Unit 4 VCE Psych Exam Potential Solutions 2011
SECTION A: MULTIPLE CHOICE
1C
2B
3D
4B
5A
6D
7C
8A
9A
10B
11B
12D
13A
14C
15D
16D
17D
18B
19C
20C
21A
22A
23D
24D
25D
26B
27C
28A
29B
30B
31D
32C
33D
34A
35C
36C
37D
38A
39B
40B
41B
42A
43C
44D
45D
SECTION B – SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS
Q1. Two Features of Adaptive Plasticity:
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
Rerouting – neurons near damaged area that has lost connection with its neuron seek new active
connections with healthy neurons
Sprouting – new dendrites grow with more branches to make more connections.
Also:
– New connections between neurons (synapses) are formed or connections are altered (as a consequence of
change to environmental conditions when learning something new, or when re-learning something after brain
injury).
-
Other areas compensating for areas of damage
Occurs throughout life
Q2. One advantage of using a dimensional approach to classify mental disorders compared to the
categorical approach:
Any one of the following would be appropriate:
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Dimensional classification does not attempt to place people into discrete, diagnostic categories.
Instead, key characteristics are identified upon which all persons can be placed, recognising that
mental disorders lie on a continuum with mildly disturbed and normal behaviour, rather than being
qualitatively distinct.
The dimensional approach is better able to capture many of the subtleties and complexities of
person’s life that are missed within the categorical systems.
The dimensional approach evaluates symptoms not only on their presence, but also on their severity
or degree. Categorical Approach only looks at presence or absence of the disorder.
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The distinction between normal and abnormal is not absolute, but rather a zone where there can be a
varying degree of the symptom or characteristic.
Dimensional approach is more nuanced and provides an accurate reflection of the state of a given
characteristic or symptom in a person.
It allows sufferers to see improvement in their condition more readily and help to identify which
factors have the largest impact on their well-being.
Dimensional Approach lessens the likelihood of labelling compared with Categorical Approach.
Q3a. Stella – overwhelmed by VCE (suffering sleep disturbances), Audrey – enjoying Year 12 (finding SACs
challenging but manageable)…. In terms of Lazarus and Folkman’s Transactional Model of Stress and Coping
- Why have Stella and Audrey evaluated their situations differently?
According to the Transactional Model of Stress, Stress is explained as a result of how a stressor is appraised
and how a person evaluates his or her resources to cope with the stressor. It involves three elements:
a) Primary Appraisal: Where an individual decides if a situation is possibly stressful, beneficial or
irrelevant.
For Stella, her VCE appraised as threatening (as she is feeling overwhelmed and cannot sleep) and therefore
stressed.
Or
Her VCE is appraised as a harm or loss that may not yet have occurred, but could occur in the future.
For Audrey, her VCE is manageable – she is appraising it as a challenge but she feels she has the resources
available to deal with it.
b) Secondary Appraisal: Where an individual takes into account the resources available to them –
personal, environmental, social and cultural – and their own coping strategies to decide what way is
best to cope with or address the stressor.
For Stella, she doesn’t perceive herself as having the resources available to cope with the stress and the
anxiety the VCE is causing is leading to sleep disturbances during the term.
For Audrey, as she has the resources available she is able to apply problem focussed coping strategies to deal
with the challenges she faces.
c)
Reappraisal: This outcome is then reappraised by the individual to determine its success or
otherwise, and the coping strategy is suitable modified.
By improving coping skills or reappraising the stressor into a more positive light, Audrey would be able to
avoid the negative stress response and the person can better cope with the challenge.
Q3b. How biofeedback could help Stella to reduce her level of stress.
Using biofeedback Stella can learn which physiological processes are contributing to her stress by bringing
physiological changes to her attention through the use of sensors and other electrical instruments.
She would be given information about an autonomic physiological response that would indicate a level of
stress:
-
She could use Electromyographic (EMG) Biofeedback to measure the amount of muscle tension
present in a particular muscle group through a skin electrode.
Measurements of heart rate, breathing rate, body temperature, GSR using a biofeedback machine or
polygraph.
Once a person knows when muscles associated with tension-related pain (e.g. muscles in the jaws, shoulders
and scalp) are contracting or increased heart rate, breathing rate etc they can identify what emotions or
thoughts cause it.
