©GRACEAMELIA 2024/2025 ACADEMIC YEAR. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
FIRST PUBLISH OCTOBER 2024
CPSC 430 Exam Questions and Answers
What social effects did mechanical calculators have? (textbook pg. 47) - Ans:✔✔-"De-skilling" and
"feminization" of bookkeeping
Male bookkeepers were replaced with female bookkeepers and wages were lowered because
mechanical calculators allowed people of average ability to succeed and be productive in these positions
as well
What social effects did 1900s-style cash registers have? (textbook pg. 48-49) - Ans:✔✔-Cash registers
made embezzlement by clerks more difficult because the bell made it impossible for clerks to sneakily
take money from the cash drawer, and ensured that every sale was logged. By logging sales, department
store owners could easily compare the cash in cash registers and sale receipts.
List two ways that World War II stimulated the development of the modern computer. (textbook pg. 51-
53) - Ans:✔✔-ENIAC:
Had many features of modern computer - internal components were electronic and could be
programmed to perform variety of computations
EDVAC:
First to store its program and data in memory
Page 1/58
, ©GRACEAMELIA 2024/2025 ACADEMIC YEAR. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
FIRST PUBLISH OCTOBER 2024
Describe three ways in which the widespread adoption of the telephone changed society. (textbook pg.
69-71) - Ans:✔✔-Traditional boundaries between private family life and public business life became
blurred
People enjoyed being able to conduct business from home, but also didn't like being interrupted by the
ringing of the telephone
Eroded traditional social hierarchies
Allowed people that normally wouldn't talk to each other (because of social hierarchies) to be able to
talk to each other
Creation of "online" communities
Party lines that connected multiple phones together allowed farmers in rural areas to gather by their
phones and talk about the weather and exchange gossip
Page 2/58
, ©GRACEAMELIA 2024/2025 ACADEMIC YEAR. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
FIRST PUBLISH OCTOBER 2024
In what ways were transistors an improvement over vacuum tubes? (textbook pg. 57-58) - Ans:✔✔-
Vacuum tubes required a lot of power, generated a lot of heat, and burned out like lightbulbs
Transistor: semiconductor substitute for vacuum tube
Lower power consumption, less waste heat, and high efficiency than equivalent tubes compared to
vacuum tubes
What are two advantages of packet-switched networking over circuit-switched networking? (textbook
pg. 76) - Ans:✔✔-Circuit-switched networking: single physical connection is established between two
ends, and the connection cannot be shared, meaning other circuits cannot be established is there is
overlap and one is already being used
Packet-switched networking: messages are divided into small bundles of data (packets)
Different message packets can take different routes to the same destination and packets from different
messages may share the same wire; multiple computers can communicate simultaneously
Page 3/58
, ©GRACEAMELIA 2024/2025 ACADEMIC YEAR. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
FIRST PUBLISH OCTOBER 2024
Describe three technologies that were demonstrated in Douglas Engelbart's 1968 "Mother of all Demos."
(textbook pg. 85) - Ans:✔✔-Video display divided into windows, email, use of a mouse to direct a cursor,
and live video conferencing with staff members 30 miles aw
Explain the difference between morality and ethics. (textbook pg. 111) - Ans:✔✔-Morality: rules of
conduct describing what people ought and ought not to do in various situations (what)
Ethics: philosophical study of morality, a rational examination in people's moral beliefs and behaviour
(why)
Describe one similarity and one difference between subjective relativism and ethical egoism. (textbook
pg. 118, 130 for definitions) - Ans:✔✔-Subjective relativism: each person decides right and wrong for
himself/herself
Ethical egoism: the morally right action for a person to take in a particular situation is the action that will
provide that person the maximum long-term benefit
Similarity: both claim that what is considered to be right/wrong depends on the self
Page 4/58
FIRST PUBLISH OCTOBER 2024
CPSC 430 Exam Questions and Answers
What social effects did mechanical calculators have? (textbook pg. 47) - Ans:✔✔-"De-skilling" and
"feminization" of bookkeeping
Male bookkeepers were replaced with female bookkeepers and wages were lowered because
mechanical calculators allowed people of average ability to succeed and be productive in these positions
as well
What social effects did 1900s-style cash registers have? (textbook pg. 48-49) - Ans:✔✔-Cash registers
made embezzlement by clerks more difficult because the bell made it impossible for clerks to sneakily
take money from the cash drawer, and ensured that every sale was logged. By logging sales, department
store owners could easily compare the cash in cash registers and sale receipts.
List two ways that World War II stimulated the development of the modern computer. (textbook pg. 51-
53) - Ans:✔✔-ENIAC:
Had many features of modern computer - internal components were electronic and could be
programmed to perform variety of computations
EDVAC:
First to store its program and data in memory
Page 1/58
, ©GRACEAMELIA 2024/2025 ACADEMIC YEAR. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
FIRST PUBLISH OCTOBER 2024
Describe three ways in which the widespread adoption of the telephone changed society. (textbook pg.
69-71) - Ans:✔✔-Traditional boundaries between private family life and public business life became
blurred
People enjoyed being able to conduct business from home, but also didn't like being interrupted by the
ringing of the telephone
Eroded traditional social hierarchies
Allowed people that normally wouldn't talk to each other (because of social hierarchies) to be able to
talk to each other
Creation of "online" communities
Party lines that connected multiple phones together allowed farmers in rural areas to gather by their
phones and talk about the weather and exchange gossip
Page 2/58
, ©GRACEAMELIA 2024/2025 ACADEMIC YEAR. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
FIRST PUBLISH OCTOBER 2024
In what ways were transistors an improvement over vacuum tubes? (textbook pg. 57-58) - Ans:✔✔-
Vacuum tubes required a lot of power, generated a lot of heat, and burned out like lightbulbs
Transistor: semiconductor substitute for vacuum tube
Lower power consumption, less waste heat, and high efficiency than equivalent tubes compared to
vacuum tubes
What are two advantages of packet-switched networking over circuit-switched networking? (textbook
pg. 76) - Ans:✔✔-Circuit-switched networking: single physical connection is established between two
ends, and the connection cannot be shared, meaning other circuits cannot be established is there is
overlap and one is already being used
Packet-switched networking: messages are divided into small bundles of data (packets)
Different message packets can take different routes to the same destination and packets from different
messages may share the same wire; multiple computers can communicate simultaneously
Page 3/58
, ©GRACEAMELIA 2024/2025 ACADEMIC YEAR. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
FIRST PUBLISH OCTOBER 2024
Describe three technologies that were demonstrated in Douglas Engelbart's 1968 "Mother of all Demos."
(textbook pg. 85) - Ans:✔✔-Video display divided into windows, email, use of a mouse to direct a cursor,
and live video conferencing with staff members 30 miles aw
Explain the difference between morality and ethics. (textbook pg. 111) - Ans:✔✔-Morality: rules of
conduct describing what people ought and ought not to do in various situations (what)
Ethics: philosophical study of morality, a rational examination in people's moral beliefs and behaviour
(why)
Describe one similarity and one difference between subjective relativism and ethical egoism. (textbook
pg. 118, 130 for definitions) - Ans:✔✔-Subjective relativism: each person decides right and wrong for
himself/herself
Ethical egoism: the morally right action for a person to take in a particular situation is the action that will
provide that person the maximum long-term benefit
Similarity: both claim that what is considered to be right/wrong depends on the self
Page 4/58
