Abnormal Chapter 5

GABA, an inhibitory neurotransmitter believed to be involved in reducing the excitability of neurons in the brain, has been implicated in the etiology of:

generalized anxiety disorder.

Which of the following is an anxiety disorder?

obsessive-compulsive disorder

A phobic person is exposed to computer graphics that simulate real-world situations. This is an example of the ______ technique

virtual reality.

Religious rituals and superstitious behavior (such as not stepping on cracks) would be considered a compulsive behavior:

when they interfere with daily function and cause distress.

Of the following, those LEAST likely to experience specific phobias are:

white American males.

One limitation of the sociocultural approach to understanding generalized anxiety disorders is that it cannot explain:

why everyone who experiences danger doesn't experience generalized anxiety.

Which of the following is an example of a metaworry?

worrying about worrying

Of the following, the BEST description of the "avoidance theory of generalized anxiety disorder" is:

worrying serves to reduce bodily arousal.

Which of the following is NOT usually true of those with body dysmorphic disorder?

Most disorder-specific behaviors would be considered "normal" for a teenager.

Which of the following statements accurately reflects what we know from recent studies?

Phobias ordinarily are a result of classical conditioning.

Imagine that researchers investigating panic disorder gave you a drug that caused you to hyperventilate and your heart to beat rapidly. You would have been given a(n):

biological challenge test.

If the idea of "preparedness" is accurate, then:

some phobias should be acquired more easily than others.

A person who is restless, keyed up, and on edge for no apparent reason is experiencing:

free-floating anxiety.

When he was 5 years old, Samir was almost struck by lightning while walking through a forest during a rainstorm. Today, he is extremely afraid of trees. A behaviorist would say that he has acquired this fear by:

classical conditioning.

Teaching people to accept their worries and live in the present moment—mindfulness therapy—is MOST consistent with which theoretical approach?

cognitive

Which of the following therapies is an effective long-term, nonpharmacological treatment for panic attack that involves teaching patients to interpret their physical sensations accurately?

cognitive

"Everyone has intrusive and unwanted thoughts. Most people ignore them. But some people blame themselves and expect terrible consequences, so they act in ways they hope will neutralize the thoughts." The type of theorist MOST likely to agree with this quote would be a:

cognitive theorist.

An emphasis on the beliefs and expectations that lead someone with a social anxiety disorder to overestimate how bad a social interaction went is characteristic of:

cognitive therapists.

Research has supported all of the following behavioral assumptions EXCEPT that:

phobias are always acquired through classical conditioning in humans.

An intense, persistent, and irrational fear that is accompanied by a compelling desire to avoid the object of the fear to the point of interfering with the life of the person is called:

phobic disorder.

Raphael was just outside the parking garage of the World Trade Center when the explosion occurred. At the time he was terrified and had visions of the building falling on him. Ever since the bombing he has had periods of anxiety and sleeplessness. This is an example of a:

posttraumatic stress disorder.

Apparently, people develop phobias more readily to such objects as spiders and the dark than they do to such objects as computers and radios. This observation supports the idea of:

preparedness.

All of the following are biological treatments for generalized anxiety EXCEPT:

rational emotive therapy.

If your therapist gave you homework that required you to challenge your faulty assumptions and replace them with healthier ones, the therapist would be using:

rational-emotive therapy.

The first step in systematic desensitization treatment is:

relaxation training.

Exposure and response prevention as treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder:

shows improvement that often continues indefinitely.

Jan is very fearful of speaking in public and will do everything she can to avoid being evaluated by others, which causes her significant impairment. The MOST accurate diagnosis would be:

social anxiety disorder.

According to the psychodynamic perspective, if someone keeps engaging in immoral sexual behavior and repeatedly scrubs his or her face and hands in response to those thoughts:

the immoral images represent id impulses.

The most appropriate motto for someone with generalized anxiety disorder is:

"Better safe than sorry."

Someone you know who has body dysmorphic disorder is considering plastic surgery. Based on available research, what is your BEST advice?

"Be careful. Often, people who have plastic surgery for body dysphoric disorder actually feel worse afterwards."

A friend asks you, "I've been diagnosed with social anxiety disorder, and my therapist wants me to use drug therapy, not psychological therapy. What do you think?" Based on current research, your BEST answer would be:

"Some therapists think psychological therapy should always be used, even with drug therapy; there's less chance of relapse."

