TM Questions Flashcards
1.1. As defined by Campbell & Stanley (1963), selection is likely to be a threat to a study’s internal validity when:
A. two different intact groups act as the experimental group and control group
B. there is a differential loss of participants in the experimental and control groups.
C. participants are not randomly selected from the population.
D. participants in one group communicate important information to participants in another group.
- Campbell and Stanley (1963) distinguished between eight major threats to a study’s internal validity. These threats are described in the Statistics and Research design chapter of the written study materials.
a. CORRECT Selection is a potential threat to a study’s internal validity when, because of the way participants were assigned to groups, the groups differed in a relevant way before the treatment was applied.
b. Incorrect This answer describes the threat to internal validity known as mortality or attrition.
c. Incorrect In the context of threats to internal validity, selection refers to how participants were assigned to groups, not how they were selected from the population.
d. Incorrect This answer describes the threat to internal validity known as diffusion.
- Campbell and Stanley (1963) distinguished between eight major threats to a study’s internal validity. These threats are described in the Statistics and Research design chapter of the written study materials.
1.2. Research looking at the relationship between “expressed emotion” and Schizophrenia has found that:
A. negative expressed emotion is often an early sign of the disorder.
B. expressed emotion is related more to the negative than the positive symptoms of the disorder.
C. a high degree of negative expressed emotion by family members is associated with a high risk for relapse for a person with this disorder
D. an extremely high or extremely low level of expressed emotion by family members is an environmental factor that increases the risk for the development of this disorder.
- In the context of Schizophrenia, negative expressed emotion refers to excessive criticism or hostility or, at the other extreme, emotional overinvolvement and overprotectiveness.
c. CORRECT The research has consistently linked negative expressed emotion by family members to a high risk of relapse and rehospitalization for a family member with Schizophrenia.
- In the context of Schizophrenia, negative expressed emotion refers to excessive criticism or hostility or, at the other extreme, emotional overinvolvement and overprotectiveness.
1.3. A 42 year old woman who has just begun taking lithium carbonate as a treatment for Bipolar Disorder will most likely experience which of the following side effects?
A. constipation, abdominal pain, and excessive salivation
B. nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain
C. increased appetite, carbohydrate craving, and weight gain
D. nausea, vomiting, constipation, and salt craving
- Lithium may produce a number of unpleasant gastrointestinal side effects.
b. CORRECT Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, anorexia, and dry mouth are common early gastrointestinal side effects of lithium. These symptoms usually appear within a few weeks and, if they occur late in therapy, may be a sign of lithium toxicity.
- Lithium may produce a number of unpleasant gastrointestinal side effects.
1.4. The primary purpose of the state and provincial licensing board is to: A. protect the profession of psychology. B. Protect the public. C. Define ethical standards of conduct. D. Define standards of care.
- 4 The primary purpose of the licensing boards is to protect the public.
b. CORRECT To achieve this goal, the boards establish minimum standards of competence for psychologists including degree, supervision, and examination requirements.
1.5 Research by Nettlebeck and Burns (2000) found that declines in fluid intelligence (reasoning ability) that are observed after age 55 are due to decreases in: A. overall cognitive ability B. working memory capacity C. prospective memory D. the efficiency of sensory memory.
- 5 T. Nettlebeck and N. R. Burns investigated the causes of increases in fluid intelligence in children ages 8 to 14 and declines in fluid intelligence in older adults ages 50 and older [Processing speed, working memory, and reasoning ability from childhood to old age, Personality and Individual Differences, 48(4), 379-384, 2010].
b. CORRECT Nettlebeck and Burns found that an age-related decrease in working memory capacity is directly responsible for declines in reasoning ability and that, while some of the decrease in working memory capacity is attributable to a slower processing speed, a portion of the decrease is independent from processing speed. They attribute this age-related decrease in working memory to a loss of neurons in the hippocampus.
