Abnormal Final Exam
I routinely advice undergraduates to take a couple of years off before starting grad school in order to make sure they really want to pursue their chosen career, take a break from schooling, and just live a little. My advice is similar to Erikson's concept of:
A moratorium
In 2010, Teresa Lewis was executed in Virginia for being a "mastermind" in a plot to kill her husband. Her tested IQ was 72. Based on a 2014 U.S. Supreme Court Ruling (that was an extra reading) her case may have reached a different outcome today because the 2014 Supreme Court ruled:
A strict cutoff of 70 cannot be used to exclude a potential diagnosis of intellectual disability for death penalty considerations
Which of the following is true about the results of the Collaborative Research Program for the treatment of depression (discussed in lecture)?
A substantial placebo effect was found and Antidepressant medication, cognitive behavior therapy, and interpersonal therapy all outperformed placebo and Antidepressant medication, cognitive behavior therapy, and interpersonal therapy all had substantial relapse rates
The JAMA article by Fournier et al. (2010) on antidepressant medication (ADM) concluded that:
ADM produces small benefits relative to placebo for mild/moderate depression but large benefits for severe depression
MZ twins have a concordance rate for schizophrenia of________suggesting that_______.
About 50%; environmental influences interact with genetic risks to cause the disorder
Which of the following is an argument against dualism?
All experience involves the brain, just like all computer software involves computer hardware
Which of the following statements is NOT true?
All mental disorders involve personal distress, but mental health professionals are reluctant to define mental disorders based on this subjective criterion
Researchers question assertions that dissociative identity disorder is far more common than assumed because:
All of the above
Scientists are now convinced that vaccines do not cause autism, but it is important to revisit this controversy because:
All of the above
The New York Times Magazine article, "Selling Attention Deficit Disorder" (extra reading) attributed the increased use of psychostimulant medication in the treatment of ADHD (ADD) to:
All of the above
Which of the following is an established, evidence-based treatment for depression?
All of the above
Which of the following is NOT a concern about the diagnosis and/or treatment of psychological disorders of childhood?
All of the above are concerns
Which of the following is an incorrect pairing?
All of the above are correct pairings
If I wanted to argue in favor of using psychostimulants to treat ADHD, which of the following is NOT a fact that I might use to support my argument?
All of the above are facts that could be used to argue in favor of psychostimulants
I find that people in unhappy close relationships are more likely to be depressed. I conclude that troubled relationships cause depression. Which of the follow is true about my conclusion?
All of the above true
Which of the following was NEVER a ground for the insanity defense?
All of the above were grounds for insanity at some point in U.S. history
An operational definition is:
An empirical measure of a theoretical construct
You prescribe antidepressants to one of your patients who calls two days later to rave about their benefits in lifting his obsessions. You suspect this is a placebo effect, because
Antidepressants generally take 4 to 6 weeks before producing psychological benefits.
What medication has a "black box" warning for adolescents and why?
Antidepressants, they may increase suicidal thinking among adolescents
The personality disorder that is closest to being a synonym for psychopathy is:
Antisocial personality disorder
Avoidance can be negatively reinforcing. This is a particular problem for:
Anxiety disorders
Random assignment is essential to an experiment to ensure that
Any difference between the groups is caused by the independent variable.
Which of the following most accurately represents the relationship between culture and the diagnosis of mental disorders?
Cultural values and beliefs influence what behaviors are considered to be abnormal
You read an original study about the long-term effectiveness of DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education). Which of the following is the most accurate summary of the study's findings?
DARE had no effect on drug use or other targets such as resistance to peer pressure
Which of the following statements is NOT true?
DSM-5 classifies mental disorders based on their cause
How does DSM-5 define an addiction?
DSM-5 does not distinguish addiction from other substance use problems
Which of the following is the best analogy for how the DSM-5 classifies mental disorders in terms of quantitative and qualitative differences?
Deciding what heights we will call "short" versus "average or tall"
The so-called recovered memory movement assumed that victims of child sexual abuse routinely suffered from:
Dissociative amnesia
Trisomy 21 is another name for
Down Syndrome
The two broad, philosophical grounds for civil commitment are the state's______and it's_______.
