Workshop Questions Flashcards
For individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder, a better prognosis has been linked to which of the following?
a. no or minimal delays in motor development
b. an ability to communicate verbally by age five or six
c. a brief period of active-phase symptoms
d. strong family support
b. an ability to communicate verbally by age five or six
A better prognosis for Autism Spectrum Disorder has been linked to an ability to communicate verbally by age five or six, an IQ over 70, and a later onset of symptoms.
Research investigating the effectiveness of neurofeedback as a treatment for ADHD has generally found which of the following?
a. It is not an effective treatment for most individuals with this disorder.
b. It is an effective treatment and exerts its strongest effects on inattention and
impulsivity.
c. It is an effective treatment and exerts its strongest effects on hyperactivity.
d. It is an effective treatment only when used in conjunction with a central nervous
system stimulant.
b. It is an effective treatment and exerts its strongest effects on inattention and impulsivity.
A meta-analysis of the research by Arns et al. (2009) found that neurofeedback (EEG biofeedback) produced a large effect size for inattention and impulsivity and a medium effect size for hyperactivity and that its effects are similar to those of stimulant medication. The results also indicated that the benefits of neurofeedback remained stable or increased over a two-year period.
Compared to children in the general population, children with a Specific Learning Disorder are:
a. at lower risk for ADHD and other mental disorders.
b. at about the same risk for ADHD and other mental disorders.
c. at about the same risk for ADHD and other mental disorders but at higher risk for
more severe symptoms.
d. at higher risk for ADHD and other mental disorders.
d. at higher risk for ADHD and other mental disorders.
Children with Specific Learning Disorder tend to be at higher risk for other mental health problems. For example, the rate of ADHD is about 5% for children in the general population but 20 to 30% for children with Specific Learning Disorder.
The mean age of onset of motor tics in Tourette’s Disorder is:
a. 1 to 3 years.
b. 5 to 7 years.
c. 9 to 11 years.
d. 12 to 14 years.
b. 5 to 7 years.
The reported mean age of onset of motor tics varies, but a commonly reported range is between 5 and 7 years. The onset of vocal tics is usually later, with a mean age of 11 years.
Of the brain abnormalities associated with Schizophrenia, which of the following has been found in the largest proportion of patients?
a. enlarged hippocampus
b. enlarged frontal lobes
c. enlarged temporal lobes
d. enlarged ventricles
d. enlarged ventricles
Of the structural brain abnormalities linked to Schizophrenia, enlarged lateral and third ventricles have been found in the largest proportion of patients with reported percentages ranging from 15 to 30%.
The biological brother of a person who has received a diagnosis of Schizophrenia is \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ times more likely to develop the disorder than a member of the general population. a. two b. five c. ten d. twenty
c. ten
Approximately 1% of the general population develops Schizophrenia. For biological siblings of a person with Schizophrenia, this increases to about 10%.
Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) has been most consistently linked to \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ abnormalities. a. cortisol b. glutamate c. melatonin d. GABA
c. melatonin
Seasonal affective disorder has been linked to a disruption in circadian rhythms that is caused by abnormalities in the secretion of melatonin by the pineal gland.
In adults, the rate of Major Depressive Disorder for women is about 1.5 to 3 times the
rate for men. This gender difference:
a. is the opposite of what is found in prepubertal children.
b. is the same as what is found in prepubertal children.
c. does not become evident until early adulthood.
d. does not become evident until mid-adolescence.
d. does not become evident until mid-adolescence.
The gender difference in the rates of Major Depressive Disorder does not become evident until puberty. Prior to that time, the rates for males and females are about equal.
In the United States, the highest rates of suicide for individuals ages 15 to 34 are for:
a. American Indian/Alaskan Natives.
b. Blacks.
c. Hispanics.
d. Whites.
a. American Indians/Alaskan Natives.
Recent data confirm that Whites generally have higher rates of suicide than members of other ethnic/racial groups. An exception is that, for American Indian/Alaskan Native adolescents and young adults, ages 15 to 34, the suicide rate is 2.5 times higher than the national average
for that age group.