1.6. Stanley Milgram investigated which of the following Yale University in the 1960s?
A. the willingness of individuals to conform to group norms even when those norms were obviously incorrect
B. the willingness of individual to obey an authority even when doing so hard harmful consequences for someone else.
C. the ability of individuals holding a minority opinion to influence the opinion of the majority
D. the ability of exposure to repeated conflict among groups to generate hostility and aggression toward members of the outgroup
- 6 Milgram’s research at Yale University is among the most well-known and conroversial research in the field of social psychology.
b. CORRECT Milgram’s research found that, under certain conditions, people are willing to comply with the requests of an authority, even when doing seems to have negative consequences for another person.
1.7 Complete or almost complete loss of movement is referred to as: A. Athetosis B. atonia. C. akathisia. D. akinesia.
- 7 All of the terms listed in the responses refer to movement disturbances.
a. Incorrect Athetosis refers to slow, uncoordinated, and involuntary movements of the extremities.
b. Incorrect Atonia is a lack of muscle tone.
c. Incorrect Akathisia is an inability to sit or stand motionless along with a feeling of restlessness.
d. CORRECT This is the definition of akinesia, which is associated with several disorders including stroke and Parkinson’s disease.
1.8 A colleague of yours, an industrial psychologist, designs a study to investigate the relationship between job satisfaction and mental and physical health. Based on your knowledge of the research in this area, you tell him that:
A. there is no consistent relationship between job satisfaction and mental or physical health.
B. There is a positive relationship between job satisfaction and mental and physical health.
C. there is a positive relationship between job satisfaction and mental health but no relationship between job satisfaction and physical health.
D. there is a positive relationship between job satisfaction and physical health but no relationship between job satisfaction and mental health.
- 8 Even if you are unfamiliar with the research in this area, it seems logical that job dissatisfaction might be either a cause or effect of poor physical and/or mental health.
b. CORRECT Several studies have found a positive relationship between job satisfaction and both mental and physical health. Note, however, that the research has not demonstrated that job satisfaction causes mental/physical health or vice-versa, only that they are correlated.
1.9 Mike M., age 17, has an IQ of 80 and exhibits mild deficits in social and self-help skills. The most likely DSM-IV-TR diagnosis for Mike is: A. Mild Mental Retardation B. Moderate Mental Retardation C. Borderline Intellectual Functioning D. Borderline Cognitive Impairment
- 9 A diagnosis of Mental Retardation requires subaverage intelligence, deficits in adaptive functioning, and an onset prior to age 18.
a. Incorrect Because Mike’s IQ score is 80 and he exhibits only mild deficits in social and self-help skills, Mental Retardation is less likely than Borderline Intellectual Functioning to be the appropriate diagnosis for Mike.
c. CORRECT Mental Retardation is ordinarily not diagnosed unless the individual’s IQ is 70 or less. However, when an individual’s IQ is between 71 and 75, the diagnosis may be assigned when the individual also has “significant deficits in adaptive behavior” (DSM-IV-TR, p. 48). Because Mike has an IQ of 80 and only mild deficits in adaptive functioning, a diagnosis of Borderline Intellectual Functioning is most appropriate.
d. Incorrect Borderline Cognitive Impairment is not a DSM-IV-TR diagnosis.
1.10 Reactive Attachment Disorder of Infancy or Early Childhood, Inhibited Type, is most likely to involve which of the following?
A. stereotyped
B. unusual verbal and nonverbal communication
C. indiscriminant attachments
D. hypervigilance
- 10 As defined by DSM-IV-TR, Reactive Attachment Disorder, Inhibited Type, is characterized by inhibited, hypervigilant, or highly ambivalent and contradictory responses in social interactions.
a. Incorrect This is not characteristic of this disorder.
b. Incorrect This is also not characteristic of this disorder.
c. Incorrect This describes the Disinhibited Type.
d. CORRECT Hypervigilance is one of the features of this form of Reactive Attachment Disorder.
1.11 In the context of family therapy, the purpose of “reframing” is to: A. diffuse balance B. redefine behaviors C. increase specificity D. anchor behaviors.
- 11 Even if you’ve never heard of “reframing,” you probably could have guessed that its purpose is to redefine the situation.
b. CORRECT As its name implies, reframing is done in order to help a client see things from a different perspective. It is often used in a paradoxical way – e.g., telling an adolescent that “your parents’ nagging is a sign of their love for you.”
