PSY 368 EXAM 1

Which of the following experiences counts as a trauma?

-sexual violence -exposure to death/injury

Which of the following factors makes it difficult to settle on a single definition of terrorism

-terrorism is a pejorative term -labeling an act as terrorist is a subjective perspective -there is debate about whether terrorism is defined by psychological characteristics of the perpetrator or by the behavior itself

The tool perspective of terrorism suggests that terrorists behavior is most likely to occur when that behavior is....

...seen as an effective way of pursuing one's goals

What is the primary difference between ASD vs PTSD?

ASD occurs within the first month after trauma, while PTSD refers to symptoms that are removed from the trauma, by more than one month

A study presented in class (Hoven et al. 2005) assessed NYC children for psychological disorders in the six months following the 9/11 attacks. IN this study, which disorder was most common within the children?

Agoraphobia

A heuristic is best defined as a _____

Cognitive short cut

A study presented in class (North et al, 1999) found that one particular criterion of the PTSD diagnosis was especially predictive of interference with participants daily activities

Criterion C

Experiencing hyper-vigilance and increased reactivity is common for people with PTSD, this can take the form of irritability, aggression, risky behavior, heightened startled reaction, difficulty concentrating, and so on, which criterion of the PTSD diagnosis best captures this collection of symptoms?

Criterion E

___ is most closely associated with the development of general adaptation syndrome

Hans Selye

According to research presented in class, one of the effects of repeated trauma exposure is less volume in the ____ a brain structure that is critical for forming and retrieving memories

Hippocampus

Which of the following statements is most accurate about repeated exposure to fear inducing stimuli?

In general, people become less afraid of these stimuli, with repeated exposures

Which of the following statements is FALSE about the color coded terror alert system that was instituted by the US department of homeland security

Each warning level of the system was used at least once during the systems existence

________ is a statistical method that allows researchers to combine the results of multiple studies of the same topic

Meta-analysis

Which of the following statements best represents the research on terrorists' personalities?

No notable differences have been identified between the personalities of terrorists and those of non-terrorists.

Which of the following neurotransmitters is mostly responsible for initiating the fight or flight response?

Norepinephrine

Which of the following statements is true about Criterion A for PTSD?

PTSD can be caused by.... -learning that a relative/close friend was exposed to trauma -direct exposure to trauma -witnessing trauma happen to others

Experiencing fear causes changes to our _____

Physiological functioning and observable behaviors

Cortisol is a hormone that ________ the fight or flight response

Prolongs

Which of the following stimuli are humans most biologically prepared to fear?

Snakes

Most experts in the field point to 19th century _______ as the starting point of the modern era of terrorism

Russia

According to research presented in class (Taylor et al. 2000) which of the following fear reduction strategies is included in the tend and befriend response?

Turning to others for social support

This week's reading (Kruglanski & Fishman, 2006) suggests that counterterrorism is difficult, in part, because of "multifinality". What does multifinality refer to in this situation?

Terrorism may satisfy multiple goals for the perpetrators

This weeks reading (Kruglenski and Fishman 2006) suggest the counterterrorism is difficult in part because of multifinality. What does multi finality refer to in this situation?

Terrorism may satisfy multiple goals for the perpetrators

Which of the following statements best represents the "syndrome" view of terrorism?

Terrorists are people who have psychological characteristics in common that predict the development and trajectory of terrorist behavior

Which of the following statements best represents the tool perspective of terrorism?

Terrorists are people who use terrorism as a means to accomplish a specific goal

In a study presented in class (Harrison & Cantor, 1996), psychology students were offered extra credit for answering the following question: "Have you ever been so frightened by a TV show or movie that the effects lingered beyond the time of viewing?" If students answered "no", they received extra credit with no additional work. If they answered "yes", they needed to write a paper and complete questionnaires about their experience in order to receive the extra credit. Which of the following statements best summarizes the result of this study?

The majority of students answered yes, and chose to write the paper and complete the questionnaires

Which of the following statements best summarizes the relationship between PTSD and exposure to terrorist attacks

The more direct exposure the person has, the worse his or her PTSD symptoms tend to be

According to research presented in class (Lerner and Keltner, 2001) fear causes people to _________

become more pessimistic

Researchers have found that _________

neither poverty nor poor education are reliable predictors of terrorism

For Russian Anarchists the invention of __________ was a critical development that allowed them to expand their reach and influence

dynamite

One difficulty in studying the psychology of terrorism is that researchers may oversimplify the issue by applying findings from one terrorist group to our understanding of other terrorist groups, this issue is known as ________________

overgeneralization

The ________ perspective in psychology is especially likely to point out the adaptive benefits of feeling fear

evolutionary

The _______ is a brain structure that is deeply involved with the production of emotions, especially fear and anger

amygdala

In a study presented in class (Schacter, 1996), participants were conditioned to expect a painful blast of noise each time the computer monitor flashed the color blue. In this study, participants with __________ damage remembered the conditioning, but showed no fear in response to the color blue. Meanwhile, participants with __________ damage feared the color blue, but had no memory for why they felt that way.

