PSYC1024 Anxiety, Mood and Stress
The Complete Exam Bible · T2 2026PSYC1024 Overview
- UNSW Sydney
- T2 2026
- 12 chapters
- Psychology
PSYC1024 Anxiety, Mood and Stress (the UNSW handbook long title is "Clinical Perspectives on Anxiety, Mood and Stress") is a first-year psychology course taught entirely online through Moodle, and like most UNSW courses it carries the standard 6 units of credit (UOC).
- Assessed by Mid-term exam 20% · Written Assessment 40% · Final Exam 40%
- Key terms Scientific method, Operationalisation, Components of emotion, Emotion vs mood vs affect
- How to prepare Treat PSYC1024 as a definitions-and-models course and rehearse it weekly rather than cramming…
- Most asked Where can I find past exam papers / practice for PSYC1024?
How PSYC1024 is assessed
| Component | Weight | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Mid-term exam | 20% | 20 multiple-choice questions, online via Moodle, Friday Week 5, available 9am–11:59pm Sydney time; covers Weeks 1–2 & 4–5 |
| Written Assessment | 40% | 500-word written assessment, submitted via Moodle Turnitin by Friday Week 7 11:59pm; 5-day late deadline then zero |
| Final Exam | 40% | 80 multiple-choice questions covering all topics, online via Inspera, available for a 24-hour window in the exam period, closed-book |
What PSYC1024 covers
PSYC1024 runs across ten teaching weeks on UNSW's Moodle, moving from psychology as a science and the science of emotion into the neurobiology of fear, anxiety, mood and stress, then anxiety and mood disorders, treatment, and the stress response and coping.
It is assessed by two multiple-choice papers — a 20% Week-5 mid-term (Weeks 1–2 & 4–5) and a 40% 80-question Inspera final over all topics — plus a 40% 500-word written assessment, so the guide drills both MCQ mastery and the short write-up.
Psychology as a Science
who's-who of psychology · the scientific method · (Week 1)Week 1 of UNSW PSYC1024 Anxiety, Mood and Stress sets the foundation: who actually does psychology — the differences between a psychologist, clinical psychologist, psychiatrist, psychological scientist, social worker and counsellor, including AHPRA registration and legally protected titles — and how the scientific method underpins evidence-based practice.
- The who's-who of psychology: psychologist vs clinical psychologist vs psychiatrist vs psychological scientist vs social worker vs counsellor/therapist
- AHPRA registration and legally protected titles (psychologist is protected; counsellor/therapist are not) — why registration protects consumers
- Who can prescribe: psychiatrists are medical doctors and can prescribe medication; psychologists cannot
- The scientific method as a circular, never-ending cycle: theory → prediction → hypothesis → test → supports/refutes → revise
- Theory (a detailed how/why explanation that makes predictions) vs hypothesis (a single, specific, testable prediction) — and why science never "proves"
- Falsifiability: an idea must be able to be shown wrong to count as scientific
The Science of Emotion
components of emotion · moods vs affect · primary emotions · (Week 2)Week 2 builds the vocabulary the whole of UNSW PSYC1024 reuses for fear, anxiety, mood and stress.
- Why there is no single agreed scientific definition of emotion — the course works from areas of agreement and shared components
- Emotion (short, specific, has "aboutness") vs mood (long, diffuse, often no clear trigger) vs affect (the umbrella term plus valence)
- Valence (positive ↔ negative) and specific vs diffuse states
- The primary / universal emotions: happiness/joy, sadness, surprise, anger, fear, disgust
- Secondary and culture-specific emotions (embarrassment, guilt, resentment; schadenfreude as the culture-specific example)
- Components of emotion — folk version: stimulus, cognition, physiology, behaviour
Theories of Emotion
functional/evolutionary · motivational · appraisal · constructivist · discrete vs dimensional · (Week 2)Still Week 2, this chapter is the core examinable structure of the emotion block: the four families of emotion theory — functional/evolutionary, motivational, cognitive-appraisal and constructionist — and the two ways of classifying emotions, the discrete (categorical) approach vs the dimensional (valence–arousal) approach.