1.12 Dr. Nillson, a behavioral psychologist, is teaching clinical psychology at a university. She does not use, nor can she tolerate the use of, psychodynamic principles and interventions in psychotherapy. She refuses to teach psychodynamic therapy in her classes and actually makes fun of it in front of her students during informal gatherings. Her behavior is:
A. unethical- she has an obligation to provide accurate and objective information about the topic she is teaching.
B. ethical — she has the freedom of choice to teach whatever she wants in her classes.
C. acceptable — she would be poorly trained to teach psychodynamics and psychotherapy anyway.
D. ethical — but she should not be making fun of any psychological practice in front of her students.
- 12 Dr. Nillson’s behavior violates Standard 7.03 of the Ethics Code, which calls for accuracy in teaching, as well as General Principle C (Integrity), which encourages “accuracy, honesty, and truthfulness.”
a. CORRECT Dr. Nillson’s behavior is in violation of the Ethics Code.
b. Incorrect As a psychologist, Dr. Nillson has an ethical duty to teach objectively, fully, and accurately.
c. Incorrect Dr. Nillson is ethically obligated to make sure her choice of topics is not biased by her own personal beliefs. If she is unqualified to teach certain areas, she could arrange to have someone else do so.
d. Incorrect Dr. Nillson’s behavior is biased and, therefore, is unethical.
1.13 An advantage of structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI0 over computed tomography (CT) is that the former:
A. provides clearer images
B. is less likely to require sedation of the patient.
C. provides information on functional brain activity.
D. can detect electrical abnormalities.
- 13 Neuroimaging techniques are divided into two types – structural and functional. CT and MRI are both structural techniques.
a. CORRECT MRI uses magnetic fields to produce detailed cross-sectional images of the brain. An important advantage of MRI over a CT scan is that MRI has better resolution.
b. Incorrect Because MRI requires the patient to be completely still for a prolonged period of time, the patient may need to be sedated. A CT scan requires less time and, therefore, is less likely to require sedation.
c. Incorrect Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) provides information on the functional activities of the brain, but MRI is a structural technique that provides information on the structure of the brain only.
d. Incorrect This is an advantage of EEG (electroencephalography), which is why it is used in the assessment of epilepsy.
1.14 When a forensic evaluation of a minor by a psychologist is court-ordered, the psychologist:
A. must get an informed consent from one of the minor’s parents or his/her legal guardian before conducting the evaluation.
B. must get an informed consent from both of the minor’s parents or his/her legal guardian before conducting the evaluation.
C. does not have to get an informed consent form the minor’s parent(s) or legal guardian before conducting the evaluation
D. does not have to get an informed consent from the minor’s parent(s) or legal guardian only if the minor is incapable of giving informed consent him/herself.
- 14 In forensic settings, the need to obtain an informed consent for an evaluation of a minor depends on who is requesting the evaluation.
c. CORRECT R. I. Simon and L. H. Gold address this issue and state that, when a forensic evaluation of a minor is court-ordered, it is not necessary to obtain consent from the minor’s parents (American Psychiatric Publishing textbook of forensic psychiatry, Arlington, VA, American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc., 2004).
1.15 Dr. Billie Bloom requires students in his introductory psychology class to participate in a university-sponsored research project as a requirement for the course. This is: A. unethical under any circumstances. B. ethical as long as the resarch exposes students to "minimum risk." C. ethical as long as students are given a choice of completing an alternative assignment D. ethical as long as students are made aware of this requirement before they enroll in his class.
- 15 This issue is addressed in Standard 8.04(b) of the APA’s Ethics Code.
c. CORRECT Standard 8.04(b) states that, “when research participation is a course requirement or an opportunity for extra credit, the prospective participant is given the choice of equitable alternative activities.”
1.16 Smith, Glass, and Miller’s (1980) use of meta-analysis involved:
A. counting the number of psychotherapy outcome studies that found a statistically significant difference between treatment and no-treatment groups.
B. statistically comparing the number of psychotherapy outcomes studies that did and did not find significant treatment effects.
