Missed Exam Questions Flashcards
Following a stroke, a man shaves only the right side of his face, eats food only on the right side of his plate, and frequently bumps into door frames with the left side of his body. Which of the following areas of the brain was affected by the stroke? A. frontal lobe B. temporal lobe C. occipital lobe D. parietal lobe
EPPP-P1-PHY-Brain Regions/Functions – Cerebral Cortex-108 Answer D is correct. This man’s symptoms are characteristic of contralateral neglect, which is also known as hemispatial neglect and is caused by damage to the parietal lobe (most often the right parietal lobe). A person with this disorder is unaware of areas and objects on the side of his/her body opposite to the location of the damage.
A company’s current selection procedure for computer programmers consists of seven predictors that are used to predict the job performance score that a job applicant will receive six months after being hired. The owner of the company wants to reduce the costs and time required to make selection decisions. Which of the following would be most useful for determining the fewest number of predictors needed to make accurate predictions about applicants’ job performance scores? A. linear regression analysis B. discriminant function analysis C. stepwise multiple regression D. factor analysis
Answer C is correct. Multiple regression is used to predict a person’s score on a single criterion (e.g., job performance measure) using two or more predictors. Stepwise multiple regression is a type of multiple regression that’s used to identify the fewest number of predictors needed to make an accurate prediction.
In Ainsworth’s (Ainsworth et al., 1978) “strange situation,” an infant with an ____________ attachment pattern is indifferent to his/her mother and may act as though she’s not present, shows little or no distress when she leaves, and ignores her when she returns. Mothers of children with this attachment pattern are often ____________.
A. avoidant; rejecting/unresponsive or intrusive/overstimulating
B. avoidant; moody/depressed and inconsistent
C. ambivalent; rejecting/unresponsive or intrusive/overstimulating
D. ambivalent; moody/depressed and inconsistent
Answer A is correct. Ainsworth and her colleagues distinguished between two types of insecure attachment patterns: avoidant and ambivalent (which is also referred to as resistant). The infant behaviors described in this question are characteristic of children with the avoidant pattern, and parents of children with this pattern are often either rejecting and unresponsive or intrusive and overstimulating.
You receive a letter from a former client’s current therapist asking you to fax confidential information about the client’s treatment. The request is accompanied by a signed authorization for release of information from the client. You should:
A. ask the therapist to confirm that he received the documents after you send them.
B. mark each page “confidential” before faxing the requested information to the therapist.
C. fax the requested information to the therapist after ensuring that all information that identifies the client has been removed.
D. refuse to fax the information and send a copy of the file by courier instead.
Answer C is correct. This answer is most consistent with the requirements of Standard 6.02(b) of the APA Ethics Code and Standard I.42 of the Canadian Code of Ethics. Standard 6.02(b) states that, “if confidential information concerning recipients of psychological services is entered into databases or systems of records available to persons whose access has not been consented to by the recipient, psychologists use coding or other techniques to avoid the inclusion of personal identifiers.” When information is faxed or otherwise transferred electronically, it is not possible to guarantee it will not be accessed by unauthorized individuals. Therefore, removing identifying information is the best course of action.
Which of the following best describes the premise underlying the James-Lange theory of emotion?
A. A stimulus is perceived, the stimulus is interpreted, and bodily arousal, behavior, and emotion then occur simultaneously.
B. A stimulus is perceived, bodily arousal and a label for that arousal occur, and behavior and emotion then occur simultaneously.
C. A stimulus is perceived, bodily arousal and behavior occur, and emotion is then experienced.
D. A stimulus is perceived, the stimulus is interpreted, emotion is experienced, and behavior then occurs.
Answer C is correct. The James-Lange theory replaces the idea that “we run because we’re afraid” with the idea that “we’re afraid because we run.” In other words, according to this theory, we perceive a stimulus, we respond to the stimulus with arousal and behavior, and we then experience an emotion as we become aware of our bodily reactions.
With regard to language, the smallest unit of meaning is referred to as a: A. word. B. grapheme. C. phoneme. D. morpheme.
Answer D is correct. Morphemes are the smallest meaningful units in a language. For example, in the English language, “inter,” “er,” “ism,” “pre,” and “post” are morphemes.
Miller’s (1956) “magical number seven, plus or minus two” refers to:
A. the capacity of sensory memory.
B. the capacity of short-term memory.
C. the duration (in milliseconds) of information in sensory memory.
D. the duration (in seconds) of information in working memory.
Answer B is correct. Miller found that the capacity of short-term memory is limited to between five and nine (seven plus and minus two) chunks of information.
The two main types of integrity tests that are used to assist with selection decisions are: A. general and specific trait tests. B. covert and behavior-based tests. C. objective and subjective tests. D. overt and personality-based tests.
Answer D is correct. There are two main types of integrity tests: Overt integrity tests ask directly about attitudes toward and previous history of dishonesty and theft, while personality-based integrity tests assess aspects of personality that have been linked to dishonesty, disciplinary problems, sabotage, and other counterproductive behaviors
Dr. Edison is a behavior therapist who specializes in treating cigarette smoking, nail biting, and other undesirable habits. While at a charity fundraiser, he meets the editor of a local newspaper and they agree that Dr. Edison will help the editor stop smoking in exchange for an article about his services in the newspaper. In terms of ethical requirements, this arrangement is:
A. acceptable as long as it does not interfere with Dr. Edison’s ability to provide treatment to the editor in an objective, competent manner.
B. acceptable as long as Dr. Edison and the editor agree that it’s an equitable exchange.
C. unacceptable because psychologists are prohibited from compensating employees of newspapers in exchange for a newspaper article about their services.
D. unacceptable because psychologists are required to avoid conflicts of interest.
Answer C is correct. This is the best answer because it accurately describes the requirements of Standard 5.02(b) of the APA Ethics Code. It states that psychologists “do not compensate employees of press, radio, television, or other communication media in return for publicity in a news item.” This answer is also consistent with Standard III.28 of the Canadian Code of Ethics, which prohibits psychologists from exploiting “any relationship established as a psychologist to further personal, political, or business interests at the expense of the dignity or well-being of their primary clients, contract examinees, research participants, students, trainees, employers, or others.”
Your new client is Adam, a 19-year-old college sophomore, who says his restlessness, inability to concentrate, and impulsiveness are interfering with his ability to do well in his classes. He tells you that, when he was a child, his pediatrician thought he had attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. However, his symptoms – especially his hyperactivity – started “getting better” when he was in high school. To assign a diagnosis of ADHD to Adam, he must have at least:
A. five symptoms of inattention and/or five symptoms of hyperactivity and impulsivity.
B. six symptoms of inattention and/or six symptoms of hyperactivity and impulsivity.
C. a total of five symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, and/or impulsivity.
D. a total of six symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, and/or impulsivity.
Answer A is correct. The DSM-5 diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) requires at least six symptoms of inattention and/or six symptoms of hyperactivity and impulsivity for children, or at least five symptoms of inattention and/or five symptoms of hyperactivity and impulsivity for individuals 17 years of age and older.
In the context of factor analysis, “oblique” means: A. statistically significant. B. statistically insignificant. C. uncorrelated. D. correlated.
Answer D is correct. The factors extracted (identified) in a factor analysis can be either orthogonal or oblique. Orthogonal factors are uncorrelated, while oblique factors are correlated.
When designing a training program, providing “identical elements” is most important for: A. maximizing trainee motivation. B. ensuring transfer of training. C. setting realistic training goals. D. retraining older workers.
Answer B is correct. According to the principle of identical elements, the more similar the training and performance situations are, the greater the transfer of training.
According to Berry’s (1990) acculturation model, a person is \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ when he or she has rejected his or her own minority culture and the dominant culture. A. marginalized B. separated C. unacculturated D. transmutated
Answer A is correct. Berry’s model distinguishes between four levels of acculturation that are determined by the person’s acceptance or rejection of his/her own minority culture and the majority culture: integrated, assimilated, separated, and marginalized. A person is marginalized when he/she has rejected both cultures.
Restitution and positive practice are components of which of the following? A. response cost B. Premack principle C. overcorrection D. differential reinforcement
Answer C is correct. Overcorrection is used to reduce or eliminate an undesirable behavior and is classified as a type of positive punishment. It consists of two components: Restitution requires the individual to fix any negative consequences of the behavior (e.g., having a child clean up the food he threw on the floor while the family ate dinner). Positive practice involves practicing more appropriate behaviors (e.g., having the child scrape the uneaten food off the plates of other family members into the garbage can).
By about \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ months of age, children use two words to create a simple sentence – for example, “juice gone,” “get toy,” and “big doggie.” A. 12 to 18 B. 18 to 24 C. 24 to 30 D. 30 to 36
Answer B is correct. The use of two words to create a sentence is referred to as telegraphic speech. It begins when a child is between 18 and 24 months of age and usually includes a noun and a verb or a noun and an adjective.
The Bender-Gestalt II is a measure of visual-motor integration that’s also used as a: A. screening test for brain damage. B. screening test for mental maturity. C. measure of behavioral inhibition. D. measure of executive functioning.
Answer A is correct. Although the Bender-Gestalt II does not provide detailed information about the location or effects of brain damage, it’s considered useful as a screening test for brain damage, especially right parietal lobe damage
Which of the following is a culture-reduced measure of fluid intelligence? A. Kuhlmann-Anderson B. Raven’s Progressive Matrices C. Woodcock-Johnson D. Slosson Intelligence Test
Answer B is correct. The Raven’s Progressive Matrices (RPM) tests are measures of fluid intelligence and are considered to be culture-reduced because they do not use language and performance does not depend on specific cultural or academic learning. There are three RPM tests: Standard Progressive Matrices, Colored Progressive Matrices, and Advanced Progressive Matrices.
The test manual for an academic achievement test indicates that it has an alternate forms reliability coefficient of .80. This means that _____ of variability in test scores is true score variability.
Answer A is correct. Reliability coefficients are interpreted directly as the percent of variability in test scores that is due to true score variability. When the reliability coefficient is .80, this means that 80% of variability in scores is due to true score variability and 20% is due to measurement error.
Job applicants who are hired on the basis of their scores on a job selection test but then obtain unsatisfactory scores on a measure of job performance six months later are: A. false negatives. B. true negatives. C. false positives. D. true positives.
Answer C is correct. To identify the correct answer to this question, you have to remember that a person’s score on the predictor (in this case, the job selection test) determines whether he/she is a “positive” or “negative” and that the person’s score on the criterion (the measure of job performance) determines whether he/she is a “true” or “false” positive or negative. Therefore, for this question, a “true positive,” is an applicant who scored above the cutoff on the job selection test and receives satisfactory scores on the job performance measure, while a “false positive” (the correct answer) is an applicant who scored above the cutoff on the job selection test but receives unsatisfactory scores on the job performance measure. A “true negative” is an applicant who scored below the cutoff on the job selection test and would have received unsatisfactory scores on the job performance measure if he/she had been hired, while a “false negative” is an applicant who scored below the cutoff on the job selection test but would have received satisfactory scores on the job performance measure if he/she had been hired.
The development of depth perception in infancy involves becoming sensitive to three types of information in a predictable order, with \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ information being the first type that infants are sensitive to. A. interposition B. kinetic C. binocular D. pictorial
Answer B is correct. In their study on the development of depth perception, A. Yonas and C. E. Granrud found that infants respond to kinetic cues at one to three months of age, binocular cues at three to five months, and pictorial cues at five to seven months (The development of sensitivity to kinetic, binocular, and pictorial depth information in human infants, in D. Ingle, D. Lee, and R. M. Jeannerod (Eds.), Brain mechanisms and spatial vision, pp. 113-145, Amsterdam, Martinus Nijhoff Press, 1985).
Atkinson, Morten, and Sue’s (2003) racial/cultural identity development model predicts that an African American client in the \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ stage will most likely prefer having a White therapist. A. disintegration B. resistance C. dissonance D. conformity
Answer D is correct. Atkinson, Morten, and Sue’s racial/cultural identity development model distinguishes between five stages: conformity, dissonance, resistance and immersion, introspection, and integrative awareness. Minority group members in the conformity stage have negative attitudes toward their own minority group and other minority groups and positive attitudes toward Whites (the dominant group). They view White culture as superior and, with regard to therapy, prefer a White therapist.
