Missed exam Q's

Question 1

Question ID #677: The misinformation effect refers to the impairment in memory for the past that occurs after exposure to misleading information. Research on susceptibility and resistance to this effect has found:
Select one:
A.the impairing effect of misleading information gets weaker over time
B.subjects misled just before testing tend to perform better than those who are misled just after witnessing the event
C.warnings about potential misinformation may inhibit its impairing effect
D.the passage of time appears to increase discrepancy detection ability

Answer 1

Correct Answer is: C
According to Loftus’ Discrepancy Detection principle, susceptibility to misinformation is inversely related to the ability to notice discrepancies. Therefore, if an individual is aware that post-event information may not be correct then the probability of the misinformation effect is reduced. Warning individuals before they receive post-event information that it might be inaccurate or misleading, increases vigilance and the likelihood that discrepancies between actual and suggested events will be spotted. Resistance to post-event suggestion is greatest when an individual has a strong, accurate original memory. Consistent information also improves memory performance.
Research indicates greater susceptibility to misinformation is associated with: the passage of time, it lowers discrepancy detection ability* and the impairing effect of misleading information gets stronger over time; longer retention times, which decrease memory performance; timing of reporting/testing, individuals misled immediately before being tested tend to perform worse than those misled immediately after witnessing the event (* incorrect options). Age is also associated with varying susceptibility to misinformation with young children more susceptible than older children and adults and the elderly more susceptible than are younger adults. (See: Loftus, E. (2005). Planting misinformation in the human mind: A 30-year investigation of the malleability of memory. Learning and Memory; 12, 361-366.)

Question 2

Question ID #680: In vivo exposure with response prevention involves:
Select one:
A. alternately presenting the CS and US.
B. simultaneously presenting the CS and US.
C. repeatedly presenting the US without the CS.
D. repeatedly presenting the CS without the US.

Answer 2

Correct Answer is: D
In vivo exposure with response prevention involves exposing an individual to a feared or anxiety evoking stimulus and then blocking him or her from engaging in the usual avoidance response. The technique is based on the principle of classical extinction, which involves repeatedly presenting a conditioned stimulus (CS) without the unconditioned stimulus (US). The idea is that the anxiety or fear developed through classical conditioning, or a pairing of a conditioned stimulus (the feared stimulus) and an unconditioned stimulus (a stimulus that naturally causes fear).

Question 3

Misinformation Effect

Answer 3

The misinformation effect refers to distortions in memory about an event that are due to the incorporation of inaccurate or misleading information about the event that was acquired after it occurred. The misinformation effect has been used to explain the unreliability of eyewitness testimony. In one study, Loftus and Palmer (1974) had subjects view a filmed car accident and then immediately questioned each subject about what he or she witnessed. Some subjects were asked, “How fast were the cars going when they hit each other?”; while others were asked, “How fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other?” As predicted, subjects who were asked the question containing the word “smash” reported a significantly higher speed than those who were asked the question containing the word “hit.” Also, when subjects were questioned a week later and asked if they recalled seeing any broken glass after the accident (there actually wasn’t any), subjects who were originally asked about the cars smashing into each other were more likely to say that there was broken glass. According to Loftus and Palmer, this was because the word “smash” was more suggestive than “hit” of a higher speed and broken glass and biased the subjects’ memory of the accident. Subsequent studies on the misinformation effect have confirmed that altering only one or two words in a question about an event can significantly alter a person’s memory of that event.

Question 4

Question ID #679: The misinformation effect (hindsight bias) may be a form of:
Select one:
A.retroactive interference.
B.motivated forgetting.
C.repression.
D.proactive interference.

Answer 4

Correct Answer is: A
To answer this question, you need to understand what retroactive and proactive interference are. Retroactive interference occurs when your ability to recall X is difficult because of interference by something you learned after X. The longer the period of time between learning X and being tested on it, the greater the opportunity for retroactive interference. Proactive interference occurs when the ability to recall X is impaired by previously learned material. Proactive interference can occur regardless of how long the interval is between learning X and recalling it. Finally, retroactive and proactive interference are most likely to be a problem for information that is not inherently meaningful, which would be the case for a set of unrelated words.

Question 5

Question ID #676: Aggressive thoughts result in aggressive behavior, which in turn has the effect of causing others to have aggressive thoughts. This is an example of:
Select one:
A.reciprocal determinism
B.covert modeling
C.impulsive aggression
D.instinctual drift

Answer 5

Correct Answer is: A
This is an example of Bandura’s (1986) concept of reciprocal determinism. From this perspective, the relationship between personal factors or cognitions, behavior and the environment take turns influencing or being influenced by each other. As in this case, not only does the environment influence thoughts and thoughts impact actions but also actions effect the environment.
Covert modeling* involves the learning of new behaviors or the altering of existing behaviors by imagining scenes of others interacting with the environment. Impulsive aggression* describes emotion-driven aggression produced in reaction to situations in the “heat of the moment.” Instinctual drift* refers to the tendency for learned behavior to drift toward instinctual behavior over time (* incorrect options).