A friend asks you, "You're taking an abnormal psychology course; what's the MOST effective treatment for social anxiety disorder?" Your BEST research-based answer is:

"The best psychotherapy eliminates symptoms as fast, and longer, than the best drug therapy."

A friend asks you whether to try relaxation training or biofeedback to reduce anxiety. Based on present research, your best answer is:

"Try either one; they're about equally effective."

What do obsessions and compulsions have in common?

Both are used to deal with or ward off anxiety.

Which of the following reflects the MOST common obsessive thought?

If I touch that doorknob, I will be dirty and contaminated.

According to behaviorists, why do patients engage in compulsive behaviors?

Those behaviors reduce anxiety and are thus negatively reinforced.

Leila always feels threatened and anxious—imagining something awful is about to happen. But she is able to work and care for her family, although not as well as she would like. Leila is probably experiencing:

a generalized anxiety disorder.

The phobia MOST often associated with panic disorder is:

agoraphobia.

Those who are anxious unless their books are perfectly lined up on their desks and who must eat the food on their plates in a balanced order are exhibiting a:

balance compulsion.

The therapy Eliot is receiving emphasizes dealing with his compulsions, but not his obsessions. In addition, he does "homework" in the form of self-help procedures between therapy sessions. Most likely, Eliot is receiving which kind of therapy?

behavioral

Which theoretical position explains the origin of phobias as due to classical conditioning?

behavioral

If you live in a city, you own your home, and you pay taxes, you are LEAST likely to experience which of the following events next year?

being diagnosed with cancer

Cognitive theorists have found that people who develop obsessive-compulsive disorder also:

believe their thoughts are capable of causing harm to themselves or others.

What type of drug is alprazolam (Xanax)?

benzodiazepine

Which of the following medications works primarily by enhancing GABA?

benzodiazepines

According to current research, using relaxation training to treat generalized anxiety disorder is:

better than nothing, and about as effective as meditation.

Devon is being treated for anxiety. He is connected to an instrument that records muscle tension. His job is to try to reduce muscle tension. This is an example of:

biofeedback training.

According to Freud, a generalized anxiety disorder is MOST likely to result when:

defense mechanisms are too weak to cope with anxiety.

The drug treatment that is MOST effective in treating panic disorders is like that used to treat:

depression.

People who have a biological vulnerability for anxiety that is brought to the surface by social/psychological factors develop generalized anxiety disorders, according to the:

diathesis-stress model.

Which of the following convinces researchers that panic disorder is biologically different from generalized anxiety disorder?

differences in the brain circuitry in the two disorders

GABA is related to:

doubling the speed of neuronal firing.

Someone who believes that experiences teach us early in life that certain objects are legitimate sources of fear represents the ______ explanation of the development of phobias.

environmental

Someone who believes that among our ancestors, those who feared animals, darkness, and heights were more likely to survive long enough to reproduce, represents the ______ explanation of the development of phobias.

evolutionary

According to DSM-five one must demonstrate which of the following set of symptoms in order to be diagnosed with General Anxiety Disorder?

excessive worry for three months, restlessness, behavior changes, distress

People with one anxiety disorder are MOST likely to:

experience another anxiety disorder, too.

An obsessive-compulsive person who was told that everyone was required to wear shoes at all times in the house and not to vacuum for a week, would be experiencing what therapy procedures?

exposure and response prevention

"Phobic and generalized anxiety disorders arise when people stop looking at themselves honestly and with acceptance and instead deny and distort their true thoughts, emotions, and behavior." This explanation for anxiety disorders would MOST likely be offered by:

humanistic theorists.

Generalized anxiety disorder is MORE common:

in African Americans than in white Americans.

A phobic person is taken to a snake-handling convention in order to actually confront snakes as part of desensitization training. This is an example of the ______ technique.

in vivo

Antidepressants that are effective in treating obsessive-compulsive disorder serve to:

increase serotonin activity in the brain.

For an antidepressant to be effective against obsessive-compulsive disorder, it must:

increase serotonin activity.

A person who believes that it is awful and catastrophic when things are not the way he or she would like them to be is displaying:

irrational assumptions.

A person who believes that one should be thoroughly competent, adequate, and achieving in all possible aspects is displaying:

irrational assumptions.

The cognitive explanation for panic disorders is that people who have them:

misinterpret bodily sensations.

