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Tasmanian Certificate of Education

PSYCHOLOGY

Senior Secondary

Subject Code: BHP315111

External Assessment

2015

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.

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Psychology

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CANDIDATE INSTRUCTIONS You MUST make sure that your responses to the questions in this examination paper will show your achievement in the criteria being assessed. 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.

Psychology

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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 – Perception Examine the following stimulus items:

Stimulus 1 – Recognising objects

You are able to recognise a huge number of different patterns and different objects such as cats, cups and coats. You can also recognise many variations of each of these things; for example, you recognise cats standing up and sitting down, cats running and cats asleep. You also recognise objects even when your information is partial; for example, you can still recognise a cat if only its head and one paw are visible behind a tree. This is true for print as well. You can recognise thousands of different words, and you can recognise them whether the words are printed in large type or small, italics or straight letters, upper case or lower, or are handwritten. In addition, your recognition of various objects, whether print or otherwise, is influenced by the context in which the objects are encountered; for example, consider the figure below. The middle character is the same in both words, but we are likely to read it as an ‘H’ in the first word and an ‘A’ in the second word.

Figure 1

(Source: Adapted from Reisberg, D. (2013). Cognition: Exploring the Science of the Mind (5th ed.). New York: W.W.Norton & Company, pp. 85-86)

Question 1 continues.

SECTION A – PSYCHOBIOLOGICAL PROCESSES

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Question 1 (continued)

Stimulus 2 – Ambiguous figure

Figure 2: This figure can be viewed as a saxophone player or the face of an attractive young woman.

(Source: www.joeltalks.com) (a) Display your knowledge and understanding of the following psychological concepts by referring

to the above stimulus items and other relevant information:

• perception • Gestalt principles • top-down and bottom-up processes

(b) Use evidence from the above stimulus items, as well as other relevant evidence, to explain how

an individual’s perception is influenced by their perceptual set.

Section A continues.

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Section A (continued) Question 2 – Consciousness Examine the following stimulus items:

Stimulus 1 – The sleep cycles

Figure 3: This graph shows the stages of sleep and the sleep cycles of a typical night’s sleep.

(Source: www.thebrain.mcgill.ca)

Question 2 continues.

Stages  of  sleep

 

Time  

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Question 2 (continued)

Stimulus 2 – The Head Start program Violent television images may be affecting our dreams. Research conducted at the University of Tasmania has found that television images of terrorist attacks increase the intensity of dream imagery. The Tasmanian study monitored the dreams of 24 volunteers who watched two videos at least three nights apart and recorded dreams for the three nights after each video. One video featured images from the September 11, 2001 attack on the United States. ‘It was vivid, but probably what most people watched for hours and hours after the actual event,’ said UTAS psychologist John Davidson. A control video featured a psychology lecture and no terrorist images. The volunteers documented their dreams after watching the videos and the dreams were rated by independent judges on a scale of 0 to 3 in terms of the intensity of the central image. The researchers assessed 108 dreams: 57 which followed watching the September 11 video and 51 following the control video. The results showed a statistically significant increase in intensity of the central dream image for those who had watched the September 11 video.

(Source: Bevilacqua, S. (2005, July 17). Waking from Terror. Sunday Tasmanian, p.11)

(a) Display your knowledge and understanding of the following psychological concepts by referring to the above stimulus items and other relevant information:

• continuum of consciousness • awareness (internal and external) • theories of dreaming

(b) Use evidence from the above stimulus items as well as other relevant evidence to explain how

sleep and dreaming differ from normal waking consciousness.

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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 – Gender Examine the following stimulus items:

Stimulus 1 – Gender identity

The acquisition of gender identity begins when babies are labelled as either girls or boys. Thereafter it is shaped by the process of learning gender behaviours regarded as appropriate for one’s sex in a given culture. Gender role socialisation reflects all the subtle pressures from parents, peers and cultural forces that urge boys to ‘act like boys’ and girls to ‘act like girls’. By the time they are just two years of age, children are aware of gender role differences (Witt, 1997). At three or four years of age, gender identity is usually well formed. Learning gender roles begins immediately after birth. Infant girls are held more gently and treated more tenderly than boys. Later, boys are allowed to roam over a wider area without special permission. Both parents play more roughly with sons than with daughters. Sons are more often urged to control their emotions, except for anger and aggression, which parents tolerate more in boys than girls.

(Source: Adapted from Coon, D. and Mitterer, J.O. (2010). Introduction to Psychology:

Gateways to Mind and Behaviour (12th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. pp. 430-433)

Question 3 continues.