- The four families of emotion theory and which component each centres
- Functional/evolutionary: emotions are adaptive — a stimulus triggers a cascade that maximises survival; emotional cognitions interrupt and redirect attention
- Motivational: motivational intensity (approach ↔ avoid) drives outcomes and sets cognitive scope
- Cognitive-appraisal: emotion follows our evaluation of a stimulus; appraisal can cause and later regulate an emotion
- Constructionist: the brain constructs emotion from exteroceptive, proprioceptive and interoceptive inputs; prediction error drives learning
- Discrete (basic) approach — distinct categories; Ekman's cross-cultural faces and Panksepp's animal brain-stimulation work converge on universal basic emotions
Science Writing & the 500-Word Written Assessment
scientific writing · the 40% written task · (Week 3)Week 3 turns the scientific-method thinking of Week 1 into a skill: writing psychological science clearly, precisely and objectively.
- Purpose of scientific writing: communicate research clearly, precisely and objectively — clarity and evidence over rhetoric
- Structuring a short argument: claim → supporting evidence → interpretation → concise close
- Writing tentatively: science supports or refutes, never "proves" (ties to Week 1 falsifiability)
- APA-style in-text citation (author–date) and referencing basics
- IMRaD structure of an empirical report: Introduction, Method, Results, Discussion
- Primary vs secondary sources; what peer review is and why it matters
The Science of Fear and Anxiety
fear vs anxiety · amygdala fear circuit · fight-or-flight · (Week 4)Week 4 is the neuroscience backbone of UNSW PSYC1024: it distinguishes fear (a response to a present, identifiable threat) from anxiety (anticipation of a future, uncertain threat) and maps their neurobiology — the amygdala-centred fear circuit, the fast subcortical "low road" vs the slower cortical "high road", and the fight-or-flight autonomic response.
- Fear vs anxiety: present/identifiable/imminent threat vs future/uncertain/potential threat
- How this maps onto Week 2's specific (fear) vs diffuse (anxiety) distinction
- The fight-or-flight (and freeze) response: sympathetic activation, adrenaline/noradrenaline
- Autonomic changes: ↑ heart rate, ↑ respiration, pupil dilation, blood to muscles, ↓ digestion; parasympathetic "rest and digest" restores baseline
- The amygdala as the hub of rapid threat detection and fear learning
- The fast subcortical "low road" (sensory thalamus → amygdala) vs the slower cortical "high road" (thalamus → sensory cortex → amygdala)
Introduction to Anxiety Disorders
normal vs disordered anxiety · classification · (Week 5)Week 5 draws the line between adaptive, everyday anxiety and clinically disordered anxiety — the intensity, duration, disproportion and impairment that cross the diagnostic threshold — and introduces how the anxiety disorders are classified as a family.
- Adaptive vs disordered anxiety: intensity, duration, proportion to threat, and impairment
- The diagnostic threshold: excessive, persistent, disproportionate, and causing distress or functional impairment
- The "4 Ds" heuristic for abnormality: deviance, distress, dysfunction, danger
- Diagnostic systems: DSM-5-TR (APA) and ICD-11 (WHO)
- Overview of the main anxiety disorders (GAD, panic, phobias, social anxiety, agoraphobia)
- The diathesis–stress model: predisposing vulnerability × environmental stress
Mid-term Exam Mastery
20 MCQs · Weeks 1–2 & 4–5 · 20% · (Week 5)This chapter consolidates for the 20% mid-term: 20 multiple-choice questions drawn only from Weeks 1, 2, 4 and 5 (psychology as a science, the science and theories of emotion, the science of fear and anxiety, and the introduction to anxiety disorders), held online via Moodle in a single Friday-of-Week-5 window.
