Copyright reserved 2011. This assessment guide originally published by Trials for Teachers.
Adapted for Oxford University Press.
Permission is granted for copying for use by authorised schools only.
SEMESTER EXAMINATION
VCE PSYCHOLOGY
UNIT 1
ASSESSMENT GUIDE
Question 1
Psychology is usually described as
Answer:
C.
the study of the human mind and behaviour
Question 2
Psychology is a science because
Answer:
D.
psychologists follow strict scientific procedures in their research
Question 3
Psychology as a science shares theories and areas of study with sciences such as ____________________
and social sciences such as __________________
Answer:
A.
neuroscience and biology: sociology and anthropology
Question 4
Margaret is concerned about her daughter Lizzie who seems to be slower than most of her class in learning to
read. Margaret takes Lizzie to a psychologist for assistance. The ‘type’ of psychologist Margaret is likely to
consult is a(n)
Answer:
B.
educational and developmental psychologist
Question 5
Research by Harlow and Harlow has helped us to an understanding of attachment in baby rhesus monkeys
and also in
Answer:
C.
infant humans
Question 6
In the 16th century, Descartes proposed that the mind and body are separate entities, though the mind inhabits the
body and possesses ‘free will’. This doctrine is referred to as
Answer:
D.
dualism
Question 7
Which of the following lists the groups of visual perceptual principles used to organise and help interpret stimuli?
Answer:
B.
depth and distance cues; perceptual constancies; Gestalt principles
Question 8
The brain and the retina are connected to each other via
Answer:
B.
the 1 000 000 axons of the optic nerve
Question 9
Which of the following represents the appropriate sequence of processes involved in visual perception?
Answer:
D.
reception; transduction; transmission; selection; organization; interpretation
Question 10
When Julie was five years old, she used to love to watch hot-air balloons as they flew over her house, but
she was puzzled about how big people could fit in the tiny baskets hanging below the balloons.
Her mother took her to the park early in the morning, to see the balloons heating up and Julie saw that the
gondolas (baskets) were big enough to hold several people.
Julie’s confusion when she first saw the balloons in the air occurred because
Answer:
B.
hot-air balloons and baskets the size of gondolas were outside her experience so
she could not apply the depth cue of relative size
2
Question 11
In the Muller-Lyer illusion, as illustrated (in the examination paper),
Ross Day proposes that Line A is perceived as longer because we average out the distance between the end
of the straight line and the tips of the angled lines, so in the larger figure the parallel line is perceived to be
longer. Richard Gregory, however, proposes that Line A is perceived as longer because it resembles the
inside corner of a room and is therefore the furthest part of the room from the observer, whilst Line B is the
outside corner of a building, nearest to us as we approach.
These two different theories may be referred to as Day’s _________________ and
Gregory’s_______________________________
Answer:
B.
perceptual compromise hypothesis; apparent distance hypothesis
Questions 12 to 17 refer to the following information:
An educational psychologist wishes to discover whether middle-school children who study in supportive groups
show more rapid increase in academic improvement than those who study alone.
She uses teacher reports from semester 1, matches participants on their performance in Maths and English and
allocates one of each pair to the ‘group’ condition and one to the ‘solo’ condition. She uses their semester 2 reports
to assign a ‘study success’ score based on Maths and English marks.
Question 12
The independent variable in the study would be
Answer:
B.
‘supported’ or ‘solo’ studying
Question 13
The dependent variable in this study would be
Answer:
A.
mean difference in scores from semester 1 to semester 2
Question 14
An appropriate hypothesis for this study would be:
Answer:
C.
Middle-school students who study in supportive groups will show more rapid academic
improvement than those who study alone
Question 15
A friend of the researcher criticized her experiment, saying that the semester reports are not a true indication of
progress the children have made. The friend was criticising the ___________________ of the research.
Answer:
C.
validity
Question 16
Another friend said that the research would not be accurate because if she repeated the research next year, the results
would be different. This friend was criticising the ___________________ of the research.
Answer:
D.
reliability
Question 17
The design used in this research was
Answer:
C.
matched participants design
Question 18
Most athletes perform at their peak during
Answer:
C.
early adulthood
Question 19
As a baby grows, the last area of the brain to develop is the ____________________. This area is very important for
______________________
Answer:
B.
frontal lobes; higher order thinking
Question 20
During old age, memory loss
Answer:
D.
can occur, but in many people it will not happen
3
Question 21
Cognitive development refers to
Answer:
A.
development of the ability to think, reason and remember
Question 22
Thread-like genetic structures in the cell nucleus are called
Answer:
B.
chromosomes
Question 23
In the ‘Nature–Nurture’ debate, ‘nature’ refers to ______________________ whilst ‘nurture’ refers to
_________________________
Answer:
B.
genetic make-up; environmental factors
Question 24
Jackie and her brother John are twins. They share approximately ________ percent of genetic material.