Duty to protect its citizens (parens patriae); police power
How does the DSM-5 define trauma?
Exposure to actual of threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence directly, witnessing in person occurring to others, learning that this occurred to someone close to you (involving violence), experiencing repeated to extreme repeated or extreme exposure to details of events occurring to others (but not through media exposure)
Exposure and response prevention is an effective psychological treatment for obsessive compulsive disorder. The treatment involves:
Exposure to sources of anxiety (like source of "contamination") and prevention of usual compulsive response to exposure
The key to the treatment of anxiety is______but______.
Exposure to the source of anxiety; exposure can be difficult to achieve
Systematic desensitization is a treatment for anxiety that involves
Gradual exposure to feared situations in the imagination while maintaining a relaxed state
Your text offered this quote from an advocate of______. "Freedom to be insane is an illusory freedom, a cruel hoax perpetrated on those who cannot think clearly by those who will not think clearly."
Greater paternalism in treating the mentally ill
Which of the following is NOT true of grief (as discussed in lecture)?
Grieving is a creation of the human psyche
In lecture, I discussed a case of "depression without insight." This case illustrated:
How some people can be depressed without experiencing or recognizing a sad mood
The insanity defense is raised in about what percentage of criminal trials?
1%
If the cutoff for an intellectual disability is two standard deviations below the mean and IQ scores are normally distributed, this means that what percentage of the population falls below this IQ cutoff?
2-3 percent
Approximately what percentage of cases of an intellectual disability can be attributed to known biological abnormalities?
50 percent
About how many people seen in psychological treatment do not meet criteria for the diagnosis for any mental disorder?
50%
Acute Stress Disorder was included in the DSM because:
It was hoped that early intervention would prevent the development of post traumatic stress disorder
An important problem with the so-called anti-anxiety medications is that
They are highly addictive
The ADH and ALDH genes, which are found disproportionately among Asians, have been shown to have what effect on alcoholism?
They protect against the development of alcoholism by causing an adverse reaction to alcohol consumption
Endorphins are endogenous neuropeptides that are closely related chemically to
Morphine
Most people are resilient in the face of trauma. This means:
Most people "bounce back" from the distress of trauma and do not develop PTSD
If getting a steroid injection reduces pain in my shoulder beyond chance levels, but I still hurt a lot and can't play tennis, you would say that the treatment produces results that are:
Statistically significant but not clinically significant
According to your text, which of the following is the most widely accepted evolutionary account of schizophrenia?
Schizophrenia is difficult to explain in evolutionary terms, as the symptoms seem to have no adaptive purpose
Which of the following could be a compensatory behavior that is a part of bulimia nervosa?
Self-induced vomiting and Intensive exercise and Rigid fasting
According to your text, which of the following is an accurate conclusion about the treatment of alcoholism and substance use disorders?
Short-term improvements are common, but so is relapse and While there is no evidence that one treatment is clearly most effective, alcoholics anonymous (AA) and similar peer treatments seem to help achieve abstinence and People who reduce consumption typically improve in their health and life functioning too
Mental health professionals here at Uva are trained to offer critical incident stress debriefing in the event that students should experience widespread trauma. Based on evidence from your text, this intervention should:
Show no benefit for either ASD or PTSD, and perhaps produce harmful effects.
Which of the following is the most accurate summary of survey results about sexual problems such as erectile failure, trouble with lubrication, premature ejaculation, or trouble reaching orgasm?
These problems are quite common, occasionally occurring among 10-20% or more of the population
A dramatic style, excessive emotionality, attention seeking, inappropriate sexual seductiveness characterize:
histrionic personality disorder
Hyperactive sexual drive disorder:
is not included in DSM-5
Attempts to predict violence are especially likely to result in what type of error?
high false positive rates.
While deciding custody according the "children's best interests" principle sounds appealing, the legal standard has the problem that...
"Best" is poorly defined
Which of the following is NOT true of the diagnosis of troubled relationships?
"Scapegoating" is the first relational diagnosis to appear in the DSM-5, albeit in the appendix of "conditions requiring further study"
Compared with physical illnesses, mental disorders rank where in terms of disease burden?
#2 following cardiovascular disease and ahead of cancer.