amygdala; hippocampus

PTSD is classified as a _______ disorder

anxiety

The ____ were an Islamic sect (a branch of Shia Islam specifically) who felt that the principles of Islam had been corrupted and were under attack from crusaders

assassins

People with amygdala damage tend to __________

have difficulty recognizing negative social cues

Based on research presented in class, which of the following statements is most accurate?

people in New York City experience a bigger spike in PTSD rates, than people in other parts of the country, the PTSD spike was largest in parts of NYC that were closest to the World Trade center

During the resistance stage of the General Adaptation Syndrome model, the hormone __________ is released to extend the fight or flight response

cortisol

The _________ is a brain structure that regulates bodily functioning and maintains homeostasis in the body

hypothalamus

The used-dependent model (Perry et al. 1995) suggests that terrorist attacks may influence health by _________

influencing how neurons communicate information to each other

___________ refers to research that tracks participants over long period of time in order to look for changes in psychological functioning

longitudinal research

According to research presented in class, repeated exposure to trauma can lead to ________ levels of serotonin, and ________ levels of cortisol

lower; lower

Psychopathology is best defined as _________

psychological disorder of some kind

Which of the following is not a stage in the general adaptation syndrome?

rebound (alarm, resistance, exhaustion ARE THE STAGES)

Kruglanski and Fishman (2009) have argued that defining terrorism depends most critically upon whether one views terrorism as __________ or _____________

syndrome or tool

Most experts agree that __________

terrorism is a pejorative term

The Sicarii were one of the earliest documented terrorist groups, they were named after ________

the Sicaa (the short daggers they would use in their attacks)

Psychologists today have increasingly moved toward the _________ view of terrorism and away from the __________ view of terrorism

tool; syndrome

It has been suggested that the chill associated with fear may occur because _________ during the fight or flight response

viens in the skin constrict

Which of the following hormones is most directly responsible for initiating flight or flight response?

Adrenaline

A study presented in class (Lating et al, 2004) studied post 9/11 PTSD rates, among American Airline flight attendants, which of the following was a risk factor for developing PTSD in this population?

Living alone

Cortisol is produced by the ___________

adrenal glands

Which of the following statements best describes the differences between fear and anxiety?

fear is an acute reaction to an immediate visceral threat while anxiety is a general state of distress that lasts longer than fear

_____________ is a therapy technique that treats fears by suddenly and completely exposing people to the feared stimulus

Flooding

_______ was a terrorist group that was motivated by political goals to overthrow the Tzar in Russia and to replace tzarist leadership with socialist ideals.

Narodnaya Volya ("the People's Will")

Which of the following is a component of the fight or flight response?

Pupil dilation

Which of the following is often true of stressors?

They make people feel overwhelmed and they produce opposing behavioral tendencies

Imagine that you have lesioned a cats amygdala via brain surgery what behavioral changes would you expect from the cat

The cat no longer produces the fear response

Psychologists have identified multiple root causes of terrorist behavior

false

Which of the following health conditions has been demonstrated to get worse following the stress of terrorist attacks

Cardiovascular issues and asthma

Psychologists have identified multiple root causes of terrorist behavior.

False

According to the availability heuristic, repeated vivid reminders of a terrorist attack should make us ___________

More likely to expect further terrorist attacks

Robert believes that people who engage in terrorist activity must be mentally ill, Robert subscribes to the ________ perspective of terrorism

Syndrome

________ is a therapy techniques that treats fears by gradually exposing people to increasingly intense versions of the feared stimulus

Systematic desensitization

According to McDermott and Zimbirdo 2007, one of the issues with the department of homeland security color coded terror alert system was that it produced cognitive dissonance in americans. Which aspect of the system most directly caused cognitive dissonance according to the people above

The inconsistency between instructions to be vigilant for terrorisms and instructions to live life normally

Which of the following statements best represents how psychologists should consider the "syndrome" perspective of terrorism?

The syndrome perspective may be useful in identifying contributing factors to terrorism, but is likely to fall short in fully explaining terrorist behavior

Which of the following statements best summarizes the research on the connection between terrorism and mental illness?

There is no evidence that terrorists have higher rates of mental illness than people from the general population

Which of the following statements best summarizes the post 9/11 research on PTSD

There was a clear and immediate spike in PTSD following 9/11 but the symptoms subsides for MANY people in the 6-12 months that followed

According to research presented in class and the textbook (Gump et al. 2005) why might the stress of a terrorist attack influence cardiovascular health?

This stress leads to higher stroke volume and cardiac output for the heart

Research has revealed that the human amygdala is especially active when we see ___________

a person of a different race than our own

In the context of psychological research methods, reductionism is best defined as __________

simplifying a phenomenon by attributing it to a small set of explanations