VCE Psychology Question Thread!

[Bri MT]

I'm a bit confused about where the marks come from. Since their response is as follows:

• Constructively counteracts the synaptic strengthening caused by LTP
• Stops synapses hitting a ceiling level of efficiency (due to LTP)

From what I understand, the first point they make just means that it allows important synaptic connections to be strenghtened. And second means it prevents the nervous system from running out of resources, correct?
So how would I know to write those two exact points from the question?

The first point is not that it allows synapses to be strengthened; its that it allows them to be weakened.


You wouldn't know to answer those exact points, but you would know a) what LTD does and b) that this improves efficiency  and should be able to apply that to the question. You don't need to 100% match what the report says to get the marks - it's a guide. If your response validly applies to the question in specific enough detail without misinformation you should get the marks

[anon101]

Thanks dude,
I have some more questions if you're able (I know there's a lot here, but quite a few should just need one liners):
Bill was very happy when his baby was born. A few weeks after the birth, Bill lost his job and became worried about providing for his family in the future, especially since his wife did not have paid work.
When the baby was born, Bill immediately experienced:

• Distress – Checkpoints answer
  Eustress – what I thought

Why does the parasympathetic nervous system first activate during countershock? Wouldn’t the first sympathetic nervous system activate then?

Briefly describe how the sympathetic nervous system generates the fight-flight-freeze response. In your answer you must refer to any neurotransmitters involved.
Doesn’t this ask for the HPA axis? I thought so, but Checkpoints answers doesn’t reflect this (and it’s a 6 marker!)

Is graduated expose something on the old study design which isn’t applicable to me any more (because there’s a Checkpoints question which has it as its answer)

Jane’s mother decides that she will also try to change John’s bad behavious. Each time she catches John trying to frighten Jane, she takes one dollar from his pocket money. John then stops frightening his sister.
Which best describes John’s experience:

• Punishment – what I thought was the answer
  Response cost – their answer

Vicki found it annoying that Misha salivated whenever she saw her. To aboid Misha salivating, Vicki should have trained Misha to sit by:

• Using a command word other than the word ‘sit’ – their answer (how will changing the word affect this?)
  Giving Misha a pat but not a biscuit whenever she sat on command – my answer
  

Is Thorndike’s law of effect something from the old study design, as in Checkpoints this earns the last mark for one question about conditioning

Why would a lack of REM sleep cause heightened sensitivity to pain?

If anyone can help me, I'd greatly appreciate it!!!

[Balfe]

Bill was very happy when his baby was born. A few weeks after the birth, Bill lost his job and became worried about providing for his family in the future, especially since his wife did not have paid work.
When the baby was born, Bill immediately experienced:

• Distress – Checkpoints answer
  Eustress – what I thought

You're definiteley right here, Bill would be experiencing eustress.

Why does the parasympathetic nervous system first activate during countershock? Wouldn’t the first sympathetic nervous system activate then?

Theoretically the parasympathetic nervous system could activate in countershock, assuming that the individual is eliciting the 'freeze' response whereby there would be a heightened arousal of both the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system. Otherwise, just the sympathetic.

Briefly describe how the sympathetic nervous system generates the fight-flight-freeze response. In your answer you must refer to any neurotransmitters involved.
Doesn’t this ask for the HPA axis? I thought so, but Checkpoints answers doesn’t reflect this (and it’s a 6 marker!)

I'd be interested to see what Checkpoints suggested here. Keep in mind that if it isn't a past VCAA question the checkpoints can be quite odd!

Is graduated expose something on the old study design which isn’t applicable to me any more (because there’s a Checkpoints question which has it as its answer)

Graduated exposure is basically systematic desensitisation, but no, the term is no longer in the study design.

Jane’s mother decides that she will also try to change John’s bad behavious. Each time she catches John trying to frighten Jane, she takes one dollar from his pocket money. John then stops frightening his sister.
Which best describes John’s experience:

• Punishment – what I thought was the answer
  Response cost – their answer

That would be a response cost because he is losing a positive stimulus (money) each time he performs the behaviour. Thus, weakening it. There is an important distinction here! Imagine, a fine, that would be a response cost!

Vicki found it annoying that Misha salivated whenever she saw her. To aboid Misha salivating, Vicki should have trained Misha to sit by:

• Using a command word other than the word ‘sit’ – their answer (how will changing the word affect this?)
  Giving Misha a pat but not a biscuit whenever she sat on command – my answer
  

Both answers were appropriate in this question.

Is Thorndike’s law of effect something from the old study design, as in Checkpoints this earns the last mark for one question about conditioning

Never heard of this so must be an old study design.

