Overview
This unit gives students an understanding of the environmental factors that control and modify animal (including human) behaviour. Theories of behaviour including Classical, Operant and Social/Observational Learning approaches are examined and discussed in relation to both animal and human research. There is a focus on applying theory to real-world situations and critically evaluating published research relevant to each topic. The latter half of the unit takes the theoretical approaches covered in the first 6 weeks and applies them to modifying behaviour within real-world situations such as intimate partner violence, drug use/abuse, disruptive behaviour and psychological disorders such as OCD. It is a requirement of enrolment in the unit that students have access to the online unit Moodle site.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
Minimum of 30 credit points in Level 2 Psychology units for CC43 students, 24 credit points including PSYC11008/PSYC11010 for students in all other courses.
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).
Offerings For Term 2 - 2017
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes – in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University’s Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback – Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Feedback from Student feedback and personal reflection.
Request for clearer weekly structure with regard to required readings on the Moodle site.
Alter moodle page structure to allow for easier recognition of the various weeks requirements.
Feedback from Student feedback.
Two compulsory forum contributions: Great idea, reinforced our learning and enabled us to discuss the topic in a lot more depth. Allowed assessment to be spread out across the term.
Continue with two compulsory forum contributions as part of the assessment.
Feedback from Student feedback.
Loved the inclusion of clinical experience. The real life learning aspects, not just dry theory.
Continue to focus on theory in the beginning of term and move into the practical aspects in the second half of term. Explanation with regard to the reading load in the first half of the term will be given to students.
Feedback from Student feedback and personal reflection.
We need more internal, face-to-face classes.
A request will be made to run on-campus lectures at Rockhampton for Term 2 2017. It is hoped that having students interacting directly with the Course Co-Ordinator will also provide more fruitful lecture/tutorial recordings for those students on a different campus.
- Explain the major principles and theories of learning.
- Apply the major principles and theories of learning to both human and non-human behaviour.
- Employ advanced communication skills to demonstrate depth of understanding of the unit content.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment - 30% | |||
| 2 - Written Assessment - 20% | |||
| 3 - Examination - 50% | |||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 1 - Communication | |||
| 2 - Problem Solving | |||
| 3 - Critical Thinking | |||
| 4 - Information Literacy | |||
| 5 - Team Work | |||
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | |||
| 7 - Cross Cultural Competence | |||
| 8 - Ethical practice | |||
| 9 - Social Innovation | |||
| 10 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | |||
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment - 30% | ||||||||||
| 2 - Written Assessment - 20% | ||||||||||
| 3 - Examination - 50% | ||||||||||
Textbooks
Learning & Behavior
Edition: 7th (2014)
Authors: Paul Chance
Wadsworth/Cengage
Belmont Belmont , California , USA
ISBN: 978-1-111-83277-3
Binding: Hardcover
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: American Psychological Association 6th Edition (APA 6th edition)
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
d.canoy@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Introduction & Pavlovian Conditioning: Theory & Application
Chapter
1, 3 & 4 + Readings
Events and Submissions/Topic
Focus Question One opens
Module/Topic
Operant Conditioning: Theory & Application I
Chapter
5, 6 + Readings
Events and Submissions/Topic
Focus Question One closes on Sunday at 11.55pm
Module/Topic
Operant Conditioning: Theory & Application II
Chapter
7, 8 + Readings
Events and Submissions/Topic
Focus Question Two opens
Module/Topic
Operant Conditioning: Theory & Application III
Chapter
9 + Readings
Events and Submissions/Topic
Focus Question Two closes Sunday at 11.55pm
Module/Topic
Observational Learning
Chapter
10 + Readings
Events and Submissions/Topic
Focus Question Three opens
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Generalisation, Discrimination & Stimulus Control
Chapter
11 + Readings
Events and Submissions/Topic
Focus Question Three closes on Sunday at 11.55pm
Module/Topic
Applied Behaviour Analysis/Behaviour Modification: Introduction
Chapter
Readings
Events and Submissions/Topic
Focus Question Four opens
Module/Topic
ABA/BMod: Conducting Assessment & Functional Analyses
Chapter
Readings
Events and Submissions/Topic
Focus Question Four closes on Sunday at 11.55pm
Module/Topic
Applying theory: Domestic Violence & Drug Abuse
Chapter
Refresh Chapter 4, pages 115-118 + Readings
Events and Submissions/Topic
Focus Question Five opens
Written Assessment Due: Week 9 Monday (11 Sept 2017) 5:00 pm AEST
Module/Topic
ABA/BMod: Therapeutic Interventions (Eating Disorders)
Chapter
Readings
Events and Submissions/Topic
Focus Question Five closes on Sunday at 11.55pm
Module/Topic
Chapter
Readings
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Review Week
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
1 Written Assessment
This assessment task will require you to write an Essay addressing a specific topic. You will be required to apply a learning theory of your choice (but covered in this unit) to explain. Essay instructions (i.e., required word count, number of references required etc) can be found on the unit Moodle site from Week One.
