SSABSA

SENIOR SECONDARY ASSESSMENT BOARD OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA PUBLIC EXAMINATION 2004

2004 PSYCHOLOGY

FOR OFFICE
USE ONLY

SUPERVISOR
ATTACH SACE REGISTRATION NUMBER LABEL
CHECK
TO THIS BOX

Monday 8 November: 1.30 p.m. Pages: 17

RE-MARKED
Questions: 21
Time: 2 hours

Examination material: one 17-page question booklet

one 8-page script book
one SACE registration number label

Approved dictionaries and calculators may be used.

Instructions to Candidates

1. You will have 10 minutes to read the paper. You must not write in your question booklet or script book
or use a calculator during this reading time but you may make notes on the scribbling paper provided.

2. This paper consists of two sections:

Section A: Short-answer Questions (Questions 1 to 19)
Answer all questions in Section A in the spaces provided in this question booklet.
Section B: Extended-response Questions (Questions 20 and 21)
Answer both questions in Section B in the separate script book.

3. In Section A there is no need to fill all the space provided; clear, well-expressed answers are required. If
you delete part or all of an answer you should clearly indicate your final answer and label it with the
appropriate question number. You may write on page 14 if you need more space.

4. In answers to questions on the topics you should use the psychological terms that are appropriate to the
individual topics.

5. The allocation of marks and suggested allotment of time are as follows:

Section A 80 marks 80 minutes
Section B 40 marks 40 minutes
TOTAL 120 marks 120 minutes

6. Attach your SACE registration number label to the box at the top of this page. Copy the information from
your SACE registration number label into the box on the front cover of your script book.

7. At the end of the examination, place your script book inside the back cover of this question booklet.
 STUDENT’S DECLARATION ON THE USE OF
CALCULATORS

By signing the examination attendance roll I declare that:

• my calculators have been cleared of all memory;
• no external storage media are in use on these calculators.
I understand that if I do not comply with the above
conditions for the use of calculators I will be in breach
of the rules and liable to a penalty of receiving zero marks
for the examination.

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SSABSA

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 SECTION A: SHORT-ANSWER QUESTIONS (Questions 1 to 19)
(80 marks)

Answer ALL questions in this section in the spaces provided. You should spend about 80 minutes on
this section. Answers may be in note form. The allocation of marks is shown in brackets at the end
of each question or at the end of each part of each question.

INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY (8 marks)

1. Investigations in psychology can be classified as either quantitative or qualitative. Each style

of investigation has advantages and disadvantages.
Describe one disadvantage of quantitative investigations.

(2 marks)

2. Refer to the following table, which shows the scores out of 100 obtained by ten students in
their mid-year statistics examination. The last row of the table shows the sum of scores, ΣX.

Student X (Score)

1 83
2 56
3 95
4 72
5 68
6 45
7 70
8 99
9 86
10 77
ΣX = 751

(a) Calculate the mean for this distribution of scores.

(2 marks)

(b) Calculate the median score in this distribution.

(2 marks)

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(c) The standard deviation of this distribution is 16.7.
The same ten students do a mid-year history examination. The mean for this examination
is the same as that for the statistics examination, but the standard deviation is different.
The standard deviation for the history examination is 12.3.
Describe what the standard deviations of the two sets of examination scores tell us
about the distributions of scores.

(2 marks)

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SOCIAL COGNITION (20 marks)

3. Maria spent a lot of time watching the recent Olympic Games on television. As a result, she
has developed a much more positive attitude towards the singing of her country’s national
anthem.
Using the example above, describe one model that explains the structure of attitudes.

(4 marks)

4. Consider the following situation:

Jan and Phil are the parents of two young children. They are concerned about negative
attitudes in the general community towards asylum seekers (people who have left their
own countries to seek status as refugees in Australia). Jan and Phil do not want their
children to develop negative attitudes towards asylum seekers.
Describe two actions that Jan and Phil might take to influence their children to form positive
attitudes towards asylum seekers. In describing these actions, apply what is known about
factors that affect attitudes.

