NAME__________________ TEACHER______________
Copyright reserved 2011. This assessment guide originally published by Trials for Teachers.
Permission is granted for copying for use by authorised schools only.
2011
TRIAL EXAMINATION
VCE PSYCHOLOGY
UNIT 3
INSTRUCTIONS
Writing time -
Reading time - 15 minutes
90 minutes
SECTION A
Area of study 1:
Mind brain and body
Area of study 2:
Memory
Total 45 multiple choice questions:
45 marks
Answer the multiple choice questions on the answer sheet provided.
SECTION B
Area of study 1:
Mind brain and body
Area of study 2:
Memory
Total short answer:
30 marks
Answer the short answer questions in this booklet.
SECTION C
Area of study 1:
Mind brain and body
Area of study 2:
Memory
Total extended response:
Answer the extended response question in this booklet.
15 marks
IMPORTANT NOTES
 THIS PRACTICE EXAMINATION WAS CONSTRUCTED AND REVIEWED BY EXPERIENCED
TEACHERS OF VCE PSYCHOLOGY. IT HAS NO OFFICIAL STATUS.
 NO TEACHER WHO HAS CONTRIBUTED TO THIS PAPER BY SETTING OR REVIEWING QUESTIONS
HAS BEEN INVOLVED WITH THE VCAA PANEL RESPONSIBLE FOR SETTING THE VCAA
EXAMINATION FOR UNIT 3 PSYCHOLOGY: JUNE 2011.
 QUESTIONS IN THIS PAPER ARE ORIGINAL EXAMPLES, BASED ON THE TYPE OF QUESTIONS
THAT HAVE APPEARED IN PREVIOUS VCE EXAMINATIONS AND THE SAMPLE QUESTIONS
PUBLISHED BY VCAA.
SECTION A – MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
Question 1
Which of the following statements reflects the view of French philosopher René Descartes?
A. The mind and body form a single functional unit
B. The body can influence the mind, but the mind does not influence the body
C. The mind and body are separate but interact with each other
D. The mind and body are separate and do not interact with each other
Question 2
Which of the following terms indicates that consciousness is a sequence of thoughts and feelings, rather
than a fixed and unchanging entity?
A. Dualism
B. Monism
C. Cogito ergo sum
D. Stream of consciousness
Question 3
Mona was learning to drive her dad’s manual car, at the end of a lesson her dad wanted to discuss the
interview that had been played on the radio as she was driving, but Mona had no idea what it was about!
The most likely explanation for this is:
A. Mona was not interested in the interview so it had not been processed into her memory
B. Mona was paying selective attention to her driving which was a controlled process
C. Mona was paying selective attention to her driving which was an automatic process
D. Mona had divided attention between driving and listening so her memory was reduced
Question 4
Which of the following is not true in relation to microsleeps?
A. A microsleep will usually last between three and 15 seconds
B. Microsleeps help us cope with sleep deprivation
C. Powernapping can help prevent microsleeps
D. A microsleep involves a sudden period of REM sleep
Question 5
The survival (evolutionary) theory of sleep suggests that organisms sleep at times when they are
less well adapted to find food or avoid predators. Which of the following is a criticism of the
survival theory of sleep?
A. During sleep our body uses less energy so we can remain longer in safety being
unnoticed
B. During sleep we are in a reduced state of awareness so we are in increased danger from
predators
C. During sleep we restore the muscles and nervous system
D. Sleepwalking can increase the level of danger experienced by the individual
Question 6
Renee is sixteen years old and her sister Jamee is ten years of age. Which is the most likely
description of their natural sleep patterns during the summer school holidays.
A. Jamee sleeps from 9.00 pm until 8.00 am; Renee sleeps from 10.30 pm until 7.00 am
B. Jamee sleeps from 8.00 pm until 9.00 am; Renee sleeps from 10.00 pm until 9.00 am
C. Jamee sleeps from 9.00 pm until 8.00 am; Renee sleeps from 1.00 am until 11.00 am
D. Jamee sleeps from 9.00 pm until 8.00 am; Renee sleeps from 1.00 am until 7.00 am
Question 7
‘Left neglect’ is a phenomenon that sometimes affects people who have an acquired brain injury
(ABI).
