Chapter 3 - Diagnosis and Assessment & Chapter 4 - Research Methods in Psychopathology

Question 1

You decide that you wish to use the MMPI to form a scale within the instrument to distinguish potential professional wrestlers from those without the potential to be wrestlers. Using the same method as that used to develop the MMPI, you would

Select one:

a. identify items that were about wrestling.
b. look for consistency among items endorsed by wrestlers as true.
c. find all the items that wrestlers answered as true regarding themselves.
d. identify items that distinguish pro wrestlers from non-wrestlers.

Answer 1

d. identify items that distinguish pro wrestlers from non-wrestlers.

Question 2

Which of the following are generated by theories?

Select one:

a. case material
b. hypotheses
c. statistical significance
d. none of the above

Answer 2

b. hypotheses

Question 3

Which research method would be most useful in generating hypotheses about the cause of a newly discovered, rare form of abnormality?

Select one:

a. case study
b. experimental design
c. single-subject ABAB design
d. correlational method

Answer 3

a. case study

Question 4

Dr. Bradley has been conducting a case study of Brenda P., a woman with dissociative identity disorder. Which of the following statements by Dr. Bradley is a misuse of the case study method?

Select one:

a. “Brenda, a woman with dissociative identity disorder, was sexually abused as a child. Therefore, all individuals with multiple personality disorder must have been abuse victims.”
b. “Since Brenda was not sexually abused, the theory that all dissociation is caused by sexual abuse may not be universally true.”
c. “Brenda was sexually molested as a child. This leads me to hypothesize that perhaps other individuals with dissociative identity disorder were molested as children.”
d. All of the above are examples of inappropriate uses of the case study.

Answer 4

a. “Brenda, a woman with dissociative identity disorder, was sexually abused as a child. Therefore, all individuals with multiple personality disorder must have been abuse victims.”

Question 5

Professor Jones has observed a correlation between students sitting in the front of the room and getting better grades in her classes. In order to conduct an “experiment” on this, Professor Jones could

Select one:

a. assign students randomly to seats.
b. obtain similar data from other professors and classes.
c. collect data on student study habits.
d. adjust her data for overall grade point average.

Answer 5

a. assign students randomly to seats.

Question 6

If the correlation between two variables is zero, this means that

Select one:

a. they are inversely related.
b. higher scores on one are associated with higher scores on the other.
c. there is no relationship between them.
d. they are perfectly related.

Answer 6

c. there is no relationship between them.

Question 7

The standard for suggesting that a result is statistically significant is if the chances are less than __________ in 100 that it occurred by chance.

Select one:

a. .05
b. 5
c. 10
d. 25

Answer 7

b. 5

Question 8

Directionality is best addressed by

Select one:

a. using a case study.
b. using a control group.
c. using a longitudinal design.
d. using a correlational design.

Answer 8

c. using a longitudinal design

Question 9

Epidemiology is the study of

Select one:

a. the rates and correlates of disorders in a population.
b. the development of disorders over the life span.
c. mental disorders in other cultures.
d. unique cases or unusual disorders.

Answer 9

a. the rates and correlates of disorders in a population.

Question 10

In a study where participants are assigned to one of two treatment groups (medication versus cognitive therapy), the type of treatment received is the

Select one:

a. classificatory variable.
b. dependent variable.
c. independent variable.
d. third variable.

Answer 10

c. independent variable.

Question 11

Diagnostic systems allow clinicians and scientists to:

Select one:

a. conduct psychotherapy.
b. communicate accurately with one another about cases and research.
c. understand the role of cultural bias.
d. all of the above.

Answer 11

b. communicate accurately with one another about cases and research.

Question 12

To test the impact of therapy on depression, a researcher tells a random half of his subjects (falsely) that they failed an exam. He then conducts one hour of therapy with the “failure” subjects. One week later the subjects given false feedback are no more depressed than the control group, so the researcher concludes the treatment was effective. This would be described as which type of research?

Select one:

a. an analogue study
b. convenience sampling
c. a longitudinal design
d. a correlational design

Answer 12

a. an analogue study

Question 13

One would expect items on a depression assessment measure to have

Select one:

a. interrater reliability.
b. alternate-form reliability.
c. internal consistency reliability.
d. external reliability.

Answer 13

c. internal consistency reliability.