They can then either avoid the situations where this occurs or use muscle relaxation / cognitive strategies to
relax the muscles and or other physiological responses.
This in turn would enable her to create a much more relaxed physical state prior to going to bed – which in
turn would improve her sleeping patterns. Any changes in autonomic arousal could then be measured with a
biofeedback device

Biofeedback could be useful for Stella to learn how to recognise and control specific physiological
responses to stressors in their lives – it is often used to relieve stress induced problems related to
blood flow such as headaches or hypertension – triggered by the stress associated with doing her
VCE.
Q4a. Outline the role of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the medical management of Mikaela’s simple
phobia of spiders.
GABA (gamma-amino butyric acid) is the major inhibitory neurotransmitter that makes presynaptic
neurons less likely to fire in the brain.
•
GABA inhibitory action counterbalances the excitatory action of glutamate (that makes
presynaptic neurons more likely to fire).
•
It is found in the CNS (brain and spinal cord).
-
People who have specific phobias like Mikaela may have reduced levels of GABA which
normally inhibits the over-activated physical responses to fear/anxiety.
Taking medication that mimics the action of GABA in Mikaela’s system and inhibits the over-activation of
physical responses to fear/anxiety caused by spiders.
For more detail see below:
Benzodiazepines: Drugs that are GABA agonists and may be used to manage or treat phobic anxiety.
phobic anxiety involving a highly aroused state (e.g. when a person with a specific phobia
encounters their phobic stimulus, their sympathetic nervous system and HPA axis are activated
resulting in a highly aroused physiological state);
•
Benzodiazepines being GABA agonists (i.e. they mimic GABA’s inhibitory effects) and
therefore reducing physiological arousal and promote relaxation;
•
Benzodiazepines may therefore be successfully used to manage or treat phobic anxiety
(e.g. someone with a fear of flying may take a benzodiazepine tablet before getting on a plane).
Valium is the best known example – it increases the strength of GABA Binding allowing the GABA to act for
longer and more strongly in dampening the activity of the amygdala and HPA – thereby reducing anxiety and
fear.
Q4b. State one socio-cultural factor that may have contributed to Mikaela’s developing of spiders.
Any of the following three options would be appropriate:
Specific Environmental Triggers: where something in the environment triggers the anxiety-fear response.
All Specific Phobias have a direct relationship to the person’s environment or their knowledge of it. Eg. A
previous spider bite
Parental Modelling: where parental influences have shaped the development of anxiety disorders of their
children, particularly relevant in social anxiety. Eg. Mother terrified of spiders
Vicarious Transmission of Threat Information: Where parental modelling has transmitted strong threat
information from specific stimuli to their children. Often occurs for stimuli a parent has a phobic response with
themselves.
- Also occurs through other ‘gatekeepers’ including peers, friends, teachers and the media.
Eg. Media Stories about spiders, watching a horror film about spiders.
Q5. With reference to the three-phase model of operant conditioning, explain how a parent may reduce the
frequency of a child’s tantrum’s:
Three Phase Model: Discriminative Stimulus, Resultant Behaviour, Consequence
Phase 1: Stimulus that precedes an operant Response (Discriminative Stimulus; Antecedent Condition)
Egs. Saying no to a chips, toys, lollies etc at the supermarket.
Putting the child to bed when they don’t want to go
(Anything that the child dislikes and that would lead (result) in a tantrum.
Phase 2: Operant response to the stimulus (BEHAVIOUR): The Child throws a tantrum.
Phase 3: Consequence: Parent ignores and walks away or removes a favourite toy or punishes the child…any
action that will reduce the likelihood of the tantrum occurring again.
Once the desired behaviour has been learned a partial reinforcement schedule could be used, but to acquire
the new behaviour a continuous schedule of reinforcement would be ideal.
Q6. John’s mother… What schedule of reinforcement is John’s mother using to encourage him to keep his
room tidy?
Fixed Interval – Rewarded at the end of each week.
Based on this schedule when is John’s room likely to be most tidy?
At the end of each week, just before ‘inspection’. There is no point him having his room tidy before then as the
desired behaviour is only reinforced at that specific ‘time’ each week.
Which reinforcement schedule could John’s mother use to encourage him to keep his room tidy all week?