Week 9 Monday (11 Sept 2017) 5:00 pm AEST
Monday (25 Sept 2017)
Essays will receive a mark out of 100 with the below distribution of marks per section, for more information please see the unit Moodle site:
TITLE/ABSTRACT: 10 marks
- Concise and accurately summarises topic addressed, meets APA (6th ed.) format specifications for abstract and title length
BODY OF ESSAY: 60 marks
- On topic, concise and all parts of question addressed
- Research led arguments
- Referenced where appropriate (in-text)
- Evidence of critical evaluation and discussion of material
- Not too many direct quotes (i.e., maximum of two, brief, quotes)
REFERENCES: 20 marks
- Five or more, with minimum of FOUR journal articles
- Correct APA (6th ed.) format in-text and reference list
- In-text and Reference list match exactly
STYLE/PRESENTATION: 10 marks
- APA 6th edition format adhered to
- Grammar, spelling and sentence structure
- Overall readability/flow of writing
- Explain the major principles and theories of learning.
- Apply the major principles and theories of learning to both human and non-human behaviour.
- Employ advanced communication skills to demonstrate depth of understanding of the unit content.
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
- Ethical practice
2 Written Assessment
This assessment task consists of TWO online contributions of between 800 - 1000 words. Five focus questions (one per fortnight) will be posted online (unit moodle site) with each question relating to a specific lecture topic (Wk 1-10 topics only due to timelines).
Students are required to post answers to TWO of the five topics by the beginning of Wk 12. Students are encouraged to submit more than the minimum number of posts with only the best TWO contributing to their final grade.
There will be no extensions given for this assessment. Failure to submit TWO posts (that obtain at least one percent each) will result in a FAIL grade for the unit.
Each topic will be available for two weeks, at the end of that time the focus question will be closed, i.e., although posts will still be able to be viewed for study purposes no further submissions will be assigned marks. You will not be able to 'see' others' posts until you have submitted your own. Individual feedback for each post submitted will be sent within 7 days of the forum closing.
Monday 5pm in the fortnight following opening of the relevant post.
Within a week of the forum closing marks will be available within the Moodle grade book.
Each post will be assigned a mark out of 30 (which will then be converted to a percentage), the following criteria will be applied:
Content:
- Please ensure that the question set is addressed in its entirety, for example, Focus Questions are likely to involve defining a particular concept/theory and then discussing its utility/presence in either an applied or experimental setting.
- Spelling mistakes and sentence/paragraph structural errors will result in lost marks (e.g., paragraphs should be a minimum of 2-3 sentences long).
- Plagiarism will be taken very seriously - take care to reference wherever you make a statement based on your reading.
- Please bear in mind that this is a 3rd year unit and simple re-presentation of information from located sources will not result in high marks - you are required to critically evaluate and discuss the information and concepts you present.
Presentation and Technical Requirements:
Word count
- 800 - 1,000 words. Marks will be deducted for posts that are shorter or longer than the specified word count. One word over the maximum or under the minimum will result in a loss of marks.
- Word count is determined by selecting the text from the first word to the last full stop of the body of the answer - in-text citations are included in the word count but the Title and Reference list is not.
References:
- A minimum of THREE references need to be used to inform your post - one of these can be the unit textbook (but you do not have to use it) but two must be journal articles or similar, peer-reviewed, sources.
- Wikipedia, online psychology dictionaries/encyclopedias and first year textbooks are not suitable references and will result in lost marks.
- A reference list must be included at the end of the post and references must be included in text - if there is no reference list OR no in-text citations the post will be given a mark of zero.
- APA 6th Ed must be followed - marks will be deducted for errors.
- Quotes must be kept to a minimum (and must be accompanied by a page or paragraph number) - use of more than one direct quote will result in lost marks.
- Explain the major principles and theories of learning.
- Apply the major principles and theories of learning to both human and non-human behaviour.
- Employ advanced communication skills to demonstrate depth of understanding of the unit content.
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
Examination
Dictionary - non-electronic, concise, direct translation only (dictionary must not contain any notes or comments).
As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.
What can you do to act with integrity?