Imagine that you are being treated for a social anxiety disorder. Your therapist watches you act out a social scene, points out what you did correctly and incorrectly, and praises you for what you did well. Which behavioral technique did your therapist NOT use?

modeling

Davon watched his father recoil from a snake in fear. Now he is afraid of snakes. This apparent acquisition of fear of snakes is an example of:

modeling.

Harry is terrified of the snakes that his 8-year-old son brings home. During his therapy, his therapist demonstrated how to handle them. This is a form of therapy based on:

modeling.

If you were afraid of dogs and your therapist treated you by interacting with dogs while you watched, you would be receiving:

modeling.

A psychodynamic theorist finds that a client is experiencing a battle between anxiety- provoking id impulses and anxiety-reducing ego defense mechanisms. She thinks that this usually unconscious conflict is being played out in an open and obvious manner. She is sure this underlying conflict explains her client's:

obsessive-compulsive disorder.

More women than men experience all of the following disorders EXCEPT:

obsessive-compulsive disorder.

My office is a mess; graded tests are in piles on my desk, overflowing bookshelves line the walls, and research materials from years ago occupy boxes on the floor. If I am experiencing a diagnosable disorder, it would MOST likely be in what category?

obsessive-compulsive-related disorders

A clinician who is not up-to-date uses the term "excessive behaviors" to describe a category of disorder. According to the DSM-5, that category is now called:

obsessive-compulsive-related disorders.

Agoraphobia is the fear of:

open spaces or crowds.

Research on the cognitive explanation for the development of generalized anxiety shows that people with generalized anxiety symptoms:

overestimate their chances of being harmed.

Your abnormal-psychology instructor asks in class, "What kinds of treatments are commonly used to treat obsessive-compulsive-related disorders?" Confidently (and accurately), you reply:

"exposure therapies and antidepressant drugs."

The proportion of panic-attack sufferers who are helped at least somewhat by antidepressant drugs is about:

80 percent.

How do phobias and common fear differ?

A phobia leads to a greater desire to avoid the object.

Which of the following is TRUE about drug and cognitive treatments for panic disorder?

Both drug treatments and cognitive treatments are effective.

What is one important way obsessions and compulsions are related?

Compulsions help people control their obsessions.

A phobic person is taught to imagine the feared items as part of desensitization training. This is an example of the ______ technique.

Covert

Which of the following is TRUE about specific phobias?

Each year about 9 percent of people

Which one of the following statements about the use of antidepressants, such as Xanax, to treat a panic disorder is MOST accurate?

For the drugs to be effective, one has to keep taking them, even when symptoms are lessened.

Benzodiazepines are believed to be effective in treating generalized anxiety disorder because they mimic the effect of ______ at certain receptor sites in the brain.

GABA

Which one of these descriptors would be LEAST likely to describe someone experiencing obsessive-compulsive disorder, according to the cognitive perspective?

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

Which of the following statements is MOST accurate?

Long-term anxiety is related to poor GABA reception.

Which theory states that people develop generalized anxiety disorders because they failed to receive unconditional positive regard as children and evaluate themselves with conditions of worth?

Rogers' client-centered theory

If you wanted a drug to improve the functioning of GABA, you would choose:

a benzodiazepine.

Sam can't leave for work without going back into his house and making sure that he has taken all of his writing materials. He does this several times before he allows himself to start the car and drive to work. He is frequently late for work because he is so unsure about remembering everything. Sam is displaying:

a checking compulsion.

Steve is afraid of eating in public, expecting to be judged negatively and to feel humiliated. As a result, he always makes up excuses when asked out to eat. His diagnosis would probably be:

a social phobia.

A comprehensive approach that involves several techniques in treating anxiety disorders is called:

a stress management program.

Someone with skin-picking disorder would be LEAST likely to pick skin in which area of the body?

abdomen

Which of the following behavior patterns is NOT listed in the DSM-5 as an obsessive-compulsive-related disorder?

agoraphobia

The MOST common mental disorders in the United States are the:

anxiety disorders.

A woman you know constantly avoids crowded streets and buildings, and she is very reluctant to leave home, even with a friend. Recently, she has started experiencing extreme, sudden fear every time she enters a crowded street. MOST likely, this woman would be diagnosed with:

agoraphobia and panic disorder.