The DSM-5 diagnosis of Panic Disorder requires at least two __________ panic attacks, with at least one attack being followed by __________ or more of persistent concern or worry about having another attack or the consequences of an attack and/or a significant
maladaptive change in behavior that is related to the attacks.
a. expected or unexpected; one month
b. expected or unexpected; three months
c. unexpected; one month
d. unexpected; two months
c. unexpected; one month
For a DSM-5 diagnosis of Panic Disorder, a person must have recurrent unexpected panic attacks, with at least one of the attacks being followed by “persistent concern or worry about additional attacks or their consequences” and/or “a significant maladaptive change in behavior related to the attacks” (APA, 2013, p. 208).
Mary Ann, age 29, seems very nervous during her first therapy session with you. When she speaks, her hands shake and she blushes. She tells you that, while she isn’t afraid to be around people, she gets anxious and flustered whenever she has to speak to people she
doesn’t know. Mary Ann also says she has trouble talking to her supervisor at work because he’s condescending and critical. Based on these symptoms, the most likely diagnosis for Mary Ann is which of the following?
a. Specific Phobia
b. Social Anxiety Disorder
c. Panic Disorder
d. Generalized Anxiety Disorder
b. Social Anxiety Disorder
Social Anxiety Disorder involves marked fear of or anxiety about one or more social situations in which the individual may be exposed to the scrutiny of others.
Studies suggest that which of the following is the most effective intervention for Generalized Anxiety Disorder?
a. flooding
b. systematic desensitization
c. stress inoculation
d. cognitive-behavioral therapy
d. cognitive-behavioral therapy
Reviews of the literature have confirmed that multicomponent cognitive-behavioral therapy is the most effective treatment for Generalized Anxiety Disorder.
Which of the following is true about the rates of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder for males and females?
a. In both children and adults, the rates are higher for males than for females.
b. In both children and adults, the rates are higher for females than for males.
c. In children, the rates are higher for males; in adults, the rates are about equal for males and females.
d. In children, the rates are higher for females; in adults, the rates are about equal for males and females.
c. In children, the rates are higher for males; in adults, the rates are about equal for males and females
Because the average age of onset of OCD is earlier for males than females, among children, the rate of the disorder is higher for males. However, in adulthood, the rates are about equal for males and females.
Your new client, Roberto R., was involved in a car accident three weeks ago in which the driver of the other car was killed. He is having “bad dreams” about car crashes, has been unable to drive or ride in a car, and is having trouble concentrating at work. He says that he doesn’t remember much about what happened the first few days after the accident and that, since the accident, he’s been unusually irritable and has frequently lost his temper for no good reason. The most likely diagnosis for Roberto is which of the following?
a. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
b. Specific Phobia
c. Acute Stress Disorder
d. Generalized Anxiety Disorder
c. Acute Stress Disorder
The nature and duration of Roberto’s symptoms are consistent with Acute Stress Disorder. He was involved in a traumatic event, has memory loss for a period of time after the event, is re-experiencing the event in dreams, is avoiding activities associated with the event, is having
trouble concentrating, and is unusually irritable, and his symptoms have lasted for three weeks.
The presence of which of the following is more suggestive of Malingering than Factitious Disorder?
a. The motive for feigning symptoms is to obtain an external reward.
b. The motive for feigning symptoms is to keep a conflict or impulse out of conscious awareness.
c. Symptoms are related to an identified deception that is not associated with attainment of an external reward.
d. Symptoms are inconsistent with known neurological or medical conditions.
a. The motive for feigning symptoms is to obtain an external reward.
Malingering is included in the DSM-5 with Other Conditions That May Be a Focus of Clinical Attention and involves the intentional production of false or grossly exaggerated physical or psychological symptoms for personal gain. (Answer c is consistent with Factitious Disorder.) D is conversion disorder
As a treatment for Erectile Dysfunction, sildenafil citrate (Viagra) exerts its therapeutic effects by increasing:
a. androgen levels.
b. blood flow to the penis.
c. sensitivity in the penis.
d. sexual desire.
b. blood flow to the penis.
