Test Questions 1 Flashcards

Question

``` A patient complains that she cannot stop thinking about killing her child, though she has no intention of doing so. The patient is depressed about these thoughts and occasionally has a drink in an attempt to escape from them, though this attempt is usually unsuccessful. The most likely diagnosis for this person is A Major Depressive Disorder. B Substance Dependence. C Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. D Delusional Disorder. ```

Answer 1

The Correct Answer is "C" This person's thought seems to qualify as an obsession. Obsessions are recurrent and persistent thoughts, impulses, or images that are experienced as intrusive and cause marked distress. A person with obsessions attempts to ignore, suppress, or neutralize them and recognizes that they are a product of one's own mind. Recurrent obsessions or compulsions are the defining feature of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. A person with this disorder may be depressed about it and may use alcohol or other substances in an attempt to neutralize his or her distress.

Answer 2

The Correct Answer is "A" Ellis, the founder of RET, viewed behavioral disorders as stemming from both biological predisposition and early life experiences but argued that their maintenance was due primarily to self-indoctrination. Specifically, during early childhood, children tend to internalize the critical attitude of their parents and then perpetuate that attitude as they grow older.

Answer 3

The Correct Answer is "C" C. The DSM-IV-TR reports prevalence rates for Panic Disorder of 1 to 2% in community samples and states that “approximately one-third to one-half of individuals diagnosed with Panic Disorder in community samples also have Agoraphobia” (p. 436).

Answer 4

The Correct Answer is "B" A trainability test is designed to determine whether or not potential employees are suitable for training. It is not designed to be directly predictive of how well the person will do on the job itself. Instead, it would more directly indicate how well the person would do on a job sample, which is likely to be a part of the training sessions. In fact, trainability tests typically include job samples and are described as a type of job sample.

Answer 5

The Correct Answer is "B" The activities listed in the question are "executive functions," which are mediated by the frontal lobes, or, more specifically, by the prefrontal lobes. (The basal forebrain connects with the temporal lobes and is involved in long-term memory.)

Answer 6

The Correct Answer is "C" Emotional reasoning is one of several cognitive distortions described by Beck. It refers to a person believing that because he or she feels a negative emotion, there must be a corresponding negative external situation. Minimization (A) is seeing something as less significant than it really is. Selective abstraction (B) occurs when one focuses on a detail, taken out of context, at the expense of other information. Personalization (D) is the attribution of external events to oneself without evidence of a causal connection.

Answer 7

The Correct Answer is "D" This is an example of a question with more than one good answer. Choices “A”, “B”, and “C” may all be acceptable, depending on the circumstances. But because there are a number of acceptable answers to this question, you'd hope to find one general answer, such as “D”, that covers most or all of the specific possible options. More importantly, of the choices listed, “D” is most consistent with the language of APA's Ethical Standard 6.04(a), which states: “As early as is feasible in a professional or scientific relationship, psychologists and recipients of psychological services reach an agreement specifying compensation and billing arrangements.

Answer 8

The Correct Answer is "C" C. Discrimination and generalization refer to the differences in precision of stimulus control, or the ability of a stimulus to alter the probability of a response. Response probabilities vary with different contexts, discriminative stimuli, and reinforcement contingencies (e.g., what is likely to be rewarded, ignored, or punished). In this case, the adolescent behaves differently in one context (with friends) than in another context (with adults). Friends are a discriminative stimulus in which the response of swearing is more likely to occur. Overcorrection (d.) is a technique that is used to reduce an undesirable behavior and replace it with a more desirable one.

Answer 9

The Correct Answer is "A" Feature integration theory is what it sounds like. It's a theory about how an object's features are integrated, and it proposes that focused visual attention is required for perception of an object to occur.

Answer 10

The Correct Answer is "B" The frontal lobe contains the prefrontal association cortex. Lesions in this area disrupts the control and regulation of cognition and planning (so-called executive functions). Individuals with such lesions show decreased initiative, deficient self-awareness and concreteness in thinking.

Answer 11

The Correct Answer is "D" Higher-order conditioning is a classical conditioning procedure in which two stimuli (CS and US) are paired until the conditioned stimulus (CS) produces the conditioned response (CR) and then the CS (which is now referred to as a US) is paired with another CS to elicit the same response. All of the other choices in this question are operant conditioning terms. Operant conditioning involves behaviors and the consequences that follow, rather than the pairing of stimuli. Chaining (A) is the operant procedure that enables complex behaviors to develop through reinforcement of a sequence of simple behaviors. That is, Behavior A is followed by a reinforcer, which serves as a discriminative stimulus for Behavior B, which is followed by a reinforcer, and so on. Shaping (B) involves reinforcing successive approximations of a desired behavior.

Answer 12

The Correct Answer is "D" Synesthesia is a perceptual condition in which stimulation of one sensory modality is reliably perceived in one or more other senses. For example, individuals with synesthesia may hear odors or see sounds. The cause of synesthesia is unknown, but is more prevalent among women and non-right-handed people. Achromatopsia (A) is a rare form of color blindness that is accompanied by hypersensitivity to light and poor visual acuity. Hallucinations (B) are sensory perceptions that occur without external stimulation of the sensory organ. Nystagmus (C) refers to involuntary jerky eye movement.

Answer 13

The Correct Answer is "C" Under the Cleary model, a test is considered unfair if the slope and/or the y-intercept of the regression line is different for one subgroup than for another. The effect of these statistical phenomena is that differences between subgroups on predictor scores would not be reflective of differences between the groups on the criterion. For instance, low scorers in one subgroup might do just as well on the criterion as high scorers in the other subgroup.

Answer 14

The Correct Answer is "C" Since this does not appear to be a court-ordered evaluation, the examinee remains the holder of the privilege; thus, his records should not be released to the court without his consent.

Answer 15

The Correct Answer is "C" C. J.P. Guilford identified 120 elements using factor analysis that he proposed in sum comprise intelligence. Convergent thinking is the ability to group or analyze divergent ideas usually leading to a unifying concept or single solution. Divergent thinking is the ability to generate creative, new ideas or to elaborate or branch off from traditional approaches, such as in brainstorming or “thinking out of the box.” Galton (a.) postulated that intelligence is an inherited trait distributed normally across the population. Thurstone (b.) applied his method of factor analysis to intelligence leading to his proposed theory of Primary Mental Abilities (that individuals possess varying degrees of sub-components of intelligence). Cattell’s (d.) theory distinguished between fluid and crystallized intelligence.

Answer 16

The Correct Answer is "A" Functional amnesia is a condition, caused by a psychological trauma, in which individuals are unable to remember significant events in their lives, i.e., autobiographical information. Anterograde amnesia (B) is an impaired ability to form new permanent memories. Retrograde amnesia (C) is an inability to recall previous memories (i.e., for events that occurred prior to a head trauma), and is not necessarily for, or limited to, autobiographical information. Someone who is malingering (D) could feign memory loss for autobiographical memories; however, most cases of autobiographical memory loss are not due to malingering.

Answer 17

The Correct Answer is "C" In general, consultants work with the teachers and parents rather than individual students. With the Adlerian model, preventive interventions are emphasized and the consultants educate the parents and teachers. (Dustin and Ehly 1992).

Answer 18

The Correct Answer is "D" The term "neuronal threshold" refers to the minimum level of energy required for a neuron to fire. If the energy in the cell is below this threshold level, the cell will not fire at all. And increasing the energy in the cell above the threshold does not increase the intensity of firing. This is referred to as the "all-or-none" law -- either the cell fires at maximum intensity or it does not fire at all.

Answer 19

The Correct Answer is "A" Based on the limited information provided, her most likely diagnosis would be Adjustment Disorder. According to DSM-IV-TR, Adjustment Disorder involves a psychological response to an identifiable stressor that results in clinically significant symptoms. Bereavement ("B") is reserved for a reaction to the death of a loved one. In OCD the obsessions must not simply be excessive worries about real-life problems and the person must experience them as intrusive and, at least at times, attempt to ignore or suppress them. Before we could diagnose Borderline Personality Disorder we would need many more symptoms of instability of relationships, self-image, and affects, along with marked impulsivity.

Answer 20

The Correct Answer is "D" D. Rosen and Tesser (1970) conducted research on message transmission in different groups of people to determine how individuals respond to relaying a message that may be displeasing. They proposed there is emotional stress placed on the messenger, predicated on a fear of being infected with the emotional distress of the recipient or of having to assume an emotional state congruent with the bad news, and for this reason there may be a decrease in the transmittance of bad news. Their findings, which have been subsequently supported by others, indicated that bad news is transmitted less frequently than good news. MUM refers to the tendency to keep ‘Mum about Undesirable Messages’ (See: Rosen, S. & Tesser, A. (1970). On reluctance to communicate undesirable information: The MUM effect. Sociometry. 33, 253 - 263.) Minority influence (a.) refers to attempts by a minority to alter of attitudes and beliefs on part of the majority typically involving a break with the accepted norms and conventions; inspiring majority resistance; and creating a cognitive conflict for the majority. The effectiveness of minority influence depends on the extent that it exhibits behavioral consistency, persistence and internal coherence as well as congruency with the prevailing Zeitgeist, that is with values, norms and goals salient for the majority. Groupthink (b.) is an intensive tendency to seek agreement among members of the group, which prevents full consideration of alternative decisions, to the point where the decisions reached may become irrational. Factors which contribute to groupthink include high cohesiveness, homogeneous backgrounds and values, and a strong, directive leader.

Answer 21

The Correct Answer is "D" Even if you were unfamiliar with Sue and Sue's Racial/Cultural Identity Development Model, you may have been able to guess correctly if you realized that the term "dissonance" refers to conflict. Sue and Sue's (1990) Racial/Cultural Identity Development Model (R/CID) is an elaboration of the Minority Identity Development model (MID) proposed by Atkinson, Morton, and Sue (1989). Both models describe the same stages (conformity, dissonance, resistance and immersion, introspection, and integrative awareness) but the R/CID model elaborates on individuals' attitudes toward self and others. During the Conformity stage, a person depreciates the self (and others of the minority group) but appreciates the dominant majority group. During the Dissonance stage, minority individuals experience conflict between appreciation and depreciation of the self and the majority group. In the Resistance and Immersion stage, the individual appreciates the self and depreciates the majority group. In the Introspection stage, the person again experiences conflict and questions the basis of his or her appreciation and depreciation of self and others. And, finally, in the Integrative Awareness stage, the person experiences self-appreciation and selective appreciation of the majority group [D. W. Sue and D. Sue, Counseling the culturally different: Theory and practice, 3rd edition, 1999, New York, John Wiley].