Rational suicide is:
A controversial term for suicides among those facing painful, terminal illness, particularly older adults
Girls who reach menarche at a younger age attract boys who are older and more interested in their physical appearance/sexuality compared to girls who reach menarche at an older age. This is an example of:
A gene-environment correlation
In the above graphs (shown in lecture), the changing skew of the distribution graphs (the curved lines showing more people further to the right in each successive graph) across quartiles of genetic risk provide evidence for:
A gene-environment correlation
(Graphs of quartile genetic risk) In the above graphs (shown in lecture), the changing slope of the regression lines (the straight lines) across quartiles of genetic risk for substance abuse provide evidence for:
A gene-environment interaction
An advance psychiatric directive is:
A legal instrument completed by mental patients about their treatment preferences in the event that they become psychotic
In a few years, you'll see headlines like, "autism spectrum disorders have far better outcome than previously thought." Because you took this class, I hope you will remember to attribute this to:
A much broader definition of autism spectrum that includes more high functioning cases
In a study discussed in the text, Fairburn et al. (1993) used interpersonal psychotherapy as a "placebo control group." Despite the "allegiance effect," interpersonal psychotherapy surprised the researchers and was as effective as cognitive behavior therapy in the long run. In this context, "placebo control group" refers to______and "allegiance effect" refers to_______:
A psychotherapy that the researchers thought contained no "active ingredients"; evidence that treatments are found to work better when therapists and researchers believe they will work
Assertive Community Treatment for schizophrenia and other serious mental illnesses involves:
Actively engaging outpatients, including assertive efforts like home visits, to insure compliance with treatment such as taking medication
What is the first step of the Alcoholics Anonymous 12-step program?
Admitting that you are powerless over alcohol and unable to manage drinking on your own
Which of the following is a key difference between anorexia and bulimia?
Anorexia is a source of pride; bulimia is a source of shame.
Susan is a 19 year old with a body mass index (BMI) of 17. She is obsessed with eating healthy and terrified that she will gain weight if she breaks her eating rituals. She insists that she looks "pretty good," but would look better if she could drop a couple of more pounds. She describes eating two cookies as a "binge." The best diagnosis for Susan is:
Anorexia nervosa
Which of the following statements is NOT accurate?
Antianxiety drugs are the most common adn effective medication for OCD
Which of the following is an accurate statement about Erikson's theory of psychosocial development?
B and C only He included development during both childhood and adult life and He defined each stage with a central conflict
One key element of cognitive behavior therapy with bulimia is to normalize eating patterns, so eating involves less dietary restraint. Why is this thought to be important?
Binge eating often is reaction to excessive dietary restraint
Feelings of extreme elation that are out of proportion to reality are a symptom of
Bipolar disorder
Which of the following statements is NOT true about anorexia and bulimia?
Both disorders are ego syntonic, which makes treatment difficult
Freud and Erikson's theories emphasize what essential feature that is overlooked by most other views of the cause of normal and abnormal behavior?
Both underscore the importance of developmental stages
A required extra reading from The Guardian reported on a comparison of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) and psychoanalytic therapy (PT) in the treatment of bulimia. Which of the following is the most accurate summary of the findings reported in this article?
CBT produced more improvements than PT even though CBT included only 20 sessions over 5 months while PT included weekly sessions for 2 years
Expert witnesses:
Can testify to opinion not just fact
I will use case studies in your Abnormal Psychology class this semester because:
Case studies can provide informative descriptions and help you to generate hypotheses
In lecture, I gave a case study of a young man who thought that, like basketball player Han Gathers, he was about to have a massive heart attack based on an undiagnosed heart condition. His fears caused him to panic. This case was an example of
Catastrophic misinterpretation
DSM-5 takes a_______ approach to classification, treating disorders as if they are_______from normal behavior.
Categorical; qualitatively
There are two different ways of classifying intellectual disabilities, one based on______and the other based on________.
Cause; IQ
Compared to the DSM-IV definition of autistic disorder, the DSM-5 definition of autism spectrum disorder is like:
Changing the cutoff for intellectual disability from 70 to 85
What evidence would make K (or any parent), whose husband J suffered from schizophrenia, worry about the well-being of their children?