Action 1:

Action 2:

(4 marks)

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5. Mee-Ying has been employed by an advertising agency to devise a television advertisement
that is designed to persuade people to buy a new brand of soft drink called ‘DynamiCola’.
Describe two factors that are likely to increase the effectiveness of the persuasive
communication in this advertisement.

Factor 1:

Factor 2:

(4 marks)

6. The relationship between attitudes and behaviour is bidirectional.

(a) Describe what is meant by bidirectional in this context.

(2 marks)

(b) Describe one example of a bidirectional relationship between an attitude and a behaviour.

(2 marks)

7. Carlo has just arrived from interstate to take on the role of manager of a large clothing
factory.
Describe how Carlo might use impression management to make a favourable impression on
the workers in the clothing factory. Illustrate your answer with an example.

(4 marks)
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LEARNING (18 marks)

8. Francesca lives on a farm and often gives her horses carrots and apples as a treat. She
carries the treats in a big red bucket. The horses run to the gate as soon as they see
Francesca coming towards their paddock with the big red bucket.
From this example of classical conditioning:

(a) identify the conditioned stimulus.

(2 marks)

(b) identify the conditioned response.

(2 marks)

(c) If the horses see Francesca walking around with a small white bucket, which contains
tools for fixing fences, they keep grazing and do not go to the gate. The white bucket
stimulus does not evoke the same response as the red bucket stimulus.
State the name of this effect.

(2 marks)

9. Describe two factors that influence learning through observation.

Factor 1:

Factor 2:

(4 marks)

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10. Refer to the following table, which provides information about the types of stimuli that are
presented/added or removed during the processes of positive reinforcement, punishment, and
negative reinforcement.

Pleasant (non-aversive) Unpleasant (aversive)

stimulus stimulus

Present/add Positive reinforcement Punishment

Remove Punishment Negative reinforcement

(a) Rupert is a toddler who throws a tantrum when his dad refuses to buy him a treat at the
supermarket checkout. Rupert’s dad gives him a treat to stop the tantrum. As a result,
Rupert is more likely to throw another tantrum if he is refused a treat in the future.
Using a term from the table above, name this process.

(2 marks)

(b) Chris takes a tablet to relieve headache pain. The tablet works and the headache goes
away. As a result, Chris is more likely to take another tablet next time a headache
strikes.
Using a term from the table above, name this process.

(2 marks)

11. A housing developer is about to release hundreds of blocks of land that are situated close to
a national park. The local community is worried that many of the new house owners will
have pet cats and that the impact of these cats on the native fauna in the national park will
be disastrous.
Using principles of operant conditioning and the correct terminology, explain one strategy
that the local council could use to encourage people moving into the area not to have cats or
to control them.

(4 marks)

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PERSONALITY (16 marks)

12. Several trait conceptions of personality have been proposed by psychologists.

(a) Describe one trait conception of personality.

(4 marks)

(b) Describe one criticism of trait conceptions of personality.

(2 marks)

13. State one form of personality assessment that could be described as a qualitative method.

(2 marks)

14. Describe one form of personality assessment.

(4 marks)

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15. Describe two differences between humanistic conceptions of personality and psychodynamic
conceptions of personality.

Difference 1:

Difference 2:

(4 marks)

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PSYCHOBIOLOGY OF ALTERED STATES OF AWARENESS (18 marks)

16. Research has shown that much is happening in our brains and bodies during sleep. One stage
of the sleep cycle is referred to as REM sleep.
Describe one feature that distinguishes REM sleep from other sleep stages.

(2 marks)

17. Psychologists often treat people who are experiencing disorders that alter their states of
awareness, such as insomnia, seasonal affective disorder, and stress.

(a) Describe one disorder that alters people’s state of awareness.

(2 marks)

(b) Describe one psychological intervention or therapy that might be used in the treatment
of the disorder you described in part (a).

(4 marks)

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18. Findings from the psychological study of sleep have been applied to a number of significant
social problems. For example, driver fatigue is recognised as a cause of road accidents.

(a) Describe when road accidents that are caused by driver fatigue would be most likely to
occur.

(2 marks)

(b) Describe two strategies that drivers might use to reduce fatigue.