- Exactly what the mid-term covers: Weeks 1, 2, 4 and 5 only — not Week 3 (Science Writing) or the later weeks
- The format: 20 MCQs, 20%, online via Moodle, a single timed Friday-of-Week-5 window
- MCQ decision process: define the term → eliminate distractors → check qualifiers → commit
- Application-style stems: "a researcher does X — which term describes Y?"
- High-yield Week 1: professions, protected titles, the scientific-method cycle, IV/DV, operationalisation
- High-yield Week 2: emotion vs mood vs affect, components, discrete vs dimensional, the four theories
Anxiety Disorders
specific disorders in depth · (Week 7)Week 7 goes deep on the specific anxiety disorders introduced in Week 5 — generalised anxiety disorder, panic disorder, the phobias, social anxiety disorder and agoraphobia — their defining features, typical course and how they differ from one another, each connected back to the fear/anxiety neurobiology of Week 4. It is final-exam examinable (the 40% Inspera final covers all topics), and the classic item hands you a case and asks which disorder it is and why it is not the others.
- Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD): uncontrollable worry across domains, ≥6 months, with restlessness, fatigue, concentration and sleep problems
- Panic Disorder: recurrent unexpected panic attacks peaking within minutes, plus ≥1 month of worry about further attacks
- Catastrophic misinterpretation of bodily sensations (Clark's cognitive model of panic)
- Specific Phobia: marked fear of a specific object/situation, immediate anxiety and avoidance, ≥6 months
- Social Anxiety Disorder: fear of scrutiny or negative evaluation; self-focused attention and safety behaviours
- Agoraphobia: fear/avoidance of situations where escape or help may be difficult
Mood and Depression
mood disorders · depression · (Week 8)Week 8 covers mood disorders with a focus on depression: the core symptoms and diagnostic features of major depressive disorder, how it differs from ordinary low mood, and current models of its neurobiology and psychology — relating mood back to the emotion/affect framework of Week 2 (mood = long-lasting, diffuse, low aboutness).
- Mood disorders vs anxiety: disturbance of emotional state/valence rather than threat/apprehension
- Major Depressive Disorder (MDD): ≥5 of 9 symptoms over the same 2-week period, including ≥1 core symptom
- The two core symptoms: depressed mood and anhedonia (loss of interest/pleasure)
- Persistent Depressive Disorder (dysthymia): depressed mood most days for ≥2 years
- Bipolar disorders: Bipolar I (≥1 manic episode) vs Bipolar II (hypomania + major depression)
- The monoamine hypothesis: reduced serotonin, noradrenaline and dopamine activity (now seen as incomplete)
Treatment
evidence-based treatment of anxiety & mood · (Week 9)Week 9 surveys the evidence-based treatment of anxiety and mood disorders — psychological interventions (notably CBT and its cognitive and behavioural components, and exposure therapy) and pharmacological options — and shows how the choice of treatment follows from the underlying model.
- Evidence-based practice: best research evidence + clinical expertise + client values
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT): thoughts, feelings and behaviours interact; first-line for anxiety and depression
- Cognitive restructuring: identifying and challenging automatic thoughts and distortions
- Exposure therapy: graded confrontation without avoidance/safety behaviours → extinction of fear
- Behavioural activation for depression: re-engaging rewarding, values-consistent activity
- Other therapies: ACT, mindfulness-based interventions, interpersonal therapy
All Stressed Out! Stress, the HPA Axis & Coping
stress response · HPA axis · cortisol · coping · (Week 10)Week 10 is the capstone: it explains the stress response end to end — the acute fight-or-flight reaction and the slower endocrine HPA axis (hypothalamus → CRH → pituitary → ACTH → adrenal cortex → cortisol) with its negative-feedback loop — then contrasts acute vs chronic stress and its health toll and covers coping.
- Stress and stressor: the response to demands appraised as taxing or exceeding one's resources
- The transactional model (Lazarus & Folkman): primary appraisal (threat/harm/challenge?) and secondary appraisal (do I have the resources?)