Question 6

Question ID #1124: Which of the following is a measure of "amount of variability accounted for"
Select one:
A. alpha
B. Cohen's d
C. eta squared
D. F-ratio

Answer 6

Correct Answer is: C
The “amount of variability accounted for” is assessed by a squared correlation coefficient. Eta squared is the square of the correlation coefficient (i.e., the correlation between the treatment and the outcome) and is used as an index of effect size.
Alpha* is the level of significance set by a researcher prior to analyzing the data. Cohen’s d* is used as an index of effect size, but it is a measure of the mean difference between two groups. The F-ratio* is the statistic calculated when using the analysis of variance (* incorrect options).

Question 7

Question ID #1298: Which of the following statements is most consistent with Lewin’s field theory?
Select one:
A. As a person moves towards one of the goals in an approach-approach conflict, it becomes less attractive and the other goal becomes more attractive.
B. Leadership is a function of the relationship between a task and the environment.
C. Behavior is a function of the relationship between the person and the environment.
D. A person’s “life space” is equivalent to Jung’s notion of the collective unconscious.

Answer 7

Correct Answer is: C
According the Lewin’s field theory, behavior is a function of the relationship between a person and his or her environment. Lewin used the following formula to express this relationship: B = f(P,E) where B is behavior, P is the person, and E is the environment.
As a person moves towards one of the goals in an approach-approach conflict, it becomes less attractive and the other goal becomes more attractive.

This choice is the opposite of Lewin’s prediction. That is, when faced with an approach-approach conflict, the selected choice becomes more attractive while the other choice becomes less attractive.

A person’s “life space” is equivalent to Jung’s notion of the collective unconscious.

“Life space” is also a central concept in field theory but refers to everything in a person’s psychological environment - not the collective unconscious.

Question 8

Question ID #6596: Depressogenic schemata such as arbitrary inference and selective abstraction are associated with:
Select one:
A. Lewinsohn
B. Beck
C. Seligman
D. Ellis

Answer 8

Correct Answer is: B
Depressogenic schemata, or cognitive distortions, such as overgeneralization, personalization, magnification, arbitrary inference, and selective abstraction are reflected statements in Beck’s “depressive cognitive triad.”

“Lewinsohn” is associated with the findings that depressed individuals’ self-evaluations reflect an unbiased perception of reality and more accurately correspond with observer evaluations,

“Seligman” is associated with the theory of learned helplessness, and

“Ellis” with Reactive Emotive Therapy (RET)

Question 9

Question ID #4: In working with Native American clients, a therapist using Network Therapy would act primarily as a(n):
Select one:
A. catalyst
B. wise parent
C. blank screen
D. educator

Answer 9

Correct Answer is: A
Network Therapy has been recommended as an appropriate intervention for Native American clients. The therapist acts primarily as a catalyst who initiates the process and brings the client’s family, friends, and relatives (i.e. the client’s network) together to implement the therapeutic process.

Question 10

Attachment Patterns

Answer 10

Attachment Patterns: Ainsworth and her colleagues (Ainsworth, et al., 1978) studied attachment using the Strange Situation, in which the baby spends time alone, with his/her mother, and with a stranger. The results of their research identified four patterns of attachment:

Secure Attachment: Securely attached babies actively explore the environment when alone or with their mother. They may be friendly to a stranger when their mother is present but clearly prefer their mother to a stranger and may show distress when their mother leaves and seek physical contact with her when she returns. Mothers of securely attached babies are emotionally sensitive and responsive.

Anxious/Avoidant Attachment: Babies with this pattern are uninterested in the environment; show little distress when their mother leaves and avoid contact with her when she returns; and may or may not be wary of strangers. Mothers of these babies are either impatient and nonresponsive or overly responsive, involved, and stimulating.

Anxious/Resistant Attachment: Babies with this attachment pattern are anxious even when their mother is present and become very distressed when she leaves; are ambivalent when she returns and may resist her attempts to make physical contact; and are wary of a stranger even when their mother is present. Mothers of resistant babies are inconsistent in their responses to their child, sometimes being indifferent and other times being enthusiastic.

Disorganized/Disoriented Attachment: Babies with this pattern have conflicting reactions to their mother that alternate between avoidance/resistance and proximity-seeking, and their overall behavior is best described as dazed, confused, and apprehensive. This pattern is often observed in children who have been maltreated by their caregiver(s).