C. determining the average magnitude of the outcome of psychotherapy across a large number of outcome studies.
D. using initial symptom severity and type and duration of treatment to predict average treatment outcome.
- 16 Smith et al. combined the results of 475 studies on the effectiveness of psychotherapy (Smith, M. L., Glass, G. V., & Miller, R. L., The benefits of psychotherapy, Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1980).
a. Incorrect This response describes the “box score” method, not meta-analysis.
b. Incorrect This response describes using an inferential statistical test to compare outcome data for two groups.
c. CORRECT When using meta-analysis, the outcomes of each study are converted to a common metric – i.e., an effect size – and an average effect size is calculated.
d. Incorrect This response describes multiple regression.
1.17 The primary goal of self-instructional training (SIT) for children exhibiting hyperactivity and excessive impulsivity is to:
A. eliminate obsessive rumination
B. re-align intention and action
C. clarify response contingencies
D. insert thought between stimulus and response.
- 17 SIT involves training the individual to guide his/her actions with internally-originated verbal instructions. Additional information about SIT is provided in the Learning Theory chapter of the written study materials.
b. Incorrect This answer is close but not as good as response d.
c. Incorrect Although self-instruction includes self-reinforcement, this is not the primary goal of SIT.
d. CORRECT Hyperactive and impulsive children often respond to events automatically. The goal of SIT is to reduce automatic behaviors by inserting thoughts between an event and the response to that event.
1.18 John Watson produced a phobia in Albert B. by using which of the following procedures:
A. physically confining the child so that he could not move
B. requiring the child to make difficult stimulus discriminations
C. pairing an aversive US with a neutral CS
D. providing punishment noncontingent on behavior
- 18 John Watson applied Pavlov’s classical conditioning model to human behavior. In his most famous study, Watson taught Albert B., an 11-month-old child, to fear a white rat.
a. Incorrect Albert B.’s phobia was established through classical conditioning and, thus, did not involve confining him.
b. Incorrect Pavlov showed that this procedure produced “experimental neurosis”; it is not the procedure used by Watson.
c. CORRECT Albert B.’s phobia was created by pairing a US (loud noise) with a CS (white rat) so that the CS alone eventually elicited a startle response.
d. Incorrect Watson’s research with Albert did not involve the application of punishment. The use of punishment to decrease a response is an operant conditioning technique.
1.19 Longitudinal research by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) has found a positive relationship between the number of hours a young child spends in daycare and the rates of:
A. Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Conduct Disorder, and other clinical disorders
B. disobedience and other behavioral problems
C. language and academic skill deficits.
D. language and academic skill deficits and behavioral problems.
- 19 The NICHD research has found that participation in high-quality early child care is actually associated with enhanced pre-academic (cognitive) skills and language performance at age 4-1/2. However, it is also associated with some negative consequences.
a. Incorrect The NICHD research found that children who attend daycare are not at higher risk for serious (clinical) behavioral problems.
b. CORRECT Children who attend daycare tend to exhibit a higher degree of externalizing behaviors and conflicts with adults even when quality, type, and stability of the daycare is controlled. However, these behaviors are within the normal range.
c. Incorrect As noted above, participation in daycare is associated with better pre-academic and language skills.
1.20 Which of the following is an example of higher-order conditioning?
A. A CS is paired with an US until a CR is established; subsequently, the CR occurs in the presence of stimuli similar to the US.
B. A CS is paired with an US until a CR is established; subsequently, the CS elicits a variety of responses including the CR.
C. A CS is paired with an US until a CR is established; subsequently, the CS is paired with a second US until a second CR is established.
D. A CS is paired with an US until a CR is established; subsequently, a second CS is paired with the first CS until it also elicits a CR.
- 20 Higher-order conditioning involves using a CS as an US in order to establish a CR for a second CS.
a. Incorrect This describes stimulus generalization.
b. Incorrect This could be interpreted as response generalization, although the description is too vague to know exactly what is being described.
c. Incorrect This simply describes classical conditioning in which the CS is paired with two different US’s.
d. CORRECT This describes the procedure known as higher-order conditioning.
