Ch. 4: Research Methods in Psychopathology

Question 1

Science is the…

Answer 1

systematic pursuit of knowledge through observation.

Question 2

The first step of science is to define a _______________ and related ______________. A good theory is precise and could be disproven.

Answer 2

theory, hypotheses

Question 3

A good theory can be proven.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Elements of science:
______________: the practice of relying on systemic observation
_______________: Scientific findings presented to community for scrutiny
_______________: deals with specifiable problems

Answer 4

Empiricism, Public Knowledge, Solvable

Question 5

The _________________, perhaps the most familiar method of observing human behavior, involves recording detailed information about one person at a time.

Answer 5

case study

Question 6

This statistic may take any value between −1.00 and +1.00, and it measures both the magnitude and the direction of a relationship.

Answer 6

correlation coefficient

Question 7

______________________ is defined by whether a relationship between variables is large enough to matter.

Answer 7

Clinical significance

Question 8

Longitudinal design

Answer 8

Investigation that collects information on the same individuals repeatedly over time, perhaps over many years, in an effort to determine how phenomena change.

Question 9

cross-sectional design

Answer 9

in which the researcher measures the causes and effects at the same point in time.

Question 10

The _________________ overcomes this problem; with this approach, researchers study only people with above-average risk of developing schizophrenia.

Answer 10

high-risk method

Question 11

Even if a longitudinal study identifies a variable that precedes schizophrenia, a researcher still faces the _________________

Answer 11

third-variable problem

Question 12

________________ is the study of the distribution of disorders in a population.

Answer 12

Epidemiology

Question 13

Epidemiologic research focuses on three features of a disorder:

____________: The proportion of people with the disorder either currently or during their lifetime
____________: The proportion of people who develop new cases of the disorder in some period, usually a year
____________: Variables that are correlated with the presence of the disorder

Answer 13

Prevalence, Incidence, Correlates

Question 14

When relatives are matched on presence or absence of a disorder, they are said to be ____________

Answer 14

concordant

Question 15

The starting point in such investigations is the recruitment of a sample of persons with the diagnosis in question. These people are referred to as _______________ or _______________.

Answer 15

index cases, probands

Question 16

adoptees method

Answer 16

studies children who were adopted and reared completely apart from their biological parents

Question 17

The _______________ is the most powerful tool for determining causal relationships. It involves the __________________ of participants to conditions, the manipulation of an ____________________, and the measurement of a ___________________.

Answer 17

experiment, random assignment, independent variable, dependent variable

Question 18

Experimental effect

Answer 18

A statistically significant difference between two groups experiencing different manipulations of the independent variable.

Question 19

___________________ refers to the extent to which the experimental effect can be attributed to the independent variable. For a study to have ____________________, the researchers must include at least one _____________.

Answer 19

Internal validity, internal validity, control group

Question 20

__________________ is defined as the extent to which results can be generalized beyond the study.

Answer 20

External validity

Question 21

In ______________________, the experimenter studies how ONE person responds to manipulations of the independent variable

Answer 21

single-case experimental design

Question 22

Incidence refers to:

Answer 22

the number of people who develop a disorder during a given time period

Question 23

Studies in which clients are randomly assigned to receive active treatment or a comparison (either no treatment, a placebo, or another treatment) are called __________________________. In this type of experiment, the independent variable is the treatment condition and the dependent variable is the client’s outcome.

Answer 23

randomized controlled trials (RCTs)

Question 24

In medication trials, researchers use a __________________________. That is, the psychiatrist and the patient are not told whether the patient is receiving active medication or a placebo.

Answer 24

double-blind procedure

Question 25

The ___________________ refers to a physical or psychological improvement that is due to a patient’s expectations of help rather than to any active ingredient in a treatment. Can be long lasting

Answer 25

placebo effect

Question 26

RCTs, typically conducted in academic research settings, are designed to determine the _________________ of a treatment—that is, whether a treatment works under the purest of conditions.

Answer 26

efficacy

Question 27

____________________—that is, how well the treatment works in the real world

Answer 27

effectiveness

Question 28

_________________ is the process of facilitating adoption of efficacious treatments in the community, most typically by providing guidelines about the best available treatments, along with training for clinicians on how to conduct those treatments.

Answer 28

Dissemination

Question 29

_______________________ studies are the most common form of experiment in the field of psychopathology. These studies focus on whether a given treatment works well.

Answer 29

Treatment outcome

Question 30

____________________ provide detailed guidance about how to conduct each phase of a psychotherapy.

Answer 30

Treatment manuals

Question 31

In a successful ___________________, findings from one research study hold up when that study is repeated a second time.

Answer 31

replication

Question 32

The tendency to publish only positive results is referred to as ____________________.

Answer 32

publication bias

Question 33

Researchers may also be motivated to continue to tweak their analyses or comb through their data until they arrive at a significant (and thus more publishable) result, a process known as _______________.

Answer 33

p-hacking

Question 34

______________________ are the most common way to study the causes of psychological disorders, because we cannot manipulate most of the major risk factors in psychopathology, nor can we manipulate diagnosis.

Answer 34

Correlational methods

Question 35

______________ experiments allow researchers to study a minor variant of a risk factor related to psychopathology, such as stressors.

Answer 35

Analogue

Question 36

_______________ is an important tool for reaching conclusions from a group of research studies. It entails putting the statistical comparisons from single studies into a common format—the effect size—so that scientists can average the results of many studies.

Answer 36

Meta-analysis

Question 37

Case studies can provide information about ___________________ or _________________. Can disconfirm a relationship that was believed to be ________________

Answer 37

novel cases, universal

Question 38

___________: expectations impede improvement

Answer 38

Nocebo

Question 39

DSM is not organized based on ______________

Answer 39

etiology

Question 40

MMPI is an ____________ approach to item selection

Answer 40

atheoretical

Question 41

Which government agency regulates and certifies that psychological treatments are effective and safe for people in the US?

Answer 41

There is no such regulatory agency

Question 42

What approach to diagnosis does the DSM-5 use?

Answer 42

Prototypical