Research using the Adult Attachment Interview has found that there is a relationship between parents’ own early attachment experiences and the attachment patterns of their children. For example, the studies have confirmed that adults classified as “dismissing” on the Adult Attachment Interview are most likely to have children who exhibit an avoidant attachment pattern in the Strange Situation.

Question 11

Memory in Infancy and Childhood

Answer 11

Memory in Infancy and Childhood: Researchers use several techniques to study memory in infants including habituation, imitation, and operant conditioning; and their studies have found that infants have recognition memory for familiar stimuli soon after birth and cued recall memory by two to three months of age. For example, by three months of age, babies exhibit recognition memory for an object for up to 24 hours following exposure to that object.

Until recently, it was believed that infants do not recall events that occur during their daily lives. This belief has been challenged by research showing that children as young as 11 months have accurate immediate recall for specific events and that, by 13 months, children have accurate delayed recall.

The studies have also found that children as young as two (24 months) or three years (36 months) of age exhibit episodic memory - i.e., they can recall experiences that happened weeks or even months earlier. However, when adults are asked about their earliest memories, most cannot recall anything that occurred prior to three or four years of age (Neisser, 2004). This infantile amnesia has been attributed to several factors including incomplete development of the brain (especially the hippocampus) and a lack of language that is needed to encode and store memories in a way that allows them to be retrieved in adulthood.

Memory improves at a steady rate during the preschool years and shows substantial gains during the transition from early to middle childhood. This is due to several factors including increased short-term memory capacity; the use of rehearsal and other memory strategies (which becomes consistent at around age 9 or 10); and improvements in metamemory (knowledge about one’s own memory processes), which is one component of metacognition (knowledge about one’s own cognitive processes).

Question 12

Question ID #362: Utility analysis is a technique that assesses the:
Select one:
A. practicality of implementing a training program.
B. influence of training on performance.
C. overall usefulness of a training program.
D. the return on investment of training

Answer 12

Correct Answer is: D
Utility analysis was introduced as a method for evaluating the organizational benefits of using systematic procedures (e.g., proficiency tests) to improve personnel selection but has been extended to evaluating any intervention that attempts to improve human performance. It is a quantitative method that estimates the dollar value of benefits generated by an intervention based on the improvement it produces in worker productivity. Utility analysis provides management with information that can be used to evaluate the financial impact of an intervention, including computing a return on their investment in implementing it.

Question 13

Question ID #832: The primary symptoms of normal pressure hydrocephalus are:
Select one:
A. headache followed by vomiting, downward deviation of the eyes and urinary incontinence
B. a rapid increase in the size of the head, headache followed by vomiting, gait disturbance
C. a rapid increase in the size of the head, downward deviation of the eyes, dementia
D. gait disturbance, urinary incontinence, dementia/mental disturbance

Answer 13

Correct Answer is: D
Hydrocephalus is a condition primarily characterized by excessive accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) within the ventricles inside the brain. As the CSF builds up, it causes the ventricles to enlarge or dilate causing the pressure inside the head to increase and potentially harmful pressure on the tissues of the brain.

Hydrocephalus may be congenital or acquired. The specific causes of hydrocephalus are unknown.

Congenital hydrocephalus is thought to be caused by a complex interaction of environmental factors and a possible genetic disposition or developmental problem. The most common developmental problems that may lead to hydrocephalus include: spina bifida, failure of the tissue surrounding the spinal cord to close properly; aqueductal stenosis, a narrowing of a channel in the brain that connects two ventricles; and encephalocele, herniation of the brain.

Acquired hydrocephalus can affect individuals of all ages and may result from a disease or condition such as encephalitis, intraventricular hemorrhage, meningitis, head trauma, stroke, infection, complications of surgery, tumors and cysts.

Age, disease progression and how well a person can tolerate increased cerebrospinal fluid pressure all affect the symptoms of hydrocephalus.

Common symptoms in infancy include an unusually large head, a rapid increase in the size of the head and a bulging “soft spot” on the top of the head.

In older children and adults, symptoms may include headache followed by vomiting, nausea, papilledema or swelling of the optic disk, downward deviation of the eyes, problems with balance, poor coordination, gait disturbance, urinary incontinence, slowing or loss of development (in children), lethargy, drowsiness, irritability, or other changes in personality or cognition, including memory loss.

A condition that mainly affects people over 60 years of age is normal pressure hydrocephalus. It is caused by defective absorption of CSF, in which the excess CSF enlarges the ventricles but does not increase pressure on the brain. It may result from injury, illness or infection although many people develop normal pressure hydrocephalus without an obvious cause. It typically starts with difficulty walking. Urinary incontinence often develops, along with a type of dementia marked by slowness of thinking and information processing.

Hydrocephalus is diagnosed through clinical neurological evaluation and by using cranial imaging techniques such as ultrasonography, computer tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), or pressure-monitoring techniques. The most effective treatment is surgical insertion of a shunt although endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) is growing in popularity as an alternative treatment method for hydrocephalus.