Answer 22

The Correct Answer is "B" In cluster sampling, naturally occurring groups of subjects, rather than individual subjects, are randomly selected for participation in research. For instance, if a researcher wants to use elementary school students in an educational study, he or she could randomly choose a school from the schools in his state, and use all the students in that school as participants in the study. That's cluster sampling. A variation of cluster sampling, known as multistage cluster sampling, involves selecting a large cluster (group) and then selecting selectively smaller clusters. For example, the researcher studying elementary school students could randomly select a school district, then randomly select a school from the chosen school district, and then randomly select a classroom from the chosen school. In this case, both forms of cluster sampling would be more practical than the alternative of simple random sampling. That would involve randomly selecting individual elementary school students from across the state.

Answer 23

The Correct Answer is "B" Kohlberg distinguishes between three levels of moral development (preconventional, conventional, and postconventional). At the preconventional level, morality is based on the consequences of an act. Good behaviors are rewarded and bad behaviors are punished. The next level is conventional, in which morality is guided by the desire to maintain existing social laws, rules, and norms. In the post-conventional level individuals view morality in terms of self-chosen principles. Heteronomous morality (D) is a term use by Piaget to describe preschool children who believe that rules are absolute and unchangeable.

Answer 24

The Correct Answer is "D" A number of special types of rating scales designed to reduce rater bias (such as the forced-choice and the Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales) have been derived, and, in fact, there is some research to show that they are effective in doing so. However, no rating scale will be effective unless raters are trained adequately in its use. Indeed, research shows that relevant training can minimize some rating errors -- specifically, the halo effect, constant error such as the leniency or strictness bias, and contrast effects. The operative word here is "relevant": unless training focuses on matters such as the multi-dimensionality of work performance, objective recording of behavior, and rating people in terms of actual job requirements, training the raters won't work.

Answer 25

The Correct Answer is "C" Several studies have found that passive coping strategies (e.g., depending on others, restricting social activities, use of medication for immediate pain relief) result in an increase in subjective pain among chronic pain patients. Conversely, helping patients reduce the frequency of passive coping strategies is believed to result in decreased pain. Active coping strategies (e.g., staying busy or active, distracting attention from the pain), as well as biofeedback and cognitive-behavioral therapy, have most often been found to decrease pain [A. C. Mercado, L. J. Carroll, J. D. Cassidy, & P. Cote, Coping with neck and low back pain in the general population, Health Psychology, 2000, 19(4), 333-338].

Answer 26

The Correct Answer is "C" The State Boards derive their authority from the principle of protecting the public. That's the justification for giving exams, setting requirements for licensure, writing and enforcing regulations, and so on.

Answer 27

The Correct Answer is "B" Since the question mentions that clonidine is safer for chronic use, you'd want to look for less serious side effects, which narrows it down to responses b and d. In addition to dry mouth, headache, and hypotension, clonidine may also cause sedation and dizziness.

Answer 28

The Correct Answer is "C" Not all experts agree that children cannot experience panic attacks. However, those that do, for the most part, argue that children do not experience panic because they are cognitively incapable of making internal catastrophic interpretations (e.g., I'm going crazy) of bodily symptoms.

Answer 29

The Correct Answer is "D" In the variable ratio schedule, reinforcement occurs after a variable number of responses. The variable ratio has been found to result in a high and constant rate of response (A) and, compared to the other schedules of reinforcement, the responses are the most resistant to extinction (B). Since it is a variable schedule, the relationship between the behavior and reinforcement is unpredictable (C), which contributes to the above characteristics. However, the scallop effect (D), in which the response rate drops after each reinforcement and increases just before reinforcement is due, is characteristic of fixed schedules, especially the fixed interval schedule.

Answer 30

The Correct Answer is "D" Research with drugs led to the formulation of the “catecholamine hypothesis” about the cause of mood disorders. First presented in 1965, Schildkraut et al.’s theory of depression emphasized the association of depression with a decrease in the levels of brain catecholamines dopamine (DA) and norepinephrine (NE), especially norepinephrine. This hypothesis in its simplest form, stated that depression was due to a deficiency of norepinephrine, one of the major catecholamine systems in the brain. This early hypothesis is based on evidence from three groups of drugs: reserpine, monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors, and tricyclics. Reserpine depletes the brain of dopamine and norepinephrine and is used primarily to treat hypertension. It is also used for severe agitation. MAO inhibiters and tricyclics, although they work in somewhat different ways, are used to treat depression and tend to increase the amount of norepinephrine available in the central nervous system. A variety of approaches, especially in the United States, tested this hypothesis and the results are inconclusive. Nonetheless, this theory served as he “standard” theory for depression in the United States until the 1980s. (See: McNeal, E. T., and Cimbolic, P. (1986). Antidepressants and Biochemical Theories of Depression. Psychological Bulletin, 99(3), 361-374.)

Answer 31

The Correct Answer is "C" This question is fairly easy to answer once you remember you are not obliged to provide services for all your referrals. This is an initial interview and you have a situation that involves a multiple relationship. You need to refer this couple to one of your competent colleagues.

Answer 32

The Correct Answer is "D"This is the opposite of what is true about organizations that focus on quality where the policy is to emphasize rewarding group performance and organization-level achievement rather than individual achievement (which is characteristic of the traditional approach). The other characteristics listed in the responses are relatively new approaches and are characteristic of "total quality" organizations.

Answer 33

The Correct Answer is "A" Bipolar Disorders have a strong genetic and biological component. Nonetheless, evidence suggests that environmental factors can trigger episodes. This is especially true in the early stages of the disorder; psychosocial stressors often trigger the initial mood episodes; they less frequently trigger subsequent episodes.

Answer 34

The Correct Answer is "B" Migraine headaches are typically unilateral, that is, felt on one side of the head and are typically throbbing in nature. Migraines are also frequently accompanied by sensitivity to light, sound, and movement, and may be accompanied by nausea and vomiting. Cluster headaches (A) are characterized by severe pain usually behind one eye and typically last for a few minutes to several hours and reoccur at the same time each day for several weeks, until the cluster period is over. Tension headaches (C) are described as a constant, dull, pain on both sides of the head. They are typically accompanied by tension in the head or neck muscles and begin slowly and gradually. Sinus headaches (D) are usually located in the mid-facial area and are described as a dull ache often accompanied by nasal congestion.

Answer 35

The Correct Answer is "D" Huntington's Disease is due to degeneration of neurons in the basal ganglia, and the degeneration is usually first apparent in the caudate nucleus. (The basal ganglia include the caudate nucleus, the putamen, and the globus pallidus.)

Answer 36

The Correct Answer is "A" Brain plasticity refers to the ability of the nervous system to adapt to different circumstances and to find new ways of learning. Plasticity is particularly useful for acquiring a new skill or recovering from a brain injury. Children, as you might expect, have greater plasticity than adults, although adults maintain some degree of plasticity throughout their lives. The greater plasticity in children is attributed to their brains not being fully developed. The human brain continues its development throughout childhood and into early adulthood, with significant increases in neural connections and myelination. However, adults, having more life experience, have more explicit and implicit memories. Adults also tend to have better metamemory, that is, greater knowledge of what one knows and how one's memory works, although this ability may decline among older adults.

Answer 37

The Correct Answer is "A" Although group polarization and the risky shift also refer to poor decision-making, their antecedents have not been as well-defined as those associated with groupthink (i.e., only groupthink has been linked theoretically and empirically to an incomplete consideration of alternatives and consequences, high group cohesiveness, etc.).

Answer 38

The Correct Answer is "C" The classic finding in the area of research into short-term memory (STM) is the "7 +/- 2" finding; i.e., that STM has the capacity of storing 7 plus or minus 2 pieces of information at one time. Chunking is a technique designed to increase the amount of information that can be kept in STM -- it involves grouping larger amount of information into single chunks. In other words, STM is used to store 7 +/- 2 chunks rather than 7 +/- 2 isolated bits of information. Mnemonics (choice D) are used to increase the efficiency of encoding newly learned information, which increases the ease with which that information is retrieved from long-term memory.

Answer 39

The Correct Answer is "A" There are a number of ways to estimate the interscorer reliability, but the most common involves calculating a correlation coefficient between the scores of two different raters. The Kappa coefficient is a measure of the agreement between two judges who each rate a set of objects using the nominal scales.

Answer 40

The Correct Answer is "B" The terms "high context" and "low context" have been used to describe cultural differences in communication. A high-context style is characterized by reliance on nonverbal and culturally-shared cues and is characteristic of a number of cultural/racial minority groups including African-, Hispanic-, and Asian-Americans.

Answer 41

The Correct Answer is "A" Most of the research on group heterogeneity has focused on its impact on creativity and problem-solving and has found it to have beneficial effects on both.

Answer 42

The Correct Answer is "B" Hyperthyroidism, or over secretion of thyroxine by the thyroid gland, is a possible physiological cause of symptoms that resemble generalized anxiety or hypomania.

Answer 43

The Correct Answer is "D" The relationship between a family's level of expressed emotion (EE) and the risk of relapse among patients with Schizophrenia has been known for many years; however, recently EE has also been linked to eating disorders and mood disorders. In fact, in a meta-analysis the relationship of EE to relapse in eating disorders and mood disorders was significantly greater than the relationship found for Schizophrenia (mean effect sizes were .51, .39, and .31, respectively) [R.L. Butzlaff & J.M. Hooley, Expressed emotion and psychiatric relapse: A meta-analysis, Archives of General Psychiatry, 55, 1998, 547-552].

Answer 44

The Correct Answer is "D" This is a difficult question because it provides so little information about Jesse Jr.'s behavior. However, it is normal for children to show distress before and after visits to the noncustodial parent, especially during the first few months after the divorce. (For sexual abuse to be the right answer, you'd want to see more severe symptoms that last for a longer period of time.)

