Practice Exam Questions

Question 1

The “dissemination problem” refers to

A. The limited availability of empirically supported treatments (ESTs).
B. The difficulty getting treatment-outcome researchers to share their treatment manuals.
C. The procedure in place to teach clients how to cope with negative emotions.
D. Primary care physicians’ limited knowledge about mental health issues
E. The procedure in place to teach clients how to avoid negative emotions.

Answer 1

A. The limited availability of empirically supported treatments (ESTs).

Question 2

Criteria for inclusion on the list of Empirically Supported Treatments include:

A. Comparison of treatment with appropriate control group
B. Superiority of treatment to appropriate control group or equivalence to treatment of
established efficacy
C. Manualization of treatment
D. Use of reliable and valid outcome measures in supporting research
E. All of the above

Answer 2

E. All of the above

Question 3

The exposure component of CBT for Panic Disorder includes facing

A. The physical symptoms of a panic attack
B. Activities that produce symptoms of a panic attack
C. Situations in which it might be difficult to get help if a panic attack occurred
D. A and C
E. A, B, and C

Answer 3

E. A, B, and C

Question 4

Some of the characteristics of clinical science, as opposed to pseudoscience, are that

A. Clinical scientists look for alternative explanations to their findings
B. Measurement strategies are standardized and useful
C. Clinical science is guided by beliefs that cannot be tested empirically
D. A and B
E. B and C

Answer 4

D. A and B

Question 5

Statistical significance refers to the _________ of a treatment effect, whereas practical significance
refers to the ________ of a treatment effect.

A. Magnitude; generalizability
B. Effectiveness; Efficacy
C. Efficacy; Effectiveness
D. Reliability; magnitude
E. Generalizability; reliability

Answer 5

D. Reliability; magnitude

Question 6

Which of the following about the literature on training therapists in empirically supported treatments is TRUE?

A. Attending trainings is more effective at increasing therapist use of empirically supported
treatments when the trainings are followed by consultation
B. Therapist self-study of treatment manuals is sufficient to increase use of empirically
supported treatments
C. Participation in brief workshops about empirically supported treatments is associated with
increased use of the treatments with clients
D. Multi-component trainings do not demonstrate better outcomes than brief workshops.
E. None of the above.

Answer 6

A. Attending trainings is more effective at increasing therapist use of empirically supported
treatments when the trainings are followed by consultation

Question 7

Which of the following are the four areas or themes used in IPT to classify a patient’s difficulties?

A. Role transitions, role disputes, role disconnection, role overinvolvement
B. Interpersonal deficits, interpersonal abuse, interpersonal transitions, interpersonal conflicts
C. Role transitions, role disputes, grief, interpersonal deficits
D. Role disputes, role transitions, interpersonal disconnection, interpersonal overinvolvement
E. Grief, interpersonal deficits, role loss, role gain

Answer 7

C. Role transitions, role disputes, grief, interpersonal deficits

Question 8

What is the main treatment goal of short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy?

A. To enhance motivation to change problematic behavior
B. To bring unconscious motives, conflicts, and memories into conscious awareness
C. To address childhood traumas by learning to challenge maladaptive thoughts about them
D. To allow the client the freedom to change his or her life by fully exploring the contents of the
unconscious
E. To build up defense mechanisms so the client is better able to protect against disturbing
unconscious motives, conflicts, and memories

Answer 8

B. To bring unconscious motives, conflicts, and memories into conscious awareness

Question 9

Which of the following is FALSE?

A. Problem solving involves defining a problem and then generating, selecting, and
implementing solutions
B. Contingency management involves implementing reinforcements and punishments to change problematic behavior
C. Behavioral activation involves scheduling activities to reduce inactivity and increase rates of
pleasurable activities
D. Social skills training is a behavioral technique
E. Relaxation training involves rehearsal of increasingly complex behavioral skills

Answer 9

E. Relaxation training involves rehearsal of increasingly complex behavioral skills

Question 10

Eye-movement Desensitization and Reprocessing is:

A. A treatment that currently is not used by the Veteran’s Administration for PTSD
B. More effective than Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
C. On the list of empirically supported treatments for PTSD
D. Relatively easy and cheap to become qualified to provide
E. Harmful to those with PTSD

Answer 10

C. On the list of empirically supported treatments for PTSD

Question 11

In a randomized controlled trial,

A. Therapists receive limited training and supervision
B. The treatment is highly standardized
C. A highly heterogeneous sample of clients is selected
D. B and C
E. A, B, and C

Answer 11

B. The treatment is highly standardized

Question 12

Efficacy studies prioritize _____ validity, while effectiveness studies prioritize _____ validity.