Which of the following is the appropriate bivariate correlation coefficient to use when the scores to be correlated are both reported as ranks? A. Spearman B. Pearson C. biserial D. point biserial
Answer A is correct. The full-name of the Spearman correlation coefficient is the Spearman rank-order correlation coefficient. As its name suggests, it’s used to correlate scores on two variables that are reported as ranks.
Which of the following is a type of counterbalanced design? A. Solomon four-group B. Latin square C. factorial D. multiple-baseline
Answer B is correct. Counterbalancing is used to control order effects that may occur when a within-subjects design is used – i.e., when subjects in each group will receive or participate in all levels of the independent variable. The Latin square is a type of counterbalanced design that ensures that the different levels of the independent variable are assigned to the groups of subjects so that each level appears an equal number of times in each ordinal position.
The standard error of the mean increases in size as the:
A. population standard deviation and sample size decrease.
B. population standard deviation and sample size increase.
C. population standard deviation increases and sample size decreases.
D. population standard deviation decreases and sample size increases.
Answer C is correct. The standard error of the mean is the standard deviation of the sampling distribution of the mean and is used to determine how well a sample mean estimates a population mean. It’s calculated by dividing the population standard deviation by the square root of the sample size, and it increases as the population standard deviation increases and the sample size decreases, and vice versa.
A psychologist is planning a research study to evaluate the effects of a two-hour online lecture on statistics for improving the statistics knowledge of 35 psychologists who have just started studying for the EPPP. All participants will (1) take a pre-test consisting of 50 multiple-choice statistics questions on Monday, (2) attend the online lecture on Wednesday evening, and (3) take a post-test consisting of 50 multiple-choice statistics questions that are equivalent to the pre-test questions on Friday. To analyze the data she obtains in her study, the researcher will use which of the following? A. t-test for a single sample B. t-test for correlated samples C. two-way ANOVA D. single-sample chi-square test
Answer B is correct. The first steps in identifying the appropriate statistical test are to identify the independent and dependent variables and the scale of measurement of the dependent variable. This study’s independent variable is the lecture on statistics and the dependent variable is statistics test score. The dependent variable is measured on a ratio scale, which means that the statistical test will be used to compare the mean scores obtained by the psychologists on the pre- and post-tests. The t-test and ANOVA are both used to compare mean scores, but because there are only two means, the t-test is the appropriate test. To determine which t-test to use, you determine how the means will be obtained: In this study they will be obtained from a single group of subjects, and the t-test for correlated samples is used when two means are obtained from the same group or from two groups that are related in some way.
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ was used to develop the Occupational Scales of the Strong Interest Inventory, which means that items included in the scale distinguished between people in the different occupational groups and “people-in-general.” A. Rational keying B. Theoretical keying C. Empirical criterion keying D. Homogeneous keying
Answer C is correct. As its name suggests, empirical criterion keying involves including items in a scale or test that distinguish between criterion groups. For the Occupational Scales of the Strong Interest Inventory, the criterion groups were people in the different occupational groups and a group consisting of “people-in-general.”
Dr. Osprey conducted a study to evaluate the effects of an anti-drug program on attitudes toward drug use for middle school students from low-income families. Subjects were 662 7th and 8th graders attending an inner-city school. Attitudes toward drugs were assessed in the second week of September, the five-hour anti-drug program was administered in five one-hour sessions during the second week of October, and attitudes toward drugs were then re-assessed in the second week of November. Results indicated that the program significantly increased negative attitudes toward drug use. The biggest threat to the internal validity of this study is which of the following? A. statistical regression B. selection C. reactivity D. history
Answer D is correct. History threatens a study’s internal validity whenever an external event that occurs during the course of the study has a systematic effect on subjects’ scores or status on the dependent variable(s). Given that this study includes only one group of subjects and takes place over a two-month period of time, the biggest threat to its internal validity is history. For example, many of the students may have changed their attitudes not because of the anti-drug program but because they were exposed to information about drug use during the two months in a biology or health class or a TV or billboard ad campaign.
The factor that distinguishes primary hypertension from secondary hypertension is:
A. whether or not the cause of the disorder is known.
B. whether or not the disorder responds to medication.
C. the age at onset of the disorder.
D. the severity of the disorder’s symptoms.
Answer A is correct. There are two types of hypertension. The most common type is primary hypertension, which is also known as essential hypertension and is diagnosed when the cause of elevated blood pressure is unknown. In contrast, secondary hypertension is diagnosed when the cause is known.
When conducting a one-way ANOVA, an F-ratio is calculated by dividing the mean square between (MSB) by the mean square within (MSW). The mean square between provides an estimate of variability in dependent variable scores due to: A. treatment effects only. B. error only. C. treatment effects plus error. D. treatment effects minus error.
Answer C is correct. MSB is a measure of variability due to a combination of treatment effects plus error, while MSW is a measure of variability due to error only. When MSB is divided by MSW, this produces the F-ratio which provides an estimate of treatment effects.
In their Robbers Cave study, Sherif and his colleagues (1966) found that competition between two groups of boys for desired prizes produced a high degree of intergroup hostility. These results provide support for which of the following theories of prejudice and discrimination? A. social identity theory B. realistic conflict theory C. scapegoat theory D. extended contact theory
Answer B is correct. According to realistic conflict theory, prejudice and discrimination are the result of direct competition between groups for scarce and valued resources. Evidence for this theory is provided by Sherif’s Robbers Cave study in which conflict between groups was generated by having two groups of boys who had strong attachments to members of their own group compete for desired prizes.
Which of the following is most responsible for depth perception of objects that are at a close distance? A. motion parallax B. interposition of objects C. retinal disparity D. linear perspective
Answer C is correct. Retinal disparity refers to differences in retinal images in the left and right eyes and is responsible for depth perception of objects that are at a close distance. In contrast, motion parallax (the quicker movement of closer objects across the visual field), interposition (overlap) of objects, and linear perspective are responsible for depth perception of objects that are at a greater distance.
A young man taking a conventional antipsychotic as a treatment for schizophrenia develops tardive dyskinesia. Of the following, which would be the best course of action in this situation?
A. increase the dose of the conventional antipsychotic
B. replace the conventional antipsychotic with an atypical antipsychotic
C. immediately discontinue the conventional antipsychotic
D. have the patient take a low dose of a dopamine antagonist
Answer B is correct. The atypical antipsychotics are less likely to cause tardive dyskinesia and, if a patient’s symptoms require continued treatment with an antipsychotic drug, switching to an atypical drug is an option. The actions described in the other answers would increase the symptoms of tardive dyskinesia. (Withdrawing the conventional antipsychotic is also an option but gradual withdrawal is preferred because symptoms may worsen if the drug is abruptly withdrawn.)
On average, full siblings and other first-degree relatives share \_\_\_\_\_ of their genetic material. A. 90% B. 75% C. 50% D. 25%
Answer C is correct. Full siblings, fraternal twins, and other first degree relatives share about 50% of their genetic material, while half siblings share about 25%.
Therapy based on Boyd-Franklin’s (1989) multisystems model:
A. combines components of the treatment process with levels at which the therapist can provide treatment.
B. includes interventions that target the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem.
C. combines individual interventions for each family member with group therapy and family therapy.
D. involves progressively intervening at the individual, family, and community levels.
Answer A is correct. Boyd-Franklin developed the multisystems model specifically for African American families. The model consists of two main axes: Axis I consists of the components of the treatment process (e.g., joining, assessing, restructuring), while Axis II consists of the various levels at which treatment can be applied (e.g., individual, family, nonblood kin, friends, community).
Which of the following is an example of negative reinforcement? A. A child continues to “act out” in class because of the attention he gets from the other children when he does so. B. A teenager stops biting his nails at school because, whenever he does, his peers make fun of him. C. A woman who knows sweets aren’t good for her continues to eat chocolate because chocolate reduces her anxiety. D. A man stopped smoking after his therapist required him to donate $5.00 to a disliked political candidate every time he lit up a cigarette.
Answer C is correct. Negative reinforcement occurs when a behavior continues or increases because performing the behavior results in the termination or withdrawal of a stimulus. In the situation described in this answer, the woman eats chocolate because doing so stops her anxiety.
Mowrer’s (1960) two-factor theory of learning is most useful for understanding which of the following? A. avoidance conditioning B. escape conditioning C. spontaneous recovery D. operant extinction
Answer A is correct. Mowrer’s two-factor theory of learning proposes that some behaviors are the result of a combination of classical and operant conditioning.
Avoidance conditioning is an example of two-factor learning because it combines classical conditioning and negative reinforcement (operant conditioning). For example, a rat may learn that it can escape (stop) an electric shock by pressing a bar, which is the negative reinforcement component. Then, if a flashing light signals that the shock is about to occur, the light becomes paired with the shock so that the light elicits anticipatory fear, which is the classical conditioning component. The rat then avoids the shock by pressing the bar as soon as the light starts flashing.
The Kuder-Richardson Formula 20 (KR-20) can be used to estimate a test’s \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ reliability when test items are scored dichotomously. A. alternate forms B. internal consistency C. test-retest D. inter-rater
Answer B is correct. KR-20 is a variation of coefficient alpha that can be used to evaluate a test’s internal consistency reliability when test items are scored dichotomously (e.g., as correct or incorrect).
(Remember RICH CUPCAKE WITH INTERNAL CONSISTENCY!)
You obtain the data you need from a sample of licensed psychologists to calculate a correlation coefficient for their EPPP score and yearly salary five years after taking the exam. If you square the correlation coefficient, you will obtain a(n) \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_, which indicates the amount of variability in yearly salary that’s accounted for by EPPP score. A. coefficient of concordance B. coefficient of determination C. kappa coefficient D. eta coefficient
Answer B is correct. Squaring a correlation coefficient produces a coefficient of determination, which is a measure of shared variability – or, put another way, a measure of the amount of variability in one variable that is accounted for by variability in another variable.
Regulated breathing has been found to be an effective treatment for which of the following? A. childhood-onset fluency disorder B. dysarthria C. intermittent explosive disorder D. central sleep apnea
Answer A is correct. Regulated breathing is a behavioral intervention that has been found to be effective for treating stuttering (childhood-onset fluency disorder). It involves teaching the child to breathe in a way that’s incompatible with stuttering. See, e.g., C. A. Conelea, K. A. Rice, and D. W. Woods, Regulated breathing as a treatment for stuttering: A review of the empirical evidence, Journal of Speech-Language Pathology and Applied Behavior Analysis, 1(2), 94-102, 2006.
George Kelly (1955) proposed that people develop personal constructs that help them make sense of new information and experiences. As described by Kelly, personal constructs are:
A. schemas that distort reality.
B. socially acceptable schemas.
C. unidimensional.
D. bipolar.
Answer D is correct. Kelly’s personal construct theory proposes that people perceive, interpret, and anticipate events using bipolar constructs – e.g., good/bad, relevant/irrelevant, fair/unfair. It’s also based on the assumption that each person has his/her own unique set of personal constructs, and Kelly developed the repertory grid technique to examine an individual’s system of personal constructs.
Angie, age 35, is brought to therapy by her sister who says that Angie “hasn’t been herself” for the last month. In response to your questions, you learn from Angie and her sister that Angie has lost her appetite, spends most of the day sleeping, doesn’t seem to have any energy, and is more forgetful than usual. To confirm a DSM-5 diagnosis of major depressive disorder for Angie, you will want to determine if her symptoms include:
A. a depressed mood or feelings of worthlessness or guilt.
B. a depressed mood or loss of interest in usual activities.
C. suicidal ideation or a suicide attempt.
D. feelings of worthlessness or guilt or mood instability.
Answer B is correct. The DSM-5 diagnosis of major depressive disorder requires the presence of at least five characteristics symptoms with at least one symptom being a depressed mood or a loss of interest or pleasure in usual activities. Feelings of worthlessness or guilt and suicidal ideation, a suicide attempt, and a specific plan for committing suicide are symptoms of this disorder, but their presence is not required for the diagnosis.