Question 14

Question ID #1140: A set of past graduate students are divided into two groups by a doctorate admissions committee. One group consists of students who finished the program in five years or less, the other consists of those who did not. Based on undergraduate grade point average and GRE score, which of the following could be used to predict successful completion of the graduate program?
Select one:
A. MANOVA
B. Structural equation modeling
C. Discriminant function analysis
D. Cluster analysis

Answer 14

Correct Answer is: C
Discriminant function analysis (DA) is used to determine which continuous variables discriminate between two or more naturally occurring groups, or provide insights into how each predictor (e.g., grades, GRE score) individually and/or in combination predicted completion or non-completion of a graduate program. In DA, the independent variables are the predictors and the dependent variables are the groups.

In contrast, in MANOVA, the independent variables are the groups and the dependent variables are the predictors.

A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) is used to analyze the effects of one or more independent variables on two or more dependent variables that are each measured on an interval or ratio scale.

Structural equation modeling is a technique used to evaluate or confirm the cause-and-effect or hypothesized relationship between both measured and latent variables.

Cluster analysis is a method for grouping objects of similar kind into respective categories. It can be used to discover structures in data without providing an explanation/interpretation.

Question 15

Question ID #7111: Briquet's syndrome is also known as a:
Select one:
A. Conversion Disorder
B. Somatization Disorder
C. Body Dysmorphic Disorder
D. Hypochondriasis

Answer 15

Correct Answer is: B
Termed after the physican who described the condition in the 1850s, Briquet’s syndrome, or Somatization Disorder, is a chronic Somatoform Disorder with multiple physical symptoms that cannot be explained entirely by a general medical condition or the effects of a substance. The other three response choices are also Somatoform Disorders.

Question 16

Question ID #113: According to the Specialty Guidelines for Forensic Psychologists (APA, 1991), if a psychological evaluation is ordered by a court and the defendant to be evaluated informs the evaluating psychologist that he does not wish to cooperate, the psychologist should:
Select one:
A. conduct the evaluation
B. refuse to conduct the evaluation
C. refuse to conduct the evaluation unless the defendant consents
D. postpone the evaluation and notify the defendant’s attorney

Answer 16

Correct Answer is: D
Although it is not necessary to obtain informed consent for court-ordered evaluations, the subject of the evaluation should be informed of its purpose. Furthermore, if the subject does not want to be evaluated, the subject’s attorney should be contacted before taking further action. If the attorney also objects to the evaluation, the psychologist should then notify the court and respond as directed.

Question 17

Question ID #888: Research investigating the brain areas that may be linked to the symptoms of ADHD suggests that degree of impulsivity is associated with the
Select one:
A. size of the caudate nucleus.
B. extent of neural abnormalities in the thalamus.
C. extent of structural abnormality of the corpus callosum.
D. size of the RAS.

Answer 17

Correct Answer is: A
The size of the caudate nucleus (especially in the right hemisphere) has been linked to impulsivity in children with ADHD - the smaller the caudate, the greater the impulsivity. (Abnormalities in the corpus callosum are also found at higher-than-normal rates in children with ADHD, but they have not been consistently linked to impulsivity.)

Question 18

Question ID #997: Following a stroke, a patient exhibits right hemiplegia. Other symptoms are likely to include:
Select one:
A. speech-language deficits and slow-cautious behavior style.
B. spatial-perceptual deficits and slow-cautious behavior style.
C. speech-language deficits and quick-impulsive behavior style.
D. spatial-perceptual deficits and quick-impulsive behavior style.

Answer 18

Correct Answer is: A
Note that the individual has right-sided hemiplegia, which makes the left side of the brain the area that has been affected.
speech-language deficits and slow-cautious behavior style.

speech-language deficits and quick-impulsive behavior style.

This should have helped you narrow the choices down to these two responses since the left side of the brain is responsible for language. At that point you may have had to guess. Now you know that left hemisphere damage is associated with a slow-cautious behavioral style (and that right hemisphere damage is associated with a quick-impulsive style).

Question 19

Question ID #888: Research investigating the brain areas that may be linked to the symptoms of ADHD suggests that degree of impulsivity is associated with the
Select one:
A. size of the caudate nucleus.
B. extent of neural abnormalities in the thalamus.
C. extent of structural abnormality of the corpus callosum.
D. size of the RAS.

Answer 19

Correct Answer is: A
The size of the caudate nucleus (especially in the right hemisphere) has been linked to impulsivity in children with ADHD - the smaller the caudate, the greater the impulsivity. (Abnormalities in the corpus callosum are also found at higher-than-normal rates in children with ADHD, but they have not been consistently linked to impulsivity.)