Answer 45

The Correct Answer is "A" A. Research on the use of light therapy for the treatment of various forms of depression has yielded the findings that for true SAD, atypical symptoms such as carbohydrate craving and hypersomnia predict a robust response, whereas melancholic symptoms such as insomnia and weight loss are generally less responsive to light (See: Terman et al., American Journal of Psychiatry, 1996, 153,:423-9). Additionally, a clear onset period with complete remission in the spring and summer months is the SAD phenotype that is most likely to respond to light. Whereas patients with more chronic forms of depression or incomplete summer remission are less likely to have a robust response, they may benefit to some extent (See: Lam et al., Journal of Affective Disorders, 2001, 63, 123-32).

Answer 46

The Correct Answer is "D" Ethical Standard 9.07 states, "Psychologists do not promote the use of psychological assessment techniques by unqualified persons." A human resources staff would be unqualified to use these tests and should not be trained in their use. Contrary to C, cognitive ability tests are considered to be a relatively good predictor of job performance.

Answer 47

Although there has been about a 75% decrease in the infant mortality rates from 1950 to 1999, the proportion of deaths caused by congenital deformities has actually increased, making it the leading cause of death during infancy (i.e., the first year of life). The next leading cause is low birthweight followed by sudden infant death syndrome (B). These three causes accounted for almost one-half of all infant deaths in 1999. Respiratory distress (A) was the 5th leading cause of infant deaths. Homicide (C) was ranked 15th (although homicide risk is higher during infancy than in any other year of childhood before age 17 years)

Answer 48

The Correct Answer is "C" C is the more conservative and more appropriate answer since we don't know too much about the couple. If we knew more about why they sought help, we could make a more specific recommendation.

Answer 49

The Correct Answer is "C" As their name suggests, tension headaches are associated with stress. The psychological correlates of migraine headaches are less clear, and more than one theory has been proposed regarding this issue; however, clinical observation has suggested that stress often plays a role in their onset.

Answer 50

The Correct Answer is "D" Declarative or explicit memories are long-term memories that one can consciously recall. They include semantic (factual information) and episodic (personally experienced) memories. Riding a skateboard (A) requires procedural memory. All of the other choices require explicit memory; however, memory deficits due to head trauma or disease usually affect recent long-term memory before affecting remote long-term memory.

Answer 51

The Correct Answer is "B" People with Korsakoff's Syndrome (amnesia due to heavy, long-term alcohol consumption) have severe anterograde amnesia along with retrograde amnesia for events that occurred in the relatively recent past. Procedural memory is undisturbed (response A); remote memories are usually intact (response C); and short-term memory is unaffected (response D).

Answer 52

The Correct Answer is "D" The "telling style" according to Hersey and Blanchard's (1974) description, is more effective when an employee's ability and willingness to accept responsibility are low. This leadership style involves high task orientation and low relationship orientation. With A, the leader should adopt the "selling" style–high task orientation and high relationship orientation. With B, the leader should adopt a "participatory" style–low task orientation and high relationship orientation. With C the leader can use a "delegating style"; both low task and low relationship orientation.

Answer 53

The Correct Answer is "B" The research on alternative work schedules is mixed, however, one consistent finding is that rotating shifts result in lowered productivity and satisfaction, higher accident rates, and more physical and mental health problems. Obviously, the more frequent the change in schedule, the more difficult it would be to adapt. On the other hand, compressed work week schedules, such as the 4/40, usually result in improved job satisfaction and decreased absenteeism. However, compressed schedules usually have no effect on productivity or, depending on the job, possibly a negative affect. (while flextime schedules result in improved productivity, absenteeism, and satisfaction).

Answer 54

The Correct Answer is "A" Sampling error is the extent to which a sample value deviates from the corresponding population value which it is supposed to represent. Thus, the smaller the sample size, the greater the risk of sampling error. You should have been able to eliminate reliability ("B") and validity ("C"), since those are characteristics of a test – which is not applied until after the sampling procedure. Sampling error, as it's name implies, takes place during the sampling or selection of subjects. A confounding variable ("D"), is a variable that is not of interest in a study but which exerts a systematic effect on the DV. Thus it would threaten the internal validity of a test but it is not related to sampling error.

Answer 55

The Correct Answer is "D" PTSD is not usually treated with phamacotherapy unless the target symptoms of intrusive experiences, flashbacks, transient psychosis, marked derealization, and avoidance and numbing markedly interfere with daily life. With these symptoms, short-term medication is indicated. When the target symptoms of major depression, panic disorder or persistent psychotic symptoms become too intense, long term medication is indicated (Barry Pierce, R cassidy seminars, Santa Rosa CA).

Answer 56

The Correct Answer is "D" You need to be able to differentiate between the different types of attributional errors. The fundamental attribution error or bias only refers to interpretations of others' behaviors. It occurs when we underestimate situational factors and overestimate dispositional factors in understanding the behavior of others. For example, if we see someone trip and assume it's because they're clumsy. Choice B describes the actor-observer effect. Choice C describes the self-serving bias.

Answer 57

The Correct Answer is "D" You may have been able to answer this one by the process of elimination if you're not familiar with apraxia. There are many forms of apraxia including ideomotor, constructional, and dressing apraxia.

Answer 58

The Correct Answer is "A" Utilization review is concerned with conserving health care monies. It does this through having a utilization review committee assess the use of benefits and reduce or eliminate inappropriate or unnecessary use of health care resources. Answer B is a description of the concept of quality assurance and answer C is describing a medical team management approach to individual health care.

Answer 59

The Correct Answer is "B" According to Hollander (1985) in order to successfully challenge the majority opinions of a group, a person must first conform to the group in order to establish credibility as a competent insider. By becoming accepted members of the group, we accumulate idiosyncracy credits which are like brownie points.

Answer 60

The Correct Answer is "D" The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) does not consider individuals who are "currently engaging in the illegal use of drugs" as suffering from a disability on that basis. In other words, it does not protect current drug users. However, it does protect past substance addicts -- as long as the individual is currently participating in or has completed a supervised rehabilitation program, and the person is not currently using drugs. In regard to drug testing, the act does not identify any circumstances in which drug testing is prohibited. In fact, even though it protects former substance addicts, the Act permits employers to use "reasonable means" -- including drug tests -- to verify that such persons are no longer using substances.

Answer 61

The Correct Answer is "C" Test-retest reliability, or the coefficient of stability, involves administering the same test to the same group on two occasions and then correlating the scores. Alternative forms reliability, or coefficient of equivalence (response “B”), consists of administering two alternate forms of a test to the same group and then correlating the scores. Internal consistency reliability (response “D”) utilizes a single test administration and involves obtaining correlations among individual test items. Split-half reliability (response “A”) is a method of determining internal consistency reliability.

Answer 62

The Correct Answer is "D" HIPAA does not apply to all health care providers. It only applies to “cover entities” — health plans, health care clearinghouses and healthcare providers — who transmit health information electronically. A provider who only communicates information by mail, phone, or fax is not a covered entity. Transmitting information electronically refers to use of the internet and includes receiving health information as well as transmitting information. For example, a provider is a covered entity even if she/he never transmits information but receives information, such as a description of benefits e-mail, via the internet. Additionally, a provider employing someone who sends or receives patient information on the provider’s behalf via the internet is also a covered entity.

Answer 63

The Correct Answer is "C" Questions like this can be frustrating because it is really impossible to make blanket generalizations. When the brain is compromised by a medical problem (or by substance use), the nature of impairment always depends on the location in the brain of damage and the extent of damage. However, if memory is impaired, the ability to retain newly learned information is most likely to be affected. Impairment in other types of memory, such as long-term episodic memory or verbal (semantic) memory, usually indicates more severe memory damage in which impairment in learning new information is also present.

Answer 64

The Correct Answer is "A" Using a style approach, the Ohio State leadership studies identified two behavioral dimensions of leaders: initiating structure and consideration. These dimensions were treated as independent of each other in contrast to previous studies of leader behavior which placed related dimensions along a single continuum of leadership ranging from employee to production-centered (response “B”). In different models of leadership, the dimension of initiating structure is sometimes referred to as task-orientation and concern for production. The dimension of consideration has also been labeled employee orientation, relations-oriented and concern for people.

Answer 65

The Correct Answer is "C" Countertransference refers to the therapist's transference responses to the patient. According to current psychoanalytic thought, a therapist's analysis of his or her own countertransference reactions can help the therapist recognize subtle aspects of the transference relationship and better understand the patient's experience.

Answer 66

The Correct Answer is "D" The type of visual agnosia described in this question is referred to as apperceptive agnosia and involves an inability to recognize familiar objects, especially in low-light conditions, when there are many shadows, when objects overlap, etc.

Answer 67

The Correct Answer is "C" | Assimilation is when a child incorporates and interprets new information in terms of his or her existing schema.

Answer 68

The Correct Answer is "D" D. Continuous schedules, or reinforcing every response, are associated with quick learning, satiation and extinction. The process of thinning, or switching from a continuous to an intermittent schedule, is used to increase the resistance to extinction once a behavior is established.

Answer 69

The Correct Answer is "B" In his work on observational learning, Bandura found evidence for his theory that learning and performance are separate phenomena and that learning can occur without reinforcement. For example, in the study described in this question, children learned aggressive responses by watching an aggressive model (even when the model was punished) and, consequently, were able to imitate the aggressive behavior when told they would be rewarded for doing so. Interestingly, boys (but not girls) who were rewarded for imitating the aggressive model were more likely to do so when the model had been punished than when the model had been rewarded.

Answer 70