Strategy 1:

Strategy 2:

(4 marks)

19. Learning to manage stress effectively has been described as an important part of personal
growth.
Describe two strategies that people could use to improve their ability to manage stress.

Strategy 1:

Strategy 2:

(4 marks)

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You may write on this page if you need more space to finish your answers to Section A. Make
sure to label each answer carefully (e.g. 8(b) continued).

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 SECTION B: EXTENDED-RESPONSE QUESTIONS (Questions 20 and 21)
(40 marks)

Answer BOTH questions in this section.

Write your answers in the separate script book provided. Begin each answer on a new page.
You should spend about 40 minutes on this section, 5 to 10 minutes planning and 30 to 35
minutes writing. Credit will be given for clear, well-expressed answers that are well organised
and relevant to the questions.

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HEALTHY MINDS (20 marks)

20. Harry is the kind of person who is not very assertive. He wants people to like him and tries
hard to please his family, friends, and co-workers. He is also the type of person who worries
a lot. He worries about money, his health, and deadlines for reports that he has to hand in at
work. Sometimes he just feels anxious without knowing why.
Harry is starting to think that he cannot do anything right and that nothing will make his life
better. Lately he has been unable to concentrate on anything and is worried about his
shortness of breath, racing heartbeat, trembling, and dizziness. He does not want to talk
about any of this with his friends and family because he is worried that they might think he
is weak and useless.
Discuss the symptoms of anxiety that Harry is experiencing that relate to the four levels of
explanation of behaviour. Your response should include a:
• description of biological factors that influence Harry’s behaviour;
• discussion of the role of basic processes in influencing Harry’s behaviour;
• discussion of how Harry’s personal characteristics influence his behaviour;
• discussion of how the socio-cultural context influences Harry’s behaviour.

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ETHICAL ISSUES: This question tests your understanding of ethical issues, an aspect
of the curriculum statement that is common to all the topics. (20 marks)

21. Consider the following case-study.

In the 1960s the American psychologist Stanley Milgram set up an experiment to investigate
obedience to authority. The key features of the experiment were as follows:
• Forty males aged between 20 years and 50 years were recruited through a newspaper
advertisement to participate in a study on the effect of punishment on human learning.
They were paid $4.50 an hour.
• Participants did the experiment in pairs, drawing slips of paper out of a hat to see who
would be the ‘teacher’ and who would be the ‘learner’. The learner had to memorise a list
of word pairs. The teacher’s task was to deliver a punishment whenever the learner gave
an incorrect answer.
• The learner was strapped into a chair with electrodes attached to his wrists in full view of
the teacher. The teacher was then led into an adjoining room and seated in front of an
electric shock generator that had labelled switches. During the experiment the teacher
could not see the learner, but they could communicate using a microphone.
• The teacher was instructed that each incorrect answer from the learner was to be punished
with a shock, beginning at 15 volts (labelled ‘Slight Shock’) and increasing by 15 volts for
every incorrect answer up to 450 volts (labelled ‘Danger: Severe Shock’). To get an idea
of what the learner would feel, the teacher was given a sample shock of 45 volts.
• The purpose of the experiment was to see how far participants would go in obeying an
authority figure (the experimenter). In reality the generator did not deliver any shocks and
the ‘learner’ was an actor following a script. He had to make many errors and, as the
shock levels were increased, he was to call out that he wanted to be let out. At 300 volts
he was to scream that he would give no further answers. After 330 volts he was to make
no further sounds at all. Throughout all of this the experimenter instructed the teacher to
continue with the experiment, saying ‘Please continue’ and ‘The experiment requires you
to continue’.
• Milgram reported that 65% of ‘teacher’ participants in this experiment continued to obey
the experimenter until they reached the highest shock level. Many of them appeared upset
as they delivered these shocks. They grimaced, twisted their hands, and sweated profusely.
• Participants were debriefed at the end of the experiment. They were introduced to the actor
who played the role of the learner and had the real purpose of the experiment explained to
them.
Discuss four ethical issues that you consider relevant to this case-study.

© Senior Secondary Assessment Board of South Australia 2004

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