Current theories about the cause of ADHD focus on biological factors. It has been linked to abnormalities in the prefrontal cortex (which mediates higher-order cognitive functions), the cerebellum (which coordinates motor activity), and the caudate nucleus and putamen (which are part of the basal ganglia and are involved in the control of movement). Evidence for a genetic contribution is provided by research finding higher rates of the disorder among biological relatives than the general population, with the degree of risk for developing the disorder increasing with degree of kinship.

Finally, research has found that people with ADHD often have difficulty paying attention in some settings but not others and that problems are more likely to occur in dull, repetitious, familiar, highly structured situations, and situations in which reinforcement is inconsistently provided or is unavailable (e.g., Zentall, 1985). These findings led Barkley (1990) to propose the behavioral disinhibition hypothesis, which predicts that the essential characteristic of ADHD is an inability to adjust activity levels to the requirements of the situation.

Question 20

Question ID #1092: When a multiple regression analysis is employed to predict outcome, there should be
Select one:
A. low intercorrelations among the predictors and high correlation of each predictor with the criterion.
B. high intercorrelations among the predictors and high correlation of each predictor with the criterion.
C. low intercorrelations among the predictors and low correlation of each predictor with the criterion.
D. high intercorrelations among the predictors and low correlation of each predictor with the criterion.

Answer 20

Correct Answer is: A
This question has come up in other examples throughout the tests. Simply stated, we need to have a high correlation between the predictor and the criterion we’re making predictions about (this eliminates two of the four alternatives). Also, we need to have the predictors themselves be more or less independent of each other. That is, they shouldn’t intercorrelate. If they do, then there’s no point in using all of them – if they all measure the same thing, why not use just one? So, you don’t want the predictors to intercorrelate.

Most behaviors are complex; thus, attempting to predict them simply on the basis of scores on one predictor may have limited utility. However, it is also possible to estimate the relationship between scores on two or more predictors and a criterion variable. For instance, in predicting college GPA, we might want to use a number of predictors, such as high school GPA, SAT scores, IQ scores, etc. Each variable alone predicts college GPA to some extent, but their combined predictive ability is higher.

The relationship between two or more predictor variables and one criterion variable can be assessed through a multiple correlation coefficient, or multiple R. The higher the value of multiple R, the stronger the relationship between the combination of predictor variables and the criterion variable. And the use of scores on more than one predictor to estimate scores on a criterion is known as multiple regression. (When there is only one “X” variable and one “Y” variable, these procedures are sometimes referred to as simple correlation and simple regression to distinguish them from multiple correlation and multiple regression.) For instance, in the above example, we could take a student’s high school GPA, SAT score, and IQ score and input them into a multiple regression equation. The output would be the student’s predicted college GPA. For the exam, you should understand the following points about multiple correlation and multiple regression:

1. The multiple correlation coefficient (and therefore, the predictive power of the multiple regression equation) is highest when predictor variables each have high correlations with the criterion but low correlations with each other. Low correlations between predictors are desired because it is better when each predictor provides new information about the criterion. If predictors overlap (i.e., have high correlations with each other), combining them yields no significantly new information. The problem of significant predictor overlap is sometimes referred to as multicollinearity.

Due to multicollinearity, after you have three or four predictors, adding additional ones will not yield a significant increase in the predictive power of multiple regression, even if the new tests have a substantial correlation with the criterion. That’s because in actual practice, the new fourth or fifth test is bound to have a high correlation with one of the previous predictors.

2. The multiple correlation coefficient is never lower than the highest simple correlation between an individual predictor and the criterion. For instance, if an IQ test has a correlation of .50 with college GPA, the multiple R for the combination of the IQ and other predictors must be at least .50. Though it’s possible that (due to multicollinearity) adding predictors won’t increase multiple R, it’s impossible that adding predictors will decrease multiple R.
3. The multiple R can never be negative. That’s because the calculational procedures used to derive a multiple R don’t allow for a negative outcome.
4. Like the Pearson r, the multiple R can be squared in order to facilitate its interpretation. The multiple correlation squared (R2) is called the “coefficient of multiple determination,” and indicates the proportion of variance in the criterion variable accounted for by the combination of predictor variables.

Question 21

Question ID #1265: A high achiever would most likely attribute failures to
Select one:
A. internal, unstable, and controllable factors.
B. internal, stable, and uncontrollable factors.
C. external, stable, and controllable factors.
D. external, unstable, and uncontrollable factors.

Answer 21

Correct Answer is: A
Research by Weiner and others has suggested that people who have high expectations for future performance (such as high achievers) tend to attribute their failure to a lack of effort. Effort is an internal, unstable, and controllable factor. Most research suggests that of these dimensions, stability is the most important in expectations for future achievement. The idea is that, if you attribute failure to an unstable cause, you must expect that you will not fail in most situations.

