Clinical Psychology missed quiz questions (prepjet)

Question 1

As described by Carl Rogers, incongruence between self-concept and experience is caused by which of the following?
A. conditions of worth
B. a chronic boundary disturbance
C. “bad choices”
D. feelings of inferiority

Answer 1

Answer A is correct. Conditions of worth are one source of incongruence and occur, for example, when parents provide a child with love and acceptance only when the child behaves in certain ways.

Question 2

For Gestalt therapists, \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ is a boundary disturbance that involves uncritically accepting the values, standards, and beliefs of other people.
A. projection
B. deflection
C. introjection
D. retroflection

Answer 2

Answer C is correct. Introjection is one type of boundary disturbance that causes neurotic behavior. It occurs when a person adopts the values, standards, and beliefs of other people without evaluating them.

Question 3

Jung referred to the process of developing a unique and unified personality as:
A. differentiation.
B. self-actualization.
C. individuation.
D. introjection.

Answer 3

Answer C is correct. According to Jung, individuation occurs during the second half of life and is “the process by which a person becomes a psychological ‘in-dividual,’ that is, a separate, indivisible unity or whole” (1968, p. 275).

Question 4

Practitioners of Glasser’s reality therapy view the primary motivator of behavior to be which of the following?
A. unconscious instinctual drives
B. basic needs
C. self-actualization
D. striving for superiority

Answer 4

Answer B is correct. Glasser proposed that people are motivated to fulfill five basic needs: survival, love and belonging, power, freedom, and fun.

Question 5

As described by Mahler, the beginning of object constancy follows which substage of separation-individuation?
A. displacement
B. differentiation
C. practicing
D. rapprochement

Answer 5

Answer D is correct. Mahler identified four substages of the separation-individuation process: differentiation, practicing, rapprochement, and beginning of object constancy (which is also known as the consolidation and object constancy substage).

Question 6

Which element of Seligman’s PERMA model of well-being is characterized by a state of flow?
A. engagement
B. meaning
C. accomplishment
D. relationships

Answer 6

Answer A is correct. Seligman’s PERMA model distinguishes between five core elements of psychological well-being: positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment. Engagement is characterized by a state of flow – i.e., by being completely immersed in an intrinsically motivating activity.

Question 7

Adler’s individual psychology is based on the assumption that neurotic behavior is attributable to which of the following?
A. an unresolved unconscious conflict
B. a boundary disturbance
C. a failure to satisfy innate needs
D. a mistaken style of life

Answer 7

Answer D is correct. Adler proposed that people have adopted a mistaken (unhealthy) style of life when their goals focus on overcompensating for feelings of inferiority and reflect a lack of concern about the well-being of others. From this perspective, neurotic behavior and other psychological problems are manifestations of a mistaken style of life.

Question 8

Motivational interviewing incorporates concepts and procedures from which of the following?
A. Jung’s analytical psychotherapy
B. Adler’s individual psychology
C. Skinner’s operant conditioning
D. Rogers’s person-centered therapy

Answer 8

Answer D is correct. Motivational interviewing incorporates concepts and principles of Rogers’s person-centered therapy and Prochaska and DiClemente’s transtheoretical model as well as Bandura’s concept of self-efficacy and Festinger’s notion of cognitive dissonance.

Question 9

Which of the following is not one of the four problem areas that are targeted by practitioners of interpersonal psychotherapy when working with clients who are depressed?
A. grief
B. role disputes
C. intimacy
D. role transitions

Answer 9

Answer C is correct. Interpersonal psychotherapy distinguishes between four interpersonal problem areas: interpersonal role disputes, interpersonal role transitions, interpersonal deficits, and grief.

Question 10

A solution-focused therapist would most likely ask a client the “miracle question” to:
A. evaluate the client’s progress in therapy.
B. help the client identify treatment goals.
C. identify the client’s strengths and resources.
D. identify the causes of the client’s presenting problem.
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Answer 10

Answer B is correct. Solution-focused therapists ask clients the miracle question in order to help establish the focus of treatment as the future (rather than the past or present) and identify treatment goals.

Question 11

According to the transtheoretical model, factors that contribute to a person’s motivation to change an undesirable behavior include all of the following except:
A. self-efficacy.
B. temptation.
C. insight.
D. decisional balance.

Answer 11

Answer C is correct. The transtheoretical model assumes that a person’s motivation to change is affected by three factors – decisional balance, self-efficacy, and temptation.

Question 12

For practitioners of narrative family therapy, a unique outcome is best described as:
A. the dominant narrative.
B. a positive connotation.
C. an enactment.
D. an exceptional circumstance.