A partial reinforcement schedule… Variable Ratio or Variable Interval
Why this schedule should result in more consistent tidiness…
John would never know which time of the day or day of the week (variable interval) his mother would inspect
– so to get his extra money he would be likely to keep it tidy all of the time.
Alternatively, John would never know which clean up response would be rewarded with the allocation of the
extra money (Variable ratio) – so to get his extra money he would clean up after each time he uses the room
because he doesn’t know which response is going to be rewarded next.
Q7. With reference to Short-tailed shearwater bird scenario, identify one behaviour which is not dependent
on learning and justify your answer.
“Approximately” two weeks later, the young birds leave their burrows and make their first migration to the
northern hemisphere”. This quote indicates that the young birds do not have adult / experienced birds to
guide them or teach them how to navigate to the northern hemisphere, they ‘just do it’. As all members of the
species do the same behaviour and the fact that navigation of such an expansive distance is incredibly
complex, the unlearned behaviour is not merely a reflex, it is a fixed action pattern.
Other options include:
-
Short tailed shearwater birds hatching in their burrows (dependent on maturation)
Adult birds leaving the baby birds (fixed action pattern)
Making an annual migration flight (fixed action pattern)
Young birds leave their burrows (dependent on maturation)
Baby birds make first migration flight (fixed action pattern)
Baby birds flying (dependent on maturation).
Q 8. Name an imaging technology which would enable a researcher to identify localised changes in the brain
while learning a specific task.
Any of the following devices would be appropriate:
PET, SPECT & fMRI collect information about the activity occurring in the brain during a specific task, by
measuring blood flow. This information is used to monitor changes in the location of activity in the brain and
provides information about learning and plasticity.
fMRI: Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging: Structure & Function
PET = Positron Emission Tomography: Function
SPECT = Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography: Function
Command Term is ‘NAME’ so no explanation of how it works would be needed.
Q9. What is a Biopsychosocial Framework?
First devised by George Engel in 1977, The biopsychosocial model or framework (BPS) is a convenient way of
understanding the multitude of factors that may contribute to the state of health of an individual. It is based
on the idea that illness does not have a single cause but is based on the close interaction between biological,
psychological and social factors affecting both physical and mental health and wellbeing in positive and
negative ways. That everything within and around us affects our health and well-being in positive and negative
ways.
According to the biopsychosocial model, diagnosis and treatment of illness not only focuses on the body but
the whole person in his or her social context, and takes into account family and social support networks. The
biopsychosocial clinician’s task is to develop a broader understanding of disease processes by assessing the
interrelationships of multiple systems and working with the patient to choose appropriate interventions,
knowing that all systems will then be further affected.
Explain how Biopsychosocial frameworks have changed the way health professionals consider health and
wellbeing.
Traditional Western medicines focus on the biological aetiologies of physical and mental health disorders with
treatments including medication. The Biopsychosocial framework has gone a long way to changing this
approach. Practitioners now factor in cultural and other social factors as well as psychological factors in
forming their diagnoses and in preparing best practice treatments. Examples of alternative treatments to
drugs and medicines include cognitive behaviour therapies for changing fault cognitions and the use of social
support networks as a tool in aiding recovery.
Other options include:
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Previously, mental and physical health were considered as two separate concepts, the
Biopsychosocial framework (BPS) unites these
The Biopsychosocial framework (BPS) considers the individual as a unique being influenced by the
interaction of all three of these factors.
The BPS has caused thinking to progress from the medical model of health and wellbeing
The BPS has contributed to application of a functional model of health and wellbeing.
Questions 10, 11 and 12 are the options – students should answer only one of these questions.
Q 10. Mood disorder: major depression
a)
1.
2.
Janet and Fluffy: Give two reasons why a doctor may conclude Janet is not suffering from major
depression.
The DSM-IV-TR & ICD-10 criteria for diagnosing someone with major depression is states that the
sadness should be prolonged, lasting at least two weeks and should be present for most if not all of
the day. The scenario states that ‘Janet felt very sad, and took a day off work because she was so
upset. However, the next day she felt much better and after a week, Janet found she was able to
consider getting a new dog.’ Consequently, her symptoms are not consistent with major depression.
