UNIT 3/4 Thread 2013

[ineedhelp2]

@ darklight

Sleep conserving energy is evidence for the survival theory of sleep. Sleeping allows for slower metabolic rates, therefore reducing the need for food e.g. when animals hibernate in the winter months when food is scarce in order to survive.

It makes sense when you think of it in a way that survival theory = conserving energy because restorative theory replenishes your energy (there is no need to conserve).

[darklight]

Question 4, Multiple-choice VCAA
Which one of the following statements about short-term memory is true?

A. Simple rehearsal is the best method for guaranteeing that material will transfer from short-term memory to long-term memory.
B. The capacity of short-term memory can be increased by chunking and elaborative rehearsal.
C. The capacity of short-term memory for individual letters is fixed at a certain number.
D. Most material in sensory memory makes its way into short-term memory.

I thought that elaborative rehearsal does not increase the capacity of the short-term memory, but rather increases the limited duration. For example, if we are learning a list of 7 names, usually we can only hold it for 18 to 20 seconds but if we used elaborative rehearsal we can increase the duration we hold it in there for, whilst elaborative rehearsal also has the benefit of being more effective in transferring it to LTM.

Also, question 15:
While I am studying for my examinations, my brother plays the same loud music over and over again in the next room.
According to the principle of state dependency
A. the music will interfere with the material entering my short-term memory.
B. I should recall the material better when tested in conditions of total silence.
C. being tested in conditions where there is a similar type of loud noise should not improve my recall of the material.
D. I should recall the material better when tested in conditions where the same music is being played.

"State dependency" - doesn't that refer to an individual's INTERNAL physiological/psychological state? Not their external environment, which is context-dependent cues. D is in accordance with context dependency, not state dependency...

[Scooby]

Question 4, Multiple-choice VCAA
Which one of the following statements about short-term memory is true?

A. Simple rehearsal is the best method for guaranteeing that material will transfer from short-term memory to long-term memory.
B. The capacity of short-term memory can be increased by chunking and elaborative rehearsal.
C. The capacity of short-term memory for individual letters is fixed at a certain number.
D. Most material in sensory memory makes its way into short-term memory.

Well, we know that A isn't right - elaborative rehearsal is more effective in transferring information to LTM. C isn't right because it's absolute - the STM capacity of different individuals isn't necessarily going to be the same. D is wrong too - for a stimulus to be transferred to STM we have to be attend it to. Think about how many stimuli there are in the environment at any given time, then think about how many of those you're actually paying attention to.

B is definitely the most correct answer. Yeah, we can increase the capacity of STM using chunking. As for elaborative rehearsal, well, I'm not too sure what they're on about there, but again, B is definitely the most correct.

Also, question 15:
While I am studying for my examinations, my brother plays the same loud music over and over again in the next room.
According to the principle of state dependency
A. the music will interfere with the material entering my short-term memory.
B. I should recall the material better when tested in conditions of total silence.
C. being tested in conditions where there is a similar type of loud noise should not improve my recall of the material.
D. I should recall the material better when tested in conditions where the same music is being played.

A, B and C are clearly wrong. D has to be the right answer. As for why... this is extrapolating the information beyond what you should usually do, but since we already know D has to be right... playing music may induce certain neurological changes (eg. increased dopamine activity in some reward pathways) that are associated with the information being learned. Playing this music again should stimulate the same neurological changes and hence will enable greater recall of the learned information.

[kawfee]

Describe fight/flight response, referring to the role of the autonomic nervous system.

Is this answer appropriate ...?

When a threat is perceived, the autonomic nervous system is activated and the sympathetic nervous system is subsequently activated allowing thr organism to respond the the that threatening stimulus by either confronting it (fight) or escaping (flight).

***or should i write about adrenal glands and how some organs' acitivty is increased and others decreased?

A sample response would be appreciated!

Edit: another question. If there is a q on the semantic network...are we allowed to draw a diagram ie network , to support our answer?

[brenden]

Yes, you can certainly draw a network.
I'm on my phone and haven't slept so Ceebs with sampe answer right now. I'll come back later if someone else doesn't answer before ne

[Damoz.G]

Describe fight/flight response, referring to the role of the autonomic nervous system.

Is this answer appropriate ...?

When a threat is perceived, the autonomic nervous system is activated and the sympathetic nervous system is subsequently activated allowing thr organism to respond the the that threatening stimulus by either confronting it (fight) or escaping (flight).

***or should i write about adrenal glands and how some organs' acitivty is increased and others decreased?

A sample response would be appreciated!

Edit: another question. If there is a q on the semantic network...are we allowed to draw a diagram ie network , to support our answer?

As Brencookie said, you can draw diagrams. Examiners do accept them.

Basically, the Sympathetic Nervous System heightens the body for action (Fight Response), and the Parasympathetic Nervous System will relax the body after stress or action (Flight Response).

I like to think of it as Parachute for Parasympathetic. Both have "Para" in it, and what happens to a Parachute? It goes down, and so does the Parasympathetic Nervous System when it calms the body.

[Scooby]

Describe fight/flight response, referring to the role of the autonomic nervous system.

Is this answer appropriate ...?