Answer 12

Answer D is correct. Unique outcomes are exceptions – i.e., experiences that are not predicted by or consistent with problem-saturated narratives and can be used to help develop alternative narratives.

Question 13

Milan systemic family therapists use circular questions to help family members:
A. recognize differences in perceptions that may be contributing to family problems.
B. externalize the current problem so that it can be perceived more objectively.
C. identify times when the family problem was not present.
D. identify and reflect on internal (unconscious) causes of problematic behaviors.

Answer 13

Answer A is correct. Circular questioning involves asking each family member the same question to identify differences in perceptions about events and relationships and uncover family communication patterns.

Question 14

Whenever the parents of 12-year-old Raymond argue, each parent tries to get Raymond to side with him or her. A structural family therapist would identify this as an example of which of the following?
A. stable coalition
B. detouring
C. unstable coalition
D. reframing

Answer 14

Answer C is correct. An unstable coalition is also known as triangulation and occurs when each parent demands that the child side with him or her against the other parent.

Question 15

A primary goal of Satir’s conjoint family therapy is to:
A. foster congruent communication between family members.
B. increase the differentiation of each family member.
C. create clear boundaries between family members.
D. heighten and restructure the emotional experiences of family members.

Answer 15

Answer A is correct. Satir described four dysfunctional and one functional communication style. Congruent communication is the functional style, and a goal of therapy is to increase congruent communication between family members. Answer B is a goal of Bowen’s extended family systems therapy. Answer C is a goal of Minuchin’s structural family therapy. Answer D is a goal of emotionally focused therapy.

Question 16

As defined by Bowen, the intrapersonal aspect of differentiation refers to a person’s ability to separate:
A. needs from desires.
B. the past from the present.
C. thinking from feeling.
D. him/herself from others.

Answer 16

Answer C is correct. The intrapersonal aspect of differentiation is a person’s ability to distinguish between his or her own feelings and thoughts. This ability makes it possible for the person to separate his or her own emotional and intellectual functioning from the functioning of others, which is the interpersonal aspect of differentiation.

Question 17

Anna, age 21, has just received a diagnosis of bulimia nervosa. Her therapist is a practitioner of strategic family therapy and, to reduce Anna’s binge-eating, he tells her that, on each day that she binges, she must set her alarm for 4 a.m. and get up and do 30 minutes of abdominal exercises. This intervention is an example of which of the following?
A. prescribing the symptom
B. an ordeal
C. reframing
D. an enactment

Answer 17

Answer B is correct. An ordeal is an unpleasant task that a client is asked to perform whenever he or she engages in the undesirable behavior.

Question 18

As described by cybernetic theory, a negative feedback loop:
A. helps a system maintain or restore a state of stability.
B. causes a disruption in a system’s status quo.
C. always produces disastrous consequences for the system.
D. is characterized by complementary communication patterns.

Answer 18

Answer A is correct. Negative feedback loops resist change and help a system restore or maintain stability when its stability is disrupted by an internal or external event.

Question 19

The primary goal of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) is best described as:
A. replacing the “being mode” with the “doing mode.”
B. strengthening the link between thoughts and emotions.
C. accepting and separating from distressful thoughts.
D. replacing maladaptive thoughts with more adaptive ones.

Answer 19

Answer C is correct. Replacing maladaptive thoughts with more adaptive ones (answer D) best describes CBT, while accepting and separating from distressful thoughts describes MBCT. As noted by Scott and Adam, the primary goal of MBCT is to “enable clients to become self-aware, so they can learn to de-centre from distressing thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations and behaviours” (2017, p. 246). In addition, MBCT emphasizes achieving balance between the “being mode” and “doing mode” rather than relying primarily on the “doing mode” (Answer A): The “being mode” refers to noticing and accepting one’s experiences in the present, while the “doing mode” refers to acting to change things in order to reduce the discrepancy between how things are and how one wants them to be.

Question 20

Which of the following is not one of the six processes addressed by acceptance and commitment therapy?
A. cognitive defusion
B. corrective detachment
C. experiential acceptance
D. committed action

Answer 20

Answer B is correct. ACT addresses six processes to increase a person’s psychological flexibility: experiential acceptance, cognitive defusion, being present, awareness of self-as-context, values-based action, and committed action.

Question 21

Meichenbaum’s stress inoculation training consists of three phases, the first of which is:
A. commitment.
B. preparation.
C. conceptualization.
D. cognitive modeling.

