VCE PSYCHOLOGY

1. VCE PSYCHOLOGY REVISION QUESTIONS OUTCOME 1

2. Question 1 • Which of the following descriptions of human consciousness is most accurate? • Awareness of the world around us and ourselves, including thoughts and feelings • Knowledge of events taking place in the world • Being able to understand and express our thoughts, feelings and knowledge of the world • Awareness of different situations that may cause an altered state of consciousness

3. Question 2 • Consciousness is often described as being • Selective, continuous and changing • Selective, objective and changing • Selective, subjective and unchanging • Selective, objective and unchanging

4. Question 3 • Altered states of consciousness • Do not occur naturally • Are always characterised by high levels of focused, selective attention • Can lead to either a heightening or a dulling of the senses • Cannot occur during sleep

5. Question 4 • A delta brainwave pattern is characterised by waves of _________ amplitude and _______ frequency. • high, low • Low, low • Low, high • High, high

6. Question 5 • When delta waves comprise more than 50% of recorded brain activity, a person has entered Stage _____ sleep. • 1 • 2 • 3 • 4

7. Question 6 • Which of the following is most likely to be associated with normal waking consciousness? • Coma • Selective attention • Dreams • Insomnia

8. Question 7 • Which of the following is not an example of normal waking consciousness? • Planning • Anticipating • Thinking • Dreaming

9. Question 8 • A state of deep relaxation such as meditation is likely to produce: • A lowered heart rate • Body tremors • An increased galvanic skin response (GSR) • A significant increase in body temperature

10. Question 9 • An alcohol-induced state could be called an altered state of consciousness because the individual: • Would be fully aware of their surroundings • Can control the amount of alcohol they drink • May be unable to control their emotions • Will probably be able to judge time

11. Question 10 • Which of the following is most likely to rely on controlled processing? • Tapping your pen repeatedly on the desk • Listening to background music • Washing the dishes • Composing an essay

12. Question 11 • An experienced pilot can attend to the complex task of flying a larage commercial passenger aircraft while at the same time conducting conversations with air traffic controllers and a co-pilot. This is possible because, for the expert, flying the aircraft is: • An automatic process • A controlled process • A focussed process • A divided task process

13. Question 12 • Sue is sitting at her desk working on some complex mathematical questions. An electroencephalograph (EEG) would most likely show _______ brain waves. • Alpha • Beta • Theta • Delta

14. Question 13 • Elizabeth has not slept for the last two days. As a result she is likely to: • Perform well on monotonous tasks • Have problems with memory and recall • Experience hypnic jerks • Perform as usual on interesting or complex tasks

15. Question 14 • Which of the following statements is true of the sleep cycle in a typical night’s sleep for an adult? • Each cycle lasts for approximately 35 minutes. • About 60% of the night is spent in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. • Periods of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep get longer and closer together as the night progresses. • Periods of Stage 4 sleep occur more often as the night progresses.

16. Question 15 • Most people can talk on the telephone while performing some tasks, such as ironing clothes or washing dishes but not other tasks such as reading a book or doing mathematical calculations. This suggests that: • Attention can be divided between complex tasks. • Attention can be divided between simple tasks • There is no limit to the amount of information a person can process at the one time. • Complex tasks require less focussed attention.

17. Question 16 • Loula has been knitting for 20 years and often knits while watching television. While knitting the basic pattern she mostly uses __________ but knitting a complex patter mostly involves _____________. • Selective attention, focused attention • Automatic processing, controlled processing • Controlled processing, focused attention • Divided attention, automatic processing

18. Question 17 • Richard, a keen coffee drinker, is in the middle of making a cup of coffee when the phone rings. He answers the phone and is able to finish making his cup of coffee while talking to his friend on the speakerphone. For Richard, making the cup of coffee can be considered:

19. An automatic process, because it was completed with minimal awareness and did not interfere with the other task. • A controlled process, because it was completed with minimal awareness and did not interfere with the other task • An automatic process, because it involved alert awareness and mental effort • A controlled process, because it involved alert awareness and mental effort

20. Question 18 • Ian enjoys playing the computer game SuperRace 2000. He plays the game a lot and often achieves high scores. Brett rarely plays computer games. Both Ian and Brett attempt to play the game while talking on the telephone. ________ performance is less likely to be affected because playing this computer game is a(n) _________________ process.

21. Ian’s, automated • Brett’s, automated • Ian’s, controlled • Brett’s, controlled

22. Question 19 • Gerard is in an altered state of consciousness. He reports that his pain threshold is significantly lower compared with his pain threshold, during his normal waking state. This difference is best explained by: • A reduction in signals from the pain receptors. • A perceptual distortion • Changes in self control • Changes in emotional feelings

23. Question 20 • Selective attention occurs when a person: • Concentrates on one task while ignoring others • Divides their attention between two or more tasks • Is carrying out only one task and this is automatic • Is not highly focused on any particular task

24. Question 21 • Max is able to drive his car, listen to a conversation on the radio, and work out his travelling direction. He can do this efficiently and all at the one time. This is an example of which aspect of consciousness? • Selective attention • Focused attention • Divided attention • Concentrated attention

25. Question 22 • A characteristic of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is that: • The person dreams only during this stage of sleep • The brainwave pattern resembles the pattern of an awake and alert individual • The person does not dream and the brainwave pattern resembles that of an awake and relaxed individual. • The person may be dreaming and their muscles often move.

