Studying for the Exam

1. Studying for the Exam

2. How to study for your exam • Complete all the multiple choice questions on Edmodo • Use cue cards and practice with mates • Do as many past practice exams as possible (i.e. the ones I have given you) • Also get them off this website: http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Pages/vce/studies/psychology/exams.aspx • Try and do 10 more – from now until the exam • 50 past exams, is likely to get you an A+ • Refer to Study design • http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Documents/vce/psychology/PsychologySD-2013.pdf

3. Use Andrew Scott’s website • http://www.epsychvce.com/ • Listen to youtube clips • Use the mindmaps • Use his worksheets • Make sure your glossary is finished with all the words in red

4. Key Knowledge: Research Methods Refer to PDF for all definitions and examples • Experimental research: construction of research hypotheses; identification and operationalisationof independent and dependent variables; identification of extraneous and potential confounding • Variablesincluding individual participant differences, non-standardised instructions and procedures, • Order effects, experimenter effect, placebo effects; ways of minimising confounding and extraneous • Variables including type of sampling procedures • Type of experiment, counterbalancing, Single and Double blind procedures, placebos, standardised instructions and procedures; evaluation of different • Types of experimental research designs including: • independent-groups • matched-participants • repeated-measures; reporting conventions as per American Psychological Association (APA) format know the strengths and weaknesses

5. Key Knowledge: Research Methods • Sampling procedures in selection and allocation of participants: random sampling; stratified sampling; random-stratified sampling; convenience sampling; random allocation of participants to groups; • Control and experimental groups • Techniques of qualitative and quantitative data collection: case Studies; observational studies; self reports • Statistics: measures of central tendency including mean, median and mode; • Interpretation of p-values and conclusions; evaluation of research in terms of generalising the findings to the population • Ethical principles and professional conduct: the role of the experimenter; protection and security of participants’ rights; confidentiality; voluntary participation; withdrawal rights; informed consent procedures; use of deception in research; debriefing.

6. Key Knowledge: Area of Study 1 – Mind Brain and Body • Concepts of normal waking consciousness and altered states of consciousnessincluding daydreaming and alcohol-induced • In terms of levels of: • awareness • content limitations • controlled and automatic processes • perceptual and cognitive distortions • emotional awareness • self-control • Time orientation • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdZmtq6CjR8

7. Key Knowledge: Area of Study 1 – Mind Brain and Body • sleep as an altered state of consciousness: purpose of sleep, characteristics and patterns of the stages of sleep including rapid eye movement (REM) and the non-rapid eye movement (NREM) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3ONM_6fkRs • stages of sleep http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI_hdRd-HrM

8. Key Knowledge: Area of Study 1 – Mind Brain and Body • Methods used to study the level of alertness in normal waking consciousness and the stages of sleep. Measurement of physiological responses including: • electroencephalograph (EEG) • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI_hdRd-HrM • electromyograph (EMG) • electro-oculargraph(EOG) • heart rate • body temperature • galvanic skin response (GSR) • – the use of sleep laboratories, video monitoring and self reports • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpR1CXS7ujM

9. Key Knowledge: Area of Study 1 – Mind Brain and Body • the interaction between cognitive processes of the brain and its structure including: • – roles of the central nervous system http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9IK_pFSpr8 • peripheral nervous system (somatic and autonomic) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTGWZoe4mCo • autonomic nervous system (sympathetic and parasympathetic) • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8ItFuDgYKw • – roles of the four lobes (frontal, parietal, temporal and occipital) of the cerebral cortex in the control of motor, somatosensory, visualand auditoryprocessing in humans; primary cortex and association areas • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luXDQrmMoUU • – hemispheric specialisation: the cognitive and behavioural functions of the right and left hemispheres of the cerebral cortex, non-verbal versus verbal and analytical functions • http://www.slideshare.net/coburgpsych/lesson-6-hemispheric-specialisation

