PYC3703
EXAM PACK
FOR ASSISTANCE WITH THIS MODULE +27 67 171 1739
, Dear Student
In this tutorial letter, we provide the correct answers to Assignment 01, with short explanations of why a
particular alternative is correct. Note that the ordering may not correspond to the ordering you received
on the online platform on myUnisa as the questions were randomised. If you answered a question
incorrectly, please read the explanation in conjunction with the discussion in the prescribed book. Use
the page references given or the index in the prescribed textbook to locate the appropriate page in the
book where the topic is discussed. In the comments below, CP stands for the currently available edition
of the prescribed book: Goldstein, E.B. and Van Hooff, J.C (2021). Cognitive Psychology (2st EMEA
edition).
The assignment is compulsory, and you must submit it to get admission to the examination.
This assignment is based on chapters 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6 of the prescribed book: Cognitive Psychology
(2021).
Please note that this assignment contributes to your final mark. The two assignments together count for
20% of your final mark, and the online examination makes up 80%. Your final mark for the module will
consist of your year mark (20%, the average of the two assignments) for the two assignments
(Assignments 01 and 02) plus your examination mark (maximum of 80%).
Select the most appropriate option in cases where you think that more than one could be correct.
Your PYC3703 teaching team.
Assignment 01
Semester 2 Closing date: 30/08/2023 Unique Code: 522167
NB Please note that your total out of 30 will be converted to a percentage mark. This percentage mark is
the credit you obtain for the assignment.
QUESTION 1
Donders (1868) experiment is important because it illustrates something extremely significant about
studying the mind, mental responses cannot be measured directly, but must - - - - -.
a. perceive the stimulus
b. process the stimulus
c. be inferred from behaviour
d. make a decision
Option c is correct. Donders (1868) did not measure mental responses directly but inferred how long
they took from the reaction times. The fact that mental responses cannot be measured directly, but must
be inferred from observing behaviour, is a principle that holds not only for Donders’ experiment but for all
research in cognitive psychology (see CP, Figure 1.3., p. 5).
2