Donald Super’s life-career rainbow depicts the relationship between which of the following?
A. personality characteristics and characteristics of the work environment
B. career anticipation and implementation
C. life stages and major life roles
D. career maturity and career decisions
Answer C is correct. Super (Super, Savickas, & Super, 1996) created several illustrations to depict the relationships between elements of his life-space, life-span career theory. His life-career rainbow depicts the relationship between life stages and major life roles.
The tendency for people to overestimate the frequency of deaths due to plane crashes and shark attacks and underestimate deaths due to heart disease can be attributed to reliance on which of the following? A. availability heuristic B. anchoring and adjustment heuristic C. counterfactual thinking D. false consensus effect
Answer A is correct. When using the availability heuristic, people base their judgments about the frequency or likelihood of an event on how easy it is to recall relevant examples of the event. Events that are uncommon but memorable (e.g., deaths due to plane crashes or shark attacks) are more easily remembered than events that are more common but less memorable.
The tendency to attribute all problems experienced by students with learning disabilities to their learning disabilities and overlook other possible explanations is an example of the:
A. fundamental attribution error. B. halo bias. C. diagnostic overshadowing bias. D. base rate fallacy. Back to questionsPrevious
Answer C is correct. The diagnostic overshadowing bias is the tendency to attribute all of a person’s symptoms to one diagnosis (e.g., to a learning disability) and overlook the possibility that they may be due to a comorbid condition.
Simon’s (1957) bounded rationality model of decision-making proposes that the assumptions underlying the rational model are often violated because:
A. organizational decisions tend to be incremental.
B. decision-makers tend to satisfice rather than optimize.
C. the decision-making process is susceptible to groupthink.
D. decision-makers rarely get feedback on the outcomes of their decisions.
Answer B is correct. According to the bounded rationality model, rational decision-making is limited by individual and organizational factors and, as a result, decision makers often satisfice – i.e., they consider alternatives only until a minimally acceptable alternative is found.
An organizational psychologist is hired by the owner of Best Plumbing Supply to determine why so many of her employees seem to have low levels of job motivation and satisfaction. The owner says she recently gave employees salary increases and bonuses for outstanding performance, but this did not have a noticeable effect. Being familiar with ____________, the psychologist will most likely tell the owner that, to increase motivation and satisfaction, she should redesign the employees’ jobs so they provide opportunities for autonomy, responsibility, and advancement.
A. two-factor theory
B. equity theory
C. goal-setting theory
D. situational leadership theory
Answer A is correct. The psychologist’s recommendation is most consistent with Herzberg’s (1966) two-factor theory which predicts (a) that hygiene factors (e.g., pay, benefits, and work conditions) cause dissatisfaction when they’re inadequate but do not contribute to satisfaction or motivation when they’re adequate and (b) that motivator factors (e.g., opportunities for autonomy, responsibility, and advancement) do not cause dissatisfaction when they’re inadequate but contribute to satisfaction and motivation when they’re adequate.
When an examinee’s scores on the L, F, and K scales of the MMPI-2 assume a V-shape with a low score on the F scale and high scores on the L and K scales, this suggests which of the following?
A. The examinee attempted to make a favorable impression.
B. The examinee attempted to fake a mental illness.
C. The examinee answered half of the items “true” and the other half “false.”
D. The examinee answered all of the items “true.”
Answer A is correct. The L, F, and K scales are three of the MMPI-2’s validity scales and the L-F-K profile indicates an attempt to “fake good” when it is V-shaped (low F scale score and high L and K scale scores) and an attempt to “fake bad” when it has an inverted-V shape (high F scale score and low L and K scale scores).
Functional neuroimaging techniques include all of the following except: A. CT. B. fMRI. C. PET. D. SPECT.
Answer A is correct. Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are structural neuroimaging techniques that provide information on the brain’s physical structure, while functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), positron-emission tomography (PET), and single proton emission computed tomography (SPECT) are functional techniques that provide information on brain activity.
An employer is concerned about the low motivation of many of her employees and decides to interview them to obtain information on how to alleviate this problem. Being familiar with Vroom’s (1964) expectancy theory, the employer will ask employees about all of the following except:
A. expectancy.
B. instrumentality.
C. commitment.
D. valence.
Answer C is correct. Knowing that expectancy theory is also known as VIE theory would have helped you identify the correct answer to this question: “V” refers to valence, “I” to instrumentality, and “E” to expectancy.
*VIE theory
A child’s school refusal began shortly after the death of her grandmother, is due to fear of being separated from her home and family, and is accompanied by nightmares about her parents dying and stomach aches and other physical symptoms. The most likely DSM-5 diagnosis is:
A. adjustment disorder.
B. separation anxiety disorder.
C. social anxiety disorder.
D. specific phobia.
Answer B is correct. School refusal can be a manifestation of several psychiatric disorders including separation anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, or social anxiety disorder. When it’s due to separation anxiety disorder, the primary symptom is excessive fear or anxiety about being separated from an attachment figure, and other symptoms may include repeated nightmares related to separation and physical symptoms when separation occurs or is anticipated.
According to Fiedler’s (1967) contingency theory, a low LPC leader is most effective in:
A. moderately favorable situations.
B. very unfavorable situations.
C. very favorable situations.
D. very unfavorable and very favorable situations.
Answer D is correct. According to Fiedler, low LPC leaders are most effective in very unfavorable and very favorable situations, while high LPC leaders are most effective in moderately favorable situations.
*You would’ve gotten it right if you Drew it out!
When assessing the performance of the employees he supervises, Mr. Stein tends to prioritize an employee’s willingness to take responsibility for resolving work-related problems. Consequently, when assessing employees who consistently and enthusiastically assume responsibility, Mr. Stein gives them high ratings on unrelated dimensions of job performance. And when assessing employees who frequently shirk responsibility, Mr. Stein gives them low ratings on all dimensions of job performance. Mr. Stein’s tendency is an example of which of the following?
A. contrast error B. halo error C. leniency/strictness bias D. similarity bias Back to questions
Answer B is correct. The halo error occurs when a rater’s rating of an employee on one dimension of job performance affects how the rater rates the employee on all other dimensions.
According to Carl Rogers (1951), incongruence between self and experience produces anxiety, which a person may respond to defensively by:
A. denying or distorting the experience.
B. adopting an exaggerated sense of self-worth.
C. becoming fixated at the previous stage of development.
D. developing a mistaken style of life.
Answer A is correct. Rogers proposed that people often respond defensively to incongruence between self and experience with denial or distortion. Denial involves denying the existence of the experience or its significance, while distortion involves altering the meaning of the experience to make it more consistent with one’s perceived self. Although denial and distortion can provide temporary relief, they fail to resolve incongruence and can lead to psychological disturbance.
In a research study, children were told not to play with an attractive toy during a free play period. Some of the children were told that the consequence for playing with the toy would be mild punishment, while others were told the consequence would be more severe punishment. All of the children refrained from playing with the toy but, when subsequently asked about the toy, only those who faced the threat of mild punishment said they disliked it. These results are consistent with the predictions of which of the following?
A. cognitive dissonance theory
B. elaboration likelihood model
C. theory of planned behavior
D. balance theory
Answer A is correct. This question describes a study conducted by E. Aronson and J. M. Carlson (Effect of severity of threat on the devaluation of forbidden behavior, Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 66, 584-588, 1963). In that study, children in the mild punishment group changed their attitude toward the toy because they did not have adequate justification for not playing with it. In other words, there was insufficient deterrence which, like insufficient justification, caused cognitive dissonance that the children reduced by deciding they didn’t like the toy.
A four-year-old child doesn’t seek comfort from her parents or others when she’s upset and rarely expresses happiness or other positive emotions. Which of the following is needed to confirm the DSM-5 diagnosis of reactive attachment disorder for this child?
A. The child’s symptoms have been present for at least six months.
B. The child’s symptoms started before she was two years old.
C. The child exhibits a pattern of impaired social and emotional responsiveness in at least two settings.
D. The child has experienced a pattern of severe social neglect or frequent changes in primary caregivers.
Answer D is correct. The DSM-5 diagnosis of reactive attachment disorder requires a consistent pattern of inhibited and emotionally withdrawn behaviors toward adult caregivers that is believed to be due to a pattern of extreme insufficient care as evidenced by severe social neglect, frequent changes in primary caregivers that limited the child’s ability to form stable attachments, and/or rearing in an unusual setting that limited the child’s ability to form selective attachments.
In a normal distribution of scores, a T-score of \_\_\_\_\_ is equivalent to a z-score of \_\_\_\_\_ and a percentile rank of 84. A. 50; 0 B. 50; 1.0 C. 60; 1.0 D. 70; 2.0 Back to questions
Answer C is correct. In a normal distribution, a percentile rank of 84 is one standard deviation above the mean. The T-score distribution has a mean of 50 and standard deviation of 10, so a T-score of 60 is one standard deviation above the mean. And the z-score distribution has a mean of 0 and standard deviation of 1.0, so a z-score of 1.0 is one standard deviation above the mean.
A division of labor and a hierarchy of authority are defining characteristics of which of the following organizational theories?
A. Weber’s bureaucracy
B. McGregor’s Theory Y
C. Fiedler’s contingency theory
D. Katz and Kahn’s open-system theory
Answer A is correct. As described by Weber (1947), an ideal bureaucracy is characterized by a division of labor, a hierarchy of authority, clearly defined rules and procedures, impersonal relationships based on position, and selection and promotion decisions based on an applicant’s or employee’s technical competence.
A picture of a knife is projected onto a screen so that it’s briefly presented only to the right visual field of a split-brain patient, and a picture of a fork is then briefly presented only to the patient’s left visual field. When asked to verbally identify what he has seen, the patient:
A. will be able to say “knife” and, although he can’t say “fork,” will be able to pick out a fork with his left hand.
B. will be able to say “fork” and, although he can’t say “knife,” will be able to pick out a knife with his right hand.
C. will be able to say “knife” but won’t be able to say “fork” or pick out a fork with his right or left hand.
D. will be able to say “fork” but won’t be able to say “knife” or pick out a knife with his right or left hand.
Answer A is correct. Ordinarily information received by the left hemisphere is shared with the right hemisphere and vice versa, but split-brain patients have had their corpus callosums severed to control severe epilepsy which limits communication between the two hemispheres. Most language processing occurs in the left hemisphere, so split-brain patients can verbally identify images that are projected to the right visual field because information about those images is sent via the optic nerve to the left hemisphere. In contrast, split-brain patients cannot verbally identify images that are presented to the left visual field because that information is sent to the right hemisphere and isn’t shared with the left hemisphere. However, they can pick out the objects depicted in the images with their left hands because the right hemisphere controls the left hand.
A therapy client who had an insensitive, authoritarian father begins to respond to her therapist as though he’s insensitive and authoritarian. A practitioner of Freudian psychoanalysis would describe this as transference, while a practitioner of Harry Stack Sullivan’s interpersonal psychotherapy would view it as:
A. a parataxic distortion.
B. a boundary disturbance.
C. projective identification.
D. displacement.
Answer A is correct. As described by Sullivan (1953), parataxic distortions occur in all types of interpersonal relationships and involve perceiving others, not on the basis of their actual attributes, but on expectations developed from past interpersonal relationships.
As described by Margaret Mahler (1971), _____________ involves four substages: differentiation, practicing, rapprochement, and consolidation.
A. the stage of mature attachment
B. the stage of autonomy
C. deindividuation
D. separation-individuation
Answer D is correct. As described by Mahler, early development involves a predictable sequence of stages: autistic, symbiotic, and separation-individuation. The separation-individuation stage consists of the four substages listed in the question. By the end of this stage, children have developed the capacity for object constancy which allows them to feel both separate from and connected to significant others.