Answer:
B.
50
NB. As a sister and brother they are necessarily fraternal twins!
Question 25
Research with newborn babies has found that they will spend a longer time looking at
Answer:
A.
a complex pattern
Question 26
Gibson and Walk (1960) studied responses using an apparent drop called the ‘Visual Cliff’. Their experiments found
the following
Answer:
C.
infants can perceive depth before they can crawl
Question 27
In terms of the development of vision, human babies can first notice all features of the face and can distinguish
between two different faces at age
Answer:
C.
five months
Question 28
In Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development, immediately before the concrete-operational stage is the
____________________ stage
Answer:
D.
pre-operational
Question 29
Jean Piaget suggested that as children learn they sometimes take new information and incorporate it into their preexisting mental idea about objects and the world. He referred to this process as
Answer:
B.
assimilation
Question 30
Jean Piaget suggested that as children learn they sometimes take new information and change their pre-existing
mental idea about objects and the world so that the new idea ‘fits in’. He referred to this process as
Answer:
D.
accommodation
Question 31
Piaget identified the ability of object permanence as being achieved during the _____________________________
stage
Answer:
C.
sensorimotor
Question 32
According to Ainsworth, the majority of infants show
Answer:
C.
secure attachment
4
Question 33
Erikson suggested that each stage of life has a particular ‘dilemma’ or ‘crisis’ that needs to be resolved. Which of
the following is the ‘crisis’ for the stage of ‘adolescence’
Answer:
D.
identity versus identity confusion
Question 34
According to Erikson, ‘autonomy versus shame and doubt’ represents the dilemma of the ________________ stage
of development.
Answer:
B.
infancy (1 to 3 years)
Question 35
Kohlberg suggested that moral development occurs as a series of levels, each of which contains two stages. The
stages identified with the conventional level are:
Answer:
B.
good boy/good girl and authority orientation
Question 36
Jimmy always wears his bicycle helmet because it is against the law to fail to do so.
Jimmy is probably in the _______________________ stage of moral development.
Answer:
D.
authority orientation
Question 37
A person who, on hearing Kohlberg’s ‘Heinz’ dilemma, suggests that Heinz was right to steal the drug because
‘although it was against the law, human life is worth more than the need to follow the law’ would be in which stage
of morality?
Answer:
D.
individual principles and conscience orientation
Question 38
‘Mental health’ refers to
Answer:
A.
a state of mental and emotional well-being
Question 39
The most common mental illness throughout the lifespan is
Answer:
D.
depression
Question 40
The onset of schizophrenia is most likely to be during
Answer:
C.
adolescence or early adulthood
Question 41
What percentage of the population is likely to experience mental illness at some stage of their lives?
Answer:
C.
20–30%
Question 42
The two most commonly used diagnostic systems for mental illness are
Answer:
B.
ICD and DSM
Question 43
As a person ages, cognitive ___________________ tend to decline whilst cognitive ______________________ tend
to remain steady or improve.
Answer:
B.
mechanics; pragmatics
Question 44
Baltes’ SOC (Selection – Optimisation – Compensation) model would suggest that as a great concert pianist such as
Arthur Rubinstein gets older, he would be advised to
Answer:
D.
all of the above are suitable strategies
Question 45
According to Baltes, ‘wisdom’ involves all of the following except
Answer:
B.
being rich in language skills including a wide vocabulary
5
SECTION B
As long as the meaning of a word can be determined, marks are not deducted for spelling errors
except as specified in this guide – this follows the normal procedure for assessment.
Question 1
i.
Why are phrenology and numerology referred to as pseudo-sciences?
1 mark
Answer:
Phrenology and numerology use scientific language but do not apply the scientific method in
research to obtain data and form and test theories.
1 mark:
Students indicate that the scientific method is not used in these activities.
Question 1
ii.
What specialty in psychology would deal with treatment of persons who have suffered the loss of a loved
one in a motor accident?
1 mark
Answer:
Counselling psychology
1 mark:
Student response is correct.
Question 1
iii.
Choose one of the following and outline the contribution made to the field of psychology by that person:
Wilhelm Wundt, William James and John B. Watson.
2 marks
Answer:
Wundt:
Was the first to study consciousness by means of experiments
James:
Was the first to study consciousness outside the laboratory, in the natural
environment
Watson:
Was the pioneer of behaviourism
2 marks:
1 mark:
Students provide a response giving the essential contribution for the person named.
Student responses give one point that is incomplete or unclear (e.g. for Wundt or James they
simply state that he ‘studied consciousness’ or Watson ‘was famous for the ‘little Albert’
experiment’).
Question 2
Complete the table below to show the major areas of specialization for psychologists practising in the areas
indicated.