The quote also highlights that on the initial day of grieving she felt very sad and took a day off work…
which suggests dysfunction, however the quote continues to add that ‘the next day she felt much
better’… again highlight that the lowered mood was not sustained over a prolonged period and she
was therefore able to resume normal daily functions (ie able to go back to work).
Other possibilities include:
- Anhedonia when doing activities that were previously pleasurable
- Lack of pleasure for most activities most of the time
- Loss of energy or fatigue
- Inappropriate guilt or self blame
- Thoughts of death/suicide
- Difficulty concentrating
- Decreased/increased sleep
- Decreased/increased appetite
-
State of agitated or retarded psychological and / or physical activity
Sudden change in weight
Janet’s response to losing dog was a normal expression of grief
b) Why selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs) can be effective in medical treatment of
depression.
SSRIs are a class of anti-depressant medications containing serotonin only; SSRIs block the re-uptake
of serotonin into the presynaptic neuron, thereby increasing the action of the serotonin on the
postsynaptic neuron. This is important because low levels of serotonin are linked with sad and
anxious moods and disruptions to appetite and the sleep cycle – all symptoms of major depression.
SSRIs increase the effectiveness of the use of neurotransmitter serotonin
c)
One strength and one limitation of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) as the sole treatment for
major depression
Strength: CBT teaches a person (through the treatment) to anticipate and replace negative automatic
thoughts with realistic appraisals of situations and interpersonal interactions; develop new positive
conditional assumptions and challenge old schemas. In doing so, CBT aims to treat the disorder and
to prevent future relapses of major depression.
Other possibilities include:
- Does not create side effects (no drugs)
- Changes underlying thought patterns linked to depression, reduces amount and severity of
someone’s automatic negative thoughts
- Deals with the psychological features of depression
- Relatively short term (structured and focused)
- Residual benefits – continues to be effective after treatment has finished
- Low suicide ideation compared with other forms of treatment
Limitation: CBT cannot change the effects of biological causes of depression, including the roles of
genes, serotonin and noradrenaline. Management of the biological causes of depression are best
achieved through antidepressants.
Other possibilitieus include:
- Difficult to rehabituate negative tho thoughts
- Difficult to control automatic and involuntary negative thoughts that are quite plausible to
the individual
- Relies on patient’s active compliance
Q11. Addictive Disorder: Gambling
a) Joe: Give two reasons why a mental health professional may conclude Joe is not addicted to
gambling.
The DSM-IV-TR & ICD-10 criteria for diagnosing someone with impulse control / pathological
gambling states that the person must demonstrate ‘tolerance to gambling emerges’ the tendency
to increase the size of bets or frequency of gambling to achieve feelings of pleasure– in the
scenario, Joe sticks to a limit of $50 a week on the poker machines. This also indicates that he can
control his spending.
A key diagnostic symptom of pathological gambling is that the gambling dominates their thoughts
and drives their behaviour and it causes disturbance to family work or social functioning. This is
not the case with Joe as he attends work and social activities with his family and friends. The
gambling does not govern his life, it is a recreational outlet on a Friday night.
Other possibilities include - Joe is NOT showing:
- Gambling dominating his thinking
- Mood modification
- Increase in level/frequency of his Gambling (increased tolerance)
- Physical or psychological reactions if he is unable to play the machines
- Using it as escape
- Trying to reclaim losses
- Lying about where he is or what he is doing
- Engaging in illegal activities to obtain money for gambling
b) The role of dopamine in the medical treatment of gambling:
The dopamine reward system is the major way the body reinforces necessary survival behaviours such as
eating, drinking and reproduction. This is possible because dopamine makes us feel ‘good’ – it produces
sensations of ‘pleasure’ which we wish to recreate and get more of. This is also the case with non-natural
reinforcers, such as drugs of abuse and gambling and why the pleasure created by the activity (gambling)
becomes addictive and very hard to change.
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Gambling games activate the brain’s dopamine reward system - When dopamine is released in the
brain it creates a feeling of enjoyment or satisfaction which reinforces the association between
rewards and the cues and behaviours that precede each reward.
These feelings are desired and the person will repeat behaviours that cause the release of dopamine
to satisfy that desire.
This ‘desire’ can lead to addiction.