- Acute fight-or-flight (Cannon): sympathetic + adrenal-medullary activation (adrenaline)
- The HPA axis cascade: hypothalamus → CRH → anterior pituitary → ACTH → adrenal cortex → cortisol
- Cortisol's negative-feedback loop switching the axis off; the primary stress hormone
- General Adaptation Syndrome (Selye): alarm → resistance → exhaustion
Final Exam MCQ Mastery
80 MCQs · all topics · Inspera · 40% · (Exam period)This chapter assembles the whole course for the 40% final: 80 multiple-choice questions across all topics — emotion, fear/anxiety, the anxiety disorders, mood/depression, treatment and stress — delivered online via Inspera and open for a 24-hour window from your personalised myUNSW exam date, taken closed-book.
- The format: 80 MCQs, 40%, all topics, online via Inspera, a 24-hour window, closed-book
- A cross-week concept spine linking Weeks 1–10 to the final's MCQ themes
- High-yield definitions to have instant: emotion vs mood, the four theories, fear vs anxiety, the disorders, MDD criteria, HPA cascade
- Applying a definition to a novel case — the dominant MCQ skill at breadth
- Reading distractors and qualifiers across topics you have not revised as recently
- Pacing 80 MCQs sensibly within the window; flag-and-review
It runs across ten teaching weeks and builds one idea on the next: it opens with psychology as a science — what a psychologist, clinical psychologist, psychiatrist and psychological scientist actually do, and the scientific method that underpins evidence-based practice — then the science of emotion (components of emotion, moods vs affect, discrete vs dimensional accounts and the four families of emotion theory).
From Week 4 it turns biological: the neurobiology of fear and anxiety (the amygdala fear circuit and fight-or-flight), what makes anxiety a disorder, the specific anxiety disorders, mood and depression, evidence-based treatment (CBT, exposure, medication), and finally the stress response and the HPA axis.
It is a concept-and-mechanism course with no maths — marks come from precise definitions, correctly applied models and clear scientific writing, not calculation.
Assessment is three tasks: a 20% mid-term of 20 multiple-choice questions on Moodle (Friday of Week 5, drawing only on Weeks 1–2 & 4–5), a 40% 500-word written assessment submitted via Moodle Turnitin (due Friday of Week 7), and a 40% final exam of 80 multiple-choice questions across all topics, delivered online via Inspera in a 24-hour window during the Term 2 examination period and taken closed-book.
No hurdle is stated for any component, but two multiple-choice papers together decide 60% of the mark, so definitional precision under time pressure is what the course rewards. Your PSYC1024 result feeds the Weighted Average Mark (WAM) that later psychology courses build on; confirm every weight, date and rule on Moodle and the UNSW Course Outline.
Worked example · free
Emotion, mood or affect? Classify a state and decompose it
- +1Emotion vs mood. It is an emotion, not a mood: it is short-lived and has "aboutness" — it is directed at a specific, identifiable trigger (the cancellation text) rather than being a diffuse state with no clear cause that lingers for days. Its valence is negative (an unpleasant "bad" affective state).
- +1Stimulus and cognition. Stimulus / trigger = the text announcing the cancellation (the event the emotion is about). Cognition (the thought) = "of course, today of all days" — an appraisal that the outcome is unfair or badly timed.
- +1Physiology and behaviour. Physiology = the bodily changes: chest tightening and a clenched jaw (autonomic arousal). Behaviour = the expressive/motor output: muttering under her breath, tensed posture and facial expression.
- +1Conscious experience. The fifth component in Kuppens' scientific version is conscious experience — Priya's awareness of the whole context (the cold platform, her tiredness, the crowd) that colours the felt episode. Folk versions list only four components (stimulus, cognition, physiology, behaviour); the scientific version adds this fifth.
Key terms
- Scientific method
- A systematic process for making observations in a specific, unbiased way, designed to reduce error and minimise bias. It is circular and never-ending: theory → prediction → hypothesis → test → evidence that supports or refutes → revise. It never "proves" — science advances by failing to disprove the most accurate ideas.