The Correct Answer is "B" B. The prefrontal cortex is associated with a variety of cognitive functions, including attention and certain aspects of memory. An individual with damage to the prefrontal cortex may exhibit distractibility, impaired working memory, a reduced attention span, and impaired prospective memory. “Psychic blindness” (d.) is associated with Kluver-Bucy syndrome, which is caused by damage to certain areas of the temporal lobes.

Answer 71

The Correct Answer is "A" Suggesting counseling to the student is ethical and appropriate. However, barring an emergency situation characterized by imminent danger, informing a third party is unethical.

Answer 72

The Correct Answer is "C" Exposure is currently considered the best intervention for most (if not all) Anxiety Disorders. However, the best way of exposing clients to stimuli that elicit anxiety depends on the particular disorder. For Specific Phobia, brief in vivo exposure is effective for many clients, and adding a cognitive component usually does not improve the effects of the intervention substantially.

Answer 73

The Correct Answer is "D" Knowing that SSRIs are the most prescribed medications for the treatment of OCD should have helped you choose the correct answer. SSRIs target serotonin, which is believed to reduce the symptoms of OCD. Although the mechanism of action is not fully understood, and may differ from the mechanism involved in its antidepressant effects, serotonin is believed to be the primary target.

Answer 74

The Correct Answer is "D" Tiedeman and O'Hara based their career development model on Erikson's psychosocial theory of ego identity development. They proposed that a person develops a vocational identity through a process of many differentiations and reintegrations throughout one's lifespan. Differentiation comes from the realization that a particular career does not "fit" with one's personality. Integration involves identification with a career.

Answer 75

The Correct Answer is "B" This is one of those questions that seems to be a favorite of the EPPP. The risk for an identical (monozygotic) twin to be diagnosed is about 46% and for fraternal (dizygotic) twins it is about 17%. You have to be able to do the basic math here, and realize that 46 is about two and a half times 17, and thus is the "closest" to correct. This question is also a good example of how the exam takes a straightforward finding and muddies the water with it.

Answer 76

The Correct Answer is "C" The Big Five personality traits: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism ("OCEAN") have been matched with several of the personality disorders. Antisocial Personality Disorder was found to be associated with low scores in Agreeableness and Conscientiousness and generally higher scores in Neuroticism and Extroversion. Note that "neuroticism" is sometimes referred to as its opposite: "emotional stability".

Answer 77

The Correct Answer is "B" Functional value is pretty much what it sounds like. According to Bandura, a behavior has functional value when the person anticipates that performing it will result in desirable consequences (i.e., when the behavior serves a function).

Answer 78

The Correct Answer is "B" Gene Glass coined the term "meta-analysis" in 1976 and Smith and Glass first used the technique in their psychotherapy outcome studies in 1977. A prior version of the technique was actually developed by Karl Pearson in 1904 (who is better known for his correlation coefficient); however, it was Smith & Glass' classic study which modified and popularized the technique. The benefit of meta-analysis is that it allows researchers to statistically compare the results of several independent studies to yield a single effect size indicating the magnitude of an independent variable's effect.

Answer 79

The Correct Answer is "A" Though 80% of quitters gain weight, the average weight gain is only between 7-9 pounds. The other choices are true statements.

Answer 80

The Correct Answer is "D" A process consultant, rather than merely correcting problems for his or her client, focuses on an organization's underlying processes, with the goal of making changes in processes so that individuals within the organization can solve their own problems. Thus, choice D is the best answer, as it is the only one which offers a way in which the nurses and administrators can work together to solve the problem of dissatisfaction with work conditions. By comparison, choices A and B would have the consultant diagnose and "fix" the problem; these interventions would be consistent with the medical rather than the process model of consultation.

Answer 81

The Correct Answer is "A" The best idea is to just leave out these children. Participants have the right to decline to participate in research, even if they are children. It wouldn't be practical or prudent to ask her to re-design the whole experiment because a handful of children object to being participants. Thus, the best answer is to just do the study without using the children who object to participating.

Answer 82

The Correct Answer is "B" You should respond to the subpoena by asserting the psychotherapist-client privilege on the client's behalf. If you cannot be released from the subpoena, you should appear at the legal proceeding with the documents requested, however, you should not actually release any information in the records, unless the judge orders you to do so. Keep in mind that a subpoena duces tecum requires a person to appear at a designated time and place with a copy of the records. It does not necessarily require the person to release those records.

Answer 83

The Correct Answer is "D"According to the DSM-IV-TR, Major Depressive Disorder occurs at twice the rate for adolescent and adult females as compared to adolescent and adult males. The rates for prepubertal boys and girls are equal.

Answer 84

The Correct Answer is "D" You have to picture the positively skewed curve in order to get this correct. Positive skewness means there are some outliers (extreme scores) way over on the positive side. That's where the tail is, way off to the right, or positive, end. Since the mean takes into account the magnitude of the scores, these outliers can be pictured as "pulling" the mean to the positive side, or the right. So, in any ordering of measures of central tendency, the mean would be the highest value. Thus, you can eliminate the two distractors that don't list the mean as the highest value. To distinguish between the remaining answers, let's go back to consider what the median is. The median is the middlemost point irrespective of value. If you've pictured the curve correctly you can see that more than half the cases fall on the right side because some are way over on the positive side. If you put a line where the highest point is on the curve, which is the mode, you'd see that more than half the cases fall to the right of that line. Hence the median, the 50% point, is to the right of the high point, the mode. This should have gotten you to the correct answer.

Answer 85

The Correct Answer is "B" About ten percent of all children are socially inhibited. Typically, these children cling to their parents, are socially timid, and are scared of the unfamiliar. Reliable predictors of social inhibition have been detected in early infancy -- as early as the ages of 2-4 months. For instance, infants who display high levels of negative affect and motor activity in response to novel stimuli tend to display social inhibition later on in life. These and other findings suggest that inhibition and other personality characteristics related to basic temperament are stable and have a strong genetic basis.

Answer 86

The Correct Answer is "C" A test's reliability sets an upper limit on its criterion-related validity. Specifically, a test's validity coefficient can never be higher than the square root of its reliability coefficient. In practice, a validity coefficient will never be that high, but, theoretically, that's the upper limit.

Answer 87

The Correct Answer is "C" The ratio IQ was a simple formula used when mental tests were first developed. It was a way of determining how the child's mental age differed from his or her chronological age. A problem with the ratio IQ is that IQ scores are not comparable across age groups. For this reason, the deviation IQ was developed. Here the IQs are related to the average score for each age group and the derived IQ is presented in terms of how far the score deviates from that average. In this way, the scores can be more easily compared across ages.

Answer 88

The Correct Answer is "B" Reactive Attachment Disorder occurs in children below the age of 5 and is characterized by disturbed social relatedness. There are two subtypes: inhibited and disinhibited type. This question is about the former, which involves inhibition, hypervigilance, and ambivalent responses in social situations. The other subtype, disinhibited type, involves indiscriminate attachments and sociability (e.g., familiarity with strangers, lack of selectivity in choice of attachment figures). In both subtypes, evidence of pathogenic care (e.g., disregard for the child's basic physical or emotional needs) must be present before the diagnosis can be made.

Answer 89

The Correct Answer is "B" B. Based on performance on the predictor and the criterion, individuals may be classified as false positives, true positives, false negatives, or true negatives. False negatives, like the athlete, are not identified as having used substances when, in fact, they have. Conversely, false positives (a.) are identified by the drug screening test as having used or having substances present, when they have not. True positives are individuals identified by the screening test as having substances present and they do. True negatives are individuals not identified by the screening test to have substances present and do not.

Answer 90

The Correct Answer is "D" According to both ethics and law, a psychologist may disclose confidential information without the client's consent to protect the client from harm. This applies to minors and adults alike. In this case, it would most likely be appropriate to inform the girl's parents about her suicide risk. The reasons for this should be explained to the girl and the therapist should apologize for the breach of confidentiality. Given the apparent level of risk involved, it would probably not be sufficient to rely on a no-harm contract (A). It would certainly be inappropriate and countertherapeutic to lie to the client (B). And it may not be necessary to refer the client (C). If handled empathically, it is likely that the girl will come to understand the therapist's reasons for disclosing to the parents and may come to appreciate that her safety was his overriding concern.

Answer 91

The Correct Answer is "C" The authors mentioned in the question have developed a model of cultural identity development in minority group members, called the Minority Identity Development (MID) model. The model's five stages are conformity, dissonance, resistance and immersion, introspection, and synergetic articulation and awareness. Individuals in the conformity stage prefer the dominant culture's values to those of their own culture. They are likely to have feelings of racial self-hatred, negative beliefs about their own culture, and positive feelings toward the dominant culture.

Answer 92

The Correct Answer is "C" While standard developmental scales don't predict later IQ score, a baby's responses to a visual attention task do. How much time it takes the baby to assimilate a novel stimulus is moderately predictive of later IQ score since, it is hypothesized, the mental functioning involved is similar.

Answer 93

The Correct Answer is "A" Overcorrection is a behavioral technique designed to eliminate undesirable behaviors and promote alternative ones. In overcorrection, the person is required first to correct the consequences of a negative behavior (e.g., clean up the shards of a vase he broke); this is called restitution. Then, the person must repeatedly practice alternative behaviors; this is referred to as positive practice. In many cases, the person is physically guided through the restitution and/or positive practice phases.

Answer 94

The Correct Answer is "C" C. The home advantage in team sports has generated various explanations; however, it most consistently has been linked to a supportive home audience.

Answer 95

The Correct Answer is "A" Drinking alcohol anytime during pregnancy can have adverse effects on the fetus. However, alcohol consumption during the first trimester is more likely to cause structural and anatomical defects, characteristic of fetal alcohol syndrome. Consumption during the second and third trimesters is more likely to result in growth restriction and functional impairment.

Answer 96

