FOR AOS2
Q9 James used to enjoy his job working in an offi ce. However, for some time, James has been constantly criticised
by his supervisor. James now feels anxious whenever he arrives at work.
a. Name the type of conditioning that has caused James to be anxious whenever he arrives at work.
I thought it would be operant conditioning, as James is being punished by his supervisor, however the answer is classical conditioning. WHY???
For AOS 3 - Research Methods:
Blurb:
A researcher asked all the first year Psychology students (100 males and 100 females) from Kookaburra
University to participate in a study. Students were offered extra marks in their Psychology fi nal score if they
agreed to participate.
Of the 200 students, 40 volunteered for the study (20 males and 20 females). The researcher wanted to investigate
whether the memories of fi rst year Psychology students at Kookaburra University were increased by sugar
intake.Prior to the study, informed consent was given and all participants were asked to memorise a list of 20 words
(List A). They were then tested on their recall of the words.
The researcher then divided the participants into two groups. For convenience she put the 20 female volunteers
into one group (Group 1 – sugar group) and the 20 male volunteers into another group (Group 2 – no sugar
group). Group 1 (sugar group) was given a drink containing sugar. Group 2 (no sugar group) was given a drink that
did not contain sugar.
All participants were asked to memorise a different list of 20 words (List B). They were tested again on their
recall of the words. The mean difference in the recall of words across the two lists was calculated. The results are presented in the
table below.
http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/vcaa/vce/studies/psychology/pastexams/2008/2008psych2-w.pdf Q15 Were the participants in this study randomly selected? Explain your answer.
I thought they were randomly selected, as every member of the population had an equal chance of being involved in the study (i.e. the researcher asked all members of the population). However, the answers say: "No. The students were 40 volunteers from the population. This biased the sample towards those who were willing to take part." Why??