TASMANIAN QUALIFICATIONS AUTHORITY
PLACE LABEL HERE
Tasmanian Certificate of Education
PSYCHOLOGY
Senior Secondary
Subject Code: BHP315111
External Assessment
2013
Writing Time: Three hours
On the basis of your performance in this examination, the examiners will provide
results on each of the following criteria taken from the course statement:
Criterion 3
Use evidence to support a psychological view.
Criterion 4
Analyse and evaluate ideas and information related to Psychology.
Criterion 5
Display knowledge and understanding of psychological concepts
and ideas.
Pages:
Questions:
©
16
6
Copyright for part(s) of this examination may be held by individuals and/or organisations other than
the Tasmanian Qualifications Authority.
Psychology
BLANK PAGE
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Psychology
CANDIDATE INSTRUCTIONS
You MUST ensure that you have addressed ALL of the externally assessed criteria on this
examination paper.
You must answer a total of THREE questions, ONE question from each section.
You must answer each question in a separate answer booklet.
All written responses must be in English.
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Psychology
SECTION A – HUMAN LEARNING
Answer ONE question from this section. You must answer ALL parts of the chosen question.
It is recommended that you spend approximately 60 minutes on this section.
Use a separate answer booklet for this section.
This section assesses Criteria 3 and 5.
Question 1 – Conditioning
Examine the following stimulus items:
Stimulus 1 – Fear of the dentist
American and Asian adults who reported high rates of dental fears were asked when their
fears began. About 66% replied that they acquired their dental fears in childhood or
adolescence, often after a painful treatment (Milgrom et al., 1995; Poulton et al., 1997).
These fearful adults reported that the more painful their childhood dental experiences had
been, the greater was their fear (Milgrom et al., 1992).
Researchers concluded that the majority of dental fears are acquired in childhood or
adolescence, often through classical conditioning. In addition, these fears can keep
individuals from asking for or receiving dental treatment for future but necessary dental
problems (Abrahamsson et al., 2002).
(Source: Plotnik, R. (2005) Introduction to Psychology. (7th ed.)
Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Thomson Learning, p. 205)
Question 1 continues opposite.
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Psychology
Question 1 (continued)
Stimulus 2 – Learning to talk
Day 1
doll
duh
dat
Day 5
Word used
doll
duh
dat
Day 10
doll
duh
dat
Day 20
doll
duh
dat
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Number of times
This graph shows the results of an experiment in which a child who is learning to talk points
to her doll and says either ‘doll’, ‘duh’ or ‘dat’ when she wants it.
Day 1 shows the number of times the child uses each word to ask for the doll. At first, the
child uses all three words interchangeably. After Day 1 the parents decide to give the child
the doll only when she names it correctly.
(Source: Adapted from Coon, D. and Mitterer, J.O. (2010) Introduction to Psychology:
Gateways to Mind and Behaviour. (12th ed.) Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. p. 226)
(a)
Referring to the above stimuli and other relevant information, demonstrate your knowledge and
understanding of the following concepts:
•
•
•
•
(b)
conditioned stimulus
conditioned response
reinforcement
schedules of reinforcement
Provide evidence to support explanations of how humans learn through classical and operant
conditioning.
Section A continues over the page.
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Psychology
Section A (continued)
Question 2 – Observational/Social Cognitive learning
Examine the following stimulus items:
Stimulus 1 – Learning via imitation
Observational learning is one of the most powerful mechanisms of learning. Children
observe another person who serves as a model and then imitate what the model does, thus
learning how to do something they didn’t know before. For example, a child may see an
adult hammer nails into boards and try to duplicate the same feat.
Many cultures explicitly encourage such imitative patterns as a way of inducting a child into
adult ways. In one Central American society, young girls are presented with miniature
replicas of a water jar, a broom, and a grinding stone. They observe how their mothers use
the real objects and through constant imitation acquire the relevant skills themselves
(Bandura and Walters, 1963). The modern West has a similar practice: toy stores are full of
child-sized tools and miniature vacuum-cleaners, cooking sets and dolls that need feeding
and nappy changing.
We should note, though, that learning via imitation can be quite complicated. In some cases,
much of the learning seems to occur quite a bit before the first performance of the learned
behaviour takes place.
(Source: Adapted from Gleitman, H., Fridlund, A.J., & Reisberg, D. (1999).
Psychology. (5th ed.) New York: W.W. Norton & Company, p. 590)
Question 2 continues opposite.
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Psychology
Question 2 (continued)
Stimulus 2 – The link between television violence and aggression
Child TV Violence Viewing
0.8
Low
Adult Aggression
0.6
Medium
High
0.4
0.2
0
–0.2
–0.4
Females
Males
This graph shows the results of a study investigating a link between the amount of violent
television viewed by children and the level of aggression displayed by the same individuals
in their adult years.