Children who have a biological parent with schizophrenia are about 15 times more likely to suffer from the disorder
According to Emery, which of the following is the most accurate statement about the classification of mental disorders?
Classification is basic to science, but the DSM-5 is still a work in progress
In DSM-5, an adjustment disorder is:
Clinically significant symptoms in response to stress that are not severe enough to be diagnosed as a mental disorder
"Active, directive, nonjudgmental, teacher" best describes which kind of therapist?
Cognitive-behavioral
The powerful urge to use a drug and spending a great deal of time planning and acquiring it defines:
Craving
12. Research on the cause of mental disorders almost always must use the_______because_____.
Correlational study; factors thought to cause disorders can't be manipulated practically or ethically
In lecture, I referred to "classic" autism. The New York Times outside reading referred to "classic" ADHD. Why was it necessary to refer to "classic" in these two instances?
Definitions of the disorders have expanded so rapidly that it is necessary to refer to past, narrower (classic) diagnoses
Nonsuicidal self-injury involves:
Deliberate self-harm that may help regulate intense, negative emotion
Which comorbid problem often occurs with bulimia nervosa and often is an important focus of treatment?
Depression
Depression is a syndrome. This means:
Depression involves a cluster of symptoms, not just sad mood
Which diagnostic distinction for mood disorders has the most predictive validity in terms of treatment response?
Depressive disorders versus bipolar disorders
Mental disorders are currently classified on the basis of
Descriptive features
The future of psychotherapy is to:
Develop and offer different treatments that work for different disorders.
Knowing _____________ is not only essential for assessing potential psychological disorders of childhood but also for judging adult behavior within the context of adult development.
Developmental norms
"Understanding normal behavior within the context of normal development" is the definition of:
Developmental psychopathology
The "five factor" model or "big five" refers to the five:
Dimensions of normal personality
"The disruption in normally integrated process in memory, consciousness, memory, or perception" is the definition of:
Dissociation
In a cartoon in the textbook, a tearful dog patient says angrily to a cat psychotherapist, "You haven't a clue what I'm talking about do you?" The main quality that the dog is complaining that the cat lacks is:
Empathy
Roger's client-centered therapy is closely associated with the concept of
Empathy
"Reverse anorexia" and the "Adonis complex" are sometimes used to describe what problem in males?
Excessive emphasis on extreme muscularity
Which of the following grouping of drugs is NOT accurate?
Hallucinogens include marijuana, LSD, and PCP
The extended case history of schizophrenia (J & K) illustrated how:
Helpful improvements in functioning can be achieved with proper medication and coordinated therapeutic support and The expression of anger (high expressed emotion), while understandable, can exacerbate symptoms
In a cartoon in the text, a doe rejects a buck with ordinary antlers for another buck with a real rack. She says, "It's not you. It's natural selection." Not having much of a sense of humor, you say (accurately):
Hey. She's talking about sexual selection not natural selection.
Which of the following statements is true?
High doses of cocaine or amphetamines can produce psychosis, at least temporarily
George Franklin was convicted of the murder that occurred over 20 years earlier. His conviction was later overturned. What aspect of this case is of interest to psychologists?
His daughter's "recovered memories" were the basis for Franklin's conviction.
Using your new language from Psych 3410, you tell your girlfriend. "You're all (sex and aggression)!" Turns out she's taking psych too. She retorts, "You're all (guilt)!"
Id; superego
Gambling disorder is_____in DSM-5.
Included as a mental disorder in the chapter on substance related disorders
In his blog (extra reading assignment), Allen Frances (who directed the DSM-IV) criticized DSM-5 primarily for:
Including too many "fads" in its list of diagnoses
Intellectual disabilities (formerly mental retardation) are some of the best diagnosed and understood mental disorders. Still, the terms for the disorder often are changed, as old terms come to carry a stigma. Which concept best describes this phenomenon?
Labeling Theory
Compared to major depressive disorder, persistent depressive disorder is:
More chronic and less severe
Which of the following statements is NOT true?
Lower social class is more of a cause of schizophrenia than a consequence of the illness.
The prevalence of depression among older adults is:
Lower than among younger adults
Suppose a trait is entirely determined by the shared environment. Which of the following could be expected in a twin study of monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins?