As a target for Treatment:
Naltrexone has been used as an antagonist inhibiting the neurotransmitter dopamine at the synapse.
It reduces the level of dopamine in the brain.
It does not cause physical dependence and can be stopped without withdrawal symptoms at any
time. It is also used to treat alcohol dependency and addiction to heroin.
A study conducted by Kim and Grant (2001) showed naltrexone to be very effective in treating
participants gambling addiction.
Limitation is side effects that naltrexone causes, which is predominately nausea but also can have
toxic effects on the liver.
c)
In terms of schedules of reinforcement, explain why the gambling behaviour of addicted
gambler is highly resistant to extinction
The nature of gambling is that you will win some and lost some (or most of the time). But you
never know when you are going to get your next win.
- Gambling occurs on a variable schedule of reinforcement as delivery of the reinforcer
(money) is experience intermittently
This is an application of Variable Ratio reinforcement which is the schedule of reinforcement that
is the most resistant to extinction. As the ‘player’ never knows when they will next ‘win’ they are
more likely to continue the activity because they believe that the ‘next big win’ is just around the
corner.
- Long periods of play without reward can be maintained and the behaviour is resistant to
extinction
Q12 – Psychotic Disorder – Schizophrenia
a.
Sam: Give two reasons why the doctor may conclude that Sam is not schizophrenic
Schizophrenia Is a chronic, severe and disabling illness that alters the normal functioning of the brain. For a
diagnosis of Schizophrenia to be made, symptoms include
 Disorganised and delusional thinking
 Disturbed perceptions
 Inappropriate emotions, language and actions
I.
Sam had lost his memory of who he was, but he was very rational when he spoke to the
doctor about not being able to remember his past. This would be unlikely if he did have the
condition – Sam recognised something was wrong.
II.
Sam did not have any “positive symptoms” like hallucinations or delusions. – No distortions
or reality.
III.
Onset of Schizophrenia is usually before 30 years of age (especially in males)
b)
Explain why antipsychotic drugs may be effective in the medical treatment of schizophrenia in some
individual’s

Antipsychotic drugs (APD) calm (tranquilising) patients and reduce their positive symptoms
(psychosis) – this is achieved by blocking dopamine in the brain. They lower dopamine activity by
occupying dopamine receptor sites in the neuron and blocking its activity. It is postulated that excess
dopamine activity causes the psychosis and therefore, by using a dopamine antagonist they can
reduce dopamine production and reduce the prevalence of delusions and hallucinations.
Or
 ‘Typical’ antipsychotics are Dopamine Antagonists (drugs given to treat schizophrenia for
some individuals) block dopamine receptors – some research suggests excessive activity of
dopamine is related to schizophrenia
 ‘Atypical’ antipsychotics treat negative (flat affect, withdrawal) as well as positive symptoms.
 Research is showing that reduction of GLUTAMTATE can inhibit DOPAMINE production, so
medications acting on glutamate are recent developments in the treatment of schizophrenia.
c) Explain the difference between cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) and cognitive remediation in the
treatment of schizophrenia.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
 Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) uses specific strategies that are designed to help people with
schizophrenia change the patterns of thinking, behaviours and beliefs related to their condition or
responsible for maintaining their condition.
 Cognitive therapy can boost the drug aided relief and reduce the post-treatment risk of relapse.
Patients are trained to:
 Recognise connections in their thoughts, feelings and behaviour
 To monitor and challenge their irrational thoughts
 To substitute more constructive, realistic explanatory style for their usual irrational interpretations.
 To focus on new behaviours outside treatment
Remediation Therapies


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Cognitive remediation therapy (CRT) (Problem Focussed Coping) uses cognitive exercises to teach
patients adaptive strategies to help strengthen their ability to think clearly, especially when
performing everyday tasks.
It teaches specific information processing skills targeted at one or more cognitive difficulties. It
focuses on decreasing the everyday problems experienced by schizophrenic individuals with cognitive
difficulties such as attention, concentration.
CRT trains basic brain processes by multiplying and refining neural connections and has been shown
to improve:
o Memory
o Decision-making
o Planning skills
o Flexibility in thinking patterns.
The ability to become more independent and do things for themselves can be a huge boost to the selfconfidence of the person with schizophrenia – which greatly improves their mental wellbeing.

