Midterm Exam for Abnormal Psychology

Which statement about the current use of projective techniques by clinicians is TRUE?

Projective tests, when used, serve as a secondary source of insight about clients.

Which statement distinguishes a quasi-experimental study from a "pure" experiment?

The quasi-experiment does not allow for manipulation of the independent variable

The top two leading causes of death among teenagers are:

accidents and suicide

A pattern of anxiety, insomnia, depression, and flashbacks that begins shortly after a traumatic event and persists for less than a month is called:

acute stress disorder

The phobia MOST often associated with panic disorder is:

agoraphobia

The first step in treating people with dissociative identity disorder is to:

bond with the primary personality

Researchers believe that panic disorder is biologically different from generalized anxiety disorder, based on differences in the:

brain circuitry involved in the two disorders

An important factor to consider when prescribing drugs for the treatment of abnormality would be that:

some people do not benefit from drug treatments

Which descriptor would be LEAST appropriate for someone experiencing obsessive-compulsive disorder, according to the cognitive perspective?

"Let the good times roll. Don't worry about tomorrow."

Which description BEST defines self-injury?

A behavioral pattern of mutilating oneself or causing oneself pain

According to current estimates, the suicide rate is highest in the United States among:

American Indians

At a suicide prevention center, you hear a counselor say, "Do you have a gun? Is it loaded, and do you know how to use it?" Which one of the goals and techniques of suicide prevention do these questions BEST represent?

Assessing suicide potential

Which factor during childhood has NOT been shown to increase a person's likelihood of developing a stress disorder after experiencing a trauma later in life?

Being required to "work" for an allowance

According to cognition-focused therapists, which is a factor in abnormal behavior?

Illogical thinking

Which statement BEST reflects the impact of deinstitutionalization?

Many people with severe disturbances are in jail or on the street

The finding that many adolescents who attempt suicide know someone who has attempted suicide provides a case for which process in suicidal actions?

Modeling

Which statement MOST accurately reflects current research findings regarding phobias?

Phobias may be a result of classical conditioning.

Which brain areas have been implicated in obsessive-compulsive symptoms?

The orbitofrontal cortex and the caudate nuclei

A correlational study of college employees shows a strong positive correlation between self-reported stress levels and days of work missed for illness, allowing the researcher to conclude that:

The researcher can make a fairly accurate prediction of days a person will miss for illness if the person's stress level is known

Why do many people think that estimates of the rates of suicide are inaccurate?

The stigma associated with suicide makes people hesitant to report it.

Which statement is the MOST accurate conclusion about the current state of abnormal psychology in the United States?

There is no single definition of abnormality, no single theoretical understanding of the causes of mental illness, and no single best treatment.

According to cognitive-behavioral theorists, why do patients engage in compulsive behaviors?

Those behaviors reduce anxiety and are thus negatively reinforced

Based on current research, what is the BEST recommendation about therapy for an adolescent experiencing depression?

Use a combination of drug therapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy

The biological treatment known as psychosurgery would MOST likely be used in the treatment of a patient with:

a severe disorder and who has not responded to any other therapies over years of treatment

Focusing on the addition of positive activities to the life of a patient with depression is a behavioral technique known as:

behavioral activation

Factors other than the independent variable may also act on the dependent variable. If these factors vary systematically with the independent variable, they are called:

confounds

Commonly accepted features of abnormality include deviance, distress, dysfunction, and:

danger

The evidence MOST problematic for the psychodynamic explanations of depression is that:

depression affects people who had their childhood needs met and who did not suffer a loss early in life

When a person feels that the external world is removed, mechanical, distorted, or even dead, he or she is experiencing:

derealization

Therapies that have received clear research support are called:

evidence based

One factor that could discourage the use of effective assessment tools today is the:

expense of administering and evaluating assessment tools

A young woman believes that everything negative that happens to her is her own fault, that she ruins everything, and that she always will. The therapist diagnoses her as suffering from a learned helplessness-induced depression because she attributes negative events in her life to:

internal, global, stable factors

The perception, based on past experiences, that one has no control over the reinforcements in one's life defines:

learned helplessness

Compared with physical disorders, insurance reimbursement for treatment of mental disorders prior to enactment of the Affordable Care Act was generally:

lower

A clinically depressed individual who has been threatening suicide finally shows diminishing of depressive symptoms. This person's risk of committing suicide:

may have increased, because the person may have the energy to act on the suicidal impulse

To receive a diagnosis of major depressive episode, catatonic, an individual must display:

motor immobility or excessive activity.

A pattern of anxiety, insomnia, depression, and flashbacks that persists for years after a traumatic event BEST describes:

posttraumatic stress disorder

Acquiring insight about unconscious psychological processes is a feature of:

psychoanalysis

A general term used for Freud's, Adler's, and Jung's theories is:

psychodynamic

Cognitive-behavioral therapy for the treatment of unipolar depression may include:

reinforcing nondepressed behavior

A goal of behavior-focused therapy is to:

replace problematic behaviors with more appropriate ones

An important difference between mood disorders and normal mood fluctuation is the:

severity and duration of the problem

Developing the norms for scoring an assessment tool is part of:

standardization

Case studies are useful for:

studying unusual problems

In response to a threat, we perspire, breathe more quickly, get goose bumps, and feel nauseated. These responses are controlled by the:

sympathetic nervous system

You would expect to see the biggest impact of lithium on which part of the neuron?

the firing of the receiving neuron

A researcher designed an experiment to study the causes of aggression in children. Half the children ate a sugared cereal; the other half ate cornflakes. The researcher then recorded the number of aggressive acts displayed by the children in a one-hour play period after breakfast. In this experiment, _____ is the dependent variable and _____ is the independent variable.

the number of aggressive responses; cornflakes

One problem with psychodynamic approaches to treating depression is:

the research that supports this approach stems mostly from case studies

Treatment for suicide attempters:

typically involves medical and psychological care.

If you studied for this exam while you were unusually happy, you will probably do best taking it while you are:

unusually happy