The amount of violence viewed by children was categorised as low, medium or high. The
measure of aggression is a composite score that reflects the individuals’ self-ratings and
ratings of them by others. Higher scores indicate higher levels of aggression.
(Source: Gerrig, R.J. & Zimbardo, P.G. (2005). Psychology and Life. (17th ed.). Boston: Pearson, p. 201)
(a)
Referring to the above stimuli and other relevant information, demonstrate your knowledge and
understanding of the following concepts:
•
•
•
•
(b)
modelling
cognitive processes
vicarious reinforcement
latent learning
Provide evidence to support explanations of how humans learn through observational and social
cognitive learning.
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Psychology
SECTION B – REMEMBERING
Answer ONE question from this section. You must answer ALL parts of the chosen question.
It is recommended that you spend approximately 60 minutes on this section.
Use a separate answer booklet for this section.
This section assesses Criteria 3 and 4.
Question 3 – Memory
Examine the following stimulus items:
Stimulus 1 – Baddeley’s working memory model
Central
Executive
Phonological
Loop
Episodic
Buffer
Visuo-Spatial
Sketch Pad
(Source: http://cogpsylab.com/category/theory/iq-strategy)
Question 3 continues opposite.
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Psychology
Question 3 (continued)
Stimulus 2 – The accuracy of memory
At first glance, our everyday experience strongly suggests that we can safely rely on our
memories, because many of our recollections seem to be as crisp as scenes from films we
are watching in real time. Do you remember where you were and what you were doing when
you heard about the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001? Many people say yes, and many
say that, even today, they can ‘relive’ those frightening moments with astonishing clarity.
Roger Brown and James Kulik (1977) referred to such recollections as flashbulb memories,
emotional memories that seem so vivid that people seem able to recount them in remarkable
detail. So do flashbulb memories suggest that our memories sometimes operate like video
cameras after all?
Maybe not. Consider the following story from Ulric Neisser (1982), himself a memory
researcher. For several decades, Neisser repeatedly related a flashbulb memory of the
bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941. It was right before his thirteenth birthday, he recalled
vividly, and he was listening with great interest to a baseball game on the radio. Suddenly, a
newsman interrupted the game to announce that the Japanese had attacked the American
naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Neisser realised many years later that this memory could
not have been correct, because the bombing of Pearl Harbor occurred in December, but the
baseball season ends in October.
(Source: Adapted from Lilienfeld, S.O., Lynn, S.J., Namy, L.L., Woolf, N.J., Jamieson, G., Haslam, N., and
Slaughter, V. (2012). Psychology: From Inquiry to Understanding. Frenchs Forest: Pearson Australia, p. 328)
(a)
Referring to the above stimuli and other relevant information, analyse and evaluate evidence for
at least two different explanations of how memories may be formed and stored.
(b)
Referring to the above stimuli and other relevant evidence, explain how false memories may be
created.
Section B continues over the page.
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Psychology
Section B (continued)
Question 4 – Forgetting
Examine the following stimulus items:
Stimulus 1 – The influence of context
Test environment
14
Land
Underwater
Mean words recalled
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Studied on land
Studied underwater
The graph shows the results of Godden and Baddeley’s (1975) experiment into the effect of
context on memory and forgetting. Scuba divers learned materials either while on land, or
while underwater.
They were then tested in the four possible combinations of learning/recall environments:
•
•
•
•
Learned on land/tested on land
Learned on land/tested underwater
Learned underwater/tested on land
Learned underwater/tested underwater
(Source: Adapted from Reisberg, D. (2013). Cognition: Exploring the Science of the Mind. (5th ed.).
New York: W.W.Norton & Company, p. 203)
Question 4 continues opposite.
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Psychology
Question 4 (continued)
Stimulus 2 – Decay Theory
Some psychologists suggest that forgetting is a process of decay. Memories that are formed
and not used begin to fade, become weaker with time, and eventually decay to the point
where they can no longer be recollected – that is, they are forgotten.
The concept of decay remains the main way in which forgetting is thought to occur in
sensory memory and contributes to the loss of information from short term memory.
However, the idea that decay explains the way in which information is forgotten from longterm memory is not as widely accepted.
The decay of a memory over time may be the result of deterioration in the connections
between the neurons that combine to make up a memory trace. Decay theory suggests that
memories that are not retrieved or rehearsed dissipate over time as the synaptic connections
between neurons that constitute the memory trace begin to degrade (Schacter, 1999).
(Source: Adapted from Rawlings, M., & Skouteris, H. (2004) Psychology Two (2nd ed.)
Port Melbourne, Vic.: Heinemann, p. 245)
(a)
Referring to Stimulus 1, as well as other evidence, explain how context-dependent and statedependent forgetting may occur.
(b)
Referring to the above stimuli, analyse and evaluate at least three explanations of how forgetting
can occur. Include other relevant evidence and examples.
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Psychology
SECTION C – PSYCHOBIOLOGICAL PROCESSES
Answer ONE question from this section. You must answer ALL parts of the chosen question.