The Correct Answer is "C" The most stressful thing about staying in a hospital for a child is separation from parents. Many hospitals are beginning to institute "sleeping rooms" for parents to spend the night in.

Answer 97

The Correct Answer is "D" Research has identified a number of factors associated with poorer adjustment in children whose parents divorce. For instance, rapid remarriage of one or both parents is predictive of poorer adjustment. The other suggestions are likely to be helpful (or at worst, benign): exposure to parental conflict, parental continuance of an unhappy marriage, and failure to allow children to establish a relationship with the noncustodial parent are all factors associated with poorer long-term adjustment in children of divorce.

Answer 98

The Correct Answer is "C" The term "sleeper effect" has been used by Wallerstein and others to describe the finding that some children (especially girls) who seemed well-adjusted immediately after the divorce of their parents show significant problems in adolescence and early adulthood. Note that not all research has found evidence of this sleeper effect.

Answer 99

The Correct Answer is "C" Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) has been found to be the most effective treatment for Generalized Anxiety Disorder, probably because it combines a number of behavioral and cognitive interventions.

Answer 100

The Correct Answer is "D" D. Passive pain-coping strategies, a category described in Brown and Nicassio’s (1987) dichotomy of active versus passive coping strategies, are associated with worse pain and adjustment among chronic pain patients. Passive coping strategies are those that involve giving responsibility for pain management to an outside source or allowing other areas of life to be adversely affected by pain. They may also serve as psychological enforcers of pain. Examples of passive coping strategies are focusing on where the pain is and how much it hurts, restricting or cancelling social activities, or thoughts such as “ There’s nothing I can do to lessen this pain,” or “I wish my doctor would prescribe me better pain medication.” In contrast, active coping strategies entail the patient taking responsibility for pain management including attempts to control the pain or to function in spite of it. Examples of active coping strategies include engaging in physical therapy or exercise, staying busy/active, relaxation techniques, clearing distracting thoughts and attention from the pain. Cognitive (b.) and cognitive behavior therapy has been shown to be effective in reducing the experience of pain and improving positive behavior expression, appraisal and coping in individuals with chronic pain. Evidence supports a relationship between positive health outcomes and the use of religious coping to manage pain. Pargament (1990) identified three possible interactions between religion and coping: religion can influence the parts of the coping process (appraisal, coping activities, results, assistance, and motivation); contribute to the coping process by influencing perception (attribution of meaning and the feeling of control) and preventing certain events from happening (through a beneficiary life style); and it can be the resultant of the coping process through religious attributes.

Answer 101

The Correct Answer is "C" To answer this you need to know two concepts in forgetting: one related to neuropsychological functioning, and the other related to cognitive psychology. If amnesia starts from a time of trauma and extends forward into new experiences (e.g., the person can't remember anything occurring after a head trauma), it's anterograde. If the amnesia extends backwards into experiences before the trauma, it's retrograde. So keep this in mind: anterograde for new experiences, retrograde for past experiences. Now let's move to cognitive psychology and compare memory inhibitory processes. Retroactive inhibition occurs when new learning interferes with previous learning. Proactive inhibition occurs when previous learning interferes with new learning. Now, if we make a comparison between the two sets of terms, we will combine proactive inhibition with anterograde amnesia. This is because, in proactive inhibition, the forgetting is for information occurring after a particular event, and in anterograde amnesia, the person cannot retain any information that occurs after a trauma. Retroactive inhibition and retrograde amnesia are analogous for similar reasons, except that the word "before" rather than "after" applies.

Answer 102

The Correct Answer is "B" This question is difficult because the language of the response choices is convoluted and imprecise. We don't write questions like this because we're sadistic; it's just that you'll sometimes see this type of language on the exam as well, and we want to prepare you. What you need to do on questions like this is bring to mind what you know about the issue being asked about, and to choose the answer that best applies. Here, you should bring to mind what you know about the relationship between reliability and validity: For a test to have high validity, it must be reliable; however, for a test to have high reliability, it does not necessarily have to be valid. With this in mind, you should see that "high validity assumes high reliability" is the best answer. This means that a precondition of high validity is high reliability. The second best choice states that low reliability assumes low validity. This is a true statement if you interpret the word "assume" to mean "implies" or "predicts." But if you interpret the word "assume" to mean "depends on" or "is preconditioned by," the statement is not correct. So B is the best answer.

Answer 103

The Correct Answer is "B" This is a difficult question if you are not familiar with Beck's work on suicide. Maladaptive interpretations and beliefs are, of course, an important focus in Cognitive Therapy regardless of the client's problem. However, since this question is asking specifically about suicide, you'd want to choose the response that fits that problem. According to Beck, suicide risk is heightened by a combination of hopelessness and poor problem-solving skills.

Answer 104

The Correct Answer is "D" Elkind identified two aspects of the adolescent's renewed egocentrism. The imaginary audience is the belief that one is always "on stage"; the personal fable is the belief that one is unique and invulnerable.

Answer 105

The Correct Answer is "C" Several studies have found that the risk for suicide and suicide attempts is higher among both male and female adolescents in single-parent homes as compared to dual-parent homes.

Answer 106

The Correct Answer is "D" Schizoid Personality Disorder is characterized by a pattern of indifference to social relations and a limited range of emotional expression in social situations. Avoidant Personality Disorder is characterized by social inhibition, feelings of inadequacy, and hypersensitivity to negative evaluation. Individuals with both these disorder are likely to avoid social relationships. However, those with Avoidant Personality Disorder do so due to timidity and fear of criticism, disapproval, or rejection. Individuals with Schizoid Personality Disorder, by contrast, do so out of indifference to social relationships and a preference for solitary activities.

Answer 107

The Correct Answer is "C" Yalom believes that co-leaders should not express conflict in front of the group during the early stages of therapy. However, in his book The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy, he notes that mature resolution of conflict in the later stages can serve as a healthy model for the group members.

Answer 108

The Correct Answer is "A" A. As described in the Federal Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection, differential prediction is a potential cause of test unfairness. Differential prediction occurs when the use of scores on a selection test systematically over- or under-predict the job performance of members of one group as compared to members of another group. Criterion contamination occurs when a rater’s knowledge of ratees’ performance on the predictor biases his/her ratings of ratees’ performance on the criterion (b.). Differential validity, also a possible cause of adverse impact, occurs when a predictor’s validity coefficient differs for different groups (c.). When a test has differential validity (d.), there is a slope bias. Slope bias refers to differences in the slope of the regression line.

Answer 109

The Correct Answer is "D" Cognitive therapists believe that Panic Disorder is connected to "catastrophic misinterpretations" of bodily sensations, symptoms, and mentation. The client's "overcastrophization" of early signs of the attack such as hyperventilation results in a full-blown attack. Thus, at least initially, therapy focuses on identifying and modifying the client's misinterpretations of symptoms and thoughts immediately before and during the attack.

Answer 110

The Correct Answer is "D" D. Tourette’s syndrome is a chronic tic disorder that involves vocal and motor tics. Recent estimates indicate 60 percent of children with Tourette’s have AD/HD, and approximately 7 percent of children with AD/HD have tics or Tourette’s syndrome. The symptoms are often mild, and a significant social impact only occurs in rare severe cases. According to recent research, psychostimulant medication is not related to the development of Tourette’s syndrome in children with AD/HD. However, when there is a family history of tics or Tourette’s syndrome, a cautious treatment approach is recommended as some individuals will experience worsening of their tics with stimulant treatment.

Answer 111

The Correct Answer is "C" Questions like this are certainly frustrating, since in real life you would conduct a comprehensive assessment of the person before planning interventions. For the exam, however, you must do your best with the information you have at hand. Paranoid ideations in elderly clients are often wholly or partially due to what is happening around them. For instance, elderly people often live in high crime areas, are victimized by unscrupulous businessmen, and are plotted against in various ways by family members. If the person is mildly memory impaired, depressed, and/or hearing impaired, these events can seem even more threatening and the ideations can intensify. Thus, of the choices listed, the best option would be to alter the environment to make it seem less threatening.

Answer 112

The Correct Answer is "B" For answer B to be correct, the answer should be maternal psychopathology. Rutter listed low socioeconomic status, severe marital discord, large family size, parental criminality, and placement of children outside the home, to be predictors of child psychopathology.

Answer 113

The Correct Answer is "B" Chodorow uses the principles of object relations theory (thus D is incorrect) to show that girls are taught to stay attached to their same sex mother while boys are taught to differentiate (opposite of answer C) from their mothers. Chodorow argues that the present system represents a gendered division of labor and that changes in gender relations will only occur when men and women are equally responsible for child rearing.

Answer 114

The Correct Answer is "C" Huntington's Disease is believed to begin when cells within the striatum (caudate and putamen) of the basal ganglia begin to be destroyed. The striatum is responsible for producing GABA, which regulates the levels of dopamine in the brain through an inhibitory process. The death of the striatum cells causes decreased amounts of GABA which leads to an overproduction of dopamine and results in chorea (uncontrollable and irregular muscle movements, especially of the arms, legs, and face).

Answer 115

The Correct Answer is "D" D. The American Psychological Association, in its Guidelines for Psychological Practice with Older Adults [American Psychologist, 2004, 59(4), 236-260] concluded that older adults may respond more slowly to various forms of psychotherapy but there are few significant differences in effectiveness relative to younger adults. Additionally, tailoring an intervention to the specific needs of an older client may increase its effectiveness.

Answer 116

The Correct Answer is "A" All of these factors would be important to consider in deciding whether to prescribe tricyclics to a patient. However, safety considerations generally supercede all others; thus, choice "A" is the best answer. The risk of suicide in depressed patients must always be considered by physicians when writing prescriptions -- particularly for potentially dangerous drugs such as tricyclics.

Answer 117

The Correct Answer is "B" Absence or Petit Mal Seizures are very brief (30 seconds or less) and are characterized by minimal motor activity and a lack of awareness. Absence seizures usually begin in childhood and most outgrow the condition by adulthood. Researchers believe that absence seizures originate in the thalamus (the central relay station for sensory information going to the cortex).