Viagra and similar medications (Levitra, and Cialis) are PDE-5 inhibitors, which promote erection by relaxing the smooth muscle in the penis and thereby increasing blood flow.
A 45-year-old man who began drinking heavily when he was in his early 30s and who now has Korsakoff syndrome is most likely to have difficulty remembering:
a. how to shave and brush his teeth.
b. the name of his high-school sweetheart.
c. his first job when he graduated from college at age 24.
d. the name of his first grandchild who was born when he was 42.
d. the name of his first grandchild who was born when he was 42.
A distinguishing feature of Korsakoff syndrome is that it impairs memory for relatively recent events (memory for events that occurred after the individual began drinking) more severely than memory for remote events.
The research has found that, after consuming the same amount of alcohol, older (versus younger) adults typically report:
a. stronger subjective feelings of intoxication as well as longer-lasting effects.
b. stronger subjective feelings of intoxication but shorter-lasting effects.
c. weaker subjective feelings of intoxication but longer-lasting effects.
d. weaker subjective feelings of intoxication and shorter-lasting effects.
a. stronger subjective feelings of intoxication as well as longer-lasting effects.
The studies have found that older adults not only report greater and longer periods of intoxication after ingesting the same amount of alcohol as younger adults but also exhibit more impairment in perceptual motor capacity as the result of alcohol consumption.
A patient with Neurocognitive Disorder Due to Alzheimer’s Disease is likely to exhibit which of the following during the initial stage of the disorder?
a. greater impairment in procedural memory than in episodic and semantic memory
b. greater impairment in episodic and semantic memory than in procedural memory
c. greater impairment in procedural and episodic memory than in semantic memory
d. a similar degree of impairment in procedural, episodic, and semantic memory
b. greater impairment in episodic and semantic memory than in procedural memory
In the early stages of Alzheimer’s Disease, anterograde amnesia affects both episodic and semantic memory, which are the two aspects of declarative memory. However, procedural memory remains relatively unaffected.
Individuals who receive a diagnosis of which of the following Personality Disorders will most likely no longer meet all of the diagnostic criteria for the disorder when they reach middle age?
a. Schizotypal Personality Disorder
b. Antisocial Personality Disorder
c. Paranoid Personality Disorder
d. Avoidant Personality Disorder
b. Antisocial Personality Disorder
While Antisocial Personality Disorder is chronic, its symptoms (especially involvement in criminal behavior) often become less severe and pervasive by the fourth decade of life.
A 32-year-old woman has refused two promotions at work because she doesn’t want to risk being criticized for failing to meet new responsibilities. She spends a lot of time alone fantasizing about an ideal mate; and, when her best friend invites her to parties or other social events, she declines, often claiming that she has a headache or is too tired. When in a social situation, the woman vigilantly watches the reactions of others. These symptoms are most suggestive of which Personality Disorder?
a. Paranoid
b. Schizoid
c. Borderline
d. Avoidant
d. Avoidant
Avoiding relationships due to fear of criticism and fantasizing about an ideal relationship are characteristic symptoms of Avoidant Personality Disorder.
A therapy client who has angry, hostile feelings for his soon-to-be ex-wife begins to verbally attack his supportive therapist for no reason. The client’s behavior illustrates which of the following defense mechanisms?
a. reaction formation
b. projection
c. sublimation
d. displacement
d. displacement
Displacement involves redirecting undesirable sexual or aggressive feelings toward one person onto a safe or vulnerable substitute.
According to Margaret Mahler, which of the following is key to the development of object relations?
a. healthy narcissism
b. separation-individuation
c. mirroring
d. syntaxic cognitive expression
b. separation-individuation
Mahler describes early development as involving several stages. It is during the separation-individuation stage (which begins at about four months of age) that the
development of object relations occurs.
From the perspective of Gestalt therapy, transference:
a. represents confusion between fantasy and reality.
b. represents projection of disowned parts of the self.
c. is an attempt to avoid strong feelings.
d. is a manifestation of regression.
a. represents confusion between fantasy and reality
A Gestaltian views a client’s transference as a form of fantasy and, to get the client back in the here-and-now, helps him/her distinguish between that fantasy and reality (e.g., “I’m your therapist, not your mother!”).