2 + 2 = 4 marks
Answer:
TYPE OF
AREA OF SPECIALIZATION
PSYCHOLOGIST
 Recruitment
 Job analysis
 Training and development
ORGANISATIONAL
PSYCHOLOGIST
 Career planning/coaching
 Implementing organisational change
 Performance reviews
 Provide reports for courts and parole boards
 Act as expert witnesses in court
FORENSIC
PSYCHOLOGIST
 Assess and deliver programs to rehabilitate offenders
 Research in criminal profiling
 Assess and advise in cases of family law
2 marks for each:
Students provide two appropriate and distinctive roles for each of the specialties. General
statements such as ‘Provides counselling for criminals’ or ‘Helps people in the work-place’ do not
earn full marks.
6
Question 3.
The following are sub-fields of the biological approach to psychology. For each one, identify the main area of
focus. Psychopharmacology: Psychophysiology: Neuropsychology
1 + 1 + 1 = 3 marks
Psychopharmacology
Answer:
The physical and behavioural effects of psycho-active drugs – prescription or illegal.
1 mark:
Identifies study of drugs or chemicals on the brain and behaviour
Psychophysiology
Answer:
The relationship between physiological activity – including the use of the senses and physical
processes such as exercise – and psychological processes including emotional and voluntary
behavioural responses.
1 mark:
Identifies the relationship between body activity and psychological outcomes
Neuropsychology
Answer:
Studies the structure and physical functioning of the brain in relation to thought processes.
1 mark:
Identifies the study of physical features of the brain in relation to cognition
Question 4
What is the main principle underlying research by psychologists using the behavioural approach?
Answer:
2 marks:
2 marks
Observations of behaviour provide insight into cognitive process. Behaviour can be manipulated
by systems of reinforcement and punishment.
Students provide an answer showing understanding that behaviourists study the mind through
observing behaviour.
Question 5
With reference to the above picture, identify two depth cues and explain how each one demonstrates depth and distance in this
picture.
2 + 2 = 4 marks
Answer:
Linear perspective – the sides of the road are parallel in real life but appear to get closer together in the
distance
Height in visual field – the more distant cars are higher in the visual plane – closer to the horizon (and the
more distant clouds are lower in the visual plane – closer to the horizon)
Relative size – although all are approximately the same size, the more distant cars cast smaller images on
the retina of the viewer
Interposition – nearer vehicles overlap and obscure those that are further away
Texture gradient – more detail can be seen in the trees, grasses etc. that are closer, less detail in the
distance
Marking scheme: Each depth cue is assessed separately for a total of four marks – two for each cue correctly identified and
explained.
1 mark:
+
1 mark:
Zero marks
for naming the cue
for correctly linking it to features of this picture (if features of the picture are not identified, no marks are
awarded)
are awarded if the name and description of the cue do not match
Question 6
Explain, using an example, the Gestalt principle of similarity.
2 marks
Answer:
Objects that are alike are perceived to belong together as a meaningful whole unit.
e.g. In the Ishihara colour-blindness tests, colours that are perceived to be alike are grouped together as
numbers or lines against a background..
2 marks
1 mark
Both explanation and an appropriate example are given
Only explanation or example is given
NB. A drawing to illustrate the principle is acceptable as long as there is an explanation of how the drawing exemplifies
similarity.
7
Question 7
Little Lily is 3 months old, she had regularly looked at a toy doll for periods of 5 to 10 seconds but now she just glances
at the doll and looks away. When a new toy teddy is waved in front of her, she spends 5 to 10 seconds looking at the
teddy. In terms of the doll, Lily is showing ____________________________
1 mark
Answer:
1 mark:
Habituation
Student answers correctly
Question 8
Dina and her older brother, Marcus, have each been given a ball of play-dough by their mother. When Marcus rolls his into a
long ‘sausage’ Dina looks at both pieces of play-dough and begins to cry, complaining that Marcus has more than she does.
i. In terms of Piaget’s theories, name the process that Dina has not yet mastered.
1 mark
ii Explain the meaning of this term.
2 marks
Answer:
i.
Conservation of volume
1 mark:
Conservation
Answer:
ii
2 marks:
The ability to recognize that the volume remains the same despite changes in linear
dimensions
Students explain both conservation (in terms of remaining constant) and volume.
1 mark:
Either conservation or volume is explained.
Question 9
Complete the following table:
Stage of Lifespan
Approximate Age (years)
Key Events
Infancy
0–2.0
Pre-school age childhood
2.1–5
School age childhood
6–11
Adolescence
12–20
Young adulthood
21–39
Middle age
40–64
Old age
65+
Verbal communication; Development
of muscle control; Family-centred
social interaction; Self-recognition
Rapid brain development:
Increased language skills and usage
Fine motor control improving;
Logical thinking; Increased
attention-span; Increased problemsolving abilities; stable and close –
mainly same-sex friendship groups
Growth spurt, sexual maturity,
prefrontal cortex development; More
sophisticated problem-solving;
Independence, usually fewer but
closer friends
Peak physical function. Intimacy
and independence
Noticeable physical decline; Peak
cognitive functioning; Stable selfidentity; Stable career and family life
Continued physical decline; Possible
cognitive decline; Self-esteem and
life satisfaction high; Close ties to
family and friends
8 marks
Marking Protocol:
1 mark:
for each point made – as above. Only one of each ‘key event’ is required for one mark.