Based on her observations of children 2-1/2 to 4 years of age, Mildred Parten (1932) derived six types of social participation that differ in terms of level of social complexity. Of these six types, she identified which of the following as the most socially complex? A. parallel play B. mastery play C. cooperative play D. associative play
Answer C is correct. Parten concluded that the six types of social participation emerge sequentially and progress from least to most complex in terms of social interaction and cooperation: unoccupied behavior, solitary play, onlooker behavior, parallel play, associative play, and cooperative play.
Dr. Axelrod’s new client is Michael Moreland, a 35-year-old African American man. Mr. Moreland has worked steadily as a dishwasher since he was 17, but he was laid off six months ago and has been unable to find a job. His presenting symptoms suggest he’s dealing with depression. Dr. Axelrod, a White middle-class cognitive behavioral therapist, specializes in treating depression but hasn’t worked with African American or low-income clients. However, he wants to expand his scope of practice to include members of populations he has not yet worked with. To be consistent with ethical requirements, Dr. Axelrod should:
A. agree to see Mr. Moreland in therapy as long as he consults while doing so with a colleague who has experience working with African American and low-income clients.
B. agree to see Mr. Moreland in therapy but monitor his effectiveness and obtain relevant education if needed.
C. refer Mr. Moreland to another therapist who has experience working with low-income and African American clients.
D. explain his lack of experience to Mr. Moreland and let him decide whether or not to continue therapy.
Answer A is correct. This answer is most consistent with Standard 2.01 of the APA Ethics Code and Standard II.6 of the Canadian Code of Ethics. Standard 2.01 requires psychologists to obtain appropriate education, training, and consultation when they want to provide professional services to members of new populations or use new therapeutic techniques. An alternative would be to make a referral (answer C), but that’s not required in this situation since Dr. Axelrod specializes in treating depression and wants to expand his scope of practice.
The goodness-of-fit model developed by Thomas and Chess (1977) focuses on the match between a child’s __________ and the demands of the social environment.
A. temperament
B. sense of self
C. emotional development
D. cognitive development
Answer A is correct. The goodness-of-fit model proposes that maladjustment in young children is often the result of a mismatch between the child’s temperament and the demands of the social environment, especially the parents’ expectations and childrearing practices.
An organizational psychologist would most likely be hired by a company to conduct a job evaluation for the purpose of:
A. establishing comparable worth.
B. determining the training needs of newly hired employees.
C. developing performance appraisal measures.
D. writing detailed job descriptions.
Answer A is correct. A job evaluation is conducted to facilitate decisions related to compensation. It’s often used to establish comparable worth, which is the principle that workers who perform jobs that require the same skills and responsibilities or that are of comparable value to the employer should be paid the same.
Tiedeman’s career decision-making model links vocational identity development to:
A. cognitive maturation.
B. ego identity development.
C. career maturity.
D. life roles.
Answer B is correct. Tiedeman’s (Miller-Tiedeman & Tiedeman, 1990; Tiedeman & O’Hara, 1963) career decision-making model views vocational identity development as an ongoing decision-making process that’s linked to Erikson’s stages of ego identity development.
*Think of Tiedeman eating an Eggo…. the netflix show Dark’s character eating an Eggo which is from stranger things also another Netflix show.
Which of the following is true about the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs)?
A. SSRIs have a better tolerability profile than the TCAs and greater safety in overdose.
B. TCAs have a better tolerability profile than the SSRIs and greater safety in overdose.
C. SSRIs have a better tolerability profile than the TCAs, but TCAs have greater safety in overdose.
D. TCAs have a better tolerability profile than the SSRI, but SSRIs have greater safety in overdose.
Answer A is correct. The research has found that the SSRIs and TCAs are similar in terms of effectiveness, especially for moderate depression. However, the SSRIs are generally considered the first-line treatment for depression because of their better tolerability profile (they cause fewer adverse side effects) and greater safety in overdose. See, e.g., T. L. Schwartz, L. Stormon, and M. E. Thase, Treatment outcomes with acute pharmacotherapy/psychotherapy, in T. L. Schwartz and T. J. Petersen, Eds., Depression: Treatment strategies and management, pp. 85-122, New York, Taylor & Francis Group, 2006.
Dr. Dennis, an organizational psychologist, is hired by a company to develop and validate a new selection test for customer service representatives. When she conducts a concurrent validity study on the test she develops, Dr. Dennis finds that it has a validity coefficient of .65 for men and a validity coefficient of .20 for women. This suggests that the test has:
A. differential validity for men and women.
B. divergent validity for men and women.
C. differential selection for men and women.
D. inadequate validity for both men and women.
Answer A is correct. A selection test or other employment procedure has differential validity when it has significantly different validity coefficients for members of different groups. Differential validity is a potential cause of adverse impact.
A researcher wants to evaluate the effects of virtual reality exposure for treating the storm, height, and spider phobias of a 34-year-old woman. The best single-subject research design for evaluating this treatment is which of the following?
A. multiple baseline
B. reversal
C. discrete trials
D. time series
Answer A is correct.
Of the three single-subject designs listed in the answers (multiple baseline, reversal, and discrete trials), the multiple baseline design would be the most appropriate because it would allow the researcher to determine if the treatment is effective for any of the woman’s phobias by sequentially applying the treatment to them. In addition, the multiple baseline design doesn’t require a treatment to be withdrawn once it’s been applied to a behavior. Consequently, if the treatment has a beneficial effect on any of the woman’s phobias, the researcher would not have to withdraw the treatment during the course of the study just for the sake of assessing its effects.
Factor Index scores on the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales, Fifth Edition (SB5) have a mean of \_\_\_\_\_ and standard deviation of \_\_\_\_\_. A. 10; 3 B. 15; 5 C. 100; 12 D. 100; 15
Answer D is correct. The SB5 provides four types of composite scores that have a mean of 100 and standard deviation of 15: Full Scale IQ score, Factor Index scores, Verbal and Nonverbal Domain scores, and Abbreviated Battery IQ score.
Privilege refers to:
A. the ethical requirement to protect a client’s confidentiality.
B. the legal requirement to protect a client’s right to privacy.
C. the legal and ethical requirement to disclose confidential client information only with appropriate authorization to do so.
D. the legal requirement to protect client confidentiality in court testimony, depositions, and other legal proceedings.
Answer D is correct. Privilege is a legal concept that protects a client’s confidential information from being disclosed in legal proceedings.
Older adults with mild neurocognitive disorder due to Alzheimer’s disease would most likely obtain the highest score on the WAIS-IV __________ Index and lowest score on the __________ Index.
A. Verbal Comprehension; Working Memory
B. Working Memory; Perceptual Reasoning
C. Perceptual Reasoning; Processing Speed
D. Verbal Comprehension; Processing Speed
Answer D is correct. The WAIS-IV Technical and Interpretive Manual (Psychological Corporation, 2008) reports the following mean Index scores for individuals with mild Alzheimer’s disease: Verbal Comprehension 86.2, Perceptual Reasoning 85.8, Working Memory 84.3, and Processing Speed 76.6.
Neurocognitive disorder due to Alzheimer’s disease and neurocognitive disorder with Lewy bodies (NCDLB) can be difficult to distinguish, especially in their early stages, but there are differences. Which of the following does NOT accurately describe a difference between the two disorders?
A. Motor disturbances are more prominent in early Alzheimer’s disease than in early NCDLB.
B. Memory loss is usually a more prominent early symptom of early Alzheimer’s disease than of early NCDLB.
C. Nonvisual hallucinations and systematized delusions are more common in early NCDLB than in early Alzheimer’s disease.
D. Orthostatic hypotension and other autonomic disturbances are more common in early NCDLB than in early Alzheimer’s disease.
Answer A is correct. Motor disturbances are a more important cause of disability in the early stages of NCDLB than in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease and include muscle rigidity, tremors, and other motor symptoms associated with Parkinson’s disease. Although motor problems are also associated with Alzheimer’s disease, they usually do not occur until the disease progresses to the middle or late stage. The other three answers accurately describe differences between the two disorders. See, e.g., Alzheimer’s Association website, http://www.alz.org/dementia/dementia-with-lewy-bodies-symptoms.asp
A middle-aged woman believes that aliens are controlling everything she does and are making her do things she doesn’t want to do. Her adult daughter says that, no matter what anyone says to her mother about her belief, she refuses to change her mind. The woman’s belief is an example of which of the following? A. magical thinking B. delusion C. illusion D. idea of reference
Answer B is correct. A delusion is a false belief that’s firmly held despite what others believe and despite contradictory evidence. This woman’s delusion is referred to as a delusion of control.
An advocate of leader-member exchange theory is most likely to agree that:
A. leaders have qualitatively different relationships with in-group and out-group subordinates.
B. leaders have qualitatively different relationships with introverted and extraverted coworkers.
C. leaders are most effective when they combine a high degree of consideration with a high degree of initiating structure.
D. leaders are most effective when they tailor rewards and other outcomes to each worker’s needs.
Answer A is correct. Dansereau, Graen, and Haga’s (1975) leader-member exchange theory is based on the assumption that leader effectiveness and subordinate outcomes are determined by the nature of the interactions between the leader and the subordinate. It proposes that subordinates are treated as in-group or out-group members based on whether or not the leader perceives them as being competent, trustworthy, and willing to assume responsibility.
The questions included in \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ ask experienced job applicants to describe how they handled specific job-related situations in the past. A. a situational interview B. a behavioral interview C. a case interview D. an informational interview
Answer B is correct. Behavioral interviews are based on the assumption that past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior. When conducting a behavioral interview, the interviewer asks job applicants with previous job experience how they responded to specific job-related situations in the past.
An advertising agency has been hired by a dog food company to re-design the labels for its products. The agency prepares seven different labels for canned dog food and, to determine which label customers prefer, has a sample of 300 dog owners choose the label they like the most. Which of the following is the appropriate statistical test to use to determine if there’s a significant difference in the number of dog owners who chose each label?
A. single-sample chi-square test
B. multiple-sample chi-square test
C. one-way ANOVA
D. factorial ANOVA
Answer A is correct. The first and second steps in identifying the appropriate statistical test are identifying the study’s independent and dependent variables and the scale of measurement of the dependent variable. However, this study has only one variable and, in this situation, it’s just necessary to identify that variable’s scale of measurement: The variable is type of label and it’s measured on a nominal scale. The chi-square test is used to analyze nominal data and, when there’s only one variable, the single-sample chi-square test is the appropriate test. Note that the single-sample chi-square test is also known as the one-sample chi-square test and the chi-square goodness-of-fit test.
At the beginning of the school year, a researcher tells a first-grade teacher that a test had been administered to all students in kindergarten and the results indicated that five of her 22 students – Bob G., Liang C., Ellen A., Isadore R., and Lucia V. – will show significant gains in academic achievement this year. Even though the five children were actually randomly selected, all showed significant gains in academic skills by the end of the school year. Which of the following best explains these results?
A. the Hawthorne effect
B. the Rosenthal effect
C. the positive halo effect
D. the confirmation bias
Answer B is correct. This question describes a study that’s similar to the study conducted by Rosenthal and Jacobson (1968) who found that teachers’ expectations for students identified as academic “spurters” (but who were actually randomly chosen) had a positive effect on the students’ IQ scores and grades. This effect is known by several names including the Rosenthal effect, the Pygmalion effect, and the self-fulfilling prophecy effect.
Piaget attributed children’s ability to engage in deferred imitation and make-believe play to:
A. the process of accommodation.
B. the process of equilibration.
C. the use of mental operations.
D. the ability to create mental representations.
Answer D is correct. Piaget attributed deferred imitation and make-believe play to the ability to create mental representations, which emerges during the final substage of the sensorimotor period at about 18 months of age. Note, however, that subsequent research found that children engage in deferred imitation and other behaviors that depend on mental representations prior to this age.
Soon after a young child learns that the family pet is a “doggie,” he starts calling cats and all other furry four-legged animals “doggie.” According to Piaget, this is an example of which of the following?