__________ attributed individual differences in personality and behavior to differences in the way that people “construe” (anticipate, perceive, interpret, and predict) events. For example, one person may perceive a new task at work as “interesting,” while another
person may perceive the same task as “boring.”
a. George Kelly
b. Fritz Perls
c. Carl Rogers
d. William Glasser
a. George Kelly
According to Kelly, a person’s psychological processes are determined by the way he or she “construes” events, with construing involving the use of personal constructs, which are bipolar dimensions of meaning (e.g., interesting/boring) that begin to develop in infancy and
may operate on an unconscious or conscious level.
Prochaska, Norcross, and DiClemente’s (1994) transtheoretical model distinguishes between 10 change processes and proposes that the most effective combination of processes depends on the client’s stage of change. For example, they recommend consciousness raising, supportive relationships, self re-evaluation, and emotional arousal as the optimal combination for clients in the __________ stage.
a. maintenance
b. conformity
c. action
d. contemplation
d. contemplation
Prochaska, Norcross, and DiClemente identify the change processes listed in the question as the optimal combination of processes for clients in the contemplation stage.
During the first therapy session with a husband and wife who are experiencing marital problems, a therapist requests that, during the next week, they identify things in their relationship that they want to continue. Most likely, this therapist is a practitioner of:
a. psychoeducational family therapy.
b. behavioral marital therapy.
c. interpersonal therapy.
d. solution-focused therapy.
d. solution-focused therapy
The therapist has given the couple a task that will help them focus on the positive aspects of their relationship. In the context of solution-focused therapy, this assignment is an example of a “formula task.” Its purpose is to help the couple identify positive aspects of their relationship that, in turn, can lead to solutions to their marital difficulties.
Role disputes, role transitions, unresolved grief, and interpersonal deficits are the primary targets of:
a. reality therapy.
b. solution-focused therapy.
c. narrative therapy.
d. interpersonal therapy.
d. interpersonal therapy. Interpersonal therapy (IPT) is a brief structured manual-based therapy that was originally developed as a treatment for depression but has since been applied to other disorders. Its primary targets are the four problem areas listed in this question.
The information that family members continuously exchange and that helps minimize deviation and maintain the family’s current state of equilibrium is referred to as ________ feedback.
a. external
b. internal
c. negative
d. positive
c. negative
The information exchange between family members can act as either positive or negative feedback. Negative feedback helps the family system return to or maintain its current state of equilibrium (homeostasis) and thereby helps minimize deviation and change.
A family therapist notices that, whenever the mother talks, the father and son contradict what she says and criticize her. As described by Minuchin, the father and son’s behavior is an example of:
a. triangulation.
b. a stable coalition.
c. positive feedback.
d. scapegoating.
b. a stable coalition
Minuchin uses the term stable coalition to describe a relationship between two family members that involves the consistent joining of those members against a third member, which sounds like what’s going on in the situation described in this question. (As defined by
Minuchin, stable coalition and triangulation are both types of rigid triangles that serve to reduce stress. However, triangulation occurs when each parent demands that the child side with him/her so that the child is being pulled in two directions.)
A practitioner of Minuchin’s structural family therapy uses which of the following to alter the hierarchical relationships within a family system or subsystem?
a. unbalancing
b. tracking
c. reframing
d. mimesis
a. unbalancing
Unbalancing is a restructuring technique that is used by structural family therapists to change hierarchical relationships between family members. It may involve affiliating with a family member, ignoring a family member, or entering into a coalition with a family member against another member.
Howard et al.’s (1986) phase model proposes that a client’s progress in therapy occurs in three predictable phases. These are:
a. unfreezing, changing, and refreezing.
b. remoralization, remediation, and rehabilitation.
c. engagement, exploration, and evaluation.
d. contemplation, action, and termination.
b. remoralization, remediation, and rehabilitation.
