NAME: Suggested Answers

Emotion Revision
1. The subjective component of an emotion includes:

J. feelings
K. thoughts
L. facial expressions
M. feelings and thoughts.

2. Which part of the autonomic nervous system is responsible for the bodily changes that prepare
an organism with a threat?

J. sympathetic
K. parasympathetic
L. central
M. skeletal.

3. What does a polygraph actually record?

J. physiological responses
K. facial expressions associated with lying
L. truthful responses
M. lying

4. After a flight or flight reaction for a threatening situation, which of the following bodily changes is
induced by the para-sympathetic nervous system?

J. constriction of the bronchi or lungs

K. an increase in blood pressure
L. release of sugar into the bloodstream
M. gradual slowing of heartbeat.

5. Kyla is walking along the street when she sees a friend whom she has not seen for some time.
Kyla smiles and runs towards her fiend with outstretched arms. Kylas response is an example
of:
J. subjective feelings
K. A physiological response
L. Primary emotions
M. Expressive behaviour

6. Which of the following statements is true?

J. Both gestures (such as waving) and facial expressions (such as smiling) are identical
across cultures.
K. Facial expressions are identical across cultures whereas gestures may be difference
across cultures
L. gestures are identical across cultures, whereas facial expressions may differ across
cultures
M. both gestures and facial expressions are different across cultures.

7. During a flight or fight response for a threatening situation which of the following bodily change
is induced by the sympathetic nervous system?
J. a constriction of the lungs
K. a drop in blood pressure
L. release of sugar and adrenaline into the blood stream
M. slowing of the heart beat
Short Answer Section

1. (a) Provide the psychological definition for ‘emotion’

An experience made up of subjective feelings, physiological responses and expressive behaviour
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(b) Explain what psychologists mean by a ‘basic emotion’ and give three examples
Basic emotions are emotions that are universal across the human species. It is thought that basic emotions are
felt at least once by all humans. Examples of the most common basic emotions are happiness, sadness,
disgust, anger and fear.
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2. The fight or flight response is thought to be a universal response associated with the emotion of
‘fear’.

(a) Outline the physiological changes that occur during this response

 Increase heart rate and blood pressure

 Pupils dilate
 Galvanic skin response (sweating)
 Adrenaline release
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(b) Give the name of the division of the autonomic nervous system that is dominant during this
response.
Sympathetic
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3. A psychology researcher asked for 20 volunteers from her psychology class to participate in a
research study on physiological arousal (stress) and exam performance. Within 5 minutes of
completing an exam students were connected to a polygraph to measure heart rate, breathing rate and
galvanic skin response.

On the basis of the results of the polygraph machine students were deemed to have either:
Very high arousal
Moderate arousal
Normal arousal
Low arousal

The researcher compared the results of the polygraph test to the results of the psychology
exam

(a) State a possible hypothesis for this research

The higher the arousal in a participant, the worse their exam performance will be (or something similar)
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(b) State the independent variable Level of stress/arousal
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(c) State the dependent variable Exam performance
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(d) Describe two ethical issues involved when conducting research

 Deliberately inducing stress during exam – general wellbeing

 May be underage due to students being used – informed consent
 May feel obligated to participate as run by teacher – voluntary participation
 Right to withdraw – doesn’t specify whether they can or not.
 Debriefing – make sure participants are OK, ask any questions etc.

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(e) Circle the appropriate answer
This research is an example of
  Experimental research design
 Quantitative observational research design
 Qualitative research design /1

(f) Circle the appropriate answer

This measures used in this research are
 Subjective Quantitative measures
 Objective Quantitative measures
 Qualitative measures
/1

(g) Give an example of the type of question that could be asked in a focus group collecting
qualitative research on the issue of stress affecting exam performance. How does being in an exam
situation impact on your stress levels and overall performance in the exam? (or something similar) /2
 4. Describe how the study of emotions can be explained through the biopsychosocial model -
refer to one of the following examples in your answer:
 Love
 Anger / aggressiveness
 Jealousy

Biological Level (inside our body) Psychological (thoughts and feelings / learning
which are universal, memory, individual
 Hormones differences)
 Alcohol/drugs
 Physiological responses  Cognition and thinking
 Genetics  Learning
 Sleep  Emotions
 Memory
 Age
 Gender
 Personality type

Socio Cultural level (outside/external

influences)

 Family
 Friends
 Culture
 Audience
 Social media
 Religion

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