PSYC1024 · Anxiety, Mood and Stress
Final Exam MCQ Mastery
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. It provides a cross-week revision spine, high-yield definitions and an exam-day plan, with worked items built to mirror the format, not reproduced from the paper.
What this chapter covers
- 01The format: 80 MCQs, 40%, all topics, online via Inspera, a 24-hour window, closed-book
- 02A cross-week concept spine linking Weeks 1–10 to the final's MCQ themes
- 03High-yield definitions to have instant: emotion vs mood, the four theories, fear vs anxiety, the disorders, MDD criteria, HPA cascade
- 04Applying a definition to a novel case — the dominant MCQ skill at breadth
- 05Reading distractors and qualifiers across topics you have not revised as recently
- 06Pacing 80 MCQs sensibly within the window; flag-and-review
- 07Confirming your personalised exam date and 24-hour window via myUNSW
- 08Closed-book rules and academic integrity in an online exam
A five-item cross-topic final drill
- +1(1) C — constructionist. It is the family that says the brain constructs emotion by integrating the three input streams (exteroceptive, proprioceptive, interoceptive) against past experience. Appraisal centres evaluation, functional/evolutionary centres adaptive survival, motivational centres intensity — none names the three-input construction.
- +1(2) B — anxiety. Anticipation of a future, uncertain threat is anxiety; fear is a response to a present, identifiable threat. A phobia and a panic attack are specific clinical phenomena, not the general anticipatory-vs-present distinction being asked for.
- +1(3) C — panic disorder. Recurrent unexpected attacks peaking within minutes plus ≥1 month of worry about further attacks is the definition. GAD is chronic cross-domain worry, social anxiety is fear of evaluation, and agoraphobia is fear of situations where escape is hard.
- +1(4) C — depressed mood or anhedonia. MDD requires at least 5 of 9 symptoms and at least one must be a core symptom: depressed mood or anhedonia. Insomnia, fatigue and weight change are among the nine but none is required on its own.
- +1(5) D — cortisol. The cascade is hypothalamus → CRH → pituitary → ACTH → adrenal cortex → cortisol. CRH comes from the hypothalamus, ACTH from the pituitary, and adrenaline from the adrenal medulla in the fast fight-or-flight arm — so the adrenal cortex's product is cortisol.
Key terms
- Inspera
- The online exam platform the final is delivered through, administered by the UNSW Exams Team (the mid-term, by contrast, runs on Moodle). Check the platform's readiness and any system checks ahead of the window.
- 24-hour window
- The final is open for a 24-hour period from your personalised exam date; you complete it within that window. It is still a timed exam, not an open-ended assignment — confirm the actual working duration and start on myUNSW.
- Closed-book
- The final is taken closed-book; the handbook notes there is insufficient time to consult reference material, so the exam rewards recall and application rather than looking things up. UNSW academic-integrity rules apply throughout.
- Cross-week concept spine
- A single-page map linking Weeks 1–10 to the final's MCQ themes, so you can revise by connections (e.g. appraisal theory → stress appraisal; maintenance-by-avoidance → exposure) rather than in isolated silos.
- Flag-and-review
- An exam-technique habit: answer what you know quickly, flag anything uncertain, and return to flagged items on a review pass rather than stalling — important across 80 questions.
- myUNSW exam timetable
- Where you find your personalised final-exam date and 24-hour window. The exam sits in the Term 2 examination period; confirm your exact date and any permitted materials there before the day.
Final Exam MCQ Mastery FAQ
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.
How is the Inspera exam delivered?
Online through Inspera, administered by the UNSW Exams Team, and available for a 24-hour window that starts from your personalised myUNSW exam date. It is still a timed, closed-book exam within that window, not an open-ended take-home. Confirm your exact date, the working time allowed and any technical checks on myUNSW and the exam information on Moodle before the day.
How should I pace 80 multiple-choice questions?
Move steadily and do not let any single item eat your time: answer what you know on the first pass, flag anything that needs thought, and come back on a review pass. With 80 questions, small stalls add up, so aim to leave time at the end for the flagged items. Read each stem fully, answer it in your head before the options, and use the qualifier to separate close finalists.
Can AI help me prepare for the final?
Yes. Sia can generate mixed cross-topic mirror MCQs across all ten weeks, drill you under a timer, and explain why each distractor is wrong so your recognition speeds up. It builds practice in the exam's style and checks your reasoning; it does not sit the Inspera exam for you, and UNSW academic-integrity rules apply to the closed-book final.
Exam move
The final tests breadth at speed, so shift from learning to retrieval: build one cross-week concept spine and, for every core term, be able to state the definition and apply it to a fresh case instantly. Revise by connections rather than silos — appraisal theory into stress appraisal, fear/anxiety neurobiology into the disorders, maintenance-by-avoidance into exposure, the monoamine and cognitive models into treatment — because cross-topic items are common on an all-topics paper. Rehearse under time pressure with mixed MCQs and practise the flag-and-review habit so no single question stalls you across 80 items. In the last week, prioritise the high-confusion pairs and the few load-bearing numbers (5-of-9 and 2 weeks for MDD; ≥6 months and ≥1 month for the anxiety disorders; the HPA cascade order). Confirm your personalised exam date, the 24-hour Inspera window and the closed-book rules on myUNSW and Moodle, and treat it as a genuine closed-book exam. Ask Sia to run timed mixed drills and explain every distractor.
Working through Final Exam MCQ Mastery in PSYC1024? Sia is AskSia’s AI Psychology tutor — ask any PSYC1024 Final Exam MCQ Mastery question and get a clear, step-by-step explanation grounded in how PSYC1024 is taught and assessed. Read this chapter free, then take your hardest questions to Sia.