A. assimilation
B. equilibration
C. accommodation
D. horizontal decalage
Answer A is correct. Piaget proposed that the construction of knowledge involves adaptation, which consists of two processes – assimilation and accommodation. Assimilation occurs when children apply their existing schemes (cognitive structures) to new experiences, while accommodation occurs when children modify their existing schemes to better fit new experiences. Applying the word “doggie” to all furry four-legged animals is an example of assimilation.
You would use which of the following tests to evaluate the receptive vocabulary of a 10-year-old child who has received a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder?
A. PPVT-IV
B. Vineland-II
C. Leiter-3
D. KABC-II
Answer A is correct. The PPVT-IV (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, Fourth Edition) is used to assess the receptive vocabulary of individuals ages 2 years, 6 months to 90+ years. It can be used with individuals who have autism spectrum disorder, symptoms of psychosis, or cerebral palsy or other physical disability.
Strength, accessibility, and specificity have been identified as factors that affect:
A. the extent to which a person can resist persuasion.
B. the likelihood that a person’s behaviors will alter his/her attitudes.
C. the amount of influence a person’s attitudes have on his/her behaviors.
D. the persuasiveness of an advertisement or other message.
Answer C is correct. Research has found that the strength of the relationship between a person’s attitudes and his/her behaviors is affected by several factors, including the strength, accessibility, and specificity of the attitudes. See e.g., C. A. Sanderson, Social psychology, Hoboken, NJ, John Wiley & Sons, 2010.
As described by Wallerstein and Blakeslee (1989), the “sleeper effect” occurs when:
A. girls who seem relatively unaffected by the divorce of their parents during childhood exhibit problems in late adolescence or early adulthood.
B. boys who exhibit severe problems after their parents’ divorce become indistinguishable from boys who exhibit mild problems by the time they reach early adulthood.
C. over time, custodial and noncustodial parents become increasingly less consistent in disciplining their children and less responsive to their children’s needs.
D. the noncustodial parent gradually becomes increasingly less involved in raising his or her children during the second and subsequent years following the divorce.
Answer A is correct. Wallerstein and Blakeslee reported that many of the girls in their studies seemed to adjust well to the divorce of their parents during childhood but then developed emotional and behavioral problems in late adolescence and adulthood – e.g., they engaged in risky and self-destructive behaviors, became sexually promiscuous and involved in unsatisfactory relationships, and were excessively worried about betrayal and abandonment.
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ viewed schizophrenia and other severe mental disorders as the result of a multigenerational transmission process. A. Salvador Minuchin B. Jay Haley C. Murray Bowen D. William Glasser
Answer C is correct. Bowen considered severe mental disorders to be the result of a multigenerational transmission process in which progressively lower levels of differentiation are transmitted over several generations.
Which of the following is most consistent with ethical guidelines for contingent fees?
A. Accepting contingent fees is prohibited under any circumstances.
B. Accepting contingent fees should usually be avoided.
C. Accepting contingent fees is acceptable when all parties voluntarily agree to this arrangement.
D. Accepting contingent fees is acceptable as long as it is not prohibited by law.
Answer B is correct. The APA Ethics Code does not refer to contingent fees, but they are addressed in Paragraph 5.02 of the Specialty Guidelines for Forensic Psychology. It states that, “because of the threat to impartiality presented by the acceptance of contingent fees and associated legal prohibitions, forensic practitioners strive to avoid providing professional services on the basis of contingent fees.” This answer is also consistent with the requirements of the Canadian Code of Ethics regarding fees for professional services and conflicts of interest (e.g., Standard III.28).
Dr. Cho has been seeing Mr. and Mrs. Giovanni in therapy for four months. Mr. Giovanni is an insurance salesman and Mrs. Giovanni works part-time for a residential cleaning service company. Mr. Giovanni is suddenly laid off from his job and they ask if Mrs. Giovanni can exchange home cleaning services for therapy until Mr. Giovanni finds another job. Agreeing to this arrangement would be:
A. unethical.
B. ethical since it’s a temporary arrangement.
C. ethical since it involves an exchange of services (rather than goods).
D. ethical as long as Dr. Cho discusses the possible conflicts with the couple.
Answer A is correct. Standard 6.05 of the APA Ethics Code permits barter in certain circumstances, but this arrangement would not be acceptable because it creates a potentially harmful multiple relationship – i.e., Dr. Cho will be acting as both therapist and employer and, if he’s dissatisfied with Mrs. Giovanni’s work, this could affect his objectivity in therapy. This answer is also consistent with Standards II.1, II.2, and III.28 of the Canadian Code of Ethics.
The effects of damage to the left and right hemispheres of the cerebral cortex depend on the specific location of the damage but, with regard to emotions, damage to the left hemisphere is most likely to produce:
A. inappropriate indifference or euphoria.
B. depression or emotional volatility.
C. unprovoked rage and hostility.
D. unrealistic confidence and optimism.
Answer B is correct. Positive emotions are processed primarily in the left hemisphere, and damage to this hemisphere can produce depression or emotional volatility (which is described by some authors as a catastrophic reaction). Negative emotions are processed primarily in the right hemisphere, and damage can produce inappropriate indifference or euphoria.
Which of the following has been found to modify the nature of the relationship between message discrepancy and attitude change?
A. the recipient’s sense of self-efficacy
B. the processing channel used by the recipient of the message
C. the credibility of the source of the message
D. the level of fear aroused by the message
Answer C is correct. In general, the relationship between amount of attitude change and message discrepancy has an inverted-U shape, with the greatest amount of change being produced by a moderate level of discrepancy between the recipient’s attitude and the attitude expressed in the persuasive message. However, when communicator credibility is considered, the relationship for high-credible communicators is linear, with the amount of attitude change increasing as the level of discrepancy increases (Aronson, Turner, & Carlsmith. 1963).
John Jr. just turned 14 and has started demanding to be allowed to make his own decisions and to have more privileges and independence from the family. In response, John’s parents continue to treat him like a child and have become more punitive in an attempt to keep things the way they were. The parents’ response to John’s demands illustrates which of the following?
A. positive feedback
B. negative feedback
C. reframing
D. restraining
Answer B is correct. Negative feedback serves to maintain the status quo (i.e., to keep things the way they were), while positive feedback promotes change. Reframing and restraining are paradoxical techniques used by therapists to alter behavior.
Sherif (1935) used the autokinetic phenomenon to study: A. psychological reactance. B. conformity to group norms. C. compliance with direct requests. D. counterfactual thinking.
Answer B is correct. Sherif used the autokinetic phenomenon (an optical illusion in which a stationary point of light appears to move in a dark room) to study conformity to group norms.
Long-term potentiation (LTP) has been linked to: A. REM sleep. B. visual processing. C. seizure disorders. D. memory storage.
Answer D is correct. LTP refers to an increase in synaptic efficacy as the result of repetitive stimulation and is believed to play an important role in the formation and storage of new memories.
A supervisor notices that an employee seems to be putting more time and effort into his work but this increase has not been accompanied by an increase in productivity. The employee’s behavior is most likely:
A. the result of a lack of control over the pace of her work.
B. an early sign of job burnout.
C. a consequence of chronic work-family conflict.
D. a symptom of “survivor syndrome.”
Answer B is correct. An early sign of burnout is an increase in the time and effort put into work without an increase in productivity. Other early signs include reduced motivation, increased irritability and negativity, social withdrawal, and somatic symptoms.
To use the Taylor-Russell tables to estimate a predictor’s incremental validity, you need to know the predictor’s criterion-related validity coefficient and which of the following?
A. selection ratio and base rate
B. selection ratio and number of job openings
C. base rate and positive hit rate
D. number of job openings and positive hit rate
Answer A is correct. The Taylor-Russell tables are used to obtain an estimate of the percent of future employees who will be successful on the job when an employer adds the new predictor to the current selection procedure. To use the Taylor-Russell tables, you need to know the predictor’s criterion-related validity coefficient, the selection ratio, and the base rate.
Which of the following describes the relationship between a test’s reliability coefficient and its criterion-related validity coefficient?
A. A test’s criterion-related validity coefficient can be no greater than its reliability coefficient.
B. A test’s criterion-related validity coefficient can be no greater than the square root of its reliability coefficient.
C. A test’s criterion-related validity coefficient can be no greater than the square root of one minus its reliability coefficient.
D. A test’s criterion-related validity coefficient can be no greater than the square of its reliability coefficient.
Answer B is correct. A test’s criterion-related validity coefficient can be no greater than the square root of its reliability coefficient. For example, if a test has a reliability coefficient of .81, its criterion-related validity coefficient can be no greater than the square root of .81, which is .90.
Minuchin, Rosman, and Baker (1978) found that the parents of children with anorexia were often overprotective of and emotionally overinvolved with the child and discouraged the child’s independence. They referred to this family pattern as: A. enmeshed. B. triangulated. C. skewed. D. closed.
Answer A is correct. One of the structural elements of interest to structural family therapists are the boundaries between family members, and they distinguish between overly rigid and overly permeable boundaries: Overly rigid boundaries lead to disengagement (a lack of connection and excessive independence between family members), while overly permeable boundaries lead to enmeshment (excessive closeness and dependence between family members).
Changing alpha (the level of significance) from .05 to .10:
A. increases the probability of making a Type I and a Type II error.
B. decreases the probability of making a Type I and a Type II error.
C. increases the probability of making a Type I error and decreases the probability of making a Type II error.
D. decreases the probability of making a Type I error and increases the probability of making a Type II error.
Answer C is correct. Alpha is equal to the probability of making a Type I error, and when alpha is increased from .05 to .10, the probability of making a Type I error increases. And, because there’s an inverse relationship between the probability of making a Type I error (rejecting a true null hypothesis) and a Type II error (retaining a false null hypothesis), the probability of making a Type II error decreases when alpha is increased.
To be consistent with the requirements of the APA Ethics Code and the Canadian Code of Ethics, the potential limits of confidentiality should ordinarily be discussed with a therapy client:
A. as soon as possible.
B. as part of the informed consent process.
C. at the outset of therapy.
D. at the outset of therapy and subsequently as needed.
Answer D is correct. This is the best answer because it’s most similar to the language of Standard 4.02(b) of the APA Ethics Code. It states that, “unless it is not feasible or is contraindicated, the discussion of confidentiality occurs at the outset of the relationship and thereafter as new circumstances may warrant.” This answer is also consistent with Standard I.17 of the Canadian Code of Ethics, which notes that informed consent may “need to be obtained more than once (e.g., if significant new information becomes available).”
The keyword method is most useful for:
A. remembering a list of 10 nonsense syllables.
B. recalling how to solve a mathematical equation.
C. learning the vocabulary of a second language.
D. remembering an important event you must attend next week.
Answer C is correct. The keyword method involves creating an image that links two words or links a word and its definition and is particularly useful for foreign (second) language learning.
The analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) is used to:
A. statistically remove the effects of an extraneous variable on the dependent variable.
B. measure the effects of an extraneous variable on the dependent variable by treating it as an independent variable.
C. simultaneously assess the effects of the independent variable on two or more dependent variables.
D. simultaneously assess the effects of two or more independent variables on a single dependent variable.
Answer A is correct. The ANCOVA is used to statistically remove the effects of an extraneous variable from scores on the dependent variable so that it’s easier to detect the effects of the independent variable on the dependent variable. When using the ANCOVA, the extraneous variable is the “covariate.”
When using positive reinforcement to establish or increase a behavior, use of which of the following intermittent schedules of reinforcement will maximize the behavior’s resistance to extinction? A. fixed interval B. variable interval C. fixed ratio D. variable ratio
Answer D is correct. When using a variable ratio schedule, reinforcement is delivered after a variable number of responses – for example, after four responses, then after two responses, then after six responses, and so on. Of the intermittent schedules, the variable ratio schedule produces the fastest rate of acquisition and the greatest resistance to extinction. Slot machines provide reinforcement on this schedule.
Of the Big Five personality traits, \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ have been found to be most predictive of leader effectiveness. A. openness and conscientiousness B. extraversion and conscientiousness C. agreeableness and emotional stability D. openness and dependability
Answer B is correct. In their meta-analysis of the research, Judge, Bono, Ilies, and Gerehardt (2002) found that, of the Big Five personality traits, extraversion and conscientiousness had the largest correlation coefficients with measures of leader effectiveness (.31 and .28, respectively).