10. Key Knowledge: Area of Study 1 – Mind, Brain and Body • Contribution of studies to the investigation of cognitive processes of the brain and implications for the understanding of consciousness including: • Studies of aphasia including Broca’s aphasia and Wernicke’s aphasia • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iHDF5twkcE • Spatial neglect caused by stroke or brain injury http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHtMmR2_V4g • Split-brain studies including the work of Roger Sperry and Michael Gazzaniga • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7DwNFFe6Ws

11. Area of Study 2 - Memory • mechanism of memory formation: • – the neuron in memory formation including the role of axons, dendrites, synapses and neurotransmitters • – role of the temporal lobe including the hippocampus and the amygdala • – consolidation theory http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwYzvKUbfJM • – memory decline over the lifespan • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdUlc4jZK_s • – amnesia resulting from brain trauma and neurodegenerative diseases including dementia and Alzheimer’s disease • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYHjZydo1_g

12. Area of Study 2 - Memory • models for explaining human memory: • – Atkinson-Shiffrin’s multi-store model of memory • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0XLEuijX3c • Sensory memory • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXphKw1BPBw • including maintenance and elaborative rehearsal • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJ2Uw5znL0I • serial position effect and chunking • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsZKBsy6yDw • – Alan Baddeley and Graham Hitch’s model of working memory: central executive, phonological loop, visuo-spatial sketchpad, episodic buffer • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jX08_Ft5LI • – levels of processing as informed by Fergus Craik and Robert Lockhart • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9I_7-VUzjs • – organisation of long-term memory including declarative (episodic and semantic) and procedural memory, and semantic network theory • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebKzcfbDx_c

13. Area of Study 2 - Memory • strengths and limitations of theories of forgetting: • – forgetting curve as informed by the work of Hermann Ebbinghaus http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDPTQmRRPSQ • – retrieval failure theory including tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon • – interference theory (retroactive and proactive interference) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyXbdLIBhQo • – motivated forgetting as informed by the work of Sigmund Freud including repressionand suppression http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGt2Bz1mP_o • – decay theory http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R90pHQrfyoY

14. Area of Study 2 - Memory • manipulation and improvement of memory: • – measures of retention including the relative sensitivity of recall, recognition and relearning • – use of context dependent cues and state dependent cues http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boKKhBvf5Bg • – mnemonic devices including acronyms, acrostics and narrative chaining • – effect of misleading questions on eye-witness testimonies including the reconstructive nature of memory informed by the work of Elizabeth Loftus • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SP8kJ5A5xU8

15. Unit 4 – AOS 1 Learning • behaviours not dependent on learning including reflex action, fixed action patterns and behaviours due to physical growth and development (maturation) • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crWPuzaEQ3A • neural mechanisms of learning including developmental plasticity and adaptive plasticity of the brain: • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKLqwNHzufk • changes to the brain in response to learning and experience http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytRC15vIA24timing of experiences • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDlurrS5Yw0

16. Learning • • applications, and comparisons, of learning theories: • classical conditioning as informed by Ivan Pavlov: roles of neutral, unconditioned, conditioned stimuli; unconditioned and conditionedresponses • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cbd0tt9cj_M • – applications of classical conditioning: graduated exposure, aversion therapy, flooding,trial-and-error learning

17. Learning • Three-phase model of operant conditioning as informed by B.F. Skinner: • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-lgMnvPDQ0 • positiveand negative reinforcement, response cost, punishment and schedules of reinforcement • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdrkmu1g5OI • schedules of reinforcement • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBFCsjVwXJs • – applications of operant conditioning: shaping, token economies • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7x6gGr5JCg

18. Learning • Comparisons of classical and operant conditioning in terms of the processes of acquisition, extinction, stimulus generalisation, stimulus discrimination, spontaneous recovery, role of learner, timing of stimulus and response, and nature of response (reflexive/voluntary) • Comparison of operant and classical conditioning http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nv81eEc_Xzs • Extinction and Spontaneous recovery • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34MEA3whgnM

