Course map

Covers all of VCE Psychology Units 3 and 4: the nervous system and stress, learning and memory, sleep, mental wellbeing and specific phobia, and the key science skills.

The nervous system and stress

Unit 3 Area of Study 1

The nervous system and responses to stimuli
Unit 3 AoS 1
- Describe the subdivisions of the central and peripheral nervous systems and their roles
- Tell conscious from unconscious responses, and explain the spinal reflex
- Apply the subdivisions to everyday scenarios
Lesson Practice
Neurotransmitters, neuromodulators and synaptic plasticity
Unit 3 AoS 1
- Explain excitatory (glutamate) and inhibitory (GABA) neurotransmitters at the synapse
- Compare neurotransmitters with neuromodulators such as dopamine and serotonin
- Explain long-term potentiation and long-term depression, with sprouting, rerouting and pruning, as the basis of learning
Lesson Practice
Stress as a psychobiological process
Unit 3 AoS 1
- Tell internal from external stressors, and psychological from physiological stress responses
- Explain the flight-or-fight-or-freeze response in acute stress and the role of cortisol in chronic stress
- Describe the gut-brain axis as an area of emerging research
Lesson Practice
Models of stress and coping
Unit 3 AoS 1
- Apply and evaluate Selye's General Adaptation Syndrome: alarm reaction (shock, counter shock), resistance, exhaustion
- Apply and evaluate Lazarus and Folkman's Transactional Model of Stress and Coping (primary and secondary appraisal)
- Compare approach and avoidance strategies, context-specific effectiveness and coping flexibility
Lesson Practice

Learning and memory

Unit 3 Area of Study 2

Classical and operant conditioning
Unit 3 AoS 2
- Explain classical conditioning in three phases, with the neutral, unconditioned and conditioned stimulus and response
- Explain operant conditioning in three phases (antecedent, behaviour, consequence)
- Tell positive and negative reinforcement from positive and negative punishment
Lesson Practice
Observational learning and learning within a system
Unit 3 AoS 2
- Explain observational learning: attention, retention, reproduction, motivation and reinforcement
- Describe Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of knowing, where learning is embedded in relationships and patterned on Country
- Compare behaviourist, social-cognitive and systems approaches to learning
Lesson Practice
The multi-store model and the brain in memory
Unit 3 AoS 2
- Apply and evaluate the Atkinson-Shiffrin multi-store model: sensory, short-term and long-term memory
- Explain the roles of the hippocampus, amygdala, neocortex, basal ganglia and cerebellum in explicit and implicit memories
- Tell explicit (episodic, semantic) from implicit (procedural, classically conditioned) memories
Lesson Practice
Autobiographical memory, imagined futures and mnemonics
Unit 3 AoS 2
- Explain the roles of episodic and semantic memory in autobiographical events and imagined futures
- Use the evidence from Alzheimer's disease and from aphantasia
- Compare acronyms, acrostics and the method of loci with sung narrative and songlines
Lesson Practice

Sleep

Unit 4 Area of Study 1

Sleep, its measurement and its regulation
Unit 4 AoS 1
- Describe sleep as a naturally occurring altered state of consciousness, with REM and NREM Stages 1 to 3
- Explain what EEG, EMG, EOG, sleep diaries and video monitoring measure
- Explain circadian and ultradian rhythms, the suprachiasmatic nucleus and melatonin, and sleep across the life span
Lesson Practice
Sleep deprivation, sleep disorders and sleep hygiene
Unit 4 AoS 1
- Explain the affective, behavioural and cognitive effects of partial sleep deprivation
- Compare one night of full sleep deprivation with blood alcohol concentrations of 0.05 and 0.10
- Explain DSPS, ASPD and shift work, bright light therapy, and sleep hygiene with zeitgebers
Lesson Practice

Mental wellbeing

Unit 4 Area of Study 2

Defining mental wellbeing
Unit 4 AoS 2
- Describe levels of functioning, resilience and social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB)
- Explain mental wellbeing as a continuum influenced by internal and external factors
- Tell stress, anxiety and phobia apart on the continuum
Lesson Practice
Specific phobia: a biopsychosocial approach
Unit 4 AoS 2
- Explain the biological, psychological and social factors in the development of specific phobia
- Explain the interventions: benzodiazepines and breathing retraining, CBT and systematic desensitisation, and psychoeducation
- Weigh the relative influence of the factors and the interventions in a scenario
Lesson Practice
Maintaining mental wellbeing
Unit 4 AoS 2
- Apply the biopsychosocial protective factors: nutrition, hydration and sleep; cognitive behavioural strategies and mindfulness meditation; support
- Explain cultural continuity and self-determination as cultural determinants of wellbeing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
- Apply protective factors to a scenario
Lesson Practice

Key science skills

Key science skills, Units 3 and 4

Designing investigations
Key science skills; Unit 4 AoS 3
- Write aims, hypotheses and predictions; identify independent, dependent, controlled, extraneous and confounding variables
- Choose a methodology (controlled experiment, correlational study, case study and others) and a design (within-subjects, between-subjects, mixed)
- Choose random or stratified sampling, and apply the ethical concepts and guidelines
Lesson Practice
Data, evidence and conclusions
Key science skills; Unit 4 AoS 3
- Calculate percentages, percentage change, mean, median and mode, and interpret standard deviation
- Judge accuracy, precision, repeatability, reproducibility, validity, errors and uncertainty
- Decide how far evidence supports a hypothesis, and state the limits of a conclusion
Lesson Practice