Why would a lack of REM sleep cause heightened sensitivity to pain?

A lack of REM sleep would lead to partial sleep deprivation, which in turn leads to the physiological symptom of a heightened sensitivity to pain if that's what you mean? Specific REM deprivation may lead to hallucinations and impaired motor movements + REM rebound.

Hope this helps!
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[Bri MT]

Thanks Balfe for your contributions

Also anon101, there was a discussion about that 6 marker a few pages back  that might be useful

[rinner]

Hey,
I just did the 2017 VCAA exam and I felt like did alright except for the last question. There is just so much information that I've literally never learnt, such as zeitgeibers, the suprachiesmatic nucleus (SCN), hypothamulus, pineal gland. Can anyone please explain what they are because my teacher told us to specifically not learn this stuff so I'm feeling kind of stressed.
Thanks!!

[studyingg]

Hey,
I just did the 2017 VCAA exam and I felt like did alright except for the last question. There is just so much information that I've literally never learnt, such as zeitgeibers, the suprachiesmatic nucleus (SCN), hypothamulus, pineal gland. Can anyone please explain what they are because my teacher told us to specifically not learn this stuff so I'm feeling kind of stressed.
Thanks!!

No need to stress, this stuff is quite easy to learn so i'll try break it down for you

this is from the key knowledge: sleep as a regular and naturally occurring altered state of consciousness that follows a circadian rhythm and
involves the ultradian rhythms of REM and NREM Stages 1–4 sleep


Circadian rhythms are biological rhythms that follow a 24 hour cycle. sleep can be considered as part of a circadian rhythm, due to the sleep wake cycle, which involves the alternation between periods of sleep and periods of wakefulness over a 24 hour period.

Circadian rhythms are influenced by internal and external factors. These factors are known as endogenous factors and zeitgebers.
-endogenous factors: are factors that are intrinsic to an individual, and are associated with their physiological functioning that can influence their circadian rhythms, with regards to sleep, the primary endogenous factors include the interaction between the superchiasmic nucleus and the pineal gland in regulating the secretion of melatonin and inducing physiological changes that are associated with sleep or wakefulness.

-zeitgebers: (are German for 'time givers') and they are external/extrinsic factors that originate within the environment that can influence circadian rhythms, with regards to sleep, the zeitgeber involved is light from the external environment, which is involved in influencing the sleep wake cycle.

these two factors interact to regulate a person's sleep-wake cycle
Light from the external environment acts as a zeitgeber ---- it is detected by the eyes ---  it travels to the superchiasmic nucleus through neural connections between the hypothalamus and the optic chiasma--- the superchiasmic nucleus is a cluster of neurons located in the hypothalamus that contains neural links to the pineal gland and the optic chiasma and is involved in influencing the sleep wake cycle (it is also known as the body's biological clock {u probably vaguely remember this from unit 1} ) ----- if the SCN detects an intense quantity of external light (indicative of day time) ---- it will send signals to the pineal gland in the brain to cease the release of the hormone melatonin into the bloodstream, complementary to this are secondary signals will promote an increase in the hormone cortisol in the blood stream --- this will influence one to remain awake and alert during the day. ----- if the SCN detects low quantities of external light  (indicative of darkness/nigh time)---- it will signal to the pineal gland to increase the release of melatonin into the bloodstream, melatonin is responsible for introducing feelings of drowsiness and sleepiness influencing one to feel tired and fall asleep at night time.

other stuff you can know:
- endogenous factors are more influential than zeitgebers on the sleep-wake cycle (that is the SCN will function as stated above in the absence of any light) this is from a study on the influence of light on the circadian rhythms of rats, where it was found that their sleep-wake cycles functioned as normal in the absence of light

- The sleep wake cycle is actually longer than 24 hours, which is why travelling west (and hence having to delay your sleep wake cycle) is easier done than travelling east

-in the adolescent sleep wake shift the functioning of the SCN (interaction with pineal gland) is delayed by 1-2 hours

- in bright light therapy the light from the light box is a zeitgeber and it manipulates the SCN (which is why it is effective in treating circadian phase disorders)


if my attempt at making a flow chart doesn't make sense just let me know and i'll scan my notes. Don't stress though, it's good you found this gap in your knowledge now... but don't let this make you paranoid and doubt yourslef on the exam

[ebaade4]