SECTION B – INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES

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Question 3 (continued)

Stimulus 2 – Cyberbullying experiences

Experience  of  cyberbullying  

Figure 4: This graph shows the experience of cyberbullying of a random sample of male (2212 participants) and female (2162 participants) students in the United States of America.

(Source: Adapted from Hinduja, S. and Patchin, J.W. (2010). Cyberbullying Research Center. http://www.cyberbullying.us/2010_charts/cyberbullying_gender_2010.jpg)

(a) Referring to the above stimulus items and other relevant psychological evidence, describe social influences on the development of gender identity and gender roles.

(b) Analyse and evaluate the various explanations of gender differences.

Section B continues.

Males (n = 2212) Females (n = 2162)

25.1

16.6

7.0 7.9

10.5

18.2 17.5

21.3

3.6

2.3

9.3

7.9

6.3

7.4

4.6

3.1

Percen

t  

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Section B (continued) Question 4 – Intelligence Examine the following stimulus items:

Stimulus 1 – Effects of social deprivation

Depriving children of a loving family environment causes lasting damage to their intelligence and emotional wellbeing, according to the most extensive study of social deprivation yet. A lack of care and attention left children with stunted growth, substantially lower IQs and more behavioural and psychological problems than children who had been better cared for. The findings emerged from the Bucharest Early Intervention Project. It is the first randomised clinical trial set up to investigate the effects of social deprivation on the emotional, psychological and physical health of children. The study has been running for five years and records the wellbeing of children in a Romanian orphanage from an early age, and the changes they experience when transferred to foster care. The orphanage represents an extreme of social deprivation because the children are typically looked after by a rota of carers who will each be responsible for 12 to 15 children at any one time. The study found that a child's environment had a marked effect on intelligence. It measured IQ in 136 children aged six months to 30 months. The studies showed that children in the most deprived conditions had exceptionally low IQs, but once they were removed to foster homes, improved when tested again at 42 and 54 months.

(Source: Adapted from Sample, I. A loving family can boost children's intelligence. (2006, February 18).

The Guardian. http://www.theguardian.com/science/2006/feb/18/medicineandhealth.lifeandhealth)

Question 4 continues.

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Question 4 (continued)

Stimulus 2 – The Flynn Effect

Various explanations for the Flynn Effect have been proposed including reduced malnutrition, increased access to schooling, smaller families and better parenting.

(Source: Adapted from: (Image) www.affordablehousinginstitute.org. (Text) Sargent, G., Bormanis, M., Campara, J., Niklaus, K., Schnabl, L., Sundram, S., Warner, J. & Whelan, K. (2009). Uncovering Psychology: VCE Units 1 and 2. Port

Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, p. 413) (a) Referring to the above stimulus items and other relevant psychological evidence, describe social

influences on the development of intelligence. (b) Analyse and evaluate the different influences on intelligence.

Section B continues.

Britain Netherlands Israel Norway Belgium

Year

IQ S

core

s

1942 1952 1962 1972 1982 1992

100

95

90

85

80

75

100 100 100 100 100

93

88.5

91

79

73

Figure 5: This graph shows a rise in mean IQ scores in developed countries. This is known as the Flynn Effect. Data collection began in different years in various countries.

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Section B (continued) Question 5 – Personality Examine the following stimulus items:

Stimulus 1 – The evolutionary approach to personality

Regarding biological perspectives on personality, a recent development has been the emergence of evolutionary theory. Evolutionary theorists assert that personality has a biological basis because natural selection has favoured certain traits over the course of human history. For example, David Buss has argued that the Big Five personality traits stand out as important dimensions of personality across a variety of cultures because those traits have had significant adaptive implications. According to Buss, the Big Five emerge as fundamental dimensions of personality because humans have evolved special sensitivity to variations in the ability to bond with others (extraversion), the willingness to cooperate and collaborate (agreeableness), the tendency to be reliable and ethical (conscientiousness), the capacity to be an innovative problem solver (openness to experience) and the ability to handle stress (low neuroticism). Contemporary biological theories stress the genetic origins of personality. It is interesting to note that recent research in behavioural genetics has suggested that shared family environment has surprisingly little impact on personality.

(Source: Adapted from Weiten, W. (2001). Psychology Themes and Variations

(5th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, p. 513)

Question 5 continues.

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Question 5 (continued)

Stimulus 2 – The three levels of Eysenck’s theory of personality

Level 3:

Level 2:

Level 1:

Figure 6: The three levels of Eysenck’s theory of personality. *cerebral cortex – the outer region of the brain

(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. 291)

(c) Referring to the above stimulus items and other relevant psychological evidence, describe

biological influences on the development of personality. (d) Analyse and evaluate the different influences on personality.

