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Unit 3: How does experience affect behaviour and mental processes?

15 dot points, in syllabus order. Each dot point has a focused answer, with exam-style questions and worked answers where available.

Area of Study 1: How does the nervous system enable psychological functioning?

the roles of different subdivisions of the central and peripheral nervous systems in responding to, and processing and coordinating with, sensory stimuli received by the body to enable conscious and unconscious responses, including spinal reflexes

Nervous system. Covers the central and peripheral divisions, the autonomic and somatic systems, the structure and role of sensory, motor and interneurons, and how conscious and unconscious (spinal reflex) responses are coordinated.

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the role of neurotransmitters in the transmission of neural information across a neural synapse to produce excitatory effects (as with glutamate) or inhibitory effects (as with gamma-amino butyric acid [GABA]) as compared to neuromodulators (such as dopamine and serotonin) that have a range of effects on brain activity

Neurotransmitters. Covers synaptic transmission and the lock-and-key process, the difference between excitatory and inhibitory effects, the role of glutamate as the main excitatory neurotransmitter in learning and memory, and the role of GABA as the main inhibitory neurotransmitter regulating postsynaptic activation.

6 min read →

The VCE Psychology Unit 3 answer on neuromodulators: how they differ from neurotransmitters such as glutamate and GABA in where they act, how many neurons they affect and how long their effects last, what dopamine and serotonin each do, and how to write the congruent contrasts VCAA rewards.

8 min read →

synaptic plasticity, resulting from long-term potentiation and long-term depression, which together act to modify connections between neurons (sprouting, rerouting and pruning), as the fundamental mechanism of memory formation that leads to learning

Synaptic plasticity. Covers long-term potentiation and long-term depression, the structural changes of sprouting, rerouting and pruning, and how these processes form the biological basis of memory and learning.

6 min read →

internal and external stressors causing psychological and physiological stress responses, including the flight-or-fight-or-freeze response in acute stress and the role of cortisol in chronic stress; the explanatory power of Hans Selye's General Adaptation Syndrome as a biological model of stress, including alarm reaction (shock/counter shock), resistance and exhaustion; the explanatory power of Richard Lazarus and Susan Folkman's Transactional Model of Stress and Coping to explain stress as a psychological process (primary and secondary appraisal only)

Stress. Covers the fight-flight-freeze response and the role of cortisol, Selye's General Adaptation Syndrome (alarm, resistance, exhaustion) as a biological model, and Lazarus and Folkman's Transactional Model (primary and secondary appraisal) as a psychological model, with strengths and limitations.

6 min read →

the gut-brain axis (GBA) as an area of emerging research, with reference to the interaction of gut microbiota with stress and the nervous system in the control of psychological processes and behaviour

Gut-brain axis. Covers the two-way communication between the gut and the brain via the vagus nerve, the role of gut microbiota, the link to the enteric nervous system, and how stress and the GBA influence each other in an area of emerging research.

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use of strategies (approach and avoidance) for coping with stress and improving mental wellbeing, including context-specific effectiveness and coping flexibility

Coping. Covers approach and avoidance strategies, context-specific effectiveness, coping flexibility, and how matching a strategy to the demands of a situation determines whether it reduces stress and supports mental wellbeing.

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Area of Study 2: How do people learn and remember?

behaviourist approaches to learning, as illustrated by classical conditioning as a three-phase process (before conditioning, during conditioning and after conditioning) that results in the involuntary association between a neutral stimulus and unconditioned stimulus to produce a conditioned response, and operant conditioning as a three-phase process (antecedent, behaviour and consequence) involving reinforcement (positive and negative) and punishment (positive and negative)

Behaviourist learning. Covers classical conditioning as a three-phase process (Pavlov's dogs, the unconditioned and conditioned stimulus and response) and operant conditioning as a three-phase model (Skinner, antecedent-behaviour-consequence, positive and negative reinforcement, positive and negative punishment), with the key differences.

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social-cognitive approaches to learning, as illustrated by observational learning as a process involving attention, retention, reproduction, motivation and reinforcement

Observational learning. Covers the social-cognitive approach, the five stages of observational learning (attention, retention, reproduction, motivation, reinforcement), Bandura's Bobo doll experiment, vicarious reinforcement, and how the model differs from classical and operant conditioning.

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approaches to learning that situate the learner within a system, as illustrated by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of knowing where learning is viewed as being embedded in relationships where the learner is part of a multimodal system of knowledge patterned on Country

The VCE Psychology Unit 3 answer on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of knowing: why the study design calls it an approach that situates the learner within a system, what 'embedded in relationships', 'multimodal' and 'patterned on Country' mean, how it differs from behaviourist and social-cognitive approaches, and how to write it up for VCAA questions.

9 min read →

the explanatory power of the Atkinson-Shiffrin multi-store model of memory in the encoding, storage and retrieval of stored information in sensory, short-term and long-term memory stores

Memory. Covers the Atkinson-Shiffrin multi-store model (sensory, short-term and long-term memory, with capacity and duration), the distinction between explicit and implicit memory, and the roles of the hippocampus, amygdala, neocortex and cerebellum in storing and retrieving memories.

6 min read →

the roles of the hippocampus, amygdala, neocortex, basal ganglia and cerebellum in long-term implicit and explicit memories

The VCE Psychology Unit 3 answer on the five brain regions named in the study design: what the hippocampus, amygdala, neocortex, basal ganglia and cerebellum each do for explicit and implicit long-term memories, how they work together on one experience, and how to pick the right region in VCAA scenario questions.

9 min read →

the role of episodic and semantic memory in retrieving autobiographical events and in constructing possible imagined futures, including evidence from brain imaging and post-mortem studies of brain lesions in people with Alzheimer's disease and aphantasia as an example of individual differences in the experience of mental imagery

Episodic and semantic memory. Covers the distinction between the two, their roles in retrieving autobiographical events, how the same systems are used to construct imagined futures, and supporting evidence from brain imaging, Alzheimer's disease and aphantasia.

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Memory conditions. Covers Alzheimer's disease as a neurodegenerative condition affecting memory and brain structures, aphantasia as the inability to generate mental imagery, and what each reveals about how normal memory and imagination work.

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the use of mnemonics (acronyms, acrostics and the method of loci) by written cultures to increase the encoding, storage and retrieval of information as compared with the use of mnemonics such as sung narrative used by oral cultures, including Aboriginal peoples' use of songlines

Improving memory. Covers Western written-culture mnemonics (acronyms, acrostics and the method of loci) and oral-culture techniques used by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples (songlines and sung narratives tied to Country), explaining how each aids encoding, storage and retrieval.

6 min read →