Year 12 Psychology

Transition week Holiday Homework:

Introduction into States of Consciousness:
States of consciousness:
Read pages 93 - 97
1. Define consciousness, with reference to internal and external factors. Give 4 examples of each.
Consciousness is the awareness of objects and events in the external world and of our own existence and
mental experiences at any given moment.
2. In what ways is consciousness personal, subjective, continuous and changing?
Consciousness is personal because it is your understanding of both internal and external worlds. It is
subjective as you can chose to attend to something and ignore others. It is continuous as there is never a
time when your consciousness is empty and it is changing as new things are continuously coming into your
awareness.
3. Explain the term state of consciousness.
States of consciousness is a persons level of awareness of their internal and external world. As new
information is always entering our consciousness, different levels if awareness are formed.
4. What changes typically occur as a result of a change in a persons state of consciousness?
When a persons state of consciousness changes, their ability to respond to the information which is given
to them also changes.
5. Could we experience two different states of consciousness simultaneously? Explain your answer.
No. You cannot experience 2 different states of consciousness at the same time. States of consciousness are
on a continuum scale and you can move up and down the scale, however, you cannot be in to places on the
scale at once.
6. Draw the continuum of consciousness (dont need to add the pictures!)

7. On the above continuum place the following people on the states of consciousness continuum:
Person 1: a pilot who is monitoring the cockpit instruments.
Person 2: a teacher who is thinking about her holiday and who has just finished her third
alcoholic drink.
Person 3: a 12-year-old playing a computer game.
Person 4: the mother of a two-year-old child who is watching the in-flight movie while
simultaneously looking after her child.
Person 5: a tertiary student gazing aimlessly out the window
Person 6: an anxious passenger who has taken a sleeping pill and who can be heard snoring.
Characteristics of Normal waking consciousness:
Read pages 99 104
1. Define the meaning of normal waking consciousness.
Normal waking consciousness is a state of complete awareness where attention is focused and the
individual is aware of internal and external stimuli.

2. In what ways is the content of consciousness more limited in normal waking consciousness than in an
altered state of consciousness?
In normal waking consciousness, people perceive the world as real and it has a familiar sense of time and
place where as in an altered state on consciousness, cognitive and time distortions may occur and
emotional responses may be increased or decreased.
3. Distinguish between selective and divided attention with reference to an example not used in the text.
Selective attention is consciously choosing to attend to certain external stimulus and internal thoughts and
feelings. Divided attention is consciously distributing attention to do two or more activities simultaneously.
4. COMPLETE the Focused Attention HW Sheet
5. Explain the meaning of controlled and automatic processes in relation to consciousness, with
reference to examples not used in the text:
a. Describe two differences between controlled and automatic processes in normal waking
consciousness.
Controlled attention is focused attention. People are alert and aware of making a mental effort and
attention is prevented from being focused on other tasks. Automatic processes is divided attention. People
require very little awareness and mental effort and tasks can be performed while other tasks are being
completed.
b. According to controlled and automatic processing theory, what level of attention and
what type of awareness are required to learn a new task?
Total awareness and focused selective attention is required to learn a new task.
Stroop Effect
1. Briefly outline the Stroop effects and its experiments.
The stroop effect is an experiment conducted by American psychologist John Ridley Stroop. Participants
were shown a series of colour names with the words inked in the same colour as the word. They were then
showed another set of colour names where different to the ink of the word. Stroop found that participants
were slower to name the ink of the words in the second series than the first series as they were required to
visually process incongruent information.
2. When the Stroop task is given to young children who have mastered their colours, but have not
mastered their reading, the Stroop effect is not observed. Explain why this occurs with reference to
controlled and automatic processing.
Children who have mastered their colours, but not yet there words will automatically name the ink rather
the colour name as they are unable to read it.
Controlled and Automatic Processes
1. Describe a task you have learned that initially involved controlled processing but that you can now
perform using automatic processing.
Handwriting. When I initially learnt handwriting, there was high levels of concentration required to learn
how to write words. Now, writing is an automatic process to do.
2. What change in level of attention was required to perform the task during learning compared with
after the learning?
Focused attention was required when first learning to handwrite. After learning, the concentration level has
slowly decreased to divided attention.
3. How do you know this task now involves automatic processing rather than controlled processing?
This tasks involves automatic processing rather than controlled processing because it now required very
little awareness and mental effort to perform. It is also able to be done while doing other activities.

