School Of PsychologyHuman Learning and CognitionWestern Sydney University Unit Code: 100016.3
Discipline: PSYCHOLOGY
Student Contribution Band: 1
Level: 3
Credit Points: 10
Prerequisite
101184 Psychology: Human Behaviour AND 101183 Psychology: Behavioural Science
Unit Enrolment Restrictions
Students must complete 40 credit points of Psychology units including 101184 - Psychology Human Behaviour & 101183 - Psychology Behavioural Science. Prerequisites will not apply to students enrolled in course codes 1630 - Graduate Diploma in Psychological Studies and 1501- Graduate Diploma of Psychology.
About this Unit
This unit is concerned with the experimental analysis of human behaviour – from the study of the principles of learning and conditioning to the so-called higher order aspects of human functioning such as recognition, memory, and language. Learning and cognition are essential for survival. They are also at the core of our experience of life. Imagine existence without the ability to learn or remember – life would
be a series of empty movements from one moment to the next without any past or future and we would be doomed to repeat the same behaviours whether or not they were useful. The unit will begin by analysing the principles of Pavlovian and operant conditioning and then consider the mechanisms that underpin cognitive phenomena such as short and long-term memory, object and event recognition, speech and language.