Feedback: PYC4804 Mock Exam: 2021
1. The correct answer is option A.
The information provided by Sarah is correct. Jill’s response is incorrect: In healthy (as
opposed to unhealthy) systems feedback loops help the system to maintain a balance
between stability and change, such that the system attains a dynamic equilibrium. Andy’s
response is also incorrect: One can use system’s theory to explain psychosis. Depth
psychology does not have a monopoly in this regard.
2. The correct answer is option E.
Banti’s comment is correct. Sarah’s comments place too much emphasis on the role of
circumstances in determining behaviour: Social cognitive theorists acknowledge the role of
circumstances in influencing behaviour but do not ascribe a determining role to
circumstances. From this perspective behaviour is determined by the interplay between the
individual, the situation/circumstances and the actual behaviour of the person. (Note that if
one says that “circumstances determine behaviour” this means that circumstances ALONE
are responsible for a person’s behaviour.) Andy’s response is incorrect: Social cognitive
theory is about the person-situation interaction and does not maintain that behaviour
results solely from personal traits. Personal traits (which are part of the individual) interact
with the situation and the person’s behaviour to determine how a person behaves in any
given situation.
3. The correct answer is option D.
The information provided by Jill and Sarah is correct. Jill notes that in such a demanding
environment it is important to take into account factors that are relevant to effective
functioning in a given situation (such as the demanding environment of the pit). Effective
functioning according to social cognitive learning theory also entails a realistic self-efficacy
perception (neither too high nor too low) and the belief that despite the influences of the
environment one is able to exercise control over one’s environment. Mike’s response is
incorrect: Social cognitive theory does not consider the role of organically (i.e. genetically)
based disturbances (and learnt helplessness and pessimism are not organically based
disturbances anyway).
4. The correct answer is option D.
Andy, Jill and Sarah all offer correct interpretations of the theory. Many Western-oriented
theories posit the individual as being responsible for his/her circumstances rather than
ascribing the reasons for our behaviour as resulting from some influence external to the
person. Jill is also correct in noting that many Western theories also conceptualise behaviour
as a function of the relationship between the individual and other people or society (think of
Adler’s theory and social cognitive learning theory for example). Sarah’s comment is also
correct: The philosophical departure point regarding the African perspective rests on the
assumption of a cosmic whole while Western theorising is influenced by the reciprocity
between the physical and psychic domains.
, 5. The correct answer is option A.
Jill and Piet offer correct information: The symptoms described in the question (talking to
himself as if conversing with imaginary people and saying that he was invaded by evil spirits)
may be interpreted as psychopathological behaviour from a Western framework. But from
an African perspective, all behaviour – even behaviour that might be interpreted as
psychopathological in nature – is ascribed to external forces in the meso-cosmos. In other
words, all good and bad fortunes emanate from the forces in the meso-cosmos. Mike is
incorrect: According to the African perspective, the balanced use of the left and right
hemispheres of the brain is responsible for optimal functioning and not for
psychopathological behaviour.
6. Option C is the correct answer.
Banti’s response is the only correct response: Western, African and Eastern perspectives are
based on different philosophies – no psychology can therefore claim global truths about
human functioning. Jill’s statement is incorrect – Western psychology cannot claim to
produce facts that are relevant across cultures. Western, African and Eastern psychologies
are indeed different knowledge systems that conceptualise human behaviour differently.
Nor is it true that these different philosophies simply provide different contexts for
psychological research and practice. Sarah’s comment is also incorrect: Western psychology
can be regarded as a scientific knowledge system. It is also incorrect to state that Western,
African and Eastern psychologies merely refer to the different geographical regions in which
psychology exists.
7. Option D is the correct answer.
The information offered by all three speakers is correct. The recruitment of pit crew
members in an Eastern society is likely to focus on different characteristics than the
recruitment of pit crew members in a Western society (Western theories, for example,
stress the importance of individual agency and responsibility) but from an Eastern
perspective, the emphasis is more on the individual’s connectedness with his/her fellow
man, society and the cosmos as a whole. Western theorising also stresses the importance of
objectivity whereas Eastern psychology is more concerned with subjective observation and
has subjective experience as its paradigm.
8. The correct answer is option C.
Jill provides the correct response: Maslow’s theory is classified as a person-oriented
approach and speaks directly to the notion of self-actualisation. Neither Jung’s theory nor
Bandura’s theory are classified as person-oriented approaches.
9. Option B is correct.
Andy provides the correct response: Being afraid of overestimating ourselves and of
accepting the responsibility of being all we can be can hinder the need for self-actualisation.