Which of the following statements is true of a person experiencing ‘left neglect’
A. There has been damage to the cerebral cortex in the left parietal lobe
B. There has been damage to the cerebral cortex in the left temporal lobe
C. There has been damage to the cerebral cortex in the right parietal lobe
D. There has been damage to the cerebral cortex in the right temporal lobe
Question 8
Which of the following would be the most appropriate brain imaging technique to be used to
discover the parts of the cerebral cortex involved in solving a mathematical problem?
A. SPECT scan or PET scan
B. CT scan or MRI scan
C. fMRI scan or MRI scan
D. SPECT scan or CT scan
Question 9
One advantage of TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation) over DBS (direct brain stimulation) is
that
A. The patient is unconscious during DBS but conscious during TMS
B. The patient is conscious during DBS but unconscious during TMS
C. The patient needs to have the brain exposed during DBS but not during TMS
D. The patient needs to have the brain exposed during TMS but not during DBS
Question 10
Wernicke’s aphasia is most commonly caused by damage to
A. the primary cortex of the left temporal lobe
B. the association cortex of the left temporal lobe
C. the primary cortex of the right temporal lobe
D. the association cortex of the right temporal lobe
Question 11
After an operation to control his extremely severe epileptic seizures Julian finds that, when he
sees an object out of the left-hand corner of his eye (in his left visual field), he cannot speak the
object’s name aloud, but when he looks directly at it, he can both recognise and name it.
The operation to prevent Julian’s seizures was probably an operation that
A.
severed his corpus callosum
B.
severed the optic chiasm
C.
cut through the lateral geniculate nucleus
D.
disconnected the fore-brain from the mid-brain and hind-brain
Question 12
The primary visual cortex, the primary auditory cortex, the primary somatosensory cortex and the
primary motor cortex are found, in that sequence, in the following lobes of the cortex
A.
frontal lobe; parietal lobe; occipital lobe; temporal lobe
B.
frontal lobe; occipital lobe; parietal lobe; temporal lobe
C.
occipital lobe; temporal lobe; parietal lobe; frontal lobe
D.
occipital lobe; parietal lobe; frontal lobe; temporal lobe
Question 13
Which of the following is a function of the association cortex for the lobe named?
A.
parietal lobe – enables the integration of sensory stimuli
B.
temporal lobe – contains the primary auditory cortex
C.
occipital lobe – enables us to judge the location of objects in space
D.
frontal lobe – allows us to judge the location of objects
Question 14
If a person suffered damage to Wernicke’s area, which of the following difficulties would they be
most likely to show?
A.
they would understand what was said to them but have great difficulty pronouncing
words in reply
B.
they would understand what was said to them but when they tried to reply the speech
would come out as jumbled and meaningless words
C.
they would not understand what was said to them and when they tried to reply the speech
would be jumbled and meaningless
D.
they would not understand what was said to them and would have great difficulty
pronouncing words in reply
Questions 15 to 19 refer to the following research
In a recent study 100 volunteer participants (all adult students at Victorian universities, 50 males
and 50 females) performed a complex series of tasks. After this, they all slept in a sleep
laboratory; half the participants (Group A) were awakened each time they showed signs of REM
sleep, the other participants (Group B) were allowed to have an undisturbed night’s sleep.
The next day they were asked to describe the series of tasks performed the day before, their
responses being scored out of 50 for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
Results were as follows:
Group A mean score 31
Group B mean score 46
Probability of the difference between the means p = .02
Question 15
Which of the following conclusions could be drawn from these results?