Answer 118

The Correct Answer is "A" Because this man's symptoms involve the left side of his body, this indicates that the stroke affected the right side of his brain. Depending on the location of the brain damage, the man may also be experiencing left visual field loss, anosognosia (denial of deficits), and left-sided neglect. The symptoms listed in answers B, C, and D are caused by damage to the left side of the brain.

Answer 119

The Correct Answer is "C" Of the terms listed in the responses, only two are associated with Bowen (triangulation and emotional divorce). Bowen described triangles as a means of reducing tension and conflict between two family members who refocus their attention on the triangulated member.

Answer 120

The Correct Answer is "A" The findings of the NIMH research project were that, on an overall level, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and antidepressant medication are about equally effective in the treatment of depression. There was some evidence that the treatments differed in the types of depression for which they are most effective. Specifically, some evidence suggested that CBT is more effective for milder forms of depression, while medication is more effective for relatively severe forms. But in terms of overall effectiveness, both treatments were found to be about equal.

Answer 121

The Correct Answer is "A" In this situation, Salesperson A has been given an ambiguous goal, while Salesperson B has been given a specific and, presumably, difficult goal. Goal-setting theory predicts that the latter results in the greatest effort and performance.

Answer 122

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

Answer 123

The Correct Answer is "D" The Kuder-Richardson formula is one of several statistical indices of a test's internal consistency reliability. It is used to assess the inter-item consistency of tests that are dichotomously scored (e.g., scored as right or wrong).

Answer 124

The Correct Answer is "B" The fundamental attribution bias (error) refers to the tendency of people to overestimate the contribution of dispositional factors to an actor's behavior. In the situation described in the question, the actress's fans attribute her good deeds to her rather than to the role she plays in the TV series.

Answer 125

The Correct Answer is "D" D. Recent research has found that babies memories are not lost, rather they are updated continually as learning progresses. Their ability to recall is influenced by the same factors and conditions that impact recall in older children and adults. These include: the nature of the events; the number of times they experience them; and the availability of cues or reminders. Children from ages one to three are all capable of both immediate and long-term recall of specific events in their lives. Infants tested at two, four, and six months can recall details about hidden objects, their location, and size. The failure in retrieving memories from the first years of life (a.) refers to the phenomenon of infantile amnesia. Infantile amnesia has been theorized to be the result of a lack of schematic organization of experience, a different in way of encoding in early childhood, and, more recently, the importance of language development. Studies on memory and language development suggest that memories are made initially as the result of the child talking about them with someone else. As the ability to reason develops, the memory securing conversations are carried out within the child him/herself

Answer 126

The Correct Answer is "C" C. Being diagnosed with HIV, when considering the ethical obligations of a psychologist, would be considered a health-related personal issue. Personal problems, including emotional, social, health-related and other personal issues, are addressed in Standard 2.06: Psychologists “refrain from initiating an activity when they know or should know there is a substantial likelihood that their personal problems will prevent them from performing their work-related activities in a competent manner.” If a psychologist thinks the condition may impair his/her ability to provide effective services or perform work-related duties then the psychologist would “take appropriate measures.” However, there is no evidence that this is the case, so (b.) is not the best answer. Informing clients of the condition (a.) is not necessary and may not be in the best interests of some of the clients to do so.

Answer 127

The Correct Answer is "A" A. Neurological disorders that damage the medial temporal region can cause organic amnesia. In organic amnesia, anterograde amnesia (an impaired ability to form new permanent memories) is often the outstanding cognitive impairment, though retrograde amnesia (impairment of memory for events that occurred before the onset of amnesia) can also occur. Despite the severe impairment in new learning ability, general intellectual or language abilities and short-term memory are generally intact.

Answer 128

The Correct Answer is "A" ECT is used to treat depression that has not responded to other forms of treatment. Since choice A is the only one that directly refers to depression, it is the best answer. It's also a good answer since women are more likely than men to suffer from the major depressive disorders, and because it's more likely that this situation would occur in middle and late adulthood, when the symptoms become more intractable to other treatments. Dementia might have a depressive component along with it, but one wouldn't recommend ECT strictly for Dementia.

Answer 129

The Correct Answer is "B" One of the most consistent findings of the research on client factors is that higher levels of intelligence predict better therapy outcome (Luborsky, 1989). Answer A is incorrect because seriously disturbed individuals actually have poorer outcomes (Garfield, 1994). In regard to answer C, age appears to be unrelated to therapy outcome and answer D would have to state that women are more likely to seek therapy to be correct (Luborsky et al., 1989).

Answer 130

The Correct Answer is "D" Contrary to previous beliefs that children under the age of 3 years old are unable to recall events in their lives, more recent research has found early childhood memories to be more enduring. By the end of the first year of life, children have the capacity to recall at least some aspects of past events.

Answer 131

The Correct Answer is "A" Bandura (1963) showed the effect on children of witnessing either live or filmed models. He showed that not only do children imitate the aggressive behaviors of adults, but that the more important, liked, and familiar the adults are, the more the children will imitate them.

Answer 132

The Correct Answer is "B" Historically, two competing theories of emotion have been the Cannon and Bard theory and the James and Lange theory. Cannon and Bard (A) proposed that emotions and thoughts occur more or less simultaneously. William James in America and Lange in Europe had a different idea. They contended that we first observe our behavior and then we make an attribution of that behavior in terms of some emotion. Therefore, the notion that if we observe ourselves running we must have felt afraid is most consistent with the James and Lange theory. Yerkes and Dodson (C) are known for identifying the inverted "U" relationship between arousal and performance. Miller and Dollard (D) are known for a few theories including the frustration-aggression hypothesis, which proposed that frustration always precedes aggression.

Answer 133

The Correct Answer is "C" Protocol analysis is sort of an umbrella term used to refer to qualitative research studies that involve collecting verbatim reports. These reports could consist of an examinee's verbal statements, a descriptive account of a subject's behavior, or both. The term is commonly applied to research where the subject is asked to "think aloud" as he or she is performing a task. The researcher then records what the subject does and says, and analyzes the data to determine what cognitive processes are used to solve the problem. The analysis, by the way, is not quantitative or statistical; rather, it is qualitative, or based on the researcher's own interpretations.

Answer 134

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

Answer 135

The Correct Answer is "B" According to the research of Baumrind, authoritative parents, who are described as being high in control (demandingness) and high in warmth (responsiveness) tend to raise children who are most resilient to the stresses of life. These children have better coping skills, are more mature, responsible, and perform better on cognitive measures. Permissive or Laissez fairre parents (A) express warmth but use little discipline. Their children have difficulty controlling their impulses and, although they are intelligent, they are not motivated to achieve. Authoritarian parents (C) are high in control, but low in warmth. Their children are often insecure, dependent, and perform more poorly on cognitive tests. Finally, uninvolved/rejecting/neglecting parents (D) are low in both control and warmth and their children have the worst coping skills. The children tend to be antisocial, lack self-regulation, are more immature, and score lower on cognitive tests.

Answer 136

The Correct Answer is "D" D. Work samples provide standardized, job-like conditions to measure work behavior. They are used as a selection technique, as an indicator of individuals likely to benefit from training, and as a means of reducing turnover through a job preview. Research indicates that work samples are generally good predictors of job performance; however, work samples of motor skills have more validity than work samples of verbal skills. Additionally, work samples are less likely to discriminate against individuals from different groups and are acceptable to applicants.

Answer 137

The Correct Answer is "C" Mean square within (or MSW) is a measure of within-group variance -- the degree to which subjects within the same experimental group differ from each other. MSW is the denominator of the F ratio, and is referred to as the error term. The larger the magnitude of MSW, the less likely the F ratio will be significant.

Answer 138

The Correct Answer is "B" This type of thinking is an example of the "personal fable" or the idea that one is unique and not subject to the natural laws that govern others (such as the concept of mortality). Elkind (1984) "All Grown Up and No Place to Go" Reading, MA. Addison-Wesley, wrote about the personal fable and also the "imaginary audience" which is the idea that one is always the center of other's attention.

Answer 139

The Correct Answer is "A" A. Most associated with Jacob L. Moreno, psychodrama employs experiential methods, role theory, sociometry and group dynamics to facilitate insight, personal growth, and integration on cognitive, behavioral and affective levels. Psychodrama provides participants a safe, supportive environment in which to practice new and more effective roles and behaviors. There are three distinct components of group interaction in a classically structured psychodrama session: the warm-up, the action and the sharing phases. In the warm-up phase, the group theme is identified and a protagonist (a.), individual(s) who represents the theme in the drama, is selected. In the action phase the problem is dramatized and the protagonist explores new methods of resolving it. Then in the sharing phase, group members or the audience (d.) may express or share their associations, experience or connection with the protagonist's work. The other components of psychodrama include: auxiliary egos (b.), or group members who assume the roles of significant others in the drama; the director (c.), a trained psychodramatist who guides participants through each phase of the session; and the stage, the physical space in which the drama is conducted.

Answer 140

The Correct Answer is "D" D. Neural development involves the stages of proliferation, migration, differentiation, and myelination. The proliferation stage includes the production of cells. Migration is the second stage of development during which the cells move or migrate to its ultimate destination in the nervous system. Following migration is differentiation, in which cells develop the unique characteristics of nerve cells. During the fourth stage, myelination, the axons of some cells become surrounded (insulated) by glial cells. Meiosis is the process of cell division that produces cells with one-half the number of chromosomes as the parent cell. Mitosis is the process of cell division that produces cells with the same number of chromosomes as the parent cell.

Answer 141