Complete the following table, comparing examples of automatic and controlled processes.
Feature
Automatic Process
Controlled Process
Level of conscious awareness required Low
High
Level of attention required
Low
High
Speed at which the processing is
High
High or low depending on what
performed
is being done
Task Complexity
Low
High
Ability to undertake other takes
High
Low
simultaneously.
Examples
Handwriting
Flying a plane
Stroop effect Experiment:
This experiment enables you to test the Stroop effect by comparing the time taken to identify different
types of visual stimuli under different perceptual conditions.
Before you start:
1. State the operationalized IVs and DVs.
The IV is the type of visual stimuli which the participants are being showed. The DV is the time it takes for
the participants to complete the different perceptual conditions.
2. Write an operationalized hypothesis.
It is hypothesised that students in a psychology will have a faster competition time of condition 1, same
colour name and ink, than condition 2, different colour and ink.
Method:
1. Working with a partner, each of you will test 4 participants then you will combine the data to equal 8
participants in total.
2. Using the link below which will time how long each participant takes to complete both tests.
Participants complete both conditions of the experiment.
Materials:
Stop watch (to time)
Pencil (to record # of errors and time per condition)
https://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/words.html#seffect
Condition 1.
In this experiment you are required to say the colour of the word, not what the word says. For example, for
the word, RED, you should say "Blue."
As soon as the words appear on your screen, read the list as fast as you can (from left to right). When you
have finished, click on the "Finish" button. Record the time taken and the number of errors made in the
table below (under condition 1).
Condition 2.
In this experiment you are required to say the colour of the word, not what the word says. For example, for
the word, RED, you should say "Blue."
As soon as the words appear on your screen, read the list as fast as you can (from left to right). When you
have finished, click on the "Finish" button. Record the time taken and the number of errors made in the
table below (under condition 2).

Results Table.
Participant

Condition 1
Control condition

Condition 2
Experimental condition

Time

Number of errors

Time

Number of errors

1.

23.016

40.734

2.

11.797

23.344

3.

14.840

35.446

4.

20.820

22.163

5.

10.193

26.837

6.

19.089

31.265

7.

13.949

25.182

8.

8.427

18.864

Results:
1. Calculate the mean time and mean number of errors for each condition.
The mean time for condition 1 was 15.266 seconds and the mean time for condition 2 was 27.979 seconds.
The mean errors for condition 1 was 0 and the mean errors for condition 2 was 2.
2. Graph the data to show the mean time taken for each condition and the mean number of errors
for each condition. Ensure you use an appropriate type of graph.

Condition 1

Condition 2

18

30

16

25

12

Time (secs)

Time (secs)

14
10
8
6
4

20
15
10
5

2
0

0
Time

Mistakes

Time

Mistakes

Discussion:
1. Write a statement that indicates whether or not the results support your hypothesis.
The results support the hypothesis that participants would be able to complete condition 1 in a faster time
than they would complete condition 2.
2. Briefly discuss whether the results are consistent with research findings on the Stroop effect.

The results from this experiment are consistent with the research on the Stroop effect. Participants of both
experiments completed condition one at a quick and more accurate pace. The brain automatically processes
the colour name rather than the ink, causing more errors and a slower time when undertaking condition 2.
3. Write a conclusion based on the results obtained.
The results show that participants took longer to complete condition 1 than condition 2, proving the Stroop
effect. The hypothesis that participants will be able to complete condition 2 faster and with more accuracy
than condition 2 was supported. All 8 participants recorded an increase in time and most also saw an
increase in the number of errors. Their decrease in speed shows that participants are finding it harder when
the ink and the colour name are different to each other.
4. Describe two potential extraneous or confounding variables. Explain how each of these variables may
have affected the results.
One potential extraneous variable is the participants ability to see the colours. If the participant had trouble
seeing the colours or differentiating them, they may have made more errors or took even longer to
complete the conditions.
Another extraneous variable is whether the participant had previously done the experiment. If participants
had done it before, they would have a faster time because they already know what to expect.
5. How could you have changed the experiment to minimise these extraneous variables.
When selecting participants, they should be asked if they had previously dont it. Also, the ink should be
obvious and colours should not be able to be mixed up.
6. Explain what the results of this experiment indicate about automatic and controlled processes.
The results of the experiment indicate that peoples automatic processes are more natural than their
controlled. Participants will naturally read the colour name rather than the ink colour as it is their automatic
process. When the colour name is different to the ink, participants slowed down as they used their
controlled processes to say the ink rather than the colour name.
Other questions:
1. State the population used.
The population was the year 12 psychology class
2. What sampling method did you use? What are the advantages and limitations of this method?
The sampling method used was convenient sampling. The advantage is that it doesnt take long to get the
sample, however, the results cannot be generalised to the public.
3. State the experimental research design used.
Repeated measures was the research design used.
4. Outline 2 advantages and disadvantages of this method.
The advantages are that less participants are required to complete the experiment and results will be more
accurate as the differences can be compared for the same person. However, participants may have done
better in condition 2 after doing condition 1 as they knew what they were supposed to do. Participants
5. Could you have used counterbalancing in this experiment? Justify your response.
Counterbalancing could not be used for this experiment because the IV cannot be done in multiple different
conditions. For example, if the experiment was on the recollection of words with and without music,
participant could recall them without music first and then with music, however, this cannot be done with
the stroop effect.