Weiner developed a two-dimensional model of attributions for success and failure that distinguishes between two dimensions – internal vs. external and stable vs. unstable. The possible combinations of these two dimensions yield four types of attributions that people make when judging their own performance or the performance of others: (a) Attributing performance to ability is an internal/stable attribution. (b) Attributing performance to effort to effort is an internal/unstable attribution. (c) Attributing performance to task difficulty is an external/stable attribution. (d) Attributing performance to luck is an external/unstable attribution. (B. Weiner, Achievement motivation and attribution theory, Morristown, NJ, General Learning Press, 1974).

Weiner’s model has been used to explain the motivational differences of high- and low-achievers: High achievers tend to approach (rather than avoid) tasks because they view success as the result of their own ability and effort and failure to be due to insufficient effort. In contrast, low achievers tend to avoid tasks because they regard success to be the result of low task difficulty or good luck and failure to be due to a lack of ability. In other words, high achievers view success as the result of their own behaviors and are, therefore, motivated to work hard to ensure positive outcomes, while low achievers are less likely to work hard because feel they have little control over their outcomes.

Note: Weiner subsequently added a third dimension – controllable vs. uncontrollable – to his original model. (An attributional theory of motivation and emotion, New York, Springer-Verlag, 1986.)

Question 22

Question ID #1442: The item difficulty ("p") index yields information about the difficulty of test items in terms of a(n) \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ scale of measurement.
Select one:
A. nominal
B. ordinal
C. interval
D. ratio

Answer 22

Correct Answer is: B
An item difficulty index indicates the percentage of individuals who answer a particular item correctly. For example, if an item has a difficulty index of .80, it means that 80% of test-takers answered the item correctly. Although it appears that the item difficulty index is a ratio scale of measurement, according to Anastasi (1982) it is actually an ordinal scale because it does not necessarily indicate equivalent differences in difficulty.

For most testing purposes, the difficulty of an item is defined in terms of the percentage of examinees who answer it correctly. This percentage is referred to as an item difficulty index, and is abbreviated as “p.” For example, if for a particular item p = .80, this means that 80% of examinees passed that item. (Note that the higher the p value, the less difficult the item.)

In most cases, test developers attempt to choose items with a moderate difficulty level (i.e., items with a p value at or around .50). This strategy increases test score variability, which as noted earlier, is associated with the highest levels of reliability and validity. In addition, moderately difficult items provide maximum differentiation between high-scoring and low-scoring examinees.

However, tests will have different difficulty levels depending on the purpose of testing. If, for example, a school system wanted to identify the high achievers in order to determine which students should be admitted to an accelerated learning program, the average difficulty level should be around .25, meaning that, on the average, only 25% of the student group pass the items. The difficulty level should approximate the selection ratio: if only 25 percent of the applicants are to be selected, the item difficulty level should be approximately .25.

But, if the test were to be used as a measure of mastery, or how much was achieved as a result of some educational program, the average item difficulty level would likely be set at a higher level. Mastery tests are designed to determine whether a person can attain a pre-established level of minimal acceptable performance. These tests are often given to determine whether an individual has mastered the basic essentials of a skill or knowledge domain before advancing to the next learning level. Under these conditions, a high percentage of test-takers are expected to pass; thus, the optimal item difficulty level is usually around .80 or .90.

And finally, on tests for which it is possible that examinees can select the correct answer through blind guessing, a higher p level is usually desirable. This is because if the p level is too low on such tests, correct responses are likely to reflect a chance guess rather than the actual characteristic being measured. The rule-of-thumb is that the average difficulty level of test items should be about halfway between 1.0 (i.e., everybody passing the item) and the level of success expected by chance alone. For instance, on a true-false test, 50% of examinees would be expected to answer a given item correctly by chance alone. Thus, the optimal item difficulty level for a true-false test would be .75 - i.e., halfway between .50 and 1.0. And, on a multiple choice test where items offer five possible responses, there is a 20% chance of answering items correctly through chance alone. Thus, the optimal average item difficulty level would be .60 - halfway between .20 and 1.0.

Note that the average item difficulty level of a test is affected by the nature of the sample of individuals on whom the item is tried out. For instance, if you administer items from an achievement test to a group of gifted students only, you will end up with a higher average p level than if the items were administered to a random sample of students. Thus, individuals in the try-out sample should be chosen so that they are representative of the population for which the test is intended.