19. Observational learning (modelling) processes in terms of the role of attention, retention, reproduction, motivation, reinforcement as informed by Albert Bandura’s social learning theory http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPGqN1iPvQI • the extent to which ethical principles were applied to classic research investigations into learning including John Watson’s ‘Little Albert’ experiment

20. AOS 2 – Mental Health • concepts of normality and differentiation of mental health from mental illness • • systems of classification of mental conditions and disorders: underlying principles of classification; • strengths and limitations of discrete categorical (DSM-IV and ICD-10) and dimensional (graded • and transitional) approaches to classification of mental disorders • • use of a biopsychosocial framework (the interaction and integration of biological, psychological • and social factors) as an approach to considering physical and mental health • • application of a biopsychosocial framework to understanding the relationship between stress and

21. AoS 2 – Mental Health • physical and mental wellbeing: • – physiological and psychological characteristics of responses to stress including fight-flight response, eustress and distress • – psychological determinants of the stress response; strengths and limitations of Richard Lazarus and Susan Folkman’s Transactional Model of Stress and Coping http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8FEMHCRowM • social, cultural and environmental factors that exacerbate and alleviate the stress response • allostasis(stability through change brought about by the brain’s regulation of the body’s response to stress) as a model that integrates biological, psychological and social factors that explain an individual’s response to stress • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cg-NKd61eFk • strategies for coping with stress including biofeedback, meditation/relaxation, physical exercise, social support

22. Involves an active, information-processing system that receives, organises, stores and recovers information. MEMORY

23. Remembering: 3 key processes • Encoding is the entire process of converting information into a useable form or code that can be stored in memory • Storage is the retention of information overtime. • Retrieval is the process of locating and recovering the stored information from memory so that we are consciously aware of it.

24. Measures of Retention • Memory is measured in 3 ways. RECALL • This involves being asked to reproduce information with no or minimal external cues. • Free recall- retrieval of items in any order without cues or prompts. • Cued recall- retrieval of items in any order but with cues to aid retrieval • Serial or ordered recall- retrieval of items in the same order in which they were presented.

25. Cont... Measures of Retention Recognition Relearning Also called the savings method, relearning information previously memorised, and calculating the amount of information saved (or retained) in memory from the original learning. No. of trials (or time) No. of trials (or time) Original Learning _ Relearning _______________________________ = Savings Score No. of trials for Original learning (or time) • Correctly identifying or selecting previously learned information from a set of alternatives • Which of the following are names of Walt Disney’s 7 dwarfs? • Bashful Sneezy • Happy Doc • Grumpy Grouchy • Pop • Sleepy • Goofy • Dopey

26. Relative sensitivity of each measure of retention RELEARNING RECOGNITION RECALL ____________________________________________________most sensitiveleast sensitive The Relationship between the stages of memory

27. Sensory Memory Sensory memory is a type of memory that stores sensory information in a raw form for very short periods of time. • The 2 types of sensory memory most extensively explored are: • Iconic memory: all information held in the visual sensory register. • Echoic memory: all information held in the auditory sensory register.

28. Sensory memory is the initial stage of the memory system in which all the stimuli that bombard our senses are retained in their original sensory form (exact copies & not encoded). Sensory information remains in sensory memory just long enough for us to attend to and select the information to be transferred to short term memory. Selective attention is an automatic process that allows us to attend to some information entering our memory system and to ignore the rest. As soon as it is attended to, information transfers to STM.

29. Short Term Memory

30. Working Memory: The active STM • An active part of memory where information you are consciously aware of is actively “worked on” thought about and processed in a variety of ways. • Baddeley (1999, cited in Grivas, Down & Carter, 2004) proposed working memory consists of 3 sub-systems: • The Phonological (or Articulatory) Loop (verbal working memory) stores speech based information and is comprised of 2 parts: The phonological memory is a limited number of sounds (phonemes) such as words for a short period of time of about 2 seconds. The articulatory sub-vocal rehearsal – silently repeating words. Prevention of this results in rapid forgetting.

