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Unit of study_

PSYC3911: Learning and Behaviour (Advanced)

This unit addresses the fundamental concepts and more important research findings related to contemporary theories of associative learning in animals and humans. It examines the application of such fundamental research to issues such as drug use and food choice. It is designed to foster skills in reading primary sources in this area, and provide the opportunity for hands-on experience in carrying out a research project. In the advanced unit of study students will learn techniques to model learning and behaviour, and independently apply these skills to experimental data that they have collected.

Code PSYC3911
Academic unit Psychology Academic Operations
Credit points 6
Prerequisites:
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(A mark of 75 or above in PSYC2X10 or PSYC2X11 or PSYC2015 or PSYC2915) and PSYC2012
Corequisites:
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None
Prohibitions:
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PSYC3011

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

  • LO1. gain an in-depth knowledge of the history of comparative psychology from Darwin to contemporary learning theory
  • LO2. understand contemporary learning theory and its application to the analysis of behavior in laboratory and applied settings
  • LO3. gain knowledge of basic conditioning phenomena and an understanding of the necessary and sufficient conditions to produce them
  • LO4. develop skills in designing, conducting, interpreting experimental research in associative learning
  • LO5. develop skills in critically evaluating research, theory, and their application
  • LO6. gain an understanding of how basic learning principles can be applied to clinical, health and other issues in human behavior
  • LO7. develop skills in computational modeling with learning algorithms
  • LO8. demonstrate advanced data analysis skills relevant to human learning research.

Unit outlines

Unit outlines will be available 2 weeks before the first day of teaching for the relevant session.