``` The Correct Answer is "B" According to Beck, everyone has automatic thoughts – they're not necessarily associated with cognitive distortions or psychological distress. However, when automatic thoughts provide an unrealistic interpretation of the situation ("This is awful!"), they may lead to maladaptive behavioral or emotional responses. ```

Answer 142

The Correct Answer is "B" Centralized communication networks, where all communication passes through one position or person, have beenshown to be more efficient when tasks are mundane and simple. Formal communication networks where information moves between many positions or people (decentralized communication networks) work best with complex and/or collaborative job tasks. Research indicates decentralized networks also result in more individual satisfaction.

Answer 143

The Correct Answer is "C" Of the four WAIS-III factors, Verbal Comprehension is the most stable across the lifespan, followed by Working Memory, Perceptual Organization, and Processing Speed.

Answer 144

The Correct Answer is "A" The catharsis model of aggression holds that an aggressive act (or witnessing an aggressive act) can reduce a person's inclination to engage in other aggressive acts. The idea, first put forth by Dollard and his colleagues as an outgrowth of the frustration-aggression hypothesis, is that activities such as observing fictional violence or making hostile jokes could drain energy away from violent tendencies. However, this theory has not been supported by empirical research, which suggests that engaging in or witnessing aggression may actually increases aggressive behavior.

Answer 145

The Correct Answer is "C" The experts generally agree that therapists who have sexual relationships with their clients are not only exhibiting poor judgment but are also usually suffering from some type of impairment, often related to boundary issues or unfulfilled needs. See J. D. Guy, The Personal Life of the Psychotherapist, New York, John Wiley & Sons, 1987.

Answer 146

The Correct Answer is "A" A. This question involves deception in research, distress and debriefing. Due to the use of deception and the resultant participant distress, debriefing immediately following participation is the best option as described by Standard 8.07(c) Deception in Research: “Psychologists explain any deception that is an integral feature of the design and conduct of an experiment to participants as early as is feasible, preferably at the conclusion of their participation, but no later than at the conclusion of the data collection.” The Ethics Code on Debriefing, Standard 8.08(a), notes, “Psychologists provide a prompt opportunity for participants to obtain appropriate information about the nature, results, and conclusions of the research, and they take reasonable steps to correct any misconceptions that participants may have of which the psychologists are aware,” and in Standard 8.08(c) “When psychologists become aware that research procedures have harmed a participant, they take reasonable steps to minimize the harm.”

Answer 147

The Correct Answer is "D" Interventions designed to increase "bicultural competence" have been found effective in preventing substance abuse among Native American adolescents. These interventions help individuals develop coping skills that "blend the adaptive values and roles of both the culture in which they were raised and the culture by which they are surrounded" (LaFromboise, Assertion training with American Indians: Cultural/behavioral issues for trainers. Las Cruces: New Mexico State University, 1982, p. 12). Normalizing substance use (A) would likely increase the incidence of substance abuse and has been regarded as one of the factors that contributes to the high rate of substance abuse among Native Americans. Increasing legal consequences of substance use has not been found to be a very effective deterrent for adolescents presumambly because adolescents do not always make rational decisions based on consideration of the perceived consequences of committing a crime. (D. M. Kahan, Between economics and sociology: The new path of deterrence. Michigan Law Review, 1997, 95, 2477-2497). Finally, aversive conditioning (C) is more likely to be used as a treatment, rather than a method of prevention.

Answer 148

The Correct Answer is "B" The Somatoform Disorders (such as Somatization Disorder, Conversion Disorder, Somatoform Pain Disorder, Hypochondriasis, and Body Dysmorphic Disorder) are characterized by physical symptoms which have no known physical cause and are believed to be caused by psychological factors. The DSM identifies anxiety and depression as associated features of each of these disorders. You might have gone for addiction to analgesics or tranquilizers, since it seems to make sense. However, excessive use of analgesics (which are not addictive anyway) is identified as a possible associated feature of Somatoform Pain Disorder only.

Answer 149

The Correct Answer is "B" A "needs assessment" or "needs analysis" is the first step in developing a training program. Not surprisingly, this involves identifying the needs of the organization. This is very different than a job evaluation (A), which is used to determine the relative worth of a job, or a job analysis (C) which is used to describe the requirements of a job.

Answer 150

The Correct Answer is "C" The factorial ANOVA is used when a study involves more than one independent variable. A one way ANOVA is used when a study has one independent variable and more than two independent groups. MANOVA is used when the study has two or more dependent variables and ANCOVA is used to adjust dependent variable scores to control for the effectiveness of an extraneous variable.

Answer 151

The Correct Answer is "C" The locus of control/locus of responsibility model adds another element to the learned helplessness model in regards to depression. As you know, the learned helplessness model views depressed people as making internal, stable, and global attributions to negative events. However, the "internal" factor in the helplessness model refers only to locus of responsibility. As seen in the cognitive distortion called "personalization," a depressed person uses an internal locus of responsibility to blame him or herself for negative events. Paradoxically, depressed people also feel a lack of control over events, that is, they have an external locus of control – seeing external factors such as fate, luck, or other people as the cause of what happens to them. A self-confident person (A) is most likely to have an internal locus of control and responsibility. A hostile person (B) is more likely to blame others, that is, would have an external locus of responsibility. And, contrary to D, only marginalized minorities are likely to have an external locus of control and an internal locus of responsibility.

Answer 152

The Correct Answer is "B" Research shows that memories retrieved under hypnosis tend to be less accurate than other memories. Nonetheless, individuals who recall information while under hypnosis have greater confidence in their memories as compared to controls. In some research studies, hypnotized subjects were reluctant to admit that their memories were inaccurate even when confronted with clear evidence demonstrating this to be the case.

Answer 153

The Correct Answer is "A" Principal components analysis and factor analysis are two complex statistical techniques designed to determine the degree to which a large set of variables can be accounted for by fewer, underlying constructs (referred to as "factors" or "principal components"). In principal components analysis and factor analysis, an eigenvalue is a statistic that indicates the degree to which a particular factor is accounting for variability in the variables studied. In other words, a factor's eigenvalue indicates its strength or explanatory power. The reason choice "A" rather than "B" is correct is that in principal components analysis, the factors or components are always independent, or uncorrelated.

Answer 154

The Correct Answer is "A"Because this evaluation was court-ordered you were not actually required to obtain informed consent. However Standard IV.E.1 of the Speciality Guidelines for Forensic Psychologists states that "if the client appears unwilling to proceed after receiving a thorough notification of the purposes, methods, and intended uses of the forensic evaluation, the psychologist should take steps to place the client in contact with his or her attorney for the purpose of legal advice on the issue of participation." Remember, you always want to take the most careful and conservative approach if possible. While you may be tempted to choose answer C and add the client's comments to your report, this would contradict Standard V.C. of the Forensic Guidelines which states that, "In situations where the right of the client to confidentiality is limited, the forensic psychologist makes every effort to maintain confidentiality with regard to any information that does not bear directly upon the legal purpose of the evaluation." Finally, as a thorough evaluator you should have read the case file closely; however, you would not proceed with an evaluation differently just because your client is an attorney.

Answer 155

The Correct Answer is "B" Solution-focused therapy is a form of brief therapy that focuses on solutions rather than problems or their causes. Underlying this approach is the assumption that clients possess the resources needed to achieve their goals. However, contrary to Choice B, a solution-focused therapist would not likely tell clients to solve the conflict by themselves. Rather, the therapist would work with them to generate solutions to their problem (C). Solution-focused therapists also use direct and indirect compliments (A) and future-oriented questions (D) -- such as the miracle question.

Answer 156

The Correct Answer is "D" Kubler-Ross (1969) proposed five stages: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance (DABDA). Research indicates that these feelings don’t necessarily occur in a fixed sequential order. Although the feeling of hope was not identified by Kubler-Ross, it is a common emotion in the terminally ill.

Answer 157

The Correct Answer is "B" Your intern needs to let his clients know his professional status, just as you as a licensed psychologist would explain your own status. According to Standard 10.01(c) “When the therapist is a trainee and the legal responsibility for the treatment provided resides with the supervisor, the client/patient, as part of the informed consent procedure, is informed that the therapist is in training and is being supervised and is given the name of the supervisor.” Your intern is responsible for getting informed consent, not assent (answer D) from the clients.