Nature of Item Difficulty Data

According to Anne Anastasi (1982), the p level (percentage of individuals passing an item) expresses item difficulty in terms of an ordinal scale. Anastasi states that it is not an interval or ratio scale because equivalent differences in the p level do not necessarily indicate equivalent differences in difficulty:

“The percentage of persons passing an item expresses item difficulty in terms on an ordinal scale; that is, it correctly indicates the rank order or relative difficulty of items. For example, if items 1, 2, and 3 are passed by 30%, 20%, and 10% of the cases, respectively we can conclude that Item 1 is the easiest and Item 3 is the hardest of the three. But we cannot infer that the difference in difficulty between Items 1 and 2 is equal to the difference between Items 2 and 3” (Anastasi, 1982, p. 194).

It would be possible to argue that the p level expresses item difficulty in terms of a ratio scale. However, Anastasi is a recognized expert in the field and for the purposes of the exam, we suggest that you go with her opinion on the matter.

ITEM DISCRIMINATION

Item discrimination refers to the degree to which a test item differentiates among examinees in terms of the behavior that the test is designed to measure. For example, an item on the psychological licensing exam would have good discriminability if high-scoring individuals consistently answered it correctly, while low-scoring individuals consistently answered it incorrectly. Or an item on a depression inventory would have good discriminability if depressed individuals consistently answered it differently from non-depressed examinees.

Item discrimination can be measured in a variety of ways. For instance, one method is to correlate item responses with the total test score; items with the highest correlation with the total score are retained for the final version of the test. This technique is appropriate when a test measures only one attribute and internal consistency is very important. Alternatively, if the test is designed to predict performance on an external criterion, each individual item would be correlated with the criterion measure. When this method is used, the goal is usually to choose items that have high correlations with the criterion but low correlations with each other.

Item discrimination can be assessed by calculating an item discrimination index, which is abbreviated as “D.” The calculation of D first involves dividing examinees into the lowest and highest scoring groups (often, the bottom and top 27%, respectively). Calculation of D involves, for each item, subtracting the percentage of examinees in the lower scoring group (L) from the percentage of examinees in the upper scoring group (U) who answered the item correctly (D = U -L).

D can range in value from 100 to -100. If all the members of the upper scoring group answer the item correctly and none in the lower scoring group do, D would equal 100 (maximum discriminability). Conversely, if all examinees in the lowest scoring group and none in the upper scoring group answer the item correctly, its D would be -100. And if an equal proportion of individuals in both groups answers the item correctly (e.g., if everybody gets it correct or wrong), its D would be 0, and it would have no discriminability.

Though distinct, the concepts of item discrimination and item difficulty are related. Specifically, an item’s difficulty level places a ceiling on its discrimination index. For instance, if an item’s difficulty level is 1.0 (everybody answers it correctly) or 0.0 (nobody answers it correctly), its D will be 0. This is because an item that everybody answers in the same way can have no value in discriminating between two groups. By contrast, an item with a p value of .50 will have the maximum potential D value. In other words, the highest discriminability is associated with items that have a moderate difficulty level. Item discrimination has also been shown to be related to the reliability of the test - the higher the mean D, the higher the reliability of the test.

Regardless of which method of estimating item discrimination is used, the results tend to be similar. That is, the same items tend to be retained for the test no matter what method is used.

3. ITEM RESPONSE THEORY

Item response theory refers to a complex mathematical approach to item analysis, and we won’t get into all the complexities of it here. Analysis based on item response theory is derived from what are known as item characteristic curves (or ICCs). ICCs are graphs which depict each item in terms of how difficult the item was for individuals in different ability groups. Examples of three item characteristic curves are given below (from Anastasi, 1982):

On this graph, the ability level of subjects, from 1 to 10, is on the horizontal (x) axis; these ability levels could have been based on pre-testing or on the subjects’ total score on the test. The vertical axis contains the probability of a correct answer (i.e., the item difficulty or p level). Each curve represents an individual item and shows how difficult the item was for people in each of the ability groups. For example, about 1% of the people in ability group 1 and 100% of people in ability group 10 answered item one correctly. And about 18% of people in ability group 1 and 90% of people in ability group 10 answered item three correctly.

One feature of these item characteristic curves is that they are a useful way of depicting both the item difficulty and the item discrimination of an item. The item difficulty is represented by the point on the ability axis where the probability of a correct response is .50. For instance, about 50% of people in ability group 4 answered item 1 correctly; thus, this item has a “level 4” difficulty on a scale of 1-10 (note that this is another way of measuring item difficulty; it is not the same thing as the “p” level). And an item’s discrimination is indicated by the slope of its item characteristic curve. For instance, item 3’s curve is not as steep as the curves for items 1 or 2. This means that item 3 is more useful for discriminating between high and low scorers than items 1 or 2.

The discrimination and difficulty level of an item are two of the three item parameters identified by an ICC. The third is the probability that an examinee can answer the question correctly by guessing. On the chart, this is represented by the point at which the curve crosses the y axis. For instance, the probability of guessing the correct answer to item 3 is about .15; and, since the curves for items 1 and 2 don’t cross the y axis, the probability of guessing correctly on those items is 0.