A. For these participants, REM sleep is essential for consolidation of episodic memories
B. For these participants, REM sleep assists consolidation of episodic memories
C. For these participants, consolidation of episodic memories occurs during REM sleep
D. For these participants, there is no significant relationship between REM sleep and
consolidation of episodic memories
Question 16
The experimental design used here was
A. Matched participants
B. Independent groups
C. Repeated measures
D. Within participants
Question 17
If the significance level was set at .05, the difference between the mean scores for the two groups
could be said to be
A. psychologically significant
B. statistically significant
C. non-significant
D. highly significant
Question 18
In this study, the dependent variable was:
A. score on the recall task
B. strength of episodic memory
C. REM sleep or no REM sleep
D. disturbed sleep or undisturbed sleep
Question 19
In this study, the population was
A. 100 university students, 50 males and 50 females
B. University students
C. Adult Australians
D. Adult university students in Victoria
Question 20
A major role of the thalamus is:
A. Selecting which parts of a stimulus to attend to
B. Processing new facts into memory
C. Processing the memory of emotions
D. Controlling the transition between sleep and waking
Question 21
Which of the following is a true statement about the parasympathetic nervous system?
A. Its only function is to return the body to normal function after sympathetic arousal
B. In normal daily life it maintains the body’s state of metabolic balance (homeostasis)
C. It requires conscious awareness in order to function
D. It is classified as part of the somatic, peripheral nervous system
Question 22
In a normal night’s sleep an adult aged 30 to 45 will spend approximately how many minutes in
REM sleep?
A. 30
B. 60
C. 90
D. 150
Question 23
When Sally hears her brother play a chord of A Major on his guitar, she sees a simmering haze of blue –
when he plays G Major, she sees green.
Sally experiences a condition known as:
A. motion after-effect
B. change blindness
C. colour confusion
D. synaesthesia
Question 24
A researcher is using an EEG on a sleeping patient. The trace on the screen is showing waves with a
frequency of 28 cycles per second with occasional sequences of waves that resemble the teeth on a saw.
The researcher concludes that the patient has entered which stage of sleep?
A. NREM 1
B. NREM 2
C. NREM 3 or 4
D. REM
Question 25
In researching sleep-patterns, researcher Jade asks participants to keep a ‘sleep diary’ to record
how often they dream and the content of those dreams.
One problem that Jade must be aware of is the ‘self-fulfilling prophecy’, this means that
A. participants may be unable to recall their dreams when they awaken
B. participants may make up extra dreams, trying to provide Jade with the information she is
looking for
C. participants may not report dream content that they find embarrassing
D. some participants may never dream
Question 26
In a study by Sperry and Gazzaniga, split-brain patients were given a cup to hold in their right hand which
was hidden from sight. The patient could identify the object as a cup by
A. pointing to a picture of the cup with their right hand
B. drawing a picture of a cup with their right hand
C. saying the word ‘cup’
D. the patient would not be able to identify the object
Question 27
Further research into hemispheric specialisation by Sperry and Gazzaniga, showed that when split-brain
patients were given blocks and asked to use one hand only to arrange them to match a puzzle-pattern they
were shown, the findings were that
A. left-handed and right-handed people performed the task more easily with their left hand
B. left-handed and right-handed people performed the task more easily with their right hand
C. left-handed people performed the task more easily with their left hand, right-handed people
performed the task more easily with their right hand
D. left-handed people performed the task more easily with their right hand, right-handed people
performed the task more easily with their left hand
Question 28
Kandel trained Aplysia (Sea Hares) to withdraw their gills into the body as a result of being touched on
the tail with a glass rod. After training the Aplysia were dissected and the chemical composition of their
bodies was measured.
The results showed that:
A. New types of neurotransmitters were created
B. Higher levels of certain neurotransmitters were shown
C. Body fat content was reduced
D. The hippocampus was higher in protein
Question 29
Which of the following statements regarding the hippocampus and amygdala is correct?
A. The hippocampus is more involved in the formation of explicit memories and the amygdala in the
formation of implicit memories
B. The hippocampus is more involved in the formation of implicit memories and the amygdala in the
formation of explicit memories
C. The hippocampus is more involved in the formation of short-term memories and the amygdala in
the formation of long-term memories
D. The hippocampus is more involved in the formation of long-term memories and the amygdala in
the formation of short-term memories
Question 30
Which of the following is a correct statement with respect to Atkinson and Shiffrin’s multi-store model of
memory?