Answer 158

The Correct Answer is "C" According to the DSM-IV-TR, a diagnosis of Dementia of the Alzheimer's type, or any other type, requires evidence of impairment in memory, and at least one other cognitive impairment such as aphasia (language disturbance), apraxia (impaired ability to carry out motor activities), agnosia (failure to recognize objects), or disturbance in executive functioning. All the choices in this question are symptoms of dementia, however, problems with executive functions refers specifically to planning, organizing, and abstract thinking.

Answer 159

The Correct Answer is "B" Most of the antidepressant drugs such as clomipramine, imipramine, as well as the SSRIs are believed to increase serotonin activity which seems to lessen the effects of OCD. Lithium is often used in treating mood disorders, (C) disulfiram is the generic name for Antabuse and (D) diazepam as well as the other "pams" are benzodiazephines– sometimes used in the treatment of anxiety.

Answer 160

The Correct Answer is "A" Super postulated a developmental sequence of vocational development occurring through the life span and consisting of five stages: growth, exploration, establishment, maintenance, and decline. Each of these stages also consists of a number of substages. Super coined the term "vocational maturity" to refer to the degree to which a person's progress in this sequence is appropriate given the person's chronological age. In fact, Super and his colleagues constructed a number of assessment instruments specifically designed to measure vocational maturity.

Answer 161

The Correct Answer is "A" Using a Global Assessment Scale, Sue (1991) found that patients from all groups show improvement in scores following therapy, but as a group, African-Americans have less favorable outcomes than Asian, Hispanic, or Anglo Americans.

Answer 162

The Correct Answer is "D" Any limiting criterion is acceptable in a job selection procedure as long as the criterion is shown to be job-related. For instance, you could exclude people with very poor eyesight as air traffic controllers, you could exclude people with very little stamina and strength as firefighters, and so forth. Thus, if an employer can empirically demonstrate that being a certain age is a bona-fide occupational requirement, it could be used as a job criterion. Let's say you were hiring painters to work on the Golden Gate Bridge. You might very well find that people over age 60 couldn't do the job safely and well. If you could prove this finding empirically, you could use age as a criterion. Note, however, that if an employer is challenged on the use of a discriminatory exclusionary criterion, the employer bears the legal burden of demonstrating that it is job relevant.

Answer 163

The Correct Answer is "C" In general, a 12 point difference between Verbal IQ and Performance IQ on the WISC-III is considered significant. For example, a Performance IQ that is 12 or more points higher than the Verbal IQ might indicate autism, a learning disability, or delinquency. However, if there is also wide scatter of the Verbal and/or Performance subtest scores, the difference between Verbal and Performance IQ may be meaningless.

Answer 164

The Correct Answer is "A" In both children and adults, high levels of social support is one of the best predictors of positive psychological outcome following a traumatic event. Having skill in at least one activity is associated with self-efficacy beliefs, which are also associated with positive outcome following a trauma in both children and adults.

Answer 165

The Correct Answer is "A" The standard error of estimate tells us how far we can expect to be off when making predictions based on a regression (prediction) equation. It's a way to assess how well the equation "fits" the data. Try to keep the term "standard error of the estimate" in a box in your mind labeled "correlation coefficient" since, the higher the correlation coefficient, the lower the error of estimate. The other errors relate to different situations. The standard error of the mean tells us how closely our sample mean approximates the population mean. Keep this one in a box in your mind labeled "experiments and samples." The standard error of measurement tells us how accurately an obtained score on a test estimates someone's true score on that test, if a true score were ever possible to obtain. So keep this one in a box labeled "reliability of a test." And the fourth choice, standard error of the coefficient is a foil. There is no such thing.

Answer 166

The Correct Answer is "A" A. While study to study reported rates of mental illness have varied somewhat, the most consistent finding is that there are few statistically significant differences in the rates of mental disorders in urban and rural areas. Epidemiological surveys like the National Comorbidity Survey, the Epidemiologic Catchment Area Study and a recent Healthcare for Communities (HCC) survey of 9,585 individuals living in rural and urban areas, found no significant differences in the prevalence of the major types of mental illness (See: Tang, L., et al., (2001), Report on the Survey Method for the Household Survey of Healthcare for Communities, 1997-1998, Los Angeles, Health Sciences Research Center, UCLA).

Answer 167

The Correct Answer is "A" A. The psychologist’s ethical obligation is to serve the best interests of the child, but legally, he/she cannot proceed with treatment if the parents do not give consent to do so. While some states have laws that allow psychologists to provide services without parental consent, no information is given in this question regarding the relevant law or whether the child’s problem(s) would be covered by this type of law. The Ethics Code Standard 1.02 states that “If psychologists? ethical responsibilities conflict with law, psychologists make known their commitment to the Ethics Code and take steps to resolve the conflict in a responsible manner.” Therefore, the psychologist would not just terminate without attempting to advocate for the patient (c.); nor continue to treat the child without the parents consent (d.), as violating the law is not consistent with resolving the conflict in a responsible manner. (See: M. DeKrai and S. D. Sales in Liability in child therapy and research, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 59(6), 1991, 853-860.)

Answer 168

The Correct Answer is "B" B. Research indicates the transactional-transformational leadership paradigm transcends organizational and national boundaries. The same relationships and conception of phenomena can be observed in a wide range of cultures and organizations. Studies of organizations such as business, education, the military, the government, and the private sector have provided evidence supporting universality across a variety of organizations. The applicability of the paradigm has also received evidence of wide support internationally in most continents. Unusual attributes of the organizations or cultures have been indicated as the source of exceptions to the universality of the leadership paradigm. (See: Bass, Bernard M. (1997). Does the transactional-transformational leadership paradigm transcend organizational and national boundaries? American Psychologist, 52(2),130-139.)

Answer 169

The Correct Answer is "B" In the Montessori classroom, children are encouraged to select their own activities; the teacher observes the children and assists them when they truly need help. There is very little didactic group teaching. The method is based on the assumption that the child is an active learner whose drive for self-development is aided by an orderly but stimulating environment. Regarding the other choices, "A" is incorrect because the Montessori classroom is heterogeneous in regard to both age and developmental level -- older children are viewed as good role models for younger children. Choice "C" is not an incorrect statement about the Montessori method, but it is not something that distinguishes it from other educational methods. And contrary to choice "D", critics of the Montessori method have cited its lack of opportunity for group learning experiences as one of its weaknesses.

Answer 170

The Correct Answer is "C" Alcohol Abuse and Dependence are more common in males than females with a male to female ratio as high as 5 to 1 according to DSM-IV. However, the ratio varies substantially, depending on the age group. Females tend to start drinking heavily later in life than do males and may develop Alcohol-Related Disorders later

Answer 171

The Correct Answer is "A" George Kelly was perhaps the first cognitive theorist and introduced his "psychology of personal constructs" in 1955. A construct, which is synonymous with a schema, is a cognitive template through which the world is interpreted. Choice B represents a major tenet of Self-in-Relation Theory. Choice D uses the language of Adler. And choice C is contrary to what Kelly believed. He believed that individuals' interpretations of events are more important than the events themselves.

Answer 172

The Correct Answer is "A" This question is a bit tricky and requires careful reading and a good grasp of the concepts of percentile rank and normal distribution. The easiest way to understand it is in terms of an example. Say that you have a test, with a mean of 70 and a range of possible raw scores from 0-100. The raw score mean is 70; in a normal distribution, the mean is equivalent to a percentile rank of 50 and is in the exact middle of the distribution (if you don't know why this is, go back and review the Statistics section before attempting to understand this question). In a normal distribution, most of the raw scores are near or at the middle of the distribution; thus, most of the raw scores will be near or at 70. Similarly, the PR score range of 50 to 55 is in the middle part of the distribution, which is to say that most of the raw scores in this part of the distribution will be at or near 70. So the raw score range set by PR 50 to PR 55 will not be wide. Now if you look at a normal curve, you will see that in the high end of the raw score distribution, there is a long tail spread across the bottom. This reflects the fact that there are relatively few high scorers, and the scores of these individuals are spread out (over the length of this tail). Since the 90 to 95 PR range is in the high end of the distribution, the range of raw scores here will be relatively higher than the range of raw scores in the middle of the distribution. If you chose C, you probably did so based on the fact that the percentile rank distribution is flat. This means that the same amount of people will score between 50 and 55 and 90 and 95. However, the question is not about how many people will score within this PR range. Instead, it's asking about the raw score ranges these PR ranges correspond to. If you didn't understand the above explanation, it might be useful to read it again with the normal curve in front of you. As you're looking at the curve, remember that it is a raw score distribution, and try to approximate where the percentile ranks in the question would be placed on this distribution. If you still don't understand, don't worry too much. As you review this concept and practice with more questions, these things will be come clearer and clearer. Remember that difficult technical content requires repeated review, so you should keep track of those particular concepts you need to review on a regular basis.

Answer 173

The Correct Answer is "B" According to Erikson, adolescents who are unsuccessful in resolving the identity vs. identity confusion stage experience either the extreme of "fanaticism" or "repudiation." Fanaticism occurs when the person becomes overzealous in identification to a particular role to the point that he or she is intolerant of others. Repudiation is the other maladaptive tendency in which the adolescent compensates for a lack of identity by fusing with a group that eagerly provides its members with details of an identity: religious cults, military organizations, or hate groups. The adolescent repudiates his or her membership in the world of adults. Successful resolution of the conflict, on the other hand, results in the virtue Erikson called "fidelity" (A). Fidelity refers to loyalty, although not blind loyalty, to society's standards.

Answer 174

The Correct Answer is "D" The use of two-word sentences, called telegraphic speech, normally appears between the age of 1-2 years. It would rarely be absent by the age of 30 months; if it is, a developmental evaluation is justified.