A. Internal; external
B. External; internal
C. Content; face
D. Face; content
E. Discriminant; incremental

Answer 12

A. Internal; external

Question 13

Which of the following client characteristics does NOT have an effect on treatment outcome,
according to lecture?

A. Presence of personality disorder
B. Psychological mindedness
C. Problem severity
D. Ethnicity
E. Treatment expectations

Answer 13

D. Ethnicity

Question 14

Which of the following statements about the current health-care context in this country is/are true?

A. Providers and consumers now have much more control over health-care decisions
B. Mental health care costs have increased dramatically over the past 30 years
C. There is now a decreasing focus on cost-effectiveness and accountability issues
D. The most common providers of psychosocial mental-health services currently are clinical
psychologists
E. All of the above

Answer 14

B. Mental health care costs have increased dramatically over the past 30 years

Question 15

Findings from the RCT for depression discussed in section suggest that ___________ was most
successful at reducing depressive symptoms to the point of remission and keeping participants in the treatment study.

A. Behavioral activation
B. Cognitive therapy
C. Antidepressant medication
D. Pill placebo
E. No one treatment (i.e., all of the treatments were equally successful)

Answer 15

A. Behavioral activation

Question 16

Performing progressive muscle relaxation causes:

A. Heart rates to increase
B. Anxiety ratings to decrease
C. Salivary cortisol to increase
D. A and C
E. B and C

Answer 16

B. Anxiety ratings to decrease

Question 17

All of the following are components of a comprehensive actuarial approach to violence risk
assessment and prediction except:

A. Using the empirical literature to identify risk factors
B. Calculating final risk estimates based on clinical experience and judgment
C. Developing final risk estimates from empirically derived cutoff scores
D. Measuring risk factors with standardized, reliable, and valid approaches
E. Combining risk factors into a prediction equation

Answer 17

B. Calculating final risk estimates based on clinical experience and judgment

Question 18

Research indicates that the most accurate method of assessment and prediction is:

A. Relying on actuarial equations when available and appropriate
B. Giving clinicians the results of actuarial assessments and allowing them to use their clinical
judgment to override the actuarial assessment whenever they like
C. Allowing clinicians to use their clinical experience to decide upon the best assessment for a
given patient
D. Training clinicians to make judgments based on the same factors as those assessed in
actuarial equations
E. Clinicians using semi-structured interview approaches

Answer 18

A. Relying on actuarial equations when available and appropriate

Question 19

Which of the following is TRUE?

A. Very few evidence-based assessment strategies exist
B. Assessment strategies that are not well-supported by research are used widely in practice
C. Clinical approaches to prediction are more accurate than actuarial approaches, on average
D. A and B
E. A, B, and C

Answer 19

B. Assessment strategies that are not well-supported by research are used widely in practice

Question 20

Which of the following is TRUE of the actuarial vs. clinical approach to assessment and prediction?

A. The actuarial approach is more frequently used in practice.
B. Evidence supports the use of the actuarial approach only when a clinician is unavailable to
apply the clinical approach.
C. Assessment and prediction approaches can only be classified as either completely actuarial
or completely clinical.
D. Both are only used when the base rate of the condition of interest is approximately 50%.
E. None of the above.

Answer 20

E. None of the above.

Question 21

An extremely high F scale score on the MMPI

A. Indicates a tendency to under-report psychological problems
B. Indicates a tendency to respond randomly
C. Indicates a tendency to over-report psychological problems
D. Indicates a tendency to respond either true or false much more of the time
E. None of the above

Answer 21

C. Indicates a tendency to over-report psychological problems

Question 22

Concerns regarding personality disorders in DSM-5 (in the main body of the DSM) include which of
the following?

A. There is substantial variability among persons receiving the same personality disorder
diagnosis.
B. Personality disorders tend to endure across a personal’s life.
C. Almost everyone with significant personality psychopathology can be diagnosed with one of
the 10 personality disorders.
D. Different measures of the same personality disorder correlate strongly.
E. Comorbidity is limited

Answer 22

A. There is substantial variability among persons receiving the same personality disorder
diagnosis.