When a threat is perceived, the autonomic nervous system is activated and the sympathetic nervous system is subsequently activated allowing thr organism to respond the the that threatening stimulus by either confronting it (fight) or escaping (flight).

***or should i write about adrenal glands and how some organs' acitivty is increased and others decreased?

You could probably express this a bit better. The sympathetic nervous system is just a subdivision of the autonomic nervous system, so if you say that the "autonomic nervous system" activates you're implying that the sympathetic division also has activated. I'd just stick with something like "the sympathetic nervous system is activated", or if you wanted to, "the sympathetic nervous system - a subdivision of the autonomic nervous system - is activated".

Depending on how many marks the question was worth I'd write something along the lines of...

- A threat is perceived, triggering the release of neurohormones (ie. CRH) from the hypothalamus
- These neurohormones trigger release of ACTH into the bloodstream from the anterior pituitary gland
- ACTH stimulates release of adrenaline and cortisol from the adrenal glands
- Adrenaline activates the sympathetic nervous system, which triggers a variety of responses (eg. dilation of the pupils to allow more light into the eyes, increase in heart rate to increase blood flow to muscles)
- Cortisol increases release of glucose into the bloodstream from the liver
- More rapid transport of glucose to muscles and other organs allows cellular energy to be generated more rapidly and hence allows the organism to more effectively confront the perceived threat or flee

You'd only be expected to write that much if the question were worth 4-5 marks (which I really doubt would happen )

It's also important that you write "perceived" threat

Hope that helps

[kawfee]

Thank you all 

And Scooby, did doing Bio assist you when answering some Psych qs?

Edit:

Another question

A psychologist monitored the sleep of 20 people who had just run a marathon (group a) and compared the avg length of time they slept to that of 20 people who had been passive during the previous day(group b)

A) according to the restoration theory of sleep, which group wpuld be expected , on avg, to have a longer period of sleep?

My answer is Group A

B) explain your answer

Is this ok as an answer...

The restoration theory of sleep proposes that due to depleting activities in the day (marathon completed by group a), organisms will sleep longer than on avg. therefore it Is group a that will sleep longer compared to group B who had been passive on the previous day

[darklight]

Hey guys,

Just checking, does VCAA accept that graduated exposure therapy and systematic desensitisation can be used interchangeably? So in both you are taught relaxation strategies in order to replace your anxiety response?

Thanks

[Casiocalc]

Do you need to know 'learning set'?? 

[#J.Procrastinator]

Can someone explain the difference between homeostasis and allostasis?

To put it quite simply, allostasis is the maintenance of stability by CHANGING. Whereas, homeostasis is the maintenance of stability by keeping your physiological environment at optimal levels or within set limits.

Allostasis= through CHANGING
Homeostasis= by keeping your internal environment CONSTANT

[radl223]

Hello everyone,

Correct me if I'm wrong, but when a question asks whether a reinforcement schedule is LEAST RESISTANT to extinction as opposed to SLOWEST RATE OF EXTINCTION, these are different things right?

I just did a question and it says that fixed-ratio is the least resistant to extinction. So does the variable-ratio have the slowest rate of extinction?

Thankyou

[spectroscopy]

Hello everyone,

Correct me if I'm wrong, but when a question asks whether a reinforcement schedule is LEAST RESISTANT to extinction as opposed to SLOWEST RATE OF EXTINCTION, these are different things right?

I just did a question and it says that fixed-ratio is the least resistant to extinction. So does the variable-ratio have the slowest rate of extinction?

Thankyou

whats the difference between least resistant to extinvtion vs slowest rate?

[Scooby]

Do you need to know 'learning set'?? 

Nope

whats the difference between least resistant to extinvtion vs slowest rate?

The behaviour that is least resistant to extinction will extinguish at the fastest rate. Behaviours acquired by continuous schedules of reinforcement are generally extinguished quite rapidly, as are those acquired by fixed partial schedules (especially fixed ratio)

Hey guys,

Just checking, does VCAA accept that graduated exposure therapy and systematic desensitisation can be used interchangeably? So in both you are taught relaxation strategies in order to replace your anxiety response?

Thanks

They're not exactly the same thing. Graduated exposure just involves constructing that hierarchy of fears and then being exposed to them one by one. A relaxation technique isn't necessarily paired with the phobic stimuli. In systematic desensitisation a relaxation technique is paired with these stimuli. I wouldn't use them interchangeably, but I doubt you'll lose marks if you do use the wrong one anyway

Thank you all 

And Scooby, did doing Bio assist you when answering some Psych qs?

Edit:

Another question

A psychologist monitored the sleep of 20 people who had just run a marathon (group a) and compared the avg length of time they slept to that of 20 people who had been passive during the previous day(group b)

A) according to the restoration theory of sleep, which group wpuld be expected , on avg, to have a longer period of sleep?

My answer is Group A

B) explain your answer

Is this ok as an answer...

The restoration theory of sleep proposes that due to depleting activities in the day (marathon completed by group a), organisms will sleep longer than on avg. therefore it Is group a that will sleep longer compared to group B who had been passive on the previous day

Yeah, that's fine

[Damoz.G]

did doing Bio assist you when answering some Psych qs?

Yes, doing Biology definitely helps, especially when doing Neurons and Plasticity.