- Operationalisation
- Defining a variable by exactly how it will be measured, so it is unambiguous (e.g. defining startle by the height in cm a person jumps). A good operational definition is observable, objective, replicable and valid (it actually captures the intended construct).
- Components of emotion
- The recurring organising concept of the course: an emotion is built from a stimulus/trigger, cognition (thoughts), physiology (bodily changes) and behaviour (expression), with a fifth — conscious experience — in Kuppens' scientific version. No single theory covers all components the same way, but collectively they recur across theories.
- Emotion vs mood vs affect
- An emotion is short and has "aboutness" (directed at a specific trigger); a mood is longer (days–months), diffuse and often has no identifiable cause; affect is the umbrella term over moods, emotions and feelings, plus their valence (positive ↔ negative).
- Fear vs anxiety
- Fear is an acute response to a present, identifiable, imminent threat that drives fight-or-flight; anxiety is anticipatory apprehension about a future, uncertain or potential threat — more diffuse and future-oriented (hypervigilance, worry, muscle tension). This maps onto the specific-vs-diffuse distinction from the emotion weeks.
- HPA axis
- The Hypothalamic–Pituitary–Adrenal endocrine stress pathway: the hypothalamus releases CRH → the anterior pituitary releases ACTH → the adrenal cortex releases cortisol, the primary stress hormone. Cortisol mobilises energy and switches the axis off by negative feedback; chronic elevation is implicated in anxiety and depression.
PSYC1024 FAQ
Is PSYC1024 hard?
It is conceptually broad rather than mathematically hard — there is no maths in this course. The challenge is keeping a large vocabulary of precise definitions straight (emotion vs mood vs affect, fear vs anxiety, the four emotion theories, the anxiety and mood disorders, the HPA cascade) because 60% of the mark comes from two multiple-choice papers where a single wrong qualifier loses the item.
Students who learn the definitions the standard way and can apply each model to a fresh scenario, rather than half-recognising terms, tend to find it very manageable. Steady weekly work through Moodle also protects your WAM and puts an HD (85+) or DN (75–84) within reach.
Can AI help me with PSYC1024?
Yes, as a step-by-step study aid. Sia is an AI tutor built to mirror how PSYC1024 is actually taught and assessed at UNSW Sydney: it can walk you through the components of emotion, the discrete-vs-dimensional debate, the amygdala fear circuit, the DSM criteria for an anxiety or mood disorder, or the HPA-axis cascade one line at a time, and it checks your reasoning as you go.
Bring your own revision-quiz or practice question and ask Sia to explain each step. It does not do graded assessment for you — not the written assessment, not the exams — and UNSW Sydney academic-integrity rules still apply, so use it to understand the method, never to produce work you submit.
Where can I find past exam papers / practice for PSYC1024?
Start on Moodle, where the course posts its revision quizzes, self-determined activity sheets and any exam-preparation material, and search the UNSW Library's past-exam-paper collection for released papers (note the mid-term and final are both online multiple-choice, so the closest practice is the weekly revision quizzes rather than a written past paper).
This guide also includes a re-authored practice set that mirrors the MCQ shape across all topics with fresh scenarios, and you can ask Sia to generate extra items in the same style and explain each answer. Confirm what is officially provided on Moodle.
What are the PSYC1024 hurdles and assessment rules?
No hurdle requirement is stated for any of the three tasks in the official assessment summary — but absence of a stated hurdle is not the same as a confirmed no-hurdle, so confirm on your Course Outline; do not assume.
The rules that do bite: the 500-word written assessment goes through Moodle Turnitin and anything submitted after the 5-day late deadline scores zero, and the mid-term is a single timed window on Moodle in Week 5 while the final is a 24-hour Inspera window in the Term 2 examination period.