A. Maintenance rehearsal will only keep material in short-term memory
B. Elaborative rehearsal will always transfer material into long-term memory
C. Maintenance rehearsal will extend the duration of sensory memory
D. Repeated maintenance rehearsal may assist with storage of material in long-term memory
Question 31
Working memory is considered to have four independent but interactive components, these are
A. visuo-spatial sketchpad, phonological loop, central executive and episodic buffer
B. iconic images, echoic images, muscular images and semantic network
C. procedural memory, semantic memory, episodic memory, declarative memory
D. sensory memory, short-term auditory memory, short-term visual memory and long-term
memory
Question 32
According to Craik and Lockhart’s ‘level of processing’ theory, material will be more efficiently retrieved
from long-term memory if it has been processed through
A. Spatial encoding
B. Structural encoding
C. Phonemic encoding
D. Semantic encoding
Question 33
Which of the following is true of decay theory?
A. Decay may occur as material is lost from sensory memory
B. Decay may occur as material is lost from short-term memory
C. Decay may occur as material is lost from long-term memory
D. All of the above responses are correct
Question 34
Annie is 77 years old and has been diagnosed to be in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease.
Which of the following best describes Annie’s memory problems:
A. Annie has forgotten how to knit and has difficulty remembering the names of her four
adult children
B. Annie has forgotten many interesting events from her childhood but remembers recent
events quite well
C. Annie can remember how to knit but has difficulty remembering her daughter’s new
telephone number
D. Annie can remember many interesting events from her childhood and remembers recent
events quite well
Question 35
‘Tip-of-the-tongue’ phenomenon refers to a form of retrieval failure. I was trying to recall the
name of a friend but could not immediately retrieve it; yet I knew that it was a short name and
started with a ‘J’ sound.
What does this tell us about storage of memories in long-term memory?
A. It is likely that the memory is stored at a particular location in the cerebral cortex.
B. Many memories are stored at a single location in the brain.
C. A single memory is stored in a complex manner involving several locations in the brain.
D. Memory of names is stored separately from memory of faces in the cerebral cortex.
Question 36
The fact that we cannot recall something we know really well has been referred to as
A. retro-active interference
B. cue-dependent forgetting
C. state-dependent forgetting
D. context-dependent forgetting
Question 37
In order, from least sensitive to most sensitive, are the following measures of retention
A.
cued recall; free recall; relearning
B.
relearning; recognition; cued recall
C.
free recall; recognition; relearning
D.
cued recall; free recall; recognition
Question 38
The duration of iconic sensory memory is considered to be approximately
A.
5 to 9 seconds
B.
30 seconds
C.
0.3 seconds
D.
3.0 seconds
Question 39
The sequence of colours of the rainbow (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet) are
frequently remembered by means of the following mnemonics:
1. ROY G. BIV
2. Richard Of York Gained Battles In Vain
Which of the following statements is true of these mnemonics?
A. 1 is an acrostic, 2 is an acronym
B. 1 is an acronym, 2 is narrative chaining
C. 1 is an acronym, 2 is an acrostic
D. 1 is an acrostic, 2 is narrative chaining
Question 40
Eye-witness testimony has been shown to be unreliable as a result of misleading questions. This
has demonstrated which of the following characteristic of episodic memories?
A. Episodic memories are visual memories
B. Episodic memories are reconstructive memories
C. Episodic memories are verbal memories
D. Episodic memories are memories of procedures
Question 41
Motivated forgetting includes which of the following?
A. Suppressed memories
B. Repressed memories
C. Suppressed memories and repressed memories
D. Suppressed and repressed memories and pro-active interference
Question 42
Sara is studying for her Biology exam next week, but she finds that she keeps confusing the terms
with the Psychology she studied this morning. It is likely that she is experiencing
A. retro-active interference from the material she had studied earlier
B. pro-active interference from the material she had studied earlier
C. anterograde amnesia from the material she had studied earlier
D. retrograde amnesia from the material she had studied earlier
Question 43 to 45 refer to the following research
Ms Revera used her Grade 5 class in some research on memory for words.
First she read them a list of 14 words and immediately asked them to write down as many
of the words as they could recall.