8
Question 10a.
Explain the value of twin studies in studying nature and nurture across the lifespan.
3 marks
Answer:


3 marks:
Identical twins share 100% of genetic make-up.
Any differences in their development will be due to nurture (environmental) influences.

Fraternal twins share 50% of genetic make-up but often share very similar nurture –
differences may be due both to nature and nurture – good for comparison with identical
twins
One mark awarded for each of the above points..
Question 10b.
Explain the added value of adoption studies of twins in studying nature and nurture across the lifespan.
2 marks
Answer:
If reared in the same family, identical twins share much of the same environmental influences. Adoption
studies of identical twins reared apart means that differences are almost entirely due to ‘nurture’.
2 marks:
1 mark:
An explanation is clear and accurate.
Some problems with expression, clarity etc. of explanation.
Question 11
John Bowlby described four phases of infant attachment. Complete the following table showing details of
this theory.
1 + 1 + 2 + 2 = 6 marks
Phase (1 mark each)
Age
Description (2 marks each)
Pre-attachment
0–2 months
Attachment in the making
3–7 months
Clear-cut attachment
8–24 months
Goal-directed partnership
24 months +
Infants interact with other
people and cannot distinguish
among different people.
They will smile and cry for
family or strangers and can be
left with a stranger as a
caregiver without distress.
Attachment to caregiver begins.
Recognizes different people
including parents
Infants seek specific attachments.
Separation anxiety may be shown
when caregiver leaves
Children recognize the needs,
feelings and plans of others.
They understand that if a
caregiver leaves they will also
return. Separation anxiety
reduces and communication
skills improve.
Marking protocol:
1 mark for each phase correctly named.
2 marks: for each description – 1 mark for each point made..
9
Question 12
Identify what Kohlberg meant by the ‘naïve reward orientation’ stage of moral development and explain using an
example.
3 marks
Answer:
Right and wrong are determined by positive outcomes for the individual.
A child might clear up their bedroom in the hope of receiving extra pocket money.
1 mark:
Appropriate explanation
+
2 marks:
An example that shows how expectation of reward will contribute to following rules.
Question 13
a.
What is one advantage in using a statistical definition of normality?
1 mark
b.
What is one limitation in using a statistical definition of normality?
Answer a:
Statistical normality is not subjective – only those more than two standard deviations from the
mean on an objective measure are regarded as abnormal.
1 mark:
The objective nature of the definition is recognised
Answer b:
Some conditions that cause people to be dysfunctional are found in more than 2% of the
population – for example, 5 to 10% of people are diagnosed with ADHD.
1 mark:
The limitation is identified.
Question 14
It is estimated that between 5% and 10% of people worldwide suffer from Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
(ADHD). Explain how a psychologist, using the medical definition of abnormality, would view ADHD. (2 marks)
Answer:
1. ADHD is a condition that is due to a chemical imbalance in the brain.
2. ADHD can be treated with medication
2 marks:
1 mark:
Both of the above points are made
One point is made
Question 15 Paranoid schizophrenia is one of the more common forms of schizophrenia.
a. Outline two common symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia
b. What is the likely course of schizophrenia when it is correctly diagnosed and treated?
Answer a:
1. Delusions of persecution
2. Delusions of grandeur
3. Sensory hallucinations
4. Social dysfunction
Marking protocol:
Answer b:
2 marks
2 marks
1 mark for each symptom listed to a maximum of two.
1. About 20% of people with paranoid schizophrenia will suffer only one or two episodes
2. A majority of people with paranoid schizophrenia will lead a normal life with medical
management
3. A small proportion will have symptoms that deteriorate over time and will require institutional
care.
Marking protocol:
1 mark for each point listed to a maximum of two.
10
Question 16
Baltes believed that development over the lifespan is a continual process occurring throughout life and
shaped by biological, cognitive and social influences. Analyse Baltes’s view in terms of the ‘nature–
nurture’ debate.
2 marks
Answer:
Baltes’s view included a balance between the nature side of the debate (biological) and the
nurture side (social influences) which together contribute to and act alongside cognitive
influences.
2 marks:
There is evidence of understanding of the inclusive aspect of Baltes’s theory, supported by
specific explanation of the contribution of biological and social influences.
The explanation is of secondary quality or general in expression.
1 mark:
11