2011 VN'ers Psychology U3 Questions Thread

[diem]

You might want to relate it to the frontal lobe for movement, parietal lobe for being spatially aware of the surroundings and sensations (somatosensory cortex).

To kick a ball: Your primary visual cortex from the occipital lobe registers the visual information (the ball); the association area in your parietal lobe helps you locate the distance from your foot to the ball (being spatially aware); then your brain sends out motor (efferent) neurons which carries down your spinal cord and to your Peripheral Nervous System (somatic nervous system for voluntary skeletal muscle movement in your leg to kick the ball).

I don't know if I'm right either, I have a practise question similar to this one.

[REBORN]

@diem:

You lose 2 marks automatically for incorrect terminology:

---> association area? Either say association areaS or association cortex.

---> "brain" sends out motor (efferent) neurons? No. Way way too vague. Specify the frontal lobe and even the PMC.

[Darren]

Losing a mark for one plural is stretching it a little too far snake.. association area/areas, same thing..
@diem you're right but i would add the primary motor cortex when describing sending motor information

[REBORN]

Losing a mark for one plural is stretching it a little too far snake.. association area/areas, same thing..

I am a harsh kunt. I agree. Note however that there is a difference - you'll appreciate the fact when some assessor marks you wrong...

[Darren]

With delayed onset of sleep; it is solely caused by biological factors (the circadian rhythm being shifted forward due to melatonin) or is it both social and biological causes? How do we explain its cause correctly?
I know the symptoms are caused by social factors though (like unable to wake for school causing sleep debt etc)

[Zafaraaaa]

It can be both biological and social factors, however, most of the time in past exam Q's, I realised the answer was mainly talking about the biological cause (that the hormones melatonin (for sleep inducement) and cortisol (for alertness) were released 1-2 hours later in adolescence than they were in childhood). Depends on the marks as well, like if the question was worth 5 marks, maybe they'd want us to discuss both social and biological factors?

[Zafaraaaa]

Q- Outline the role of the neuron in memory formation.  [2 marks]

What exactly should we talk about, since the question is quite broad, and it's only worth 2 marks?? Is it sufficient to write this as the answer:
"Only when structural (physical) and functional (chemical) changes occur in the synaptic connections between neurons, can information be stored in LTM"

Thanks

[ReganM]

Does Brocas aphasia affect writing ability?

[pilky01]

And can someone please put me out of my misery!!

What is the bloody difference between a confounding variable and an extraneous variable in terms of:

-Predictability
-Consistency with the hypothesis
-How universal its effect is upon the study sample
-What does it mean demand cues/experimenter effects/placebo effect/individual participant variables/artificiality all are?

My textbook really fails to properly differentiate the two and merely provides the procedures (i.e. Single blind/Experimental designs etc.) to minimise "Potential confounding/extraneous" variables. Does it vaguely say that because each variable other than the IV and DV can be a potential confounding/extraneous?

Sorry if question has been dealt with already in an earlier threads - I just assumed it wouldn't be a problem for me if I simply ignored the apparent intricacies these variables provide.

Cheers in advance y'all

[izzykose]

An extraneous variable is a variable which has the potential to effect the results. These are controlled for at the beginning of an experiment. Some include, the placebo effect, experimenter effects, individual participant differences, the use of non-standardized instructions and procedures and artificiality.

A confounding variable is a variable which has not been controlled for and HAS HAD an unwanted effect on the results. Confounding variables produce a measurable change in the DV, that is consistent with the hypothesis and thus the reason for the change in the DV cannot be determined; whether it was due to the manipulation of the IV or the confounding variable.

Hope i helped.

[Zafaraaaa]

Does Brocas aphasia affect writing ability?

Broca's aphasia does not affect writing ability; If you have time watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aplTvEQ6ew
(It shows a girl that has Broca's aphasia, notice how she writes things down on paper to better communicate what she's trying to say

[REBORN]

Does Brocas aphasia affect writing ability?

Broca's aphasia does not affect writing ability; If you have time watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aplTvEQ6ew
(It shows a girl that has Broca's aphasia, notice how she writes things down on paper to better communicate what she's trying to say

Ooooooooooo be very careful citing 'youtube' as a source.

IMO Broca's aphasia DOES affect writing ability in terms of grammar?

[Zafaraaaa]

IMO Broca's aphasia DOES affect writing ability in terms of grammar?

Why would it?  Broca's aphasia is damage to the broca's area- the area in the frontal lobe that normally allows us to move our jaw to produce fluent, articulate, and grammatically correct speech... So how would damage to broca's area cause impairment in writing? Because Isn't Wernickes area the brain area that allows us to choose words from memory to express ourselves meaningfully and with the right words (in both spoken and written aspects)?

[REBORN]

IMO Broca's aphasia DOES affect writing ability in terms of grammar?

Why would it?  Broca's aphasia is damage to the broca's area- the area in the frontal lobe that normally allows us to move our jaw to produce fluent, articulate, and grammatically correct speech... So how would damage to broca's area cause impairment in writing? Because Isn't Wernickes area the brain area that allows us to choose words from memory to express ourselves meaningfully and with the right words (in both spoken and written aspects)?

Who said it was grammatically correct speech only? All I have in my book is "grammatical structure of language". Language can refer to writing too...

[izzykose]

I do believe zafaraaaa is correct. Why? Because the Broca's area has a role in 'understanding' the grammatical structure of language, it doesn't explicitly state that Broca's area affects ones ability to write grammatically correct sentences. You cannot just infer about something that has been stated in the book, just do not include this in an answer, state only that Broca's area MAY cause a problem in the construction of grammatically correct sentences as it has a role in understanding the grammatical structure of language. Never say does.