26. Question 23 • Which of the following methods is unlikely to be used to determine different states of consciousness? • Self-report • Computerised tomography (CT) scan • Heart rate • Body temperature

27. Question 24 • Adrienne is completing a test. During the task, Adrienne has thoughts about the part-time work roster her employer changed recently, the party she is attending the next day, and the prospect of getting her Learner’s Permit next week. What is the best way of describing her state of consciousness? • Normal waking consciousness • Altered state of consciousness • Focused state of consciousness • Selective state of consciousness

28. Question 25 • Some friends are having a sleepover. It is midnight but Julie is still very excited and chatty. Yasmin, however, is very tired and about to fall asleep. Sasha has already been asleep for 30 minutes. Of these three girls, it is most likely that at the moment ___________ will have the highest frequency brain waves, and _____________ will have the highest amplitude brain waves. • Sasha, Julie • Yasmin, Sasha • Sasha, Yasmin • Julie, Sasha

29. Question 26 • A number of physiological measures can be used to study states of consciousness. Physiological measures that are commonly used include: • Electroencephalograph, self-reports, blood pressure • Galvanic skin response, body temperature, heart rate • Glucose absorption in the brain, blood pressure, electromyogram • Heart rate, electroencephalogram, CT scan

30. Question 27 • The galvanic skin response (GSR): • Measures sweat • Measures body temperature • Measures electrical conductivity of the skin • Causes electrical conductivity in the skin

31. Question 28 • Research into sleep patterns indicates that the number of episodes spent in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep per night is typically around: • Two • Three • Four to five • Seven to eight

32. Question 29 • During which stage of sleep would you expect to find delta waves starting to appear? • Stage 1 • Stage 2 • Stage 3 • Stage 4

33. Question 30 • As a person changes from being alert to a drowsy state, the brain waves will __________ in frequency and ____________ in amplitude. • increase, decrease • Increase, increase • Decrease, increase • Decrease, decrease

34. Question 31 • Hypnic jerks are: • More commonly known as sleep spindles • More likely to occur in REM sleep • An indicator that a person is dreaming • More likely to occur in Stage 1 sleep

35. Question 32 • A sleep researcher was interested in monitoring a range of physiological activities of a group of participants during various stages of sleep. Which one of the following outcomes is the researcher likely to find?

36. The participants’ metabolic rates (energy consumption) increased as they slept and fell as they awoke. • The participants’ hormonal levels in the blood incrased as they slept and fell as they awoke • The participants fell asleep when their body temperature increased and awoke as it dropped • The participants fell asleep when their body temperature dropped and awoke as it increased

37. Question 33 • The pattern of EEG waves present when someone is awake and alert is characterised by ________ waves. • Alpha • Beta • Theta • Delta

38. Question 34 • Sleep spindles are typically characterised by: • Brief bursts of high amplitude • Brief bursts of high frequency • A single surge of high amplitude • A single surge of high frequency

39. Question 35 • Stage 1 sleep primarily consists of: • Alpha and theta waves • Beta and theta waves • Beta and alpha waves • Alpha and delta waves

40. Question 36 • Which brainwave patterns are associated with light sleep? • Theta • Alpha • Delta • Mixture of alpha and beta

41. Question 37 • Dreams usually occur: • If you go to sleep feeling anxious or tense • During the occurrence of REM sleep • During light sleep • During NREM sleep

42. Question 38 • Dreams in non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep: • Tend to be short-lived compared to REM dreams • Tend to be longer compared to REM dreams • Tend to be more vivid compared to REM dreams • Do not occur

43. Question 39 • According to most sleep experts, the most effective way to treat insomnia is: • Medication • Dietary and lifestyle changes • Going to a sleep clinic • Staying awake for extremely long periods of time

44. Question 40 • During the first few weeks of life it has been found that babies spend: • More time asleep than adults, but about the same proportion of time in REM and non-REM sleep as adults. • About 16-18 hours asleep and about 50% of this time in REM sleep • About 16-18 hours asleep but only about 10% of this time in REM sleep • About 16-18 hours in REM sleep. Non-REM sleep does not develop until late in the first year.

45. Question 41 • Generally, during REM sleep • Virtually no electrical activity in eye muscles can be detected • Large amounts of electrical activity can be detected in leg muscles • Most skeletal muscles are relaxed • Small muscles of the face are tense

46. Question 42 • Rosalie is a newborn baby and her grandmother, Vera, is 65 years old. Which of the following statements about their sleep patterns is most likely to be correct? • Rosalie sleeps on average 8 hours; Vera sleeps on average 4 hours • Rosalie sleeps on average 15 hours, Vera sleeps on average 10 hours • Rosalie undergoes about 50% of her sleep in REM, Vera undergoes about 20% of her sleep in REM • Rosalie undergoes about 20% of her sleep in REM, era undergoes about 50% of her sleep in REM

47. Question 43 • Studies of individuals involved in sleep deprivation generally report that changes in their ability to function in normal waking consciousness start to occur after about ______ days, and usually involves the inability to complete ______________ tasks. • Three, simple • Ten, complex • Ten, simple • Three, complex

48. Question 44 • Sam’s employment involves shiftwork. He finds it difficult to get adequate sleep and is often tired. As a result, he • Often experiences hallucinations • Finds it difficult to complete complex tasks • Finds it difficult to complete simple tasks • Is more emotionally stable than usual

49. Question 45 • Which one of the following statements most accurately expresses the philosopher Rene Descartes’ view of consciousness? • The mind and the body are physically distinct entities and do not interact • The mind and the body are physically distinct entities that are intertwined • The mind is a psychological creation of the brain and the body • The mind is an outcome of the neural activity of the brain

50. Question 46 • Most psychological scientists today view consciousness as: • A form of dualism with the mind and body being spearate but interrelated • An outcome of the activity of different parts of the mind separate from the brain • A consequence of the activation of neurons in different parts of the brain • A state of mind that serves no useful purpose.