The weights are Mid-term 20% · Written Assessment 40% · Final Exam 40% — note the written piece is worth as much as the final, so do not treat it as a minor task. UNSW's academic-integrity and plagiarism policy applies to all of it.
What is on the PSYC1024 final exam?
80 multiple-choice questions spanning every topic in the course — psychology as a science, the science and theories of emotion, fear and anxiety and their neurobiology, the anxiety disorders, mood and depression, treatment, and the stress response and HPA axis.
It is delivered online via Inspera, administered by the UNSW Exams Team, and open for a 24-hour window from your personalised exam date; it is taken closed-book (the handbook notes there is insufficient time to consult reference material). Because it is all multiple choice, the exam rewards fast, accurate recall and the ability to apply a definition to a novel case rather than long written answers.
The exam sits in the Term 2 examination period (around mid-to-late August) — confirm your exact 24-hour window via your personalised myUNSW exam timetable.
Questions students ask in each PSYC1024 chapter
- What is the difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist?
- A psychiatrist is a medical doctor who then specialises in mental health, so they can prescribe medication; a psychologist completes psychology training and registration and delivers evidence-based psychological therapy but cannot prescribe. A clinical psychologist is a psychologist who has done additional specialist (clinical) training plus supervised practice, while a psychological scientist is a researcher rather than a clinician. These distinctions are classic mid-term multiple-choice material. Chapter 01 · Psychology as a Science
- What is the difference between an emotion, a mood and affect?
- An emotion is short and has aboutness — it is directed at a specific, identifiable trigger and is easy to name. A mood is longer-lasting (days to months), diffuse, and often has no identifiable cause. Affect is the umbrella term covering moods, emotions and feelings, plus their valence (positive–negative). The three discriminators the exam wants are duration, aboutness and specificity. Chapter 02 · The Science of Emotion
- What are the four families of emotion theory?
- Functional/evolutionary (emotions are adaptive and trigger a survival cascade), motivational (motivational intensity along approach–avoid drives outcomes and cognitive scope), cognitive-appraisal (emotion follows our evaluation of a stimulus, which can also regulate it), and constructionist (the brain constructs emotion by integrating exteroceptive, proprioceptive and interoceptive inputs). Each centres a different component of emotion. Chapter 03 · Theories of Emotion
- What is the PSYC1024 written assessment?
- A 500-word written assessment worth 40% of the course — as much as the final exam — submitted via the Moodle Turnitin link and due Friday of Week 7. It is a concise piece of psychological-science writing aligned to the course learning outcomes. Anything submitted after the 5-day late deadline scores zero, and marks/feedback come about ten working days after the due date. Confirm the exact brief and rubric on Moodle. Chapter 04 · Science Writing & the 500-Word Written Assessment
- What is the difference between fear and anxiety?
- Fear is a response to a present, identifiable, imminent threat — acute, and it drives fight-or-flight. Anxiety is anticipatory: a response to a future, uncertain or potential threat, more diffuse and future-oriented, marked by worry, hypervigilance and muscle tension. The quick test is timing and certainty: fear is now and specific; anxiety is later and uncertain. Chapter 05 · The Science of Fear and Anxiety
- When does anxiety become a disorder?
- When it is excessive, persistent (often around six months or more for several disorders), out of proportion to the actual threat, and — most decisively — causes distress or impairs functioning across life domains. Intense but brief, proportionate, non-impairing anxiety is still normal and can even help performance. Diagnosis is made against DSM-5-TR or ICD-11 criteria, with the "4 Ds" (deviance, distress, dysfunction, danger) as a rough heuristic. Chapter 06 · Introduction to Anxiety Disorders
- What is on the PSYC1024 mid-term?
- Twenty multiple-choice questions worth 20% of the course, drawn only from Weeks 1, 2, 4 and 5 — psychology as a science, the science and theories of emotion, the science of fear and anxiety, and the introduction to anxiety disorders. It runs online via Moodle in a single timed window on the Friday of Week 5. Week 3 (Science Writing) and the later weeks are not examined on the mid-term. Chapter 07 · Mid-term Exam Mastery
- How do the anxiety disorders differ from one another?