31. Working Memory cont... The Visuo-spatial sketchpad: • holds ‘mental pictures’ temporarily. • is responsible for the manipulation of visual and spatial information. • Such as the location and nature of objects in the environment. ie. Knowing exactly where on the kitchen bench we have placed a cupcake and cup when we turn to pour a coffee from the perculator. The Central Executive: • Attends to information and decides what should be done with it (it plans and coordinates). • Integrates info from the verbal and visual storage systems as well as information retrieved from LTM. • It is responsible for suppressing irrelevant information from our conscious thinking.

32. REHEARSAL: Maintain information in STM by preventing it from being lost through decay (not being used) or displaced (being pushed out) by other material. Maintenance rehearsal Elaborative rehearsal Is the process of linking new information in a meaningful way with information already stored in memory or with other new information, to aid in its storage and retrieval from LTM. Is a more active process than maintenance rehearsal. It is a better method for remembering information because that info is encoded well. • Relies on the conscious recitation of information in a rote fashion. It can be verbal or non-verbal. Eg either repeating info over and over in one’s head (sub-vocally) or by saying the info aloud over and over again (vocally). • Easily affected by distraction which can displace information from STM.

33. Consolidation Theory In order for new information to be transferred effectively from STM to LTM there needs to be a time period in which these memories are able to stabilise without being disrupted. The consolidation theory refers to Physical changes occuringto the neurons in the brain when something new is being learned and immediately following learning for a period of time as the new info sets (consolidates) in memory. If memory is disrupted during consolidation phase (stabilisation of changes in the brain’s neurons) info may not be processed in LTM & will be lost. The consolidation process takes 30 minutes.

34. Long Term Memory • LTM is a relatively permanent memory system which has an unlimited capacityfor storing information for a relatively unlimited duration. • LTM stores information semantically. ie. encoding is elaborative, according to meaning. TYPES OF LONG TERM MEMORY • Procedural memory – is the memory of actions and skills that have been learned previously and involves knowing “how to do something” eg. how to ride a bike or how to bake a cake. They are also called implicit memories because it is often difficult to recall when or how we learned to perform the sequence of actions required to do something . • Declarative memory – is the memory of specific facts or events that can be brought consciously to mind and explicitly stated or ‘declared’ eg. Identifying a type of flower or remembering what you ate for dinner last night.

35. TYPES OF LONG TERM MEMORY PROCEDURAL MEMORY DECLARATIVE MEMORY • Memory for actions or skills, knowing “how” • Memory for facts and events in the world, knowing “that”

36. TWO TYPES OF DECLARATIVE MEMORY EPISODIC MEMORY Memories which contain autobiographical information about personal events and experiences in one’s life and the context in which they occurred. SEMANTIC MEMORY Memories which involve specialised knowledge of factual information about the world. This includes general knowledge , academic knowledge (of that learned at school) as well as the meaning of words.

37. Semantic Network Theory • Proposes that LTM is organised systematically into hierarchical networks of concepts (nodes), arranged as interrelated categories and sub-categories. Information within the nodes is interconnected via meaningful links. • A shorter link between two concepts in a semantic network indicates a strong association between concepts; while a longer link between two concepts illustrates a more distant association. • Activating more nodes increases the chances of success and speed of retrieval of an item.

38. Semantic Network Theory

39. SERIAL POSITION EFFECT • The serial position effect displays the tendency for recall of items in a serial list as being superior for items at the beginning of the list due to the primacy effect and if tested immediately after presentation of the list for items at the end of the list due to the recency effect (than for those in the middle). • What causes the serial position effect ? If recall occurs immediately after a list has been learned the last few items are remembered best because they are still in STM. The first few items are remembered well because they receive more attention and rehearsal than other items and are therefore transferred into LTM.