As described by Howard et al., remoralization is an improvement in the subjective sense of well-being, remediation is a reduction in symptoms, and rehabilitation involves improvements in overall functioning.
Data published by Hans Eysenck in 1952:
a. confirmed the effectiveness of behavioral treatments for a variety of psychological disorders.
b. confirmed the “Dodo bird” hypothesis, which predicts that various types of treatment are equally effective for a variety of psychological disorders.
c. challenged the notion of “spontaneous remission.”
d. challenged the effectiveness of conventional psychotherapeutic interventions.
d. challenged the effectiveness of conventional psychotherapeutic interventions
Eysenck’s 1952 publication sparked research on psychotherapy outcomes. In that article, he reported that 66% of patients in eclectic therapy and 44% in psychoanalytic psychotherapy improved versus 72% of those with similar problems who did not receive therapy.
Efficacy studies are:
a. useful for determining a treatment’s cost-effectiveness.
b. conducted under well-controlled conditions.
c. better than effectiveness studies for evaluating a treatment’s generalizability.
d. no longer conducted because of their limited usefulness.
b. conducted under well-controlled conditions.
Efficacy studies are conducted in well-controlled conditions, often using a structured manualized format. In contrast, effectiveness studies are conducted in applied (clinical) settings with less experimental control. Efficacy studies are considered useful for establishing
whether or not a treatment has significant effects, while effectiveness studies are better for assessing a treatment clinical utility (i.e., for determining the treatment’s generalizability, feasibility, and cost-effectiveness).
A psychologist who is an expert in the field of geriatrics is hired by the designers of a retirement facility to make recommendations regarding the design of shared (community) spaces so that the social isolation of residents will be minimized. This is an example of:
a. tertiary prevention.
b. secondary prevention.
c. primary prevention.
d. strategic prevention.
c. primary prevention
The goal of a primary prevention is to reduce the likelihood that a mental disorder or other problem will occur. Designing a retirement facility in a way that reduces social isolation is an example of primary prevention.
A therapist familiar with the impact of cultural factors on symptom expression assumes that an Asian client’s somatic complaints are actually indicative of a mental disorder. This is an example of:
a. the fundamental attribution bias.
b. demand characteristics.
c. diagnostic overshadowing.
d. the parallel process.
c. diagnostic overshadowing
Diagnostic overshadowing occurs when one aspect of a client’s symptoms or condition “overshadows” the therapist’s ability to consider or recognize other symptoms or conditions. Although the term was originally used to describe diagnostic errors for individuals with mental retardation, it has since been applied to other diagnoses and situations.
Smith, Glass, and Miller’s (1980) meta-analysis of studies investigating the outcomes of psychotherapy found that, at the end of therapy, the average client “is better off than ___ percent of those who need therapy but remain untreated.”
a. 50
b. 65
c. 80
d. 95
c. 80
Smith, Glass, and Miller’s meta-analysis (1980) included 475 outcome studies published between 1941 and 1976 and produced an effect size of .85, which means that the mean for the treatment groups was .85 standard deviations above the mean for the control (no treatment) groups – or, put another way, the average treated patient was better off than about 80% of those who needed treatment but did not receive it.
Research on Helms’s White Racial Identity Development Model has found that a white therapist is most effective when working with clients from culturally-diverse groups when the therapist is in which of the following stages?
a. identity integration
b. internalization
c. reintegration
d. autonomy
d. Autonomy
Not surprisingly, the research has found that a white therapist is most effective in cross-cultural counseling situations when the therapist is in the final stage of identity development – i.e., the autonomy stage.
A therapist adopting an etic approach:
a. believes that psychological principles are universally applicable.
b. views different cultures in relativistic terms.
c. focuses on environmental factors that affect individual functioning.
d. is equally comfortable in multiple cultures.
a. believes that psychological principles are universally applicable
Etic is contrasted with emic. The former refers to universal (culture-general) approaches, while the latter refers to culture-specific approaches.