Answer 21

Answer C is correct. The three stages of Meichenbaum’s stress inoculation training are conceptualization/education, skills acquisition and consolidation, and application and follow-through.

Question 22

As described in Ellis’s A-B-C-D-E model, B represents:
A. behavioral and emotional reactions to an activating event.
B. barriers to rational thought.
C. belief perseverance.
D. beliefs about an activating event.

Answer 22

Answer D is correct. In Ellis’s A-B-C-D-E model, A is an activating event, B is the person’s irrational belief about that event, C is the emotional or behavioral consequence of that belief, D is the therapist’s use of techniques that dispute the client’s irrational belief, and E is the effect of these techniques, which is the replacement of the irrational belief with a more rational one.

Question 23

Dawn tends to jump to the conclusion that people she meets don’t like her even when there’s no evidence to support that conclusion. This is an example of which of the following cognitive distortions?
A. personalization
B. emotional reasoning
C. arbitrary inference
D. selective abstraction

Answer 23

Answer C is correct. Arbitrary inference involves drawing negative conclusions without any supporting evidence or in the presence of contradictory evidence.

Question 24

According to Beck, negative beliefs about oneself, the world, and the future are characteristic of:
A. depression.
B. psychosis.
C. hypochondriasis.
D. paranoia.
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Answer 24

Answer A is correct. Beck proposed that different disorders are associated with different cognitive profiles. For example, Beck’s cognitive profile for depression consists of negative beliefs about oneself, the world, and the future.

Question 25

Prescribing maintenance antidepressants to prevent relapse in individuals who have received a diagnosis of major depressive disorder and participated in cognitive-behavior therapy is an example of:
A. primary prevention.
B. secondary prevention.
C. tertiary prevention.
D. quaternary prevention.

Answer 25

Answer C is correct. Tertiary preventions target people who have a mental or physical disorder and include relapse prevention and rehabilitation programs. Quaternary preventions (answer D) identify patients who are at risk for over-medicalization in order to reduce their exposure to unnecessary and potentially harmful interventions. It’s not one of the types of prevention described by Caplan or a type of prevention that you’re likely to be asked about on the EPPP.

Question 26

Which of the following is true about efficacy and effectiveness research?
A. Efficacy research has better internal validity but poorer external validity than effectiveness research does.
B. Efficacy research has better external validity but poorer internal validity than effectiveness research does.
C. Efficacy research has better internal and external validity than effectiveness research does.
D. Efficacy research has poorer internal and external validity than effectiveness research does.

Answer 26

Answer A is correct. Efficacy research is conducted in well-controlled circumstances and, as a result, has good internal validity but limited external validity, while effectiveness research is conducted in naturalistic clinical settings and has limited internal validity but good external validity.

Question 27

Norcross and Lambert (2011) concluded that which of the following accounts for the greatest amount of variability in psychotherapy outcomes?
A. therapist characteristics
B. patient contributions
C. therapeutic relationship
D. treatment method

Answer 27

Answer B is correct. Based on their review of the research, Norcross and Lambert (2011) attributed 40% of variability in psychotherapy outcomes to unexplained variance, 30% to patient contributions, 12% to the therapeutic relationship, 8% to the treatment method, 7% to therapist characteristics, and 3% to other factors.

Question 28

A consultant is providing consultee-centered case consultation and determines that theme interference is responsible for the consultee’s inability to work effectively with clients who have received a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder. Consequently, the consultant will focus primarily the consultee’s lack of:
A. confidence.
B. objectivity.
C. competence.
D. experience.

Answer 28

Answer B is correct. Caplan described four obstacles to providing effective mental health services: lack of knowledge, skills, confidence, objectivity. He also identified theme interference as one of the causes of a lack of objectivity.

Question 29

According to Howard et al.’s phase model (1996), symptomatic relief occurs during which of the following phases of psychotherapy?
A. rehabilitation
B. reintegrative
C. remediation
D. remoralization

Answer 29

Answer C is correct. Howard et al.’s model distinguishes between three phases of psychotherapy: remoralization, remediation, and rehabilitation. According to this model, symptomatic relief occurs during the remediation phase.

Question 30

Transdiagnostic treatments are aimed at disorders that are:
A. included in the same DSM-5 diagnostic category.
B. known to respond best to a combination of psychosocial and pharmacological treatments.
C. caused and maintained by similar core mechanisms.
D. caused by similar cognitive schemas and maintained by similar cognitive distortions.