Hey guys i have a few questions regarding the exam rules
 - Are we are allowed to write outside the lines provided but still inside the boxed area?
 - When we write in the extra space at the back do we just write ''continued on back" in another colour or something?
 - Is it okay to use dot points and underlining for short answer questions to make our answers clearer?
 - One other thing, should i avoid try write small to avoid using the extra space? or maybe write two lines in each gap? I was thinking maybe examiners wouldn't like constantly flicking to the back to read answer
These might seem like stupid questions, but I just don't want to lose marks because of silly things. thanks

[Bri MT]

Hey guys i have a few questions regarding the exam rules
 - Are we are allowed to write outside the lines provided but still inside the boxed area?
 - When we write in the extra space at the back do we just write ''continued on back" in another colour or something?
 - Is it okay to use dot points and underlining for short answer questions to make our answers clearer?
 - One other thing, should i avoid try write small to avoid using the extra space? or maybe write two lines in each gap? I was thinking maybe examiners wouldn't like constantly flicking to the back to read answer
These might seem like stupid questions, but I just don't want to lose marks because of silly things. thanks

- yes
- In my exam I wrote "see extra space at back" or something similar, I don't know if you have to but I think it's a good idea
- Yep, that's definitely ok.     You can also use subheadings (can be good for the 10 marker) if you want
- They don't get the actual book, it's scanned. My first focus would be on making sure your answer is legible - if they can't read it they can't give you marks & there's space at the back for a reason

[anon101]

Thanks a load, Balfe, you've answer majority of my questions!!!

For this one though, him losing money would be the response cost, but his actual experience would be negative punishment, right?

That would be a response cost because he is losing a positive stimulus (money) each time he performs the behaviour. Thus, weakening it. There is an important distinction here! Imagine, a fine, that would be a response cost!

Also, how many marks (out of 3) would I get for my response to the question I've just written below?
Explain how CBT could be used to treat Alex's (I've just ignored the scenario to keep this short here) sleep disturbances:

• CBT's cognitive and behavioural components can help to identify and correct maladaptive thought patterns, beliefs and behaviours
• The cognitive aspect can get him to focus on his own personal development (instead of what's causing him stress and anxiety)
• The behavioural aspect can help to implement sleep hygiene (e.g. no phone's before bed)

I'm really confused about how I should go about these CBT questions because in the practise exams I've done there've been several similar questions which seem to have a couple of different distributions of marks.

Also, if someone has "ongoing sleep deprivation", how can that be a precipitating risk factor? Wouldn't that be perpetuating? (from the VCAA sample exam)

[Balfe]

Thanks a load, Balfe, you've answer majority of my questions!!!

For this one though, him losing money would be the response cost, but his actual experience would be negative punishment, right?

Response cost is negative punishment, just the fancy name for it. That's why you can also just say 'punishment' rather than 'positive punishment' due to this distinction.

Also, how many marks (out of 3) would I get for my response to the question I've just written below?
Explain how CBT could be used to treat Alex's (I've just ignored the scenario to keep this short here) sleep disturbances:

• CBT's cognitive and behavioural components can help to identify and correct maladaptive thought patterns, beliefs and behaviours
• The cognitive aspect can get him to focus on his own personal development (instead of what's causing him stress and anxiety)
• The behavioural aspect can help to implement sleep hygiene (e.g. no phone's before bed)

Sometimes these 3 markers can throw you off as some state 1 mark for cognitive, 1 for behavioural and then EITHER 1 mark for an overall statement of how they interact OR 1 mark for what you have given (i.e. the general describtion of CBT). I would potentially mention both just to assure you get the marks. So, 'The combination of these behavioural and cognitive approaches will help to relieve.... the stress.. or whatever is relevant.

Also, if someone has "ongoing sleep deprivation", how can that be a precipitating risk factor? Wouldn't that be perpetuating? (from the VCAA sample exam)

Poor sleep in and of itself can precipitate mental illness and mental health problems. This is because the lack of sleep can lead us onto feeling worse and having severe cognitive functioning impairment. So, according to the study design it is a biological precipitating risk factor. On the other hand, the biological perpetuating factor would be a poor response to medication due to genetic factors and potentially sleep (it will really just depend upon whether he already has the issue before the sleep issues begin) - perhaps our seasoned expert miniturtle can provide some guidance here!

[Bri MT]

Poor sleep in and of itself can precipitate mental illness and mental health problems. This is because the lack of sleep can lead us onto feeling worse and having severe cognitive functioning impairment. So, according to the study design it is a biological precipitating risk factor. On the other hand, the biological perpetuating factor would be a poor response to medication due to genetic factors and potentially sleep (it will really just depend upon whether he already has the issue before the sleep issues begin) - perhaps our seasoned expert miniturtle can provide some guidance here!