MZ and DZ twins would both have one hundred percent concordance
You attend a lecture where an eminent authority shows all kinds of cool brain images showing differences between the brains of trauma victims and people not subjected to trauma. He says, "Trauma causes brain damage." Using your critical thinking, you ask him if he's aware of twin studies showing that
MZ co-twins of people suffering from PTSD also show supposed "damage" to certain brain structures even though they haven't experienced no PTSD
According to your text, perhaps the two keys to successful adjustment to later life are:
Maintaining good physical health, maintaining close relationships with family and friends
"Stephanie" the former grad student who was sexually assaulted in the case in Chapter 7 allowed me to share her story to educate others. Which of the following best characterizes her willingness to allow me to put her case in the text?
Meaning making
The New York Times video (required) argued that the McMartin Preschool case showed that:
Media excess can create public hysteria even in the absence of hard evidence
The best, most effective treatment would prevent the development of post traumatic stress disorder
Medication
Which of the following statements is true about medications used to treat psychological problems?
Medication can improve the symptoms of many mental disorders, but people often must stay on the medication for long periods of time to maintain the benefit
Based on lecture, the text, and outside readings, which of the following is most accurate?
Mental health professionals disagree about the most effective treatments, whether they produce lasting change, and whether the success of psychotherapy is due to common factors or active ingredients
Which of the following is NOT a libertarian position in relation to mental health and the law?
Mental patients should be hospitalized if they are unable to care for themselves
In the assigned outside reading, Watts et al. (2013) argued that narcissism had a "bright side." This bright side is:
Narcissists can become leaders who are effective at "selling" their ideas
One theory (that you will soon learn about) is that anxiety is maintained by avoidance. You get anxious about doing something, avoid it, and avoidance lowers your anxiety. In operant conditioning terms, this is an example of:
Negative reinforcement
Communication between neurons occurs when_______are released from the_________of one neuron into the______and received at the receptors of another neuron.
Neurotransmitters; axon terminal; synapse
Current understanding of the causes of most mental disorders is best described by the principle of equifinality. Yet, Emery has hope that scientists still may discover single, identifiable causes for some mental disorders if:
New, narrow subtypes of current disorders are identified, as has occurred with intellectual disabilities
Which of the following is NOT an eating and feeding disorder listed in DSM-5?
Obesity
Repetitive, intrusive thoughts are called
Obsessions
The highest rate of suicide in the U.S. is found among:
Older white men
In lecture, I questioned your textbook's excitement about the serotonin transporter gene and sensitivity to stress (and genetic linkage studies generally) because:
Other researchers have been unable to replicate initial, exciting results
According to your text, which of the following is true of antipsychotic medication in the treatment of schizophrenia?
Patients need to take medication for prolonged periods of time, often for life and Relapse is common as patients often stop taking medication and Serious, sometimes irreversible side effects can result from the prolonged use of medication
I conduct a study where I randomly assign 100 people with depression either to work with Albert Ellis doing Rational Emotive Therapy or Carl Rogers doing Humanistic Therapy. Half of the people drop out of the Ellis group, while everyone completes therapy in the Rogers group (a statistically significant difference). But when I compare people who completed Ellis with those who completed Rogers, the Ellis completers are less depressed (also statistically significant). What can I conclude?
People are more likely to drop out of Ellis/Rational Emotive than Rogers/Humanistic Therapy
Which of the following statements is accurate?
People who are more anxiously and easily upset before a trauma are more likely to develop PTSD after a trauma
A common technique of sex therapy is sensate focus which involves:
Practicing enjoying nonsexual physical contact with your partner
Many years ago, I became violently ill after eating a BLT sandwich in a diner with a friend. It was a coincidence; I got the flu. But I still get nausea when I think of eating a BLT. But I don't bet upset about eating at diners or eating with friends. This strong association of BLT and nausea is an example of:
Prepardness
The serenity prayer ("God granted me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference") is a plea for the wisdom to know when to use ______ vs. _______.
Problem focused coping; emotion focused coping
What happens if a person is found incompetent to stand trial?
Proceedings are postponed until the person is competent.
A researcher who seeks to identify early markers of schizophrenia in the hopes of preventing the disorder before it begins is most interested in the_______of the disorder.