Answer 30

Answer C is correct. The use of transdiagnostic treatments is based on the assumptions that some diagnoses share certain core biological, psychological, and environmental mechanisms that contribute to and maintain them and that treatment should focus on those common mechanisms. Answer A is not the best answer because transdiagnostic treatments can address disorders in the same or different diagnostic categories (e.g., anxiety disorders only or anxiety disorders and depressive disorders). Answer D is not the best answer because similar cognitive schemas and distortions can be a core mechanism for some disorders, but core mechanisms are not limited to these factors.

Question 31

Based on the results of their meta-analysis of 475 psychotherapy outcome studies, Smith, Glass, and Miller (1980) concluded that the average psychotherapy patient is better off than \_\_\_\_% of patients who do not receive psychotherapy.
A. 90
B. 80
C. 72
D. 44

Answer 31

Answer B is correct. Smith, Glass, and Miller’s (1980) meta-analysis of 475 outcome studies produced a mean effect size of .85, which means that the average psychotherapy patient who received psychotherapy was “better off” than 80% of patients who did not receive psychotherapy.

Question 32

Hans Eysenck (1952) found that symptom improvements due to psychotherapy were less than improvements due to of which of the following?
A. positive expectations
B. “common effects”
C. the therapeutic alliance
D. spontaneous remission

Answer 32

Answer D is correct. Eysenck proposed that his results not only showed that psychotherapy is ineffective but that it may actually have detrimental effects since the average recovery rates for two groups of psychotherapy patients were lower than the average spontaneous remission rate for patients who did not receive psychotherapy.

Question 33

When working with African American therapy clients, it’s important to keep in mind that they are likely to prefer:
A. an insight-oriented, nondirective approach.
B. an egalitarian therapist-client relationship.
C. a therapist who adopts the role of knowledgeable expert.
D. a therapist who adopts the role of coach or mentor.

Answer 33

Answer B is correct. African American clients prefer an egalitarian relationship which can be established by explaining the therapy and assessment process to clients at the beginning of therapy and having clients participate in identifying treatment goals and strategies. See, e.g., D. W. Sue and D. Sue, Counseling the culturally diverse: Theory and practice (7th ed.), Hoboken, NJ, 2016. Answer A is incorrect because African American clients tend to prefer a goal-oriented problem-solving approach. Answers C and D are not the best answers because the roles they describe seem antithetical to an egalitarian relationship.

Question 34

When working with Asian and Asian American clients, it’s important to keep in mind that they are likely to:
A. prefer an insight-oriented, nondirective approach.
B. prefer an egalitarian therapist-client relationship.
C. express resistance by being silent and avoiding eye contact.
D. express emotional distress as physical symptoms.

Answer 34

Answer D is correct. Asian and Asian American individuals often express emotional distress as headaches, chest pain, and other physical symptoms. Answer A is incorrect because Asian and Asian American clients are likely to prefer a structured goal-oriented, problem-focused approach. Answer B is not the best answer because Asian and Asian American clients are likely to view the therapist as a knowledgeable expert who offers advice. And answer C is incorrect because, for Asian and Asian American individuals, being silent and avoiding eye contact are expressions of politeness and respect.

Question 35

Hall (1976) classified \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ styles as high- or low-context.
A. cognitive
B. communication
C. socioemotional
D. acculturation

Answer 35

Answer B is correct. Hall distinguished between two communication styles: High-context communication relies heavily on group understanding, nonverbal messages, and the context in which the communication occurs and is characteristic of several cultural minority groups. In contrast, low-context communication relies on the verbal message, is independent of the context, and is characteristic of the White (mainstream) culture.

Question 36

As described by Berry’s (1990) acculturation model, \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ occurs when members of a minority culture retain their own culture and reject the majority culture.
A. separation
B. marginalization
C. assimilation
D. integration

Answer 36

Answer A is correct. According to Berry, a person who adopts a separation acculturation strategy retains his/her own minority culture and rejects the majority culture.

Question 37

During a discussion on race, a White graduate student says to an African American student that she “doesn’t see color” and that “we’re all part of the human race.” As described by Sue et al. (2007), these comments are examples of which of the following?
A. microassault
B. microinvalidation
C. microinjustice
D. microinsult

Answer 37

Answer B is correct. Sue and his colleagues describe microinvalidations as “communications that exclude, negate, or nullify the psychological thoughts, feelings, or experiential reality of a person of color” (2007, p. 274). They use the comments included in this question as examples of microinvalidation.

Question 38

Based on their review of the research, Sue, Zane, Nagayama Hall, and Berger (2009) concluded that culturally adapted interventions have:
A. equivalent benefits for adults and children.
B. somewhat greater benefits for adults than children.
C. somewhat greater benefits for children than adults.
D. little or no benefits for adults or children.

