The primary purpose of this module is to provide students with a sound understanding of the brain and behaviour in physical activity and exercise settings, particularly the psychological antecedents, concomitants, and consequences of physical activity and exercise. Physical inactivity is associated with impaired mental health and diminished quality of life, whereas the salutary benefits of exercise are well established. However, compared to the available literature of exercise effects on physiological outcomes, psychological responses to exercise are less well-studied, and we continue to be challenged with increasing levels of physical inactivity in the population.

This module first surveys the mental health-related aspects of exercise, the biopsychology of stress, physical activity, and disease. Next, the behavioural determinants of physical activity and interventions for increasing activity are reviewed. In addition, lecture materials, associated readings, and applied activities (i.e., tutorials devoted to cultivating literature review, synthesis, and presentation skills) will be designed to develop the student's ability to critically appraise the extant exercise psychology literature. An applied laboratory-based research project is designed to develop student proficiency with relevant laboratory measures used in exercise psychology research and the application of fundamentals of exercise psychology in applied research.

On completion of this modules students will be able to; 1. Identify critical events and people that have shaped current knowledge and scientific methods in exercise psychology. 2. Describe methods of and measurements used in exercise psychology, including psychometrics, psychophysics, and behavioural neuroscience. 3. Summarize and critically evaluate current evidence about the effects of physical activity on physiological responses to stress; affect, mood, and emotion; anxiety; depression; subjective feelings of energy and fatigue; sleep; and, pain. 4. Identify and discuss biologically plausible mechanisms whereby acute and chronic physical activity may exert its effects on the aforementioned psychological outcomes. 5. Describe typical factors related to and interventions designed to increase physical activity and their effectiveness. 6. Systematically search, identify, critically appraise, synthesize, and summarize/present implications from the available evidence/literature of the effects of physical activity and exercise on psychological outcomes.

On completion of this modules students will be able to; 1. Demonstrate value for the utility of exercise psychology research, particularly relative to the therapeutic viability of exercise for mental health, and the promotion of physical activity 2. Demonstrate an appreciation of the relationship between physical activity, exercise, and mental health and the responsibility of the sport and exercise scientist in this context.

On completion of this modules students will be able to; 1. Demonstrate proficiency in administering aerobic exercise testing sessions, including cycle ergometer and treadmill. 2. Measure heart rate variability using PowerLab, including electrode placement, calibration, monitoring of ECG signal, and decomposition into frequency domains. 3. Measure indices of attention and pupillary activity using eye-tracking, including calibration and administration.

The module will be taught through a combination of lectures, tutorials, and an applied laboratory-based research project. Lectures will focus on fundamentals of exercise psychology, including psychobiological underpinnings of activity behaviours and mental health, the most rigorous empirical evidence for relations of physical activity and exercise with mental health outcomes, and psychobiological and neurocognitive mechanisms of response, and biopsychosocial correlates/determinants of physical activity engagement, dose, and compliance. Tutorials will cultivate systematic literature review, synthesis, and writing skills to develop the student's ability to critically appraise the extant exercise psychology literature. An applied laboratory-based research project to be completed in small teams will allow students to demonstrate proficiency with relevant laboratory techniques, the conduct of applied exercise psychology research, and a team-science approach.