A typical course of CRT involves working through a series of exercises under the guidance of a
therapist – using pencil and paper to improve verbal, written and co-ordination skills.

Enhancements in attention and concentration aid in the remediation of other cognitive defects,
including the verbal learning and memory required to acquire new skills.

The next stage is aimed at putting what has been learnt into everyday situations.
Section C – Extended Answer Question
Write two parts of a psychological report on ‘this’ research…
1.
Introduction: Write the final section of the Introduction which should contain the variables to be
studied, the way they are operationalized and a statement of the hypothesis (or hypotheses) that was
being tested.
Variables Studied:
Independent Variable – Teachers use of Positive Reinforcement vs no positive reinforcement or
normal teaching style…
Operationalised as:
Praise for correct responses in numeracy questions
Giving Stickers for each completed worksheet
Awarding 15 minutes of free time for every 5 worksheets completed
Dependent Variable – Mean test score on a Numeracy Test
Operationalised as the improvement in the number of correct test items recorded between the first
and second numeracy tests of 40 questions each
Operationalised Hypothesis:
That Male and Female Year 8 Maths students from Mountain Hill Secondary College (Target
Population) will achieve significantly higher mean numeracy test scores when provided with a four
week positive reinforcement protocol in the form of praise for correct responses, stickers for
completing worksheets and 15 minutes of free time for each 5 worksheets completed during their
learning of the material compared to students from the same Year level and school who do not
receive a schedule of positive reinforcement. (Operationalised Dependent and Independent
Variables).
2.
Discussion: Write the initial section of the discussion which should contain the conclusion (s) based
on the hypothesis (or hypotheses) and a statement of the implications of the conclusion (s).
Weaknesses of this experimental design and procedures to eliminate these should be described.
Conclusions: With a statistically significant result (p<0.05) it can be concluded that the research hypothesis
was supported. Positive reinforcement for mathematics performance should be an important component
of teaching mathematics.
Implications: The findings of this study suggest that for best practice, Maths Teachers at Mountain Hills
Secondary College should use a positive reinforcement protocol with all Year 8 maths classes to improve
numeracy skills and those teachers that do not use positive reinforcement protocols are not
demonstrating best practice in an educational context.
Weaknesses of the design:
1.
2.
3.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Initial mathematical ability was not controlled for and this may influence ability to learn
Ethics: Informed Consent: The participants were under legal age and informed consent was required
from parents and guardians – not just the students.
Ethics: Deception: Using a single blind study would have been needed to reduce participant
expectation effects, and hence some deception was justified. However, there was not reference in the
scenario that debriefing protocols were followed for the students who received the treatment
(positive reinforcement) or for those in the control condition (no positive reinforcement).
Convenience sampling meant that different teachers taught each class, it is possible that the ‘normal’
teaching methods of the control condition were not as effective as the ‘normal’ teaching methods of
the experimental group. Experimenter effect was not eliminated.
Students talk…. The reality of this experiment is that the students in each class would communicate –
the ‘control’ class would know about reinforcements provided by the other class – especially for those
students who were given ‘free time’. The four week program therefore may have been too long.
Class B (experimental condition) scored higher in the initial test – it is possible that the students in the
experimental condition were ‘better’ maths students and that it is this factor that resulted in the
significant final result, not the positive reinforcement alone… (A potential confounding variable).
These weaknesses are mostly due to the independent groups design used for this experiment.
Other options available too.
Procedures to eliminate weaknesses
Have the same instructor / teacher teach both groups – ensure the teacher is not aware of the hypothesis.
Use a matched participants design or repeated measures design (with counterbalancing)
If using independent groups:
a.
ensure that the students have no contact with each other during the program
b. Repeat the experiment but change the conditions so that Class A gets exposure to the positive
reinforcement too – if both classes show improvement from the initial testing but the difference
between the groups is not significant, the experimenter will know that it is not the participant
characteristics that lead to the change in scores… that the positive reinforcement does increase
overall numeracy ability across the entire sample.
c. Alternatively repeat the study with the roles of the two classes being reversed. If the findings are
reliable, Class A should score higher on Test 3 than Class B.
4. To overcome the ethical issues, parental informed consent is required and the students need to be
debriefed afterwards.
1.
2.
3.
Other options available too.