Answer 38

Answer B is correct. According to Sue, Zane, Nagayama Hall, and Berger, “the preponderance of evidence shows that culturally adapted interventions provide benefit to intervention outcomes … [but] this added value is more apparent in the research on adults than on children and youths” (2009, p. 541).

Question 39

Etic is to \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ as emic is to \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_.
A. intrinsic; extrinsic
B. extrinsic; intrinsic
C. culture-specific; universal
D. universal; culture-specific
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Answer 39

Answer D is correct. A person with an etic perspective believes that all behaviors are essentially unaffected by culture and are, therefore, universal (cross-cultural), while a person with an emic perspective believes that some behaviors are affected by culture and are, therefore, culture-specific.

Question 40

According to Sue (2006), White middle-class Americans are most likely to have which of the following worldviews?
A. EC-IR
B. EC-ER
C. IC-ER
D. IC-IR

Answer 40

Answer D is correct. According to Sue, the IC-IR (internal locus of control/internal locus of responsibility) worldview is characteristic of mainstream American culture, while the other three worldviews are characteristic of some cultural minority cultures.

Question 41

Peggy McIntosh (1998) listed the statement “I can easily buy posters, postcards, picture books, greeting cards, dolls, toys, and children’s magazines featuring people of my race” to illustrate which of the following?
A. internalized racism
B. colorism
C. White supremacy
D. White privilege

Answer 41

Answer D is correct. For the exam, you want to know that Peggy McIntosh is best known for her work on White privilege and that she provided a list of examples of privileges that Whites take for granted. The statement in the question is one of her examples.

Question 42

Which of the following is not one of the five stages of Cross’s (1971) original Nigrescence Model of Identity Development?
A. pre-encounter
B. immersion-emersion
C. dissonance
D. internalization

Answer 42

Answer C is correct. The five stages of Cross’s original Nigrescence Model are pre-encounter, encounter, immersion-emersion, internalization, and internalization-commitment. Dissonance is the second stage of Atkinson, Morten, and Sue’s R/CID Model.

Question 43

A White therapist is likely to be most effective when working with clients from racial and cultural minority groups when she is in which of the following of Helms’s identity statuses?

A. integrative awareness
B. reintegration
C. autonomy
D. pseudo-independence

Answer 43

Answer C is correct. Research has found that White therapists with higher racial identity statuses also have higher levels of multicultural counseling competence. Autonomy is the highest racial identity status in Helms’s model. Consequently, White therapists in the autonomy status are likely to be most effective with clients from cultural and racial minority groups.

Question 44

Like many other models of homosexual identity development, Troiden’s (1988) model proposes that the initial stage of development involves:

A. feeling different from same-sex peers.
B. feeling sexually attracted to members of the same sex.
C. denying one’s same-sex feelings.
D. realizing that one’s feelings can be described as “homosexual.”

Answer 44

Answer A is correct. Troiden’s initial stage is sensitization, which is characterized by a sense of being different from one’s peers. This stage is similar to the initial stages of other models of gay and lesbian identity development.

Question 45

Atkinson, Morten, and Sue’s R/CID Model predicts that African-American clients are most likely to prefer a White therapist and to be uninterested in exploring their cultural identity when they’re in which of the following stages?

A. pre-encounter
B. conformity
C. dissonance
D. disintegration

Answer 45

answer B is correct. The R/CID Model distinguishes between five stages: conformity, dissonance, resistance and immersion, introspection, and integrative awareness. It proposes that people in the conformity stage prefer a therapist from the majority group and are not interested in exploring their cultural identity.

Question 46

Helm’s White Racial Identity Development Model proposes that each identity status is associated with a different information processing strategy. For example, the \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ status is associated with a strategy that involves selective perception and negative outgroup distortion.
A. disintegration
B. reintegration
C. pre-encounter
D. contact

Answer 46

Answer B is correct. Helms’s model distinguishes between six identity statuses: contact, disintegration, reintegration, pseudo-independence, immersion-emersion, and autonomy. The reintegration status is characterized by believing in White superiority and minority inferiority and an information-processing strategy that involves selective perception and negative outgroup distortion.

Question 47

People who are members of a minority group and are in the ________ stage of Atkinson, Morten, and Sue’s R/CID Model question the inflexibility of their positive attitudes toward their own minority group and negative attitudes toward the majority group.

A. dissonance
B. integrative awareness
C. disintegration
D. introspection

Answer 47

Answer D is correct. During the introspection stage of the R/CID model, people question their unequivocal allegiance to their own group and rigid rejection of the majority group.