Prodomal phase
I'm really mad at you, but I can't admit this to myself. So instead I think you're really mad at me. This is an example of:
Projection
Your roommate tells you that he saw a mental health professional who prescribed him the medication, Prozac, for his depression. Because you are in Psych 3410, you know that he almost certainly saw a:
Psychiatrist
These are the notes of a therapist who is treating Frances, whose case of depression was described in the text: "Client uses denial to protect herself from inner rage at family members." The theoretical orientation of this therapist is most likely:
Psychodynamic
What research area focuses specifically on how psychological stress influences the immune system?
Psychoneuroimmunology
The fact that _____ often are identified following the diagnosis of conversion disorders makes clear the problems involved in________.
Real physical illnesses; diagnosis by exclusion
Which of the following frequently is an element if therapy with suicidal people?
Reducing lethality, possibly including hospitalization and Negotiating agreements about postponing suicidal behavior and Arranging extra support from family and friends during the crisis
Which of the following statement is accurate?
Repression is associated with increased psychophysiological reaction to stress
A dimensional model for classifying personality disorders was considered but the traditional system was maintained because the dimensional model was:
Simply too complicated
The textbook and lecture indicated which of the following about psychotherapy and placebo effects?
Since both placebos and psychotherapy produce change through psychological means, psychotherapy researchers need to study how placebos work
In DSM-5, conversion disorders are classified as a type of:
Somatic symptom disorder
Borderline personality disorder refers to:
Someone with intense fears of abandonment, unstable relationships, impulsive behavior, and emotional instability
"The square root of the average squared distance from the mean in a distribution of scores" is the definition of:
Standard deviation
Cortisol, the "stress hormone", functions like:
Steroids
As we saw from my quick self-test in class, in evaluating drinking problems the two leading measures of alcohol difficulties (like DSM-5) both rely heavily on:
Suggestions that you or others already think you have a problem
In the detailed case history of schizophrenia (J & K), I mentioned that J would call me at home. The fact that I could "talk him down" so that he could understand that his delusions were not real but a part of his disease showed:
That J had at least some insight into his illness
A resolution on the website of the American Psychological Association (required reading) stated, "In contrast to large differences in outcome between those treated with psychotherapy and those not treated, different forms of psychotherapy typically produce relatively similar outcomes." This statement is most consistent with which of the following:
The "Dodo Bird" verdict
You argue that an 89.9 really should be an "A" not a "B." Your argument (even though you lose) illustrates an important point about the diagnosis of mental disorders:
The cutoff for diagnosing a mental disorder can be rather arbitrary
In lecture, I suggested that an entirely new way to classify anxiety disorders might involve an evolutionary approach, for example, freeze-flight-fight-fright. What organization currently is also searching for an entirely new way or classifying and studying mental disorders?
The National Institute for Mental Health
________is especially important to recognize in psychotherapy outcome research because it is impossible to conduct_______.
The allegiance effect; double blind studies
When rats are forced to swim in cold water from which they cannot escape
The animals that give up and appear "depressed" have depleted serotonin as a result of the experience.
The most commonly used method for assessing psychological disorders is:
The clinical interview
Which of the following is a problem with diagnosing personality disorders?
The diagnosis of most personality disorders is quite unreliable and The line dividing abnormal from normal personality is not clear and The symptoms are typically ego syntonic, thus self-report is suspect because people often do not view their symptoms as problems
Which of the following pieces of evidence supports the conclusion that the image of women in popular culture plays a role in the development of eating disorders?
The disorders are more common in professions in which appearance is highly valued such as models, dancers, and actresses and The prevalence of eating disorders has increased in recent decades as, in industrialized societies, the image of the ideal woman has grown thinner and Girls who are exposed more to the popular media have more body dissatisfaction and The disorders are particularly common among adolescents and young women, ages at which females are more susceptible to media influences
Our class discussion about the overemphasis placed on women's appearance, especially thinness, and what a father can do to encourage positive self-esteem and health in his daughter's bears closest resemblance to:
The dissonance component of eating disorder prevention programs
Detoxification involves:
The gradual process of removing a drug when a patient has become dependent on it
Which of the following is an accurate statement of predicted demographic trends in the 21st century?