Item response theory makes some assumptions about test items that have important practical implications. Two of these assumptions are listed below.

1) Performance on an item is related to the estimated amount of a latent trait being measured by the item. For instance, on the example depicted on the above ICCs, it would be assumed that ability is a latent trait, and that the more items a person answers correctly, the more of that latent trait the person possesses. This assumption implies that the scores of individuals tested with different items can be directly compared to each other (as long as the item parameters are known) since all the items measure the same latent trait.
2) Item response theory assumes that the results of testing are sample free, an assumption which is known as “invariance of item parameters.” In other words, an item should have the same parameters (e.g., difficulty and discrimination levels) across all random samples of a population. This assumption implies that, once analyzed, items of wide ranging difficulty levels can be used with any individual to provide an estimate of his or her ability. Research suggests that the invariance of item parameters assumption only holds true when working with very large samples (Anastasi, 1982).

Also, item response theory is useful for comparing total test scores of a sample of examinees to the proportion of examinees who answered each item correctly.

In addition, item response theory has been applied to what is known as adaptive testing of ability. This involves administering a set of items tailored to the examinee’s estimated level of ability. For instance, examinees might be given a preliminary test to estimate their ability level, and then a follow-up test, customized for them based on their estimated ability. Often, the selection of test items for individual examinees is computerized, in which case it is referred to as computer adaptive assessment.

Question 23

From the perspective of general systems theory,‭ ‬if an open system is faced with an unexpected threat,‭ ‬it will:

  A close down.   
  B attempt to maintain a steady state.   
  C defend against or adapt to it.   
  D break down.

Answer 23

Systems theory underlies family therapy, in which a family is viewed as an open system that interacts with the environment.

a. Incorrect See explanation for response c.
b. Incorrect See explanation for response c.
c. CORRECT Open systems respond to input by modifying or elaborating structural elements. Under some conditions, the system will react in a way that maintains homeostasis; in other conditions, the system changes or adapts to the new input.
d. Incorrect See explanation for response c.

Question 24

A practitioner of existential therapy is most likely to say that anxiety is:

 A  a normal reaction to the constant threat of death.   
 B  a normal reaction to the‭ “‬birth trauma.‭”   
 C  a sign of irresponsibility.   
 D a sign of unresolved conflicts.

Answer 24

Existential therapies are derived from existential philosophy and share an emphasis on the human conditions of depersonalization, loneliness, and isolation.

a. CORRECT For existential therapists, behaviors commonly perceived as “maladaptive” are a natural part of being human. Anxiety, for example, is conceptualized as a normal response to the constant threat of nonbeing (death).
b. Incorrect See explanation for response a.
c. Incorrect See explanation for response a.
d. Incorrect See explanation for response a.

Question 25

‭__________ ‬can be viewed as a phenomenon that provides a therapist with opportunities to‭ “‬hear‭” ‬the message behind a client’s overt behavior.

 A  Identification   
 B  Primary process   
 C  Countertransference   
 D Introjection

Answer 25

It is not totally clear from the question what is being asked about, and it may have been necessary to consider the responses to understand what the question is getting at.

a. Incorrect Identification has several meanings in psychology, but this is not one of them. One definition describes it as the process of associating one’s self with other people and assuming their attitudes, behaviors, etc.
b. Incorrect Primary process is the type of thinking that is a function of the id and is guided by the pleasure principle.
c. CORRECT Freud viewed countertransference as an obstacle to the progress of therapy, but others have redefined it as a potential source of useful information about clients.
d. Incorrect Introjection also has more than one definition. One definition describes it as the incorporation of another person’s values and beliefs into one’s own personality.

Question 26

A‭ ‬14-year old boy engages in‭ “‬acting-out‭” ‬behaviors whenever his parents begin talking about separating,‭ ‬and his actions temporarily disrupt their discussion and plans.‭ ‬From the perspective of family therapy,‭ ‬the boy’s behavior is best described as:

A   scapegoating.   
B   a blurring of boundaries.   
C   positive feedback.   
D   an attempt to restore homeostasis.

Answer 26

24. In this situation, the boy is trying to prevent a change in the family’s status.
    a. Incorrect Scapegoating occurs when a family member (the scapegoat) is placed in a role that exposes him/her to blame, criticism, etc.
    b. Incorrect The boy’s behavior does not seem relevant to the concept of boundaries.
    c. Incorrect Positive feedback causes change in a system, while negative feedback serves to maintain the status quo. The boy’s behavior is an example of negative feedback because it keeps the family together.
    d. CORRECT Homeostasis is the tendency of a system to maintain the status quo. In the situation described in the question, the boy’s behavior is serving to maintain the family system by keeping his parents together.