Psychology Exam

Mentally healthy

Functioning at a satisfactory level of emotional and behavioural adjustment.

Mental health problem

Disruption to an individual's usually level of social and emotional wellbeing.

Mental illness

Emotional difficulties that lead to emotional or behavioural impairment or disability serious enough to require psychiatric intervention.

Characteristics of mental illness

Psychological dysfunction, marked distress, ongoing impairment, excessive anxiety, significant changes in sleep patterns and appetite, withdrawal and avoidance from social functions.

4P's of Mental Health

A framework that includes Predisposing, Precipitating, Perpetuating, and Protective factors.

Predisposing factors

Increase susceptibility to a specific mental disorder through genetics, hormones, or gender.

Precipitating factors

Immediate factors or events that have caused the individual to experience symptoms 'now'.

Perpetuating factors

Maintain the occurrence of a specific mental disorder and inhibit recovery.

Protective factors

Reduce or prevent the occurrence or recurrence of a mental disorder.

Biopsychosocial Model

A holistic view of health that takes into account biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors.

Biological Factors

Physiologically based or determined influences, often not under our control.

Psychological Factors

All the influences associated with mental processes.

Sociocultural Factors

Factors such as our skill in interaction with others, environment, social support, or isolation.

Schizophrenia

A long-term and serious mental health condition that disrupts a person's thoughts, emotions, and behaviour.

Symptoms of schizophrenia

Hallucinations, delusions, disorganised thinking/speech, abnormal motor function, impaired memory, trouble with attention/concentration, lack of emotion/expression.

Prevalence of Schizophrenia

Affects approximately 1 in 100 Australians at some point in their lives.

Treatment for schizophrenia

Includes medication, therapy, hospital and crisis treatment, and regular checkups.

Causes of schizophrenia

Believed to be caused by a mix of life experiences, brain chemistry, and genetics.

Misconceptions about schizophrenia

Includes beliefs that it means having multiple personalities, causes aggression, or prevents living a normal life.

Function of the Nervous System

Receive, process, and respond to information from the environment.

Sensory neurons

Gather information from the environment and send signals to the brain and spinal cord.

Interneurons

Form complex, localised networks that connect sensory neurons to motor neurons.

Motor neurons

Take signals from the central nervous system and convey commands to muscles, organs, and glands.

Central Nervous System

Acts as the body's primary command, control, and information processing centre.

Brain

Master organ that controls thoughts, memory, emotion, and motor functions.

Spinal cord

Acts as a pathway for signals between the brain and body.

Peripheral Nervous System

Connects the brain and spinal cord to the rest of the body, acting as a communication network.

Somatic Nervous System

Controls voluntary movements by sending signals to skeletal muscles.

Autonomic Nervous System

Regulates involuntary functions (e.g., heart rate, digestion).

Sympathetic

Prepares the body for 'fight or flight' (stress).

Parasympathetic

Manages 'rest and digest' (recovery).

Enteric

Manages the gastrointestinal system.

Soma (Cell body)

The neuron's metabolic and structural hub, maintaining the cell and integrating electrical signals.

Nucleus

The nucleus resides inside the soma and acts as the genetic control centre, housing the DNA and regulating gene expression.

Dendrites

Receiving structure. Picks up signals (neurotransmitters) from other neurons and convert them into electrical impulses.

Myelin Sheath

Insulation. A fatty layer covering the axon that acts as an insulator and increases the speed of electrical signal transmission.

Axon

Transmitting component. A long, thin fibre that carries the action potential (nerve impulse) away from the cell body toward other cells.

Axon Terminals

Communication endpoints. Branches at the end of the axon that release chemical neurotransmitters to pass the signal to the next cell.

Synaptic knobs/buttons

Small, bulbous swellings at the very end of an axon that convert electrical signals (action potentials) into chemical messages.

Nodes of Ranvier

Signal boosters. Small gaps in the myelin sheath that allow the action potential to jump down the axon.

Presynaptic Neurons

Its primary function is to convert an electrical impulse into a chemical signal.

Postsynaptic Neurons

The primary function of a postsynaptic neuron is to receive, process, and transmit signals originating from a presynaptic neuron.

Schwann Cells

Form the myelin sheath that electrically insulates axons to accelerate nerve impulse transmission.

Neurotransmitters

Essential chemical messengers that transmit signals across the synapse between neurons, or from neurons to muscles and glands.

Glutamate

Excitatory neurotransmitter - makes the post-synaptic neuron more likely to fire.

GABA

Inhibitory neurotransmitter - makes the post-synaptic neuron less likely to fire a message onward.

Cerebral Cortex

Wrinkled, convoluted appearance, outermost layer of brain.

Corpus Callosum

Connects the left and right hemispheres of the brain, acts as a bridge between the two sides.

Right Hemisphere

Specialises in holistic, non-verbal processing, including spatial awareness and face recognition.

Left Hemisphere

Primarily specialized for language, logic, and analytical processing.

Frontal Lobe

Responsible for voluntary movement, attention, personality and emotions. Houses primary motor cortex responsible for voluntary movement and Broca’s area responsible for speech production.

Parietal Lobe

Responsible for visual attention, spatial reasoning, and senses body position. Houses the somatosensory cortex responsible for receiving and processing sensory information.

Occipital Lobe

Responsible for receiving and processing visual information. Houses primary visual cortex.

Temporal Lobe

Responsible for auditory perception, receiving and processing sounds from ears. Houses primary auditory cortex and Wernicke’s area responsible for speech comprehension.

Independent Variable (IV)

The factor changed by the researcher (x-axis).

Dependent Variable (DV)

The factor measured by the researcher (y-axis).

Experimental Group

Receives the treatment/condition being tested.

Control Group

Does not receive the treatment and acts as a comparison.

Aim

The aim of the research is to investigate the impact of eating sugar on a year 10 student's ability to concentrate on an exam.

Hypothesis

Must include IV, DV, population, direction. It is hypothesised that year 10 students who drink a can of energy drink before the psychology exam will have an increased score compared to year 10 students who did not drink a can of energy drink before the psychology exam.

Conclusion

In conclusion, according to the data, for this sample of 100 year 10 students, it was found that when energy drinks were consumed prior to the exam, it resulted in an increase in exam performance.

Ethical Considerations

Confidentiality, Voluntary participation, Withdrawal rights, Informed consent, Deception, Debriefing.

Organised Offenders

Plan crimes carefully, bring needed tools/weapons, leave little evidence.

Disorganised Offenders

Act impulsively, little planning, leave evidence behind.

Inductive vs Deductive Profiling

Inductive - Bases off past crimes, evidence, statistics, and data.

Deductive - Uses evidence and forensics from the crime scene in the case.