The proportion of the oldest-old will grow rapidly.
Which of the following is true of emotional pain?
The same brain regions are involved in experiencing some types of both emotional and physical pain.
A basic problem with defining stress in terms of an event (e.g., losing your job) is that:
The same event has been shown to cause different levels of life changing for different people
The "objects from Emery's desk drawer" demonstration was intended to illustrate:
There are different ways to classify things for different purposes
Why are braining imaging procedures not widely used for the diagnosis of mental disorders?
There is no evidence that these procedures can be used to identify mental disorders
How does the DSM-5 classify childhood disorders?
There is no longer a separate classification for childhood disorders; childhood versions of various disorders are now grouped with the related adult diagnoses
What is the best no treatment control group in psychotherapy outcome research?
This is a tricky question with no clear answer, because people will in a "no treatment" group seek "treatment" in the form of talking to friends or family, asking advice, and so on
Why am I studying twins in my research on the link between marriage/marital status and depression?
To control for genetic and shared environmental selection into marriage
Why did I bring up the distinction between exogenous and endogenous depression in lecture?
To illustrate limitations with current diagnosis, as this theoretically sensible distinction cannot be made reliably.
Some experts argue that multiple personalities are produced by iatrogenesis. This means that multiple personalities are caused by:
Treatment
The diagnosis of many mental disorders has low levels of reliability. This means that:
Two different mental health professionals often disagree about whether an individual has a disorder
Ten years ago, in the middle of the panic over vaccines and autism, The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development offered this cautiously worded statement despite several studies showing no link between vaccines and autism, "There is no evidence to date that the MMR vaccine causes autism." The caution reflects the fact that:
You can never accept the null hypothesis.
The New York Times video (required) on the treatment of Sybil, the famous case of multiple personality disorder, noted that her therapist:
Used hypnotic drugs while searching for hidden personalities and Searched for and suggested memories of childhood trauma
Does the diagnosis tell me anything about the cause, course, or best treatment of this disorder? This question is a concern about:
Validity
In addition to an IQ test, which of the following instruments might be critical to making a diagnosis of an intellectual disability?
Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales
In what way does the heat sensitive picture of earth from space (found in Chapter 4) teach us to appreciate basic limitations in brain imagining techniques?
While impressive, the image illustrates limitations in meaning and degree of resolution
Mental disorders appear to be polygenic. This means that:
You can still be "a little bit" depressed, ADHD, etc even if genes contribute substantially to mental disorders
Your roommate tells you that his therapist suggested that he was "self-medicating" with alcohol. The therapist means:
Your roommate was using alcohol to try to treat psychological troubles like anxiety.
What are status offenses?
acts that are illegal only if you are a minor
According to Erik Erikson, the resolution of the identity crisis typically occurs during_______; contemporary views suggest that the identity crisis actually_______.
adolescence; may not be resolved until today's young people are well into their 20s
Which condition is comorbid with classic autism in the majority of cases?
an intellectual disability
Which disorder is a mitigating factor that makes the death penalty unconstitutional?
an intellectual disability
How should we characterize separation anxiety in a 1-year-old child?
as a normal fear
Which of the following characterizes a man with gender identity disorder?
believes that, in spite of his anatomy, he is more like a woman
The family life cycle refers to the
developmental course of changing family relationships
Which of the following is an example of a positive symptom of schizophrenia?
hallucinations
Which of the following is not a criterion for civil commitment in any state?
inability to know right from wrong
The need for admiration, grandiosity, lack of empathy, and an exaggerated sense of self-importance describe:
narcissistic personality disorder
The symptoms of conversion disorder often resemble
neurological diseases
What is the central problem in paraphilias?
sexual arousal is detached from a reciprocal, loving adult relationship
In ADHD, hyperactivity is most notable in:
structured situations
The percentage of patients who commit acts of violence is highest among patients with which type of disorder?
substance abuse/dependence
Which of these would be the most effective reinforcement in an ABA program for treating autism?
the child's favorite food
In the case of Buck v. Bell, concerned with eugenics, the United States Supreme Court:
upheld Virginia's forced sterilization laws
Which of the following is an example of the primary prevention of intellectual disabilities?
vaccinations for rubella