Free practice · VCE Units 3 & 4
These are ten original VCE Psychology practice questions written to the Units 3 and 4 study design — nervous system and stress through to learning, memory, sleep and mental wellbeing. They are VCAA-style, not real VCAA exam questions, and ATARMAxxing is not affiliated with the VCAA.
Try each one under exam conditions, then check yourself against the mark scheme. When you want the full set, grab a complete free Psychology practice exam or see everything in the Psychology study hub.
Distinguish between the roles of the sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions of the autonomic nervous system in responding to a sudden threat.
2 marks for the sympathetic division: activates the body for action ('fight-flight-freeze'), e.g. increases heart rate, redirects blood to skeletal muscles, releases adrenaline. 2 marks for the parasympathetic division: returns the body to a calm, balanced (homeostatic) state after the threat passes, e.g. slows heart rate and restores digestion. Full marks require an explicit contrast between activation and restoration.
Explain, using the General Adaptation Syndrome, what happens to a student's resistance to stress if a demanding assessment period continues for several weeks without relief.
1 mark for naming the model (Selye's GAS) and its three stages: alarm reaction, resistance, exhaustion. 1 mark for alarm: initial drop in resistance below normal, then a sharp rise as cortisol is released. 1 mark for resistance: resistance stays above normal as the body copes, but resources are gradually depleted. 1 mark for exhaustion: with no relief, resistance falls below normal and the student becomes vulnerable to illness, fatigue and reduced performance.
A researcher classically conditions a dog to salivate at the sound of a buzzer. Identify the neutral stimulus, the unconditioned stimulus and the conditioned response in this study.
1 mark each: neutral stimulus = the buzzer before conditioning (produces no salivation); unconditioned stimulus = the food; conditioned response = salivation produced by the buzzer alone after conditioning. Award only if each is correctly matched to this scenario rather than defined generically.
Compare operant conditioning and observational learning as explanations for how a child might learn to share toys.
2 marks for operant conditioning: learning through consequences — the child shares, receives praise (positive reinforcement), so sharing is strengthened and more likely to recur. 2 marks for observational learning: the child watches a model (e.g. an older sibling) share and be rewarded, attends, retains and reproduces the behaviour without performing it first themselves. 1 mark of each pair is for a relevant link to the toy-sharing scenario.
Explain how the multi-store model of memory accounts for a person remembering their childhood home address but forgetting a phone number they heard only seconds ago.
2 marks for the home address: encoded through rehearsal and elaboration into long-term memory, which has effectively unlimited capacity and duration, so it remains retrievable years later. 2 marks for the phone number: held in short-term memory, which has limited capacity (about 7 items) and a short duration (around 18-20 seconds) without rehearsal, so it is lost if not rehearsed or encoded.
Outline the difference between explicit and implicit memory, giving one everyday example of each.
1 mark for explicit (declarative) memory: consciously retrieved, e.g. recalling facts for a test (semantic) or a past birthday (episodic). 1 mark for implicit (procedural) memory: retrieved without conscious effort, e.g. riding a bike or touch-typing. 1 mark for two appropriate, clearly matched examples.
Describe two changes to a person's sleep-wake cycle that would be expected after several nights of partial sleep deprivation.
Up to 2 marks per change, for 2 changes. Acceptable changes include: a rise in sleep pressure / sleepiness during the day; a rebound effect (e.g. increased REM or NREM stage 3 to recover lost sleep) on later nights; reduced sleep-onset latency (falling asleep faster); micro-sleeps during waking hours. Each change must be named and briefly explained in terms of the body restoring sleep.
Explain how the biopsychosocial model could be applied to understand why one person develops a specific phobia while another, with similar experiences, does not.
2 marks for biological factors: e.g. genetic predisposition (GABA dysfunction, long-term potentiation of fear) making one person more physiologically reactive. 2 marks for psychological factors: e.g. classical conditioning of a fear response, catastrophic thinking, or behavioural avoidance maintaining the fear in one person but not the other. 2 marks for social factors: e.g. specific environmental triggers, modelling of fear by a parent, or differing levels of social support. Full marks require all three dimensions linked to the difference between the two people.
Identify two evidence-based strategies that could form part of a treatment plan for a person experiencing a specific phobia, and justify each.
2 marks per strategy (named + justified), for 2 strategies. Examples: systematic desensitisation (gradual exposure paired with relaxation to break the fear association); cognitive behavioural therapy (challenging catastrophic thoughts and reducing avoidance); use of benzodiazepines as a short-term GABA agonist to reduce anxiety; breathing retraining to manage hyperventilation. Justification must link the strategy to reducing the phobic response.
Define resilience and explain one protective factor that could help a Year 12 student maintain mental wellbeing during exams.
1 mark for defining resilience: the ability to cope with and adapt positively to stress or adversity, returning to a previous level of functioning. 2 marks for one protective factor explained, e.g. adequate sleep, strong social support, or approach (rather than avoidance) coping strategies, with a clear link to maintaining wellbeing under exam stress.
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