edu.au

Campus: Sydney

Career: Undergraduate

Units of Credit: 6

EFTSL: 0.12500 (more info)

Indicative Contact Hours per Week: 5

Equivalent: GENS9004

CSS Contribution Charge: 3 (more info)

Tuition Fee: See Tuition Fee Schedule

Further Information: See Class Timetable

Available for General Education: Yes (more info)

View course information for previous years.

Description

This course deals with transdisciplinary issues pertinent to the understanding and treatment of drug addiction. Topics include: historic origins of drugs; manufacture, global distribution and black market economics; epidemiology of population uptake; biomedical harms; neuropharmacological actions; effects on learning, motivation, cognition and behaviour; psychiatric comorbidity; individual differences in vulnerability; brain mechanisms of reward and impaired cognitive control; treatment by behavioural interventions and pharmacotherapy ; prevention by education; prohibition by criminal justice; and the role of scientific evidence in government policy. The course will provide a broad understanding of drug use and the systems in place to counteract it.

Note: This course is taught entirely online using the e-learning Moodle site (https://student.unsw.edu.au/moodle), although the final exam may be conducted on campus.
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