Thanks Balfe!


If it was perpetuating rather than precipitating it wouldn't increase the chance of developing the mental health disorder. However, if you're regularly experiencing symptoms of sleep deprivation such as lower self control, difficulty regulating your emotions, easily irritated etc. we would expect that to increase someone's chance of developing a MHD.
Precipitating risk factors also contribute the occurrence of the disorder (they're kind of like predisposing and perpetuating all in one), which makes sense given that you (correctly) do expect symptoms of sleep deprivation to inhibit recovery.

[anon101]

If it was perpetuating rather than precipitating it wouldn't increase the chance of developing the mental health disorder. However, if you're regularly experiencing symptoms of sleep deprivation such as lower self control, difficulty regulating your emotions, easily irritated etc. we would expect that to increase someone's chance of developing a MHD.
Precipitating risk factors also contribute the occurrence of the disorder (they're kind of like predisposing and perpetuating all in one), which makes sense given that you (correctly) do expect symptoms of sleep deprivation to inhibit recovery.

Don't precipitating factors just do two things increase someone's vulnerability to a MHD and contribute to its onset?
So are you saying perpetuating factors can't contribute to the onset of someone's MHD? Because I thought that they still increase vulnerability

For that CBT question. Were the other two points I made correct? Can you give me an example of how you think the best way to tackle those questions are? Because they're one of a handful that I never seem to be getting marks for
When do I know to define a key term in my responses, since I seem to lose a lot of marks on the VCAA sample exam for not defining in the questions (which my teacher told me not to do unless the question asks for it, but I can't seem to figure out where it asks for the definitions).
Lastly, can you list some of the effects of ASC's and sleep deprivation (since they should be identical for all questions)?

[rinner]

thanks studyingg, I think I understand it now!
I made a diagram including some of your notes and the ones in the vcaa exam answer and attached it here. Hope it can help other people (although it's a bit messy)

[studyingg]

thanks studyingg, I think I understand it now!
I made a diagram including some of your notes and the ones in the vcaa exam answer and attached it here. Hope it can help other people (although it's a bit messy)

your diagram is so cute!!! wowie your drawings are so pretty! I think you definitely got it! I love making my notes aesthetically pleasing so yours are very inspirational

[Bri MT]

Don't precipitating factors just do two things increase someone's vulnerability to a MHD and contribute to its onset?
So are you saying perpetuating factors can't contribute to the onset of someone's MHD? Because I thought that they still increase vulnerability

Also, for that CBT question. Were the other two points I made correct? Can you give me an example of how you think the best way to tackle those questions are? Because they're one of a handful that I never seem to be getting marks for
Lastly, when do I know to define a key term in my responses, since I seem to lose a lot of marks on the VCAA sample exam for not defining in the questions (which my teacher told me not to do unless the question asks for it, but I can't seem to figure out where it asks for the definitions)

Precipitating factors contribute to vulnerability and occurence. I'll edit my above post to improve clarity but hopefully this also helps:

Precipitating risk factors often show up before the MHD and they increase vulnerability, like predisposing risk factors.
However, unlike predisposing risk factor and like perpetuating risk factors, their role isn't just before the development of the MHD but also during (since precipitating risk factors contribute to occurence)

Risk factors can also have multiple roles, for example, stigma is a perpetuating risk factor, but if it reduces someone's ability to build resilience to MHD then it's also acting as a predisposing risk factor. However, I wouldn't say that perpetuating risk factors increase susceptibility to MHD in general. Hope this makes sense?

Similarly, sleep deprivation is a perpetuating risk factor, and it can also have a role in inhibiting recovery. I'd argue that most if not all, precipitating risk factors are also perpetuating risk factors           (this next point I don't know how much vcaa agrees with) and that this is within the scope of the definition.



I'll hunt down an examiners reports with CBT answers so you can have confidence in it
Edit: that was more difficult than I anticipated. Even looking back pre-2010 I wasn't able to find much. The most applicable ER I found was in 2017 about the 10 marker

Spoiler

For CBT, high-scoring responses noted that:  • Night shift workers should work with a psychologist to establish effective sleep hygiene routines and to develop other behavioural methods to protect against the negative psychological impacts of chronic partial sleep deprivation (e.g. reducing stressors, strategies for managing moods, etc.)

This suggests that the main components of a CBT response are:
- that the person works with a psychologist to develop effective behavioural strategies
- that these strategies protect against negative psychological impacts


I would add to your CBT response that the "protect against negative psychological impacts bit" and then you should be all good