Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, Plotkin completed his undergraduate studies at the University of the Witwatersrand.
[1] In 1964, he relocated to the United Kingdom and earned a doctorate in physiological psychology from University College London in 1968.
Upon returning to the UK, he joined University College London as a lecturer.
He was head of the Psychology Department at UCL from 1993 to 1998[3] and was named Emeritus Professor in 2005.
His doctoral students include Kevin Lala and Cecilia Heyes.