According to Freud, obsessive-compulsive disorders have their origin in the ______ development:

anal

Luis and Ted both get racing hearts once in a while. When it happens to Ted, he panics and thinks he is going to die. Gradually, he has developed these panic attacks if he even thinks that his heart is beating strongly. When Luis's heart starts beating strongly, he looks to his current activity to understand what is producing the sensations (hard work). Ted apparently has a high degree of:

anxiety sensitivity

People who experience a positive event, get excited, breath harder, and have an increase in their heart rate, then interpret the symptoms as a heart attack, are experiencing what cognitive theorists call:

anxiety sensitivity.

Psychodynamic therapies as a treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorders:

appear to work better when used in short-term rather than traditional ways.

Which one of the following is the BEST example of a broad social anxiety?

apprehension about being evaluated by others

According to cognitive theorists, people experiencing anxiety sensitivity:

are unable to assess bodily sensations accurately.

In order to determine if a person's fear of snakes is severe enough to be categorized as a phobia, you could:

ask him if anxiety about snakes interferes with daily living; if he says "yes," he most likely has a phobia.

The most current research we have suggests that reductions in activity levels in the caudate nuclei among people with obsessive-compulsive disorder result from:

both medications and cognitive-behavioral therapies.

In terms of cognitive theories explaining generalized anxiety disorder, a good deal of research supports:

both metacognitive theory and intolerance of uncertainty theory.

A neurologist who was working with a person with obsessive-compulsive disorder would be suspicious of abnormality in what region of the brain?

caudate nuclei

Imagine that someone yells "Fire!" in a crowded theater, and audience members begin to try to leave the building. Some "panic," and begin pushing their way blindly through other people to an exit. This form of "panic" is:

common, and similar to the panic those with panic disorder experience.

A psychotherapist models appropriate social skills for a client with social anxiety disorder, then uses modeling for another client with a phobia for spiders. What the therapist is doing is:

common; modeling is often used in the treatment of these kinds of disorders.

When someone checks the stove 0 times to make sure it is turned off before leaving in the morning, that person is exhibiting a(n):

compulsion.

When I was a young child and watching TV with my mother, a mouse ran by. My mother screamed, scaring me. Subsequently, I have been afraid of mice. In this example, the mouse is the:

conditioned stimulus.

If you criticized everything you did, looking for flaws, and never could measure up to your personal standards, you would be exhibiting what Rogers called:

conditions of worth.

Until recently, the evidence that generalized anxiety disorder is related to biological factors came largely from:

family pedigree studies.

Fear differs from anxiety in that:

fear is to a specific threat and anxiety is more general.

A person experiencing a panic disorder is MOST likely also to have which of the following?

fear of leaving home

Which of the following is an example of a specific social anxiety?

fear of public speaking

Your fear of spiders is debilitating because you are an entomologist. To treat this phobia, your therapist puts you in a room with spiders, even asking you to handle them. This technique might be used in:

flooding.

A person recently was diagnosed with social anxiety disorder. If this is all the information you have, your BEST guess is that the person is in:

high school, and is more likely than average to have a close relative with social anxiety disorder.

If I believe that it is a dire necessity for me to be loved or approved by everyone and that it is catastrophic if things are not the way I want them, I am displaying basic:

irrational assumptions.

One of the drawbacks of exposure and response prevention as a therapy is that it:

is less effective with clients with obsessions but no compulsions.

Behaviorists believe that compulsive behavior:

is reinforced because engaging in it reduces anxiety.

If you were taking an antidepressant that increases levels of serotonin and improves brain function for symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder, you could expect that:

it would lead to short-term relief, but relapse would occur if you stopped the medication.

Disadvantages of taking benzodiazepines include all of the following EXCEPT:

lack of sleep, increased anxiety, and passivity.

According to "intolerance of uncertainty theory," those with generalized anxiety disorder are:

likely to overestimate the chances that any negative event will occur.

Cognitive therapists believe that generalized anxiety disorder is induced by:

maladaptive assumptions.

"Your worries? They're only thoughts. Don't try to stop them, but recognize that they're thoughts, and don't let them upset you so much." This statement MOST likely would come from someone using which form of therapy for generalized anxiety disorder?

mindfulness-based cognitive therapy

One procedure used to treat phobic disorders involves having the therapist confront the feared object or situation while the fearful client observes. This is called:

modeling.

According to Freud, children who are severely and repeatedly punished for expressing their id impulses may develop:

moral anxiety.

According to Freud, children who are prevented from expressing id impulses—making mud pies, playing war, and exploring their genitals—are at risk for developing:

neurotic anxiety.

According to cognitive theorists, compulsive acts serve to

neutralize.