Marlatt and Gordon’s relapse prevention (RP) model identifies which of the following as the immediate precipitant of alcohol use after a period of abstinence? A. craving for alcohol B. high-risk situations C. lifestyle imbalance D. “apparently irrelevant decisions”
Answer B is correct. Marlatt and Gordon’s RP model proposes that relapse is the result of immediate determinants and covert antecedents and describes high risk situations (an immediate determinant) as the immediate precipitators of alcohol use after a period of abstinence. See, e.g., M. E. Larimer, R. S. Palmer, and G. A. Marlatt, Relapse prevention: An overview of Marlatt’s cognitive-behavioral model, Alcohol Research and Health, 23(2), 151-160, 1999.
The Oregon model of parent management training developed by Gerald Patterson and his colleagues (1982) was based on their research that found a link between high levels of aggressiveness in children and: A. early attachment insecurity. B. rejecting/neglecting parents. C. coercive family interactions. D. a disorganized home environment.
Answer C is correct. Patterson et al. found that aggression and other antisocial behaviors in children were related to coercive family interactions that become progressively more coercive over time, with parents using increasingly harsh punishments and children becoming more disruptive and aggressive.
A psychologist would violate ethical requirements for maintaining test security when he or she:
A. provides clients with the raw or scaled scores they obtained on a test.
B. discusses clients’ responses to test items to help them understand their test results.
C. allows clients to complete self-administered tests at home.
D. engages in any of the above actions.
Answer C is correct. Standard 9.11 of the APA Ethics Code and Standard IV.11 of the Canadian Code of Ethics apply to this situation. Standard 9.11 requires psychologists to “maintain the integrity and security of test materials,” which it defines as “manuals, protocols, and tests questions or stimuli.” Answers A and B address test data, which is not covered by this Standard, and describe acceptable actions.
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ consists of three overlapping stages: conceptualization, skill acquisition and rehearsal, and application and follow-through. A. Self-instructional training B. Stress inoculation training C. Problem-solving therapy D. Motivational interviewing
Answer B is correct. Meichenbaum’s (2003) stress inoculation training is based on the assumption that acquiring effective strategies for coping with stress helps “inoculate” a person from experiencing high levels of stress in the future. It consists of the three stages listed in the question.
Dr. Robinson, a licensed psychologist who specializes in treating eating disorders, decides to offer a 90-minute presentation for parents on detecting and treating eating disorders in children and adolescents. In the advertisement for the presentation, Dr. Robinson describes it as a “lecture on the early identification of eating disorders in children and adolescents and treatment options.” There’s a good turnout for the lecture but, at the end of the first 45 minutes, only two parents have asked questions and Dr. Robinson notes that many attendees seem bored. She decides to “liven up” her presentation by having attendees describe their personal experiences with eating disorders. With regard to the requirements of the APA Ethics Code and the Canadian Code of Ethics, this change in format is:
A. ethical as long as she explains why she’s changing the format of the presentation.
B. ethical as long as she makes it clear that attendees should share information only if they feel comfortable doing so.
C. ethical as long as she explains the importance of maintaining confidentiality to the attendees.
D. unethical because she advertised her presentation as a “lecture.”
Answer D is correct. Dr. Robinson advertised her program as a lecture, and suddenly changing the format during the lecture would violate the requirements of Standard 7.02 of the APA Ethics Code and Standard III.5 of the Canadian Code of Ethics, which require psychologists to provide accurate descriptions of the content of the programs they provide.
When a test has a standard deviation of 10, the test’s standard error of measurement will fall between: A. 0 and 10 B. 10 and 1.0 C. 0 and 1.0 D. -1.0 and +1.0
Answer A is correct. A test’s standard error of measurement equals its standard deviation times the square root of 1 minus the reliability coefficient. A test’s reliability coefficient can range from 0 to 1.0, so the standard error of measurement for a test that has a standard deviation of 10 ranges from 0 when the reliability coefficient is 1.0 (10 times the square root of 1 minus 1 equals 0) to 10 when the reliability coefficient is 0 (10 times the square root of 1 minus 0 equals 10).
Which of the following is most useful for explaining the results of Schachter’s (1959) “misery loves miserable company” study? A. gain-loss theory B. self-verification theory C. equity theory D. social comparison theory
Answer D is correct. Social comparison theory (Festinger, 1954) has been used to explain the results of Schachter’s research. It predicts that, in uncertain situations, people often compare themselves to others to obtain information about themselves.
You would use the Position Analysis Questionnaire to:
A. evaluate the effects of a training program.
B. identify the “position power” of managerial-level employees.
C. conduct a worker-oriented job analysis.
D. conduct an organizational analysis.
Answer C is correct. The Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ) is a worker-oriented job analysis questionnaire that addresses six categories of work activity: information input, mental processes, work output, relationships with other people, job context, and other characteristics.
A problem with using percent agreement as a measure of inter-rater reliability is that it may:
A. underestimate reliability because it’s susceptible to rater biases.
B. overestimate reliability because it’s susceptible to rater biases.
C. underestimate reliability because it’s affected by chance agreement.
D. overestimate reliability because it’s affected by chance agreement.
Answer D is correct. A certain amount of chance agreement between two or more raters is possible, especially for behavior observation scales when the behavior occurs frequently. Percent agreement is easy to calculate but, because it’s affected by chance agreement, it may overestimate a measure’s inter-rater reliability.
A 41-year-old woman says she feels cold and tired all the time, has been having trouble remembering things, is constipated, has unusually dry skin, and has gained weight even though she’s eating less. The woman’s symptoms are most suggestive of which of the following endocrine disorders? A. Grave’s disease B. Addison’s disease C. hypoglycemia D. hypothyroidism
Answer D is correct. Hypothyroidism is caused by a low level of thyroxine, the primary hormone secreted by the thyroid gland. The symptoms listed in the question are characteristic of this disorder.
People with \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ personality disorder have a lack of desire for social relationships and are uninterested in opportunities to develop close relationships. A. schizoid B. histrionic C. avoidant D. paranoid
Answer A is correct. Many of the personality disorders involve problems related to social relationships, but a lack of desire for relationships is most characteristic of schizoid personality disorder. As described in the DSM-5, people with this disorder “appear to lack a desire for intimacy, seem indifferent to opportunities to develop close relationships, and do not seem to derive much satisfaction from being part of a family or other social group” (p. 653).
Social facilitation is more likely than social inhibition to occur when: A. the crowd is large. B. the crowd is small. C. the task is easy. D. the task is difficult.
Answer C is correct. Social facilitation is an improvement in performance that’s caused by the mere presence of other people and affects easy and well-learned tasks.
Huntington’s disease is a progressive autosomal dominant disorder that has been linked to GABA and glutamate abnormalities in the:
A. suprachiasmatic nucleus.
B. basal ganglia.
C. hypothalamus.
D. brainstem.
Answer B is correct. The basal ganglia are responsible for voluntary motor control, and the motor symptoms of Huntington’s disease have been linked to GABA and glutamate abnormalities in the basal ganglia, especially the caudate nucleus and putamen.
You have been seeing Evan in therapy for four months to treat his social anxiety. Although Evan seemed to make progress in the first few weeks, his symptoms have not changed since then and you do not think he’s benefitting from treatment. When you bring up the possibility of ending therapy and referring him to another therapist, Evan says he feels therapy is very helpful and wants to continue. In terms of ethical requirements, your best course of action would be to:
A. continue seeing Evan in therapy since he believes he’s benefitting from it.
B. continue seeing Evan in therapy if you can agree on specific treatment goals but, if not, set a termination date.
C. continue seeing Evan in therapy for several more sessions but, if nothing changes, bring up the possibility of ending therapy again.
D. explain to Evan why you believe he’s not benefitting from therapy and refer him to another therapist.
Answer B is correct. This answer is most consistent with the requirements of Standard 10.10(a) of the APA Ethics Code and Standard II.40 of the Canadian Code of Ethics. Standard 10.10(a) states that “psychologists terminate therapy when it becomes reasonably clear that the client/patient no longer needs the service, is not likely to benefit, or is being harmed by continued service.” Unless a reason for continuing therapy (e.g., new therapy goals) can be identified, you would not want to continue seeing a client when you believe the client is no longer benefitting from therapy.
Which of the following personality tests provides scores on the “Big Five” personality traits? A. EPPS B. MBTI C. NEO-PI-3 D. 16PF
Answer C is correct. The NEO-PI-3 (NEO Personality Inventory-3) provides scores on the five major domains of personality (neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience) and the six facets that contribute to each domain.
An advanced sleep phase is most characteristic of: A. adults deprived of REM sleep. B. individuals who are blind. C. older adults. D. infants.
Answer C is correct. Advanced sleep phase is also known as circadian phase advance and refers to a shift in the sleep-wake cycle that involves falling asleep and waking up earlier than at the conventional times. Many older adults experience an advanced sleep phase.
Before using a selection test to estimate how well job applicants will do on a measure of job performance on their first few days of work, you would want to make sure the selection test has adequate: A. concurrent validity. B. predictive validity. C. differential validity. D. construct validity.
Answer B is correct. Evaluating a predictor’s criterion-related validity is important when scores on the predictor will be used to estimate scores on a criterion. There are two types of criterion-related validity: Concurrent validity is most important when predictor scores will be used to estimate current scores on the criterion. Predictive validity is most important when predictor scores will be used to estimate future scores on the criterion, which is the situation described in this question.
The 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (SAMHSA, 2016) found that the largest percentage of respondents ages 12 to 17 used which the following in the previous month? A. tobacco B. cocaine C. alcohol D. marijuana
Answer C is correct. Consistent with prior surveys, the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that the largest percentage of adolescents said they used alcohol during the previous month. However, the percentage was somewhat lower than in previous years: In 2015, 9.6 percent of adolescents said they used alcohol in the past month, while 11.5 and 11.6 percent said they did so in 2014 and 2013, respectively.
Immediately after a training program has been delivered to a group of trainees, the developer of the program conducts a \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ to assess its outcomes. A. summative evaluation B. formative evaluation C. confirmative evaluation D. meta-evaluation
Answer A is correct. The full-scope evaluation model (Dessinger & Moseley, 2010) distinguishes between four types of training program evaluation – formative, summative, confirmative, and meta. A summative evaluation is conducted immediately after a training program has been delivered to assess trainee reactions to the program and its effectiveness for meeting its goals.
Vicarious liability refers to which of the following?
A. an employer’s legal responsibility for the acts of his/her employees
B. a chief investigator’s responsibility for the welfare of his/her research subjects
C. an employer’s “psychological contract” with his/her employees
D. a therapist’s obligation to maintain client confidentiality
Answer A is correct. When delegating work to an employee or supervisee, psychologists must be aware that, in certain circumstances, they might have vicarious liability – i.e., they might be legally responsible for the actions of the employee or supervisee.
The elaboration likelihood model (Petty & Cacioppo, 1981) predicts attitude change induced by \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ is likely to be strong and persistent and produce a change in behavior. A. central route processing B. peripheral route processing C. an alpha processing strategy D. an omega processing strategy
Answer A is correct. According to the elaboration likelihood model, the central route involves thoughtful and careful evaluation of the message and is more likely than the peripheral route to produce attitude change that’s strong and persistent and can be expected to cause a change in behavior.
Studies investigating ____________ often place infants in uncertain situations that include a stranger, a novel toy or other object, or the visual cliff.
A. basic temperament
B. problem-solving
C. social referencing
D. self-awareness
Answer C is correct. Social referencing refers to the use of the emotional reactions of a parent or other person to determine how to respond in ambiguous situations. Most studies on social referencing in infancy have created an ambiguous situation by presenting the infants with a stranger, a novel object, or the visual cliff while a parent or other caregiver is nearby.