It is recommended that you spend approximately 60 minutes on this section.
Use a separate answer booklet for this section.
This section assesses Criteria 4 and 5.
Question 5 – Perception
Examine the following stimulus items:
Stimulus 1 – Viewing objects and people
When we see someone walking away from us, the image of that person projected onto our
retina gets smaller. However, we know that the person is not really changing in size. This
phenomenon is called size constancy.
Objects also appear to change shape as they rotate through space or as we move around
them. Shape constancy refers to our ability to recognise that the actual shape of the object is
not changing despite changes in the shape of the retinal image.
These constancies are important because they enable children to maintain a stable perceptual
world as they move about the environment and their retinal images change. Without size
constancy, for example, a child watching his mother walk away from him might have
trouble recognising her – because she will have appeared to have changed in size. Children
would also be very poor at grasping and catching objects without size constancy.
Fortunately, much evidence suggests that size constancy emerges soon after birth (Bower,
1965).
(Source: Adapted from White, F.A., Hayes, B., and Livesey, D. (2013). Developmental Psychology:
From Infancy to Adulthood. (3rd ed.). Frenchs Forest: Pearson Australia, p. 117)
Question 5 continues opposite.
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Psychology
Question 5 (continued)
Stimulus 2 – The Necker Cube
B
A
The top cube can be perceived as if viewed from above (in which case it is a transparent
version of Cube A) or as if viewed from below (in which case it is a transparent version of
Cube B). Both perceptions fit perfectly well with the information received by your eyes, and
so the Necker Cube is compatible with either of these interpretations.
Your perception of the cube, however, is not neutral. Instead, you perceive the cube as being
similar to either Cube A or Cube B. In other words, your perception goes beyond the
information given in the drawing, by specifying an arrangement in depth.
(Source: Adapted from Reisberg, D. (2013). Cognition: Exploring the Science of the Mind.
(5th ed.). New York: W.W.Norton & Company, p. 78)
(a)
Referring to the above stimuli and other relevant information, demonstrate your knowledge and
understanding of the following psychological concepts:
•
•
•
(b)
perception
perceptual constancies
distance and depth cues
Analyse and evaluate explanations of how principles of perceptual organisation and
interpretation influence an individual’s view of the world.
Section C continues over the page.
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Psychology
Section C (continued)
Question 6 – Consciousness
Examine the following stimulus items:
Stimulus 1 – Example of circadian rhythms
Asleep
Awake
Asleep
Awake
Asleep
80
Alertness
40
0
Core body
temperature
(˚C)
37
36
15
Secretion of
10
growth hormone
(nanograms/ml)
5
0
6
o’clock
12
Noon
6
12
Midnight
6
12
Noon
6
12
Midnight
Time of day (hours)
These graphs show how alertness, core body temperature and the secretion of growth
hormone typically fluctuate in a 24-hour rhythm.
*nanogram – one billionth of a gram
*ml – a millilitre; one thousandth of a litre
(Source: Adapted from Coleman, R. (1986) cited in Weiten, W. (2004). Psychology: Themes and Variations.
(6th ed.) Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth, p. 180)
Question 6 continues opposite.
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Psychology
Question 6 (continued)
Stimulus 2 – A biological view
Some dream researchers argue that dreams are biological phenomena with no meaning at all.
According to one such theory, dreams represent interpretations of neural signals initiated in
the midbrain during REM sleep (Hobson, 1988; Hobson & McCarley, 1977). Because the
initial signals are essentially random, the interpretations rarely make logical sense. Many
dream researchers criticise this view, arguing that the presence of dreams during NREM
sleep challenges this explanation of dreaming.
More recently, biologically oriented researchers have offered another view that emphasises
the role of sleep and dreaming in learning and memory. If they are right, the next time you
are tempted to stay up all night to prepare for a big exam, think again. Sleep appears to be
involved in the consolidation of memory. Memories for newly learned material are stronger
after eight hours of sleep than after eight hours of wakefulness. The data suggests that
during NREM sleep, the hippocampus ‘replays’ what it has ‘learned’ during the day and
activates relevant parts of the cortex to consolidate the memory (Chrobak & Buzsaki, 1994;
Wilson & McNaughton, 1994).
(Source: Adapted from Westen, D., Burton, L. & Kowalski, R. (2006).
Psychology: Australian and New Zealand Edition. Milton: John Wiley & Sons.)
(a)
Referring to the above stimuli and other relevant information, demonstrate your knowledge and
understanding of the following concepts:
•
•
•
(b)
characteristics of normal waking consciousness
measurements of consciousness
characteristics of sleep as an altered state of consciousness
Analyse and evaluate explanations of why humans dream.
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Psychology
This question paper and any materials associated with this examination (including answer booklets, cover sheets,
rough note paper, or information sheets) remain the property of the Tasmanian Qualifications Authority.
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