Next she read them a different set of 14 words, but asked them to write the words down
in the order in which she had read them.
Question 43
The most likely outcome of this research would be
A. They recalled more words from the first list than from the second list
B. They recalled the same mean number of words from each list
C. They recalled more words from the second list than the first list
D. They recalled only words that they had previously known
Question 44
For the first list, it is most likely that the best memory would be for
A. words from the beginning of the list
B. words from the end of the list
C. words from the beginning and end of the list
D. words from the middle of the list
Question 45
The experimental design used in this research was
A. Single blind
B. Double blind
C. Repeated measures
D. Independent groups
SECTION B – SHORT ANSWER: Answer the questions in the spaces provided. DO
NOT write outside the border on any page.
Question 1
a.
It is possible that an altered state of consciousness can be identified from a person’s
emotional responses to stimuli. Explain this statement and give an example.
2 marks
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b.
It is possible that an altered state of consciousness can be identified from a person’s
perceptual responses. Explain this statement and give an example.
2 marks
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Question 2
a. Explain why a large proportion of the primary somatosensory cortex is devoted to
fingers, hands, lips and tongue.
2 marks
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b. Which part of the primary motor cortex controls the fingers of the right hand?
1 mark
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Question 3
a.
Give one advantage and one disadvantage of using a CT scan, compared with an
fMRI, for brain research.
2 marks
Advantage: ____________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Disadvantage: __________________________________________________________________
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b.
Give one advantage of using a SPECT scan for brain research, compared with an MRI
scan.
1 mark
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Question 4
Julia’s grandmother is having her 70th birthday celebration and asks Julia to take lots of
photographs because she says ‘Now I’m over 70, I’m worried that I’m not going to be able to
remember things very well’.
a. As a psychology student, what could Julia say to reassure her grandmother? 1 mark
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b. What suggestions should Julia make to help her grandmother to minimise memory loss
as she becomes older?
2 marks
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Question 5
a. What is the function of the reticular activating system?
1 mark
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b. Describe the physical changes in the reticular activating system during normal waking
consciousness and identify the effect this has on a person’s consciousness.
2 marks
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Question 6
Complete the following table which refers to Baddeley and Hitch’s model of working memory
4 marks
COMPONENT
FUNCTION
VISUO-SPATIAL SKETCHPAD
PHONOLOGICAL LOOP
EPISODIC BUFFER
CENTRAL EXECUTIVE
Question 7
David is an auctioneer who has to sell a house this afternoon – his first auction! He is worried
that he will forget the important features of the house when he is giving his introduction so he
uses the peg-word method to make sure he covers the four main selling-points; the kitchen, the
rose garden, the double garage and the local primary school.
Describe in detail how he could use this visualisation method to improve his retrieval.
3 marks
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Question 8
Lara is a lawyer conducting the defence of Annie who is accused of negligent driving because
she ran into the back of a stationary car at traffic lights.
Lara asks a witness ‘How fast would you estimate my client was travelling when she ran into the
BMW stopped at the lights?’
The witness suggested that Annie was slowing down and well under the speed limit.
Jack is the police prosecutor.
a. How might Jack have phrased a question to obtain a higher estimate of speed?
1 mark
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b. Explain why Jack’s question may cause a different response from Lara’s question. 2 marks
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Question 9
Use an example to show how memory may be enhanced by
a.
using state-dependent cues
2 marks
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b.
using context-dependent cues
2 marks
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SECTION C – This question is worth 15 marks: answer in the space provided.
Question 1
You have been asked to investigate the relationship between the amount of daytime activity a
person undertakes and the amount of REM sleep they experience the next night.
You have access to a sleep laboratory and equipment including an EEG, and EOG. Forty Year 12
students (20 male and 20 female), all over the age of 18 years, have volunteered for the study.
Identify the operational variables you would investigate and state the experimental hypothesis.
Describe the experimental design and procedures in the format of the ‘Method’ section of a
psychological report.
State two ethical considerations that you would follow and describe the procedures you would use
to make sure that these were appropriately met.
15 marks
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