Erik Erikson (1978) identified a positive outcome (“virtue”) for each of his eight stages of psychosocial development. Which of the following does not accurately match a stage with its positive outcome? A. generativity vs. stagnation: care B. autonomy vs. shame and doubt: purpose C. industry vs. inferiority: competence D. basic trust vs. mistrust: hope
Answer B is correct. Erikson identified will (initiative and self-determination) as the positive outcome of the autonomy vs. shame stage of psychosocial development.
To teach a young child with autism spectrum disorder to wave good-bye, his mother first reinforces him with a small cookie when he moves his arm when a family member is leaving. Then, when he does that consistently, she reinforces him with a cookie only when he raises his arm when a family member is leaving. Then, she reinforces him with a cookie only when he raises his arm and moves his hand in any way when a family member is leaving. And, finally, the boy’s mother reinforces him only when he raises his arm and moves his hand in the correct way when a family member is leaving. The technique used by the mother is known as: A. shaping. B. chaining. C. higher-order conditioning. D. prompting.
Answer A is correct. Shaping is also known as successive approximation conditioning and involves reinforcing successive approximations to the desired behavior until the desired behavior is established.
Moscovici’s (1980) research on minority influence found that a group member with a minority opinion must rely on which of the following to persuade members with the opposing (majority) opinion to adopt his or her opinion?
A. informational influence
B. normative influence
C. behavioral style
D. psychological reactance
Answer C is correct. According to Moscovici, a group member with a minority opinion must rely on behavioral style to persuade the majority – i.e., the member must be consistent in expressing his/her opinion without seeming too rigid or dogmatic.
A test developer would use the multitrait-multimethod matrix to evaluate a test’s:
A. incremental validity.
B. criterion-related validity.
C. construct validity.
D. differential validity.
Answer C is correct. The multitrait-multimethod matrix is one method for evaluating a test’s construct validity and is important for tests that are designed to assess a hypothetical trait (construct). When using the multitrait-multimethod matrix, the test being validated is administered to a sample of examinees along with tests known to measure the same or a related trait and tests known to measure unrelated traits. When scores on the test being validated have high correlations with scores on tests that measure the same or a related trait, this provides evidence of the test’s convergent validity. And, when scores on the test have low correlations with scores on tests that measure unrelated traits, this provides evidence of the test’s divergent validity. Adequate convergent and divergent validity provide evidence of the test’s construct validity.
Dr. Haar is concerned that the statistics tests she uses for her introductory statistics class are too difficult since so few students pass them. To make her tests a little easier, she will want to remove some items that have an item difficulty index (p) of \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ and add some items that have an item difficulty index of \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_. A. +1.0 and higher; -1.0 and lower B. +.50 and higher; -.50 and lower C. .85 and higher; .15 and lower D. .15 and lower; .85 and higher
Answer D is correct. The item difficulty index (p) ranges from 0 to 1.0, with 0 indicating a very difficult item (none of the examinees answered it correctly) and 1.0 indicating a very easy item (all examinees answered it correctly). Therefore, to make the statistics tests easier, Dr. Haar will want to remove some of the very difficult items (e.g., those with a p value of .15 and lower) and add some easy items (e.g., those with a p value of .85 and higher).
In the context of test construction, “shrinkage” is associated with: A. inter-rater reliability. B. factor analysis. C. incremental validity. D. cross-validation.
Answer D is correct. Shrinkage is associated with cross-validation and refers to the fact that a validity coefficient is likely to be smaller than the original coefficient when the predictor(s) and criterion are administered to another (cross-validation) sample. Shrinkage occurs because the chance factors that contributed to the relationship between the predictor(s) and criterion in the original sample are not present in the cross-validation sample.
Myasthenia gravis is an autoimmune disorder that causes degeneration of \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ receptors at neuromuscular junctions, resulting in severe muscle weakness and fatigue. A. acetylcholine B. glutamate C. GABA D. norepinephrine
Answer A is correct. Acetylcholine (ACh) is important for the control of the skeletal (voluntary) muscles, and disruption of ACh activity at neuromuscular junctions has been linked to myasthenia gravis and several other disorders. ACh also plays a role in learning, memory, attention, and mood.
Dr. Miller is hired by an insurance company to develop a performance appraisal measure for salespeople. She’s most likely to recommend that the company use a relative measure (as opposed to a Likert-type rating scale) because relative measures:
A. are more acceptable to both raters and rates.
B. allow the rater to focus on typical (rather than maximum) performance.
C. are less susceptible to some rater biases.
D. provide more useful information for employee feedback.
Answer C is correct. An advantage of relative job performance measures is that they reduce leniency, strictness, and central tendency rater biases.
The symptoms of fetal alcohol syndrome:
A. are lifelong and irreversible.
B. gradually decrease in severity during childhood and adolescence.
C. are largely reversible with the provision of early psychosocial interventions.
D. are largely reversible with the provision of adequate nutrition following birth.
Answer A is correct. Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is the most severe form of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). Its symptoms are lifelong and irreversible and include a wide range of physical abnormalities, cognitive deficits, and behavioral problems.
Irvin Yalom (2005) views \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ in group therapy as the equivalent of the therapist-client relationship in individual therapy. A. interpersonal learning B. imitative behavior C. cohesiveness D. universality
Answer C is correct. Yalom identifies group cohesiveness as one of the 11 curative (therapeutic) factors of group therapy and describes it as the analogue to the therapist-client relationship in individual therapy [The theory and practice of group therapy (5th ed.), New York, Basic Books, 2005].
Krumboltz’s (1979) social learning theory of career decision-making identifies four factors that influence decision-making. Which of the following is NOT one of the four factors? A. genetic endowment B. environmental conditions and events C. task approach skills D. self-efficacy beliefs
Answer D is correct. Krumboltz proposed that career decision-making is affected by the person’s genetic endowment and special abilities, environmental conditions and events, learning experiences, and task approach skills.
When taking a walk after dark with her grandmother, a child says the moon is following them because it wants to help them see where they’re going. This is an example of: A. horizontal decalage. B. egocentrism. C. magical thinking. D. animistic thinking.
Answer D is correct. Children are engaging in animistic thinking when they believe inanimate objects have thoughts, feelings, and other lifelike qualities. In contrast, magical thinking (answer C) occurs when children erroneously believe they have control over objects or events.
Which of the following best describes sensory memory? A. large capacity and brief duration B. large capacity and long duration C. small capacity and brief duration D. small capacity and long duration
Answer A is correct. Sensory memory is also known as sensory register and receives information directly from the environment. It has a large capacity for information, but stores it for a very brief period of time (from about one-fourth second to four seconds).
When two variables are measured on an interval or ratio scale and their relationship is nonlinear, you would use which of the following correlation coefficients to assess their degree of association? A. Spearman rho B. contingency C. eta D. biserial
Answer C is correct. An assumption that must be met for most bivariate correlation coefficients is that there’s a linear relationship between the two variables that will be correlated. An exception is eta, which is used when both variables are measured on a continuous (interval or ratio) scale and the relationship between the variables is nonlinear.
When considering the optimal method of training, you would most likely choose vestibule training because:
A. it’s less costly than off-the-job training.
B. it’s useful for teaching higher-order cognitive skills.
C. it’s less dangerous than on-the-job training.
D. it allows training to be self-administered.
Answer C is correct. Vestibule training is a type of off-the-job training that allows trainees to acquire skills using the actual machinery or equipment they’ll use on-the-job. It’s useful when on-the-job training would be too dangerous.
Dr. Merritt overhears Alice, one of the interns she’s supervising, making disparaging remarks about people with addictions to a group of friends on two separate occasions. However, Dr. Merritt has never observed Alice acting in an inappropriate way with clients who have any type of addiction and she hasn’t discussed what she overheard with Alice. When Alice receives her performance evaluation, Dr. Merritt has noted that one of the low ratings she assigned was due to her concern that Alice is likely to have trouble working with clients who have an addiction. With regard to ethical guidelines:
A. Dr. Merritt’s evaluation is acceptable because of the unacceptability of the disparaging remarks Alice made.
B. Dr. Merritt’s evaluation is acceptable as long as it includes an explanation for her concerns about Alice’s ability to work with clients who have an addiction.
C. Dr. Merritt’s evaluation is acceptable as long as it was provided to Alice in a timely manner and she’s willing to discuss her concerns with Alice.
D. Dr. Merritt’s evaluation is not acceptable because it was not based entirely on Alice’s actual performance as an intern.
Answer D is correct. This answer is most consistent with Standard 7.06(b) of the APA Ethics Code and Standard II.26 of the Canadian Code of Ethics. Standard 7.06(b) states that “psychologists evaluate students and supervisees on the basis of their actual performance on relevant and established program requirements.”
A graduate student has just been hired as a research assistant for a psychology professor’s research study. The student quickly realizes that the psychologist is requiring undergraduate students in his Psychology 101 class to act as subjects in the study as a course requirement and is not offering them the choice of an alternative assignment. To fulfill ethical requirements, the graduate student should:
A. do nothing since this is an acceptable practice.
B. discuss the ethical violation with the psychologist.
C. advise the students of their right to refuse to participate in the study.
D. quit his job as research assistant.
Answer B is correct. Standards 1.04 and 1.05 of the APA Ethics Code and Standards II.43 and II.44 of the Canadian Code of Ethics require psychologists to take action when they believe a colleague is acting unethically by attempting to resolve the situation informally or reporting the colleague to an ethics committee or licensing board. The psychology professor’s requirement that his students participate in his research without providing an alternative assignment violates Standard 8.04(b) of the APA Ethics Code and Standard I.36 of the Canadian Code of Ethics, so this is the best answer. While the situation described in this question involves a graduate student and a professor, the requirement is the same.
Dawis and Lofquist’s (1984) theory of work adjustment identifies satisfaction and satisfactoriness as predictors of a person’s: A. job choice. B. job tenure. C. work productivity. D. career maturity.
Answer B is correct. Dawis and Lofquist’s theory of work adjustment identifies tenure as the primary indicator of work adjustment and proposes that it’s affected by two factors – satisfaction and satisfactoriness. Satisfaction refers to the employee’s satisfaction with the job, while satisfactoriness refers to the employer’s satisfaction with the employee.
Abramson, Metalsky, and Alloy’s (1989) hopelessness model of depression proposes that hopelessness is a proximal cause of depression and that a sense of hopelessness is the result of:
A. a lack of response contingent reinforcement.
B. stable and global attributions for negative life events.
C. depressogenic cognitive schemata.
D. deficits in self-monitoring, self-evaluation, and self-reinforcement.
Answer B is correct. According to L. Y. Abramson, G. I. Metalsky, and L. B. Alloy, the tendency to attribute negative life events to stable and global factors produces hopelessness (an expectation that desirable outcomes will not occur and/or that undesirable outcomes will occur). Hopelessness then leads to a specific type of depression, which they refer to as “hopelessness depression” (Hopelessness depression: A theory-based subtype of depression, Psychological Review, 96, 358-372, 1989).
Your new client’s symptoms developed soon after the death of his wife, and you are trying to determine if they meet the criteria for major depressive disorder or uncomplicated bereavement. Which of the following symptoms is more consistent with uncomplicated bereavement?
A. The client’s feelings of emptiness and sadness have lasted for at least one month.
B. The client says he never experienced depressive symptoms before the death of his wife.
C. The client’s symptoms include an inability to anticipate happiness or pleasure.
D. The client’s depressive symptoms become worse whenever he thinks about his wife.
Answer D is correct. The DSM-5 does not specify a time limit for uncomplicated bereavement, which eliminates answer A; the diagnosis of major depressive disorder does not require more than one depressive episode, which eliminates answer B; and an inability to anticipate happiness or pleasure is more characteristic of major depressive disorder than grief, which eliminates answer C. In addition, the DSM-5 notes that the dysphoria associated with grief varies in intensity and is usually most intense when the person is thinking about or is reminded of the deceased person, while dysphoria associated with major depressive disorder is persistent and not tied to particular thoughts.
