Formative Assessment: Model answers

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Formative Assessment Model answers
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1. What is the availability heuristic and how
might it lead to biases in perception (3
marks)?            This is where the
probability of an event is judged by the ease
with which instances of the event can be brought
to mind (1 mark).          However, even rare
events may be easily brought to mind if they are
recent or emotionally disturbing, therefore
probability judgements made on the basis of
availability are vulnerable to bias (2 marks).

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2a) In terms of classical conditioning, define
extinction. (2 marks)   A conditioned
response will gradually diminish if conditioned
behaviour (salivation to sound of a bell) is not
reinforced (by presenting the unconditioned
stimulus i.e. food) (1 mark). This is done
by repeatedly omitting the unconditioned stimulus
(i.e by presenting the bell but not the food) (1
mark).
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2b) Explain how systematic desensitisation works
in the treatment of phobias (4 marks).     In
systematic desensitisation, hierarchies of
anxiety producing situations are imagined (or
sometimes confronted in reality) while the
patient is in a state of relaxation (2 marks).
  Gradually the previously learned
associations between the situation and the
anxiety response are extinguished i.e. the
stimuli that once evoked anxiety e.g. spiders is
connected with a new response of relaxation that
is incompatible with anxiety (2 marks).
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• 3a) Distinguish between explicit and implicit
  memory. (4 marks)
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• Implicit memory refers to memories that are not
  consciously processed/retention without conscious
  recollection e.g. memory for skills (e.g.,
  driving a car) that cannot be easily described in
  words (2).
• Explicit memory refers to memories of facts and
  experiences that the individual is fully aware or
  conscious of (e.g. a car is a motor vehicle) (2)

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• 3b) What mechanisms are thought to underlie the
  primacy and recency effects (4 marks)?
•  
• Primacy effect tendency to recall the first
  information given (e.g. in free recall tasks) due
  to the individual having more opportunity to
  rehearse the information (thereby encoding it
  into LTM) (2).
• Recency effect tendency to recall last
  information given, due to this information still
  being available in the STM/working memory. (2)

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4) Psychological research has demonstrated that
memory abilities change as people age. Identify
and briefly explain four ways in which memory
changes with age. (8 marks)   Any 4 of (2 marks
per point) Evidence suggests that general
memory abilities start to decline from about 30
years of age (though there is variation around
this depending on which particular abilities are
being tested).   Memory for personal events
(episodic memory) shows a slow but steady decline
from 20 years onwards   Remembering to do
things (prospective memory) evidence from
lab-based research suggests this also declines
with age  
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        4) Psychological research has
demonstrated that memory abilities change as
people age. Identify and briefly explain four
ways in which memory changes with age. (8 marks)
Any 4 of (2 marks per point) However there is
evidence for real life research to suggest
older people may perform better than younger
people at prospective memory tasks because they
use memory aids Memory for general knowledge
(semantic memory) shows a decline in speed. (This
may be due to a failure to inhibit irrelevant
material rather than a failure of access)
Older people compensate for their memory decline
through their greater knowledge and increased use
of memory aids and strategies
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5a) Over recent decades, various strategies have
been used to encourage people to adopt healthier
lifestyles. Identify one problem associated with
health promotion messages that rely largely on
fear or shock as a means of promoting health? 2
marks  Any one of Little evidence that
fear approaches are effective   For some
people the messages may evoke so much fear that
they deny that the message applies to them   
Forbidden fruit effect deliberate defiance of
health warnings    Warning fatigue
individuals may gradually become desensitised to
health messages    Risk factor phobia some
individuals may become increasingly fearful of
health hazards and over react  
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5b) In general terms, what do proponents of
psychological theories of health related
behaviour hope their approaches will achieve? 2
marks     To maximise the effectiveness of
the communication of health messages by
appropriate targeting and customisation of
information (and to provide support to
individuals over time in to help them maintain
changes in their lifestyles)  
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6) Briefly outline some of the relevant problems
that may be experienced by women when they
undergo cervical screening, including at the time
of receipt of results (6 marks).     Hazard
of being screened (study examining womens
experiences of cervical screening Crombie et al
1995) includes embarrassment (20) and pain (20)
reported pain during the screening procedure
(1mark)   Unnecessary anxiety for proportion of
women at receipt of invitation (study of 1200
women invited for breast screening Swanson et al
1996). On receipt of invitation some women
reported increased anxiety (25) however most
reported reduced anxiety (40) or no effect
(35) (1mark)         
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  Inadequate or unsatisfactory smear -
possible anxiety generated by need for a repeat
smear (1mark)   For women receiving an abnormal
result   this may be false positive
generating unnecessary anxiety (1mark)  
longer morbidity for true positive where
prognosis is unaltered (1 mark)     False
reassurance for the small number of women who
receive false negative (1mark)