1.21 For an extended family systems (Bowenian) therapist, when a family exhibits a high degree of fusion but one member is more differentiated than the others, the likely approach would be to:
A. work with the least differentiated family members.
B. work with the most differentiated family member.
C. work with all members of the extended family as a group.
D. work with all family members in individual therapy until they reach a similar level of differentiation.
- 21 According to Murray Bowen, a high degree of fusion (emotional “stuck togetherness”) is the source of family dysfunction. The goal of Bowen’s form of family therapy, therefore, is to help family members become less fused, or more differentiated (individuated). In contrast to many other family therapists, Bowen’s form of therapy typically does not involve seeing all of the family members.
a. Incorrect Followers of Bowen would likely work first with the most differentiated family member.
b. CORRECT Bowen often worked with the most differentiated family member on the assumption that, when that member changed in a positive way, his/her change would motivate other family members to move toward greater differentiation.
c. Incorrect In contrast to many other family therapists, Bowen typically worked with the two most significant adult family members, usually the parents, or the parent who was the most differentiated, even when the “identified patient” was a child.
d. Incorrect This is not a technique used by Bowen.
1.22 You have just compared a research study but have not yet published it results. A colleague of yours who is familiar with you study requests the data you have collected. Which of the following best describes the requirements of the APA’s Ethics Code with regard to this situation?
A. You are required to comply with the colleague’s request only if her purpose in requesting the data is to re-analyze it.
B. You are required to comply with the colleague’s request only if she agrees to protect the confidentiality of the study’s participants.
C. You are not required to comply with the colleague’s request since the results of the study have not yet been published.
D. You are not required to comply with the colleague’s request unless she has a “legitimate concern” about the accuracy the data.
- 22 This issue is addressed in Standard 8.14 of the APA’s Ethics Code.
a. Incorrect See explanation for response c.
b. Incorrect See explanation for response c.
c. CORRECT Standard 8.14 states the following: “After research results are published, psychologists do not withhold the data on which their conclusions are based from other competent professionals who seek to verify the substantive claims through reanalysis and who intend to use such data only for that purpose, provided that the confidentiality of the participants can be protected and unless legal rights concerning proprietary data preclude their release.” Since you have not yet published your study, you are not obligated to comply with the colleague’s request.
d. Incorrect See explanation for response c.
1.23 A family therapist would use the technique known as “prescribing the symptom” in order to:
A. undermine the family’s resistance to change.
B. reduce tension between family members.
C. change the meaning of a situation by changing the way it is perceived.
D. educate family members about the benefits of change.
- 23 Prescribing the symptom is a paradoxical technique that involves instructing family members to engage in the problematic behavior, often in an exaggerated form. For the exam, you want to be familiar with all of the paradoxical tehniques described in the section on family therapies in the Clinical Psychology chapter of the written study materials so that you can answer questions like this one.
a. CORRECT The purpose of prescribing the symptom is to undermine the family’s resistance to changing a behavior by requesting that family members engage in the behavior. Ideally, this will cause them to rebel and engage, instead, in a more desirable behavior.
b. Incorrect This is not an accurate description of the purpose of prescribing the symptom.
c. Incorrect This is a better description of the technique known as relabeling.
d. Incorrect This is not an accurate description of the purpose of prescribing the symptom.
1.24 Use of the technique known as meta-analysis entails calculating an “effect size,” which can be best described as:
A. a statistically significant difference between experimental and control groups.
B. A standardized mean difference between experimental and control groups
C. A zero-order correlation
D. A partial regression coefficient
- 24 The term meta-analysis is used to describe a quantitative integration of research studies involving the calculation and aggregation of “effect size” estimates.
a. Incorrect See explanation for response b.
b. CORRECT There are several ways to calculate an effect size, but a commonly used method involves subtracting the control group mean from the experimental group mean and dividing the result by either the control group standard deviation or the pooled within-group standard deviation. The result is a standard score that indicates the difference between the experimental and control groups in terms of standard deviation units.
c. Incorrect See explanation for response b.
d. Incorrect See explanation for response b.