According to Berry’s acculturation model, a member of a culturally-diverse (minority) group is exhibiting marginalization when she or he:
a. has rejected the mainstream (dominant) culture.
b. has rejected her/his own minority culture.
c. is uninvolved in both the mainstream and minority culture.
d. is highly involved in the minority culture but uninvolved in the mainstream culture.
c. is uninvolved in both the mainstream and minority culture
Berry describes acculturation in terms of two independent dimensions: involvement in one’s minority culture and involvement in the mainstream (majority) culture. A marginalized person is uninvolved in both cultures.
According to Cross, an African-American adult in which of the following stages of identity development is likely to say that racial oppression is not a contributor to his problems and that he prefers to see a white therapist?
a. disintegration
b. pre-encounter
c. emersion
d. pseudo-independence
b. pre-encounter
Cross’s Nigrescence Identity Development Model distinguishes between four stages – pre-encounter, encounter, immersion-emersion, and internalization. According to this model, race has low salience for people in the pre-encounter stage. African-Americans in this stage are likely to deny the existence of racism and to prefer a white therapist.
During the first therapy session with a White female therapist, an African American male client says he’s concerned that he’ll feel uncomfortable talking about racial issues in therapy since she’s not African American. In response, the therapist says, “I understand how you feel. As a woman, I’ve also experienced discrimination.” As described by Sue and his colleagues (2007), the therapist’s response is an example of which of the following?
a. diagnostic overshadowing
b. microaggression
c. cultural encapsulation
d. ethnocentrism
b. microaggression
Sue and his colleagues define racial microaggression as “brief and commonplace daily verbal,
behavioral, and environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative racial slights and insults to the target person or group” (p. 273). They also distinguish between three types of microaggression: microassaults
(explicit racial aggression that involves a violent verbal or nonverbal attack), microinsults (behaviors and verbal remarks or comments that are insensitive and demean the person’s racial heritage or identity), and microinvalidation (verbal comments and behaviors that
negate or nullify the thoughts, feelings, or experiences of a person of color). The therapist’s response to the client’s comment is an example of a microinvalidation. (Racial
microaggressions in everyday life: Implications for clinical practice, American Psychologist, 62, 271-286, 2007).
According to Sue (1978), most middle-class European Americans have:
a. an internal locus of control and an internal locus of responsibility.
b. an internal locus of control and an external locus of responsibility.
c. an external locus of control and an internal locus of responsibility.
d. an external locus of control and an external locus of responsibility.
a. an internal locus of control and an internal locus of responsibility. Sue (1978) describes a person’s worldview in terms of two dimensions – locus of control and locus of responsibility According to Sue, most middle-class European Americans have an internal locus of control and an internal locus of responsibility and, consequently, value personal responsibility and success and attribute their successes to their own efforts.
Variable A is paired with Variable B so that, eventually, the response automatically produced by Variable A is also produced by Variable B. Then, Variable B is paired with Variable C so that it too produces the same response. When Variable B is paired with Variable C, Variable B is being treated as a(n):
a. conditioned stimulus.
b. unconditioned stimulus.
c. secondary reinforcer.
d. primary reinforcer.
b. unconditioned stimulus
The technique described in the question is known as higher-order conditioning. When the original CS (Variable B) is paired with a second CS (Variable C), the original CS is acting as a US.
Research using the dismantling strategy suggests that the benefits of systematic desensitization are due to:
a. counterconditioning.
b. extinction.
c. fading.
d. trace conditioning.
b. extinction
Although systematic desensitization is based on counterconditioning, research using a dismantling strategy suggests that its effects are actually due to exposure to the CS without the US (i.e., classical extinction).
Use of Wolpe’s “reciprocal inhibition” involves:
a. pairing anxiety-inducing stimuli with relaxation.
b. pairing an undesirable behavior with an aversive stimulus.
c. replacing external attributions with internal attributions.
d. narrowing the cues that trigger the target response.
a. pairing anxiety-inducing stimuli with relaxation
Reciprocal inhibition is used to reduce fear and anxiety responses and involves pairing stimuli that evoke fear with stimuli that produce relaxation or another incompatible response.
When using in