Environmental influences

Behavioural performance

Biological constitution

Introversion-Extraversion

Motor movement, conditioning, vigilance

Arousal and inhibition of the cerebral cortex*

Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI)

Laboratory tasks on a computer, for example

EEG recordings and other neurophysiological measures

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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 6 – Conditioning Examine the following stimulus items:

Stimulus 1 – What happened to Carla? ‘It all started when my dentist told me that I needed a lot of work on my teeth and gums. I spent many mornings in the dentist’s chair, and even though he gave me a local anaesthetic, it was painful and very uncomfortable,’ said Carla. She continued, ‘I had recently bought my boyfriend a new aftershave, and as the dentist worked on my teeth, I noticed that he was using the same one. You’ll think this is silly, but now when I smell my boyfriend’s aftershave, I start to feel tense and anxious. ‘Finally, I told my boyfriend that he would have to stop using the aftershave I had bought him because it was the same as my dentist’s and the smell made me anxious. We got into a big argument because he said that he was nothing like my dentist and I was just being silly.’

(Source: Adapted from Plotnik, R. (2005) Introduction to Psychology (7th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Thomson Learning, p. 195)

Question 6 continues.

SECTION C – HUMAN LEARNING

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Question 6 (continued)

Stimulus 2 – Changing human behaviour

Figure 7: The above graph shows results from a study which aimed to teach a severely disturbed nine-year-old to say ‘Please’, ‘Thank you’ and ‘You’re welcome’.

When the child in the above study said ‘Please’, he was reinforced in three ways: he received the object he asked for (a crayon, for example); he was given a small food treat, such as some biscuits or lollies; and he was praised for his good behaviour (Mattson et al., 1998). The boy applied the polite words in new situations as well.

(Source: Adapted from Van Iersel, Bradley, Coon, Houlihan, Koerner, Montalto, Rossborough and Stone (2005).

Nelson Psychology VCE Units 3 and 4. Southbank, Victoria: Nelson Australia Pty Limited, p. 293) (a) Display your knowledge and understanding of the following psychological concepts by referring

to the above stimulus items and other relevant information: • unconditioned and conditioned response • stimulus discrimination • positive and negative reinforcement

(b) Analyse and evaluate the ways in which humans learn through classical and operant

conditioning.

Section C continues.

Baseline

Perc

enta

ge o

f co

rrec

t res

pons

es

‘Please’ reinforced

Number of sessions

5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

100

80

60

40

20

0

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Section C (continued) Question 7 – Observational and Social Cognitive Learning Examine the following stimulus items:

Stimulus 1 – Observation of a model

Many studies have shown that observation of a model performing some desirable behaviour can reduce problematic behaviour. Children have been able to reduce their fear of dental visits (Craig, 1978) or impending surgery (Melamed & Siegel, 1975) by observing films of other children effectively handling their dental or surgical anxieties. Clinical psychologists now use observational learning as a technique to deal with specific fears and as a method for promoting cooperative behaviour among pre-schoolers (Granvold, 1994). It has been estimated that children now witness thousands of reinforced acts of violence just by watching Saturday morning cartoons. Although the causal connection between TV violence and personal aggression has not been firmly established (Freedman, 1988), the consensus among psychologists seems to support the link (Hearold, 1986). Even if people don’t directly imitate or model a particular violent act, it’s still likely that the observation itself influences the way they think. For instance, witnessing repeated examples of fictional violence distorts people’s estimates of realistic violence – they are likely to believe, for example, that more people die a violent death than is actually the case.

(Source: Adapted from Nairne, J.S. (1997). Psychology: The Adaptive Mind. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, p. 269)

Question 7 continues.

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Question 7 (continued)

Stimulus 2 – Viewing aggression

Bandura and his colleagues demonstrated that viewing aggression by cartoon characters produces more aggressive behaviour than viewing live or filmed aggressive behaviour by adults.

Figure 8: This graph shows the frequency of aggressive responses following children’s exposure to models.

(Source: Bandura, A. (1963). The Role of Imitation in Personality Development. Journal of Nursery Education. 18:3, 207-215, reproduced in Huitt, W. (2004). Observational (social) learning: An overview. Educational Psychology Interactive.

Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University. http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/soccog/soclrn.html)

(a) Display your knowledge and understanding of the following psychological concepts by referring

to the above stimulus items and other relevant information: • model • vicarious conditioning • learning set

(b) Analyse and evaluate the ways in which humans learn through observational and social cognitive

learning.

Mea

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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 Office of Tasmanian Assessment, Standards and Certification.