Question 14

Jim was given an intelligence test in March and re-administered the same test one year later. His score both times was the same. This indicates that the intelligence test has

Select one:

a. high test-retest reliability.
b. high interrater agreement.
c. internal consistency.
d. none of the above.

Answer 14

a. high test-retest reliability.

Question 15

The highest priority of the DSM-5 is that it

Select one:

a. shorter than the DSM-IV-TR.
b. is useful to clinicians.
c. is reliable.
d. bilingual.

Answer 15

b. is useful to clinicians.

Question 16

There were ___ axes in the DSM-IV-TR while ___ are used in the DSM-5

Select one:

a. 5, 2
b. 5, 3
c. 3, 2
d. 5, 0

Answer 16

d. 5, 0

Question 17

Which of the following is a risk of having too many diagnoses?

Select one:

a. The risk of fitting into too many diagnostic categories.
b. Lack of reliability between diagnostic clinicians.
c. Externalization of diagnoses by clients.
d. All of these are risks of having too many diagnoses.

Answer 17

d. All of these are risks of having too many diagnoses.

Question 18

The Life Events and Difficulties Schedule (LEDS) has led researchers to conclude that

Select one:

a. The correlation between life events and stress is low.
b. Life events are robust predictors of several psychological and medical symptoms.
c. A given life event has the same impact across individuals.
d. Stress is mediated by one’s childhood experiences.

Answer 18

b. Life events are robust predictors of several psychological and medical symptoms.

Question 19

Which of the following is a structured interview?

Select one:

a. SRRS
b. ADE
c. SCID
d. Rorschach

Answer 19

c. SCID

Question 20

Which of the following is NOT a measure of psychological stress?

Select one:

a. Psychiatric Epidemiological Research Interview Life Events Scale
b. Life Events and Difficulties Schedule
c. Thematic Apperception Test
d. List of Threatening Experiences

Answer 20

c. Thematic Apperception Test

Question 21

Diagnostic systems allow clinicians and scientists to

a. conduct psychotherapy.
b. communicate accurately with one another about cases and research.
c. understand the role of cultural bias.
d. All of the above are correct.

Answer 21

b. communicate accurately with one another about cases and research.

Question 22

Jim was given an intelligence test in March and re-administered the same test one year later. His score both times was the same. This indicates that the intelligence test has

a. high test-retest reliability.
b. high interrater agreement.
c. internal consistency.
d. None of the above is correct.

Answer 22

a. high test-retest reliability.

Question 23

Generally it is impossible for measures to be

a. reliable but not valid.
b. valid but not reliable.
c. neither reliable nor valid.
d. both reliable and valid.

Answer 23

b. valid but not reliable.

Question 24

Britney was taking a test to measure levels of depression. All of the items covered typical symptoms of depression. This inventory would be said to have

a. high construct validity.
b. high content validity.
c. high criterion validity.
d. high statistical validity.

Answer 24

b. high content validity.

Question 25

Jackson appears to have social phobia. This diagnosis was made by looking at his scores on a particular measure of social fear. Scores like his in the past have been shown to be related to social phobia, as well as correlated with a variety of measures of social and occupational disability associated with social phobia. The measure Jackson took would be said to have

a. high construct validity.
b. high content validity.
c. high criterion validity.
d. high statistical validity.

Answer 25

a. high construct validity.

Question 26

In 1994, the DSM-IV was published by the

a. American Psychopathological and Statistical Association.
b. World Health Organization.
c. Congress of Mental Science.
d. American Psychiatric Association

Answer 26

d. American Psychiatric Association

Question 27

In 2000, the DSM-IV-TR was published

a. to clarify issues surrounding prevalence rates, course, and etiology.
b. to describe diagnoses in objective terms.
c. to include response to treatment in the descriptions of diagnoses.
d. for use by laypersons as well as professionals

Answer 27

a. to clarify issues surrounding prevalence rates, course, and etiology.

Question 28

The letters in the abbreviation DSM refers to

a. Diseases and Symptoms of the Mind.
b. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual.
c. Diseases and Symptoms Manual.
d. Disorders and Symptoms Manual

Answer 28

b. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual.

Question 29

The DSM-IV-TR provides diagnoses along 5 areas. These areas are called

a. axes.
b. classifications.
c. multiple dimensions.
d. differential diagnoses

Answer 29

a. axes.