- By what the fear is about. Generalised anxiety disorder is uncontrollable worry about many domains; panic disorder is fear of the bodily sensations of a panic attack itself; specific phobia is fear of a particular object or situation; social anxiety disorder is fear of scrutiny or negative evaluation; and agoraphobia is fear of situations where escape or help would be hard. Asking "what is the fear about?" separates most cases quickly. Chapter 08 · Anxiety Disorders
- What are the criteria for major depressive disorder?
- At least 5 of 9 symptoms present during the same 2-week period, representing a change from prior functioning, and including at least one of the two core symptoms — depressed mood or anhedonia (loss of interest or pleasure). The other symptoms include appetite/weight change, sleep disturbance, psychomotor changes, fatigue, worthlessness or guilt, poor concentration, and recurrent thoughts of death. The episode must cause distress or impairment and not be explained by a substance or medical condition. Chapter 09 · Mood and Depression
- What is CBT and why is it first-line?
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is built on the idea that thoughts, feelings and behaviours interact, so changing maladaptive cognitions (via cognitive restructuring) and behaviours (via exposure or behavioural activation) changes how you feel. It has strong evidence across anxiety and depression, which is why it is the first-line psychological treatment for both, usually delivered with psychoeducation, homework and relapse prevention. Chapter 10 · Treatment
- What is the HPA axis?
- The Hypothalamic–Pituitary–Adrenal axis — the slower, endocrine arm of the stress response. The hypothalamus releases CRH, which prompts the anterior pituitary to release ACTH, which drives the adrenal cortex to release cortisol, the primary stress hormone. Cortisol mobilises energy and then feeds back to switch the axis off. It complements the fast sympathetic fight-or-flight reaction that releases adrenaline within seconds. Chapter 11 · All Stressed Out! Stress, the HPA Axis & Coping
- What is on the PSYC1024 final exam?
- 80 multiple-choice questions spanning every topic in the course — psychology as a science, the science and theories of emotion, fear and anxiety and their neurobiology, the anxiety disorders, mood and depression, treatment, and the stress response and HPA axis. It is worth 40%, delivered via Inspera, open for a 24-hour window from your personalised exam date, and taken closed-book. Because it is all MCQ, it rewards fast, accurate recall and applying a definition to a novel case. Chapter 12 · Final Exam MCQ Mastery
How to study for the exam
Treat PSYC1024 as a definitions-and-models course and rehearse it weekly rather than cramming, because two multiple-choice papers decide 60% of the mark and MCQs punish fuzzy recall. Build a one-page term sheet for each week and, for every concept, be able to (1) state the standard definition and (2) apply it to a scenario you have not seen — that second skill is exactly what the application-style MCQs test.
Drill the high-confusion pairs the course keeps returning to: emotion vs mood vs affect, discrete vs dimensional accounts, the four emotion theories (functional/evolutionary, motivational, appraisal, constructionist), fear vs anxiety, adaptive vs disordered anxiety, and the anxiety disorders against one another.
For the biological strand, be able to redraw the amygdala fear circuit and the HPA cascade (hypothalamus → CRH → pituitary → ACTH → adrenal cortex → cortisol, with negative feedback) from memory.
Prepare the 40% written assessment separately and early: it is a concise 500-word science-writing piece, so practise the claim → evidence → interpretation structure, cite accurately, and stay inside the word limit — and remember Turnitin scores anything past the 5-day late deadline as zero.
Use the weekly Moodle revision quizzes as your rehearsal, and when a distinction won't click, ask Sia to explain that one step a different way and set you a fresh practice item in the same style; it teaches the method and checks your reasoning, and it never substitutes for your own graded work. Confirm every weight, the mid-term window and your personalised final-exam date on Moodle and myUNSW.
Your AI Psychology tutor for PSYC1024
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