The first part of Jill’s response is correct: Lack of self-knowledge or self-insight can also
hinder the need for self-actualisation. But she contradicts herself in her next statement: If
crew members need their peers and managers to advise and guide them, they demonstrate
1. The correct answer is option A.
The information provided by Sarah is correct. Jill’s response is incorrect: In healthy (as
opposed to unhealthy) systems feedback loops help the system to maintain a balance
between stability and change, such that the system attains a dynamic equilibrium. Andy’s
response is also incorrect: One can use system’s theory to explain psychosis. Depth
psychology does not have a monopoly in this regard.
2. The correct answer is option E.
Banti’s comment is correct. Sarah’s comments place too much emphasis on the role of
circumstances in determining behaviour: Social cognitive theorists acknowledge the role of
circumstances in influencing behaviour but do not ascribe a determining role to
circumstances. From this perspective behaviour is determined by the interplay between the
individual, the situation/circumstances and the actual behaviour of the person. (Note that if
one says that “circumstances determine behaviour” this means that circumstances ALONE
are responsible for a person’s behaviour.) Andy’s response is incorrect: Social cognitive
theory is about the person-situation interaction and does not maintain that behaviour
results solely from personal traits. Personal traits (which are part of the individual) interact
with the situation and the person’s behaviour to determine how a person behaves in any
given situation.
3. The correct answer is option D.
The information provided by Jill and Sarah is correct. Jill notes that in such a demanding
environment it is important to take into account factors that are relevant to effective
functioning in a given situation (such as the demanding environment of the pit). Effective
functioning according to social cognitive learning theory also entails a realistic self-efficacy
perception (neither too high nor too low) and the belief that despite the influences of the
environment one is able to exercise control over one’s environment. Mike’s response is
incorrect: Social cognitive theory does not consider the role of organically (i.e. genetically)
based disturbances (and learnt helplessness and pessimism are not organically based
disturbances anyway).
4. The correct answer is option D.
Andy, Jill and Sarah all offer correct interpretations of the theory. Many Western-oriented
theories posit the individual as being responsible for his/her circumstances rather than
ascribing the reasons for our behaviour as resulting from some influence external to the
person. Jill is also correct in noting that many Western theories also conceptualise behaviour
as a function of the relationship between the individual and other people or society (think of
Adler’s theory and social cognitive learning theory for example). Sarah’s comment is also
correct: The philosophical departure point regarding the African perspective rests on the
assumption of a cosmic whole while Western theorising is influenced by the reciprocity
between the physical and psychic domains.
, 5. The correct answer is option A.
Jill and Piet offer correct information: The symptoms described in the question (talking to
himself as if conversing with imaginary people and saying that he was invaded by evil spirits)
may be interpreted as psychopathological behaviour from a Western framework. But from
an African perspective, all behaviour – even behaviour that might be interpreted as
psychopathological in nature – is ascribed to external forces in the meso-cosmos. In other
words, all good and bad fortunes emanate from the forces in the meso-cosmos. Mike is
incorrect: According to the African perspective, the balanced use of the left and right
hemispheres of the brain is responsible for optimal functioning and not for
psychopathological behaviour.
6. Option C is the correct answer.
Banti’s response is the only correct response: Western, African and Eastern perspectives are
based on different philosophies – no psychology can therefore claim global truths about
human functioning. Jill’s statement is incorrect – Western psychology cannot claim to
produce facts that are relevant across cultures. Western, African and Eastern psychologies
are indeed different knowledge systems that conceptualise human behaviour differently.
Nor is it true that these different philosophies simply provide different contexts for
psychological research and practice. Sarah’s comment is also incorrect: Western psychology
can be regarded as a scientific knowledge system. It is also incorrect to state that Western,
African and Eastern psychologies merely refer to the different geographical regions in which
psychology exists.
7. Option D is the correct answer.
The information offered by all three speakers is correct. The recruitment of pit crew
members in an Eastern society is likely to focus on different characteristics than the
recruitment of pit crew members in a Western society (Western theories, for example,
stress the importance of individual agency and responsibility) but from an Eastern
perspective, the emphasis is more on the individual’s connectedness with his/her fellow
man, society and the cosmos as a whole. Western theorising also stresses the importance of
objectivity whereas Eastern psychology is more concerned with subjective observation and
has subjective experience as its paradigm.
8. The correct answer is option C.
Jill provides the correct response: Maslow’s theory is classified as a person-oriented
approach and speaks directly to the notion of self-actualisation. Neither Jung’s theory nor
Bandura’s theory are classified as person-oriented approaches.
9. Option B is correct.
Andy provides the correct response: Being afraid of overestimating ourselves and of
accepting the responsibility of being all we can be can hinder the need for self-actualisation.
The first part of Jill’s response is correct: Lack of self-knowledge or self-insight can also
hinder the need for self-actualisation. But she contradicts herself in her next statement: If
crew members need their peers and managers to advise and guide them, they demonstrate