Excessive secretion of the hormone thyroxine by the thyroid gland causes hyperthyroidism, which produces:
A. tremor, sweating, tachycardia, difficulty sleeping, anxiety, sensitivity to heat, and unexplained weight loss.
B. fatigue, muscle cramps, bradycardia, constipation, dry skin, depression, sensitivity to cold, and unexplained weight gain.
C. increased hunger and/or thirst, blurred vision, fatigue, weight loss, and recurrent infections.
D. extreme hunger, fatigue, pale skin, tingling lips, dizziness, tremors, irritability, and confusion.
Answer A is correct. The symptoms described in this answer are characteristic of hyperthyroidism, while those listed in answer B are characteristic of hypothyroidism. The symptoms listed in answer C are associated with hyperglycemia, and the symptoms listed in answer D are associated with hypoglycemia.
A 12-year-old boy stops teasing his younger sister because, whenever he does, his parents subtract 50 cents from his weekly allowance. This is an example of which of the following? A. positive reinforcement. B. negative reinforcement. C. positive punishment. D. negative punishment.
Answer D is correct. Negative punishment occurs when a behavior decreases or stops because a stimulus is removed following the behavior. In the situation described in this question, the behavior is teasing and the stimulus is a loss of 50 cents, and the boy stopped teasing his sister because 50 cents is taken away whenever he does so.
With regard to leadership style, which of the following is the best conclusion that can be drawn about the effects of consideration and initiating structure on job outcomes?
A. A high level of consideration is more important than a high level of initiating structure for both satisfaction and performance.
B. A high level of initiating structure is more important than a high level of consideration for both satisfaction and performance.
C. A high level of consideration is more important for satisfaction, while a high level of initiating structure is more important for performance.
D. A high level of consideration is more important for performance, while a high level of initiating structure is more important for satisfaction.
Answer C is correct. Judge, Piccolo, and Ilies’s (2004) meta-analysis of the research found that a high level of consideration was more strongly related to subordinate satisfaction and motivation, while a high level of initiating structure was more strongly related to leader and group performance.
Berscheid’s (1991) emotion-in-relationships model identifies which of the following as a cause of strong emotions in close relationships?
A. unexpected behaviors that interrupt usual behavioral routines
B. coercive interactions that gradually escalate over time
C. behaviors that fulfill each partner’s most prepotent needs
D. internal working models of acceptable and unacceptable behaviors
nswer A is correct. According to Berscheid’s emotion-in-relationships model, strong emotions are elicited in close relationships when a partner engages in an unexpected behavior that interrupts the couple’s usual behavioral routines. When the interruption has a desirable outcome, it elicits a positive emotional reaction; when it has an undesirable outcome, it elicits a negative emotional reaction.
Milan systemic family therapists use which of the following to help family members recognize similarities and differences in their perceptions of a family event? A. Socratic questioning B. circular questioning C. ordeals D. rituals
Answer B is correct. Circular questioning involves asking each family member the same question. Milan systemic family therapists use circular questioning for several reasons including helping family members identify similarities and differences in their perceptions of and reactions to family events and helping therapists acquire information about family patterns.
Which of the following is true about obsessive-compulsive disorder?
A. The onset of symptoms is earlier in males and males are more likely to have a comorbid tic disorder.
B. The onset of symptoms is earlier in females and females are more likely to have a comorbid tic disorder.
C. The onset of symptoms is earlier in males but females are more likely to have a comorbid tic disorder.
D. The onset of symptoms is earlier in females but males are more likely to have a comorbid tic disorder.
Answer A is correct. According to DSM-5, “males have an earlier age at onset of OCD than females and are more likely to have comorbid tic disorders” (p. 240).
To help a client with exhibitionistic disorder stop exposing himself in public, a behavior therapist has the client imagine that he’s at the mall and is starting to unzip his pants. Once that image is clear, the therapist instructs the client to imagine a police officer running up to him, pushing him up against the wall, putting handcuffs on him, and taking him outside the mall to the police car. The therapist is using which of the following interventions? A. response cost B. covert sensitization C. systematic desensitization D. overcorrection
Answer B is correct. Covert sensitization is a type of aversion therapy that’s conducted in imagination. It involves pairing an image of the deviant behavior with an image that naturally produces an unpleasant emotional or physical reaction. In this situation, being arrested is the unconditioned stimulus and starting to pull down the zipper becomes a conditioned stimulus because, after being paired with the unconditioned stimulus, it produces an unpleasant emotional reaction (e.g., fear or embarrassment) instead of sexual arousal.
Damage to certain areas of the dominant parietal lobe can produce Gerstmann’s syndrome, which includes all of the following symptoms except: A. finger agnosia. B. agraphia. C. left-right confusion. D. ataxia.
Answer D is correct. Gerstmann’s syndrome involves four symptoms: finger agnosia, left-right confusion, agraphia (difficulty writing), and acalculia (difficulty performing simple mathematical operations). Even if you’re not familiar with Gerstmann’s syndrome, you may have been able to identify the correct answer to this question as long as you know that ataxia (loss of muscle control) is usually caused by damage to the cerebellum.
During process consultation, an organizational development (OD) consultant will most likely focus on which of the following?
A. job satisfaction and motivation
B. theft, sabotage, and other counterproductive behaviors
C. perceptions related to organizational justice
D. communication, decision-making, and problem-solving
Answer D is correct. As its name suggests, process consultation focuses on communication, decision-making, problem-solving, and other organizational processes that are contributing to performance problems.
In a(n) \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ interaction, one partner adopts a dominant “one-up” position while the other partner adopts a submissive “one-down” position. A. closed B. open C. complementary D. symmetrical
Answer C is correct. Some practitioners of family therapy distinguish between complementary and symmetrical interactions. Symmetrical interactions reflect equality, while complementary interactions reflect inequality. For example, when both partners in a relationship are domineering and neither backs down during interactions, their interactions are symmetrical. In contrast when one partner is domineering and the other partner is submissive, their interactions are complementary.
A graduate program in clinical psychology requires first-year students to participate in individual therapy. With regard to the requirements of the APA Ethics Code and the Canadian Code of Ethics, this is:
A. acceptable as long as special steps are taken to protect students’ confidentiality.
B. acceptable as long as there are no multiple relationships between the students and the therapists.
C. acceptable only if students are given the choice of participating in an alternative activity.
D. unacceptable under any circumstances.
Answer B is correct. This answer is most consistent with Standard 7.05 of the APA Ethics Code and Standard III.30 of the Canadian Code of Ethics. Standard 7.05(a) states that “when individual or group therapy is a program or course requirement, psychologists responsible for that program allow students in undergraduate and graduate programs the option of selecting such therapy from practitioners unaffiliated with the program.” And Standard 7.05(b) states that “faculty who are or are likely to be responsible for evaluating students’ academic performance do not themselves provide that therapy.” In other words, when therapy is a program or course requirement, a student’s therapist should not have another relationship with the student.
When a patient with schizophrenia is taking a neuroleptic (antipsychotic) drug and develops the symptoms of neuroleptic malignant syndrome, the drug should be:
A. gradually decreased until the symptoms stop.
B. gradually increased until the symptoms stop.
C. discontinued immediately.
D. gradually decreased or discontinued immediately depending on the severity of the patient’s symptoms.
Answer C is correct. Neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) is a rare side effect of neuroleptic drugs that produces hyperthermia, severe muscle rigidity, difficulty swallowing, tachycardia, and altered consciousness. Because NMS is life-threatening, the drug must be discontinued as soon as symptoms develop.
A criticism of behaviorally anchored rating scales (BARS) is that:
A. they’re useful only for managerial-level jobs.
B. they’re time-consuming to develop.
C. they’re time-consuming to use when there are many employees to assess.
D. they focus on extreme (rather than typical) behaviors.
Answer B is correct. Behaviorally anchored rating scales (BARS) are a type of graphic rating scale in which each point on a scale is “anchored” with a description of a specific job-related behavior. Disadvantages of BARS are that they’re time-consuming to develop and they’re job-specific, which means that different scales must be developed for different jobs.
Before using a newly developed 10-item screening test to identify people who are depressed, you administer the test to a sample of clinic patients along with an established (validated) 50-item measure of depression and correlate the two sets of scores. In this situation, you are evaluating the screening test’s:
A. content validity.
B. divergent validity.
C. differential validity.
D. concurrent validity.
Answer D is correct. Concurrent validity is a type of criterion-related validity that involves determining how well a new predictor (e.g., a screening test) estimates current scores on a criterion (e.g., a validated measure of depression).
Which of the following provides global scores that correspond to two theoretical models – the Cattell-Horn-Carroll model of cognitive abilities and the Luria neuropsychological processing model?
A. Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, Second Edition
B. Slosson Intelligence Test, Revised Third Edition
C. Cognitive Assessment System, Second Edition
D. Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, Fourth Edition
Answer A is correct. The Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, Second Edition (KABC-II) provides five scale scores (Simultaneous, Sequential, Planning, Learning, and Knowledge) and two global scores. The global score based on the Cattell-Horn-Carroll model of cognitive abilities includes performance on measures of acquired (crystallized) knowledge, while the global score based on the Luria neuropsychological processing model does not include performance on measures of acquired knowledge.
Sleepwalking and sleep terror are categorized in the DSM-5 as non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep arousal disorders. In contrast to people with nightmare disorder, people with a NREM sleep arousal disorder:
A. experience incomplete awakening from sleep after an event and, when awakened, have little or no memory for the event.
B. experience incomplete awakening from sleep after an event and, when awakened, have a vivid memory for the event.
C. awaken easily and completely after an event and have little or no memory for the event.
D. awaken easily and completely after an event and have a vivid memory for the event.
Answer A is correct. People with NREM sleep arousal disorder experience incomplete awakening from sleep after an episode of sleepwalking or sleep terror and, when awakened, have amnesia for the episode.
According to Sherif and Hovland’s (1961) social judgment theory, which of the following affects the size of a person’s latitudes of acceptance, rejection, and non-commitment?
A. the person’s use of the peripheral or central route to process the information contained in the persuasive message
B. the person’s belief about his/her ability to perform the behavior advocated by the persuasive message
C. the person’s prior exposure to the arguments presented in the persuasive message
D. the person’s ego-involvement with the issue addressed by the persuasive message
Answer D is correct. Social judgment theory predicts that the more ego-involved a person is with one side of the issue addressed by a persuasive message, the smaller his/her latitudes of acceptance and non-commitment and the larger his/her latitude of rejection. In other words, the greater the person’s ego-involvement in his/her position, the less likely the person is to be persuaded by a message advocating an opposing position.
A movie production company hires only males for male roles and females for female roles for its action/adventure films, even though this means significantly more males than females are hired. In this situation:
A. gender is a business necessity.
B. gender is a bona fide occupational qualification.
C. the production company’s hiring practice is unfair to women.
D. the production company’s hiring practice is an example of systematic bias.
Answer B is correct. An employment requirement is a bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ) when it’s necessary to maintain normal business operations. In the situation described in this question, gender is a BFOQ. In contrast, an employment requirement is a business necessity (answer A) when it’s job-related and required for the safe and efficient operation of the business. Also, while BFOQ applies only to gender, age, religion, and national origin, business necessity applies to all legally protected groups.
A realistic job preview is used to:
A. identify newly hired employees who are likely to benefit from training.
B. reduce turnover by ensuring that new employees have accurate job expectations.
C. identify the most important job requirements when conducting a job analysis.
D. help new employees feel as though they’re part of the organization.
Answer B is correct. A realistic job preview involves informing job applicants about the positive and negative aspects of the job in order to reduce the risk for turnover after they’re hired by ensuring they have realistic job expectations.
During his first session with a family, a structural family therapist notices that, whenever the father tries to shed some light on the family’s problems, the mother and teenage son interrupt him and contradict what he’s saying. The therapist will describe this interaction as a: A. detouring coalition. B. stable coalition. C. symmetrical interaction. D. complementary interaction.
Answer B is correct. Practitioners of Minuchin’s structural family therapy distinguish between three rigid family triads – stable coalition, detouring coalition, and triangulation. A stable coalition occurs when two family members (often a parent and child) consistently “gang up” against a third family member (the other parent).
