End of Semester 1 2020 Examination
Psychological Sciences:
PSYC20006 Biological Psychology
Exam Duration: 72 hours Total marks: 100
Open Book Status: Open Book This paper has: 16 pages (including this cover page)
| Authorized materials: A bilingual dictionary is permitted. Students may access their handwritten or electronic notes, as well as the material provided on the PSYC20006 Canvas LMS website and in the required textbook. |
| Instructions to Students: Fill in your name and student number on the first page of the document. Fill in your answers for each of the questions in the space provided. Do not delete anything from the exam file. You should attempt all questions, there is no penalty for answering incorrectly. You must write within the word limit for each question (+10%). Examiners will not read answers past this 10% limit. You must write in your own words (for more information see the Academic Integrity Declaration). Submit your assignment in Microsoft Word format (.docx or .doc). Do not submit a PDF document, or a document in another format. Check that you have saved your exam according to the following format: LAST NAME_Student Number_Subject Code_Exam. We strongly advise that you submit your exam the night before the submission deadline, but certainly no later than one hour before the submission deadline. It is essential that you take a screen shot of your digital receipt and retain this as evidence of your submission. If you do not take a screenshot of your digital receipt we cannot follow up on a missing submission. Retain your submission receipt along with a final copy of your exam. It is your responsibility to ensure that your final submission is correct and complete. |
Full name:
Student Number:
A/Prof Stefan Bode’s Questions:
Question 1.
Briefly explain how single-pulse TMS works when it is used to disrupt cognitive processing. Then, briefly explain the study by Amassian et al. (1993), including what the researchers found out and what their results could mean.
200 words / 10 marks.
Write your answer immediately below.
Question 2.
Briefly explain the basic principles of the event-related potential (ERP) technique and how it was used in the study by Gehring et al. (1993) to investigate error-processing.
200 words / 10 marks.
Write your answer immediately below.
Question 3.
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies are subject to several important problems, which can limit how much can be learned from the results.
Imagine that you have designed an fMRI study to contrast visual search with passively watching a set of identical stimuli on the screen (the control task). You observe statistically significant activation for visual search in two brain areas: (1) posterior parietal cortex, (2) inferior frontal sulcus in the prefrontal cortex.
Discuss what you think these results mean, and what problems limit the interpretations of your findings. (You don’t need any more information than you have learned in the lectures to answer this question).
200 words / 10 marks.
Write your answer immediately below.
Question 4.
Kanwisher and colleagues (1997) provided evidence that the region labelled “Fusiform Face Area” (FFA) is uniquely involved in face processing, while Gauthier and colleagues (1999) claimed that what activates this region is expertise. Briefly explain the studies and results that led each group to their conclusions. Briefly outline a (fictional) fMRI experiment that might settle the debate.
200 words / 10 marks.
Write your answer immediately below.
Dr Patrick Goodbourn’s Questions:
Question 5.
For each of the pedigrees below (see Figure 1), name the mode of inheritance that best explains it, then give your reasoning. Use the numbers on the pedigree chart to refer to specific examples that support your answer.
Figure 1.
Two example pedigrees: pedigree (a) and pedigree (b).
100 words / 5 marks.
Write your answer immediately below.
Question 6.
What is linkage disequilibrium, and in what ways is it relevant to genome-wide association studies?
100 words / 5 marks.
Write your answer immediately below.
Question 7.
Compare and contrast forward and reverse approaches in behavioural genetics.
100 words / 5 marks.
Write your answer immediately below.
Dr Jacqueline Anderson’s Questions:
Question 8.
Outline the patterns of memory impairment that are possible, as predicted by Tulving’s Serial Parallel Independent (SPI) model, after bilateral damage to the mammillary bodies. Ensure that you answer this question with respect to both encoding and retrieval.
200 words / 10 marks.
Write your answer immediately below.
Question 9.
RMT is a verbal retrograde memory test that measures how strategically organised an individual’s childhood memories are. VPA is an anterograde verbal episodic memory test, which measures how well an individual relates arbitrary pieces of information together.
Respond to both scenarios below:
- You assess an individual in the early stages of Dementia of the Alzheimer Type (DAT). Assuming that you see a pattern of performance on each of these measures that is typical for DAT, what would you expect to say regarding encoding and retrieval abilities for each of these measures?
- You assess an adult with recent bilateral frontal lobe damage. Assuming that you see a pattern of performance on each of these measures that is typical for bilateral frontal lobe damage, what would you expect to say regarding encoding and retrieval abilities for each of these measures?
200 words/ 10 marks.
Write your answer immediately below.
A/Prof Olivia Carter’s Questions:
Question 10.
Compared to the electrical signal of an action potential chemical signalling is sometimes considered “slow” but in reality, it is extremely fast. List four of the steps (there are more than four in total) that are important for normal neurotransmitter/neuromodulator function. Given all of the different steps, how is it possible for neurotransmitter/neuromodulator signalling to occur so quickly across different areas of the brain?
100 words / 5 marks.
Write your answer directly below.
Question 11.
Name the primary excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters in the brain. Consider two features that could lead people to consider them similar. Provide two reasons why it would be inappropriate to simply consider them as two opposing sides of the same coin.
100 words / 5 marks.
Write your answer directly below.
Question 12.
What neuromodulator system is most impacted by amphetamines? Why are the associated drug cravings so strong that they often lead to drug seeking behaviour at the expense of other alternative behaviour choices that would be better for the individual in reality?
100 words / 5 marks.
Write your answer directly below.
Question 13.
If an individual’s health or safety is under sustained threat this can lead to stress which is unpleasant for the individual and can lead to many negative health consequences. Name the neuromodulator system responsible for this response and explain how the same neurotransmitter helps to increases an individual’s “fitness” (in the evolutionary sense of the word) in other circumstances.
100 words / 5 marks.
Write your answer directly below.
Question 14.
How do anti-depressants such as Fluoxetine, Citalopram and Sertraline work at the receptor level? Why do scientists think there must be additional important “downstream” consequences that underlie the therapeutic effect of these drugs?
100 words / 5 marks.
Write your answer directly below.
End of Examination
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