A friend of yours says, "I'll try to see only the positive side of things, then everything will be OK." From a cognitive perspective, your friend is ______obsessive thoughts.

neutralizing.

Someone you know has "tanorexia," and constantly tries to achieve a darker complexion through sun and tanning booth exposure. The MOST accurate diagnosis for this person is:

no diagnosis; "tanorexia" is not yet considered a DSM disorder.

Panic disorder appears to be related to abnormal activity of which neurotransmitter?

norepinephrine

Antidepressant drugs are frequently effective in treating panic attacks. This may mean that the disorder is related to levels of the neurotransmitter:

norepinephrine.

How strong is the evidence supporting the usefulness of client-centered therapy for those with generalized anxiety disorder?

not very strong: case reports of client-centered therapy's usefulness are not strongly supported by controlled studies

In modeling, the client:

observes the therapist confronting the feared object.

Sally is never sure of the right thing to do. She married Tod and has been wondering for years if that was the right decision. She is exhibiting:

obsessive doubts.

Rosa's heart was racing (from the four cups of coffee she had just finished), but she thought she might be having a heart attack. Her fear seemed to be increasing without end. This might be the beginning of a:

panic attack.

You notice someone who is sweating, experiencing shortness of breath, choking, feeling dizzy, and is afraid of dying. If it is not a heart attack, but an indicator of anxiety disorder, it is probably a:

panic attack.

A person who experiences unpredictable panic attacks combined with dysfunctional behavior and thoughts is probably experiencing:

panic disorder.

Every once in a while, Ona feels nervous to the point of terror. It seems to come on suddenly and randomly. Her experience is an example of a(n):

panic disorder.

Antidepressants and alprazolam (Xanax) have been found to be successful in treating:

panic disorders.

The therapy for generalized anxiety disorder developed by Albert Ellis is called:

rational-emotive therapy.

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy:

receives support in therapy applications for a wide range of disorders, including generalized anxiety disorder.

Evidence in support of the biological understanding of generalized anxiety is supported by the finding that:

relatives of people with generalized anxiety are more likely to have it than nonrelatives.

Which of the following is a nondrug biological treatment for anxiety that is in general use today?

relaxation therapy

"Who wouldn't be afraid all the time? We have the bomb, overpopulation, AIDS, and violent crime everywhere. It is difficult to get a good job unless you understand all that complicated computer junk." This complaint is consistent with a ______ explanation of generalized anxiety disorder.

sociocultural

Someone interested in the effects of social change, poverty, and race on the risk for generalized anxiety disorders probably represents the ______ perspective.

sociocultural

According to behavioral theory, specific learned fears become a generalized anxiety disorder through the process of:

stimulus generalization.

Little Karen was bitten by a tan pony she was riding at a carnival. The experience left her hurt and frightened. The next month she was visiting her uncle, who had a tan Great Dane (dog). It frightened her even though she had never had a bad experience with a dog. Karen's fear of this dog is an example of:

stimulus generalization.

Pairing the thought of feared objects and relaxation training is:

systematic desensitization.

You are suffering from arachnophobia. Your therapist first has you go through relaxation training, then has you construct a fear hierarchy and, finally, has you go through a phase of graded pairings of spiders and relaxation responses. This approach is called:

systematic desensitization.

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

the orbitofrontal cortex and the caudate nuclei

Which theoretical position explains the origin of anxiety disorders as the overrun of defense mechanisms by neurotic or moral anxiety?

the psychodynamic approach

While walking through a forest during a rainstorm, 5-year-old Samir was almost struck by lightning. Today, as an adult, he is extremely afraid of trees. What is the conditioned stimulus in the example?

the trees

Psychodynamic and humanistic therapies have in common:

their lack of strong support from controlled studies.

People who experience obsessions show:

thoughts that are intrusive and foreign to them.

A professor who puts on rubber gloves before grading papers and religiously avoids any contact with the hands of students is exhibiting a(n):

touching compulsion.

If you really wanted to impress your friends, you would refer to "hair-pulling disorder" by the scientific name:

trichotillomania.

When I was a young child and watching TV with my mother, a mouse ran by. My mother screamed, scaring me. Subsequently, I have been afraid of mice. In this example, my mother's scream is the:

unconditioned stimulus.

Research by cognitive theorists on the topic of social anxiety disorder has shown support for the prevalence of all of the following among those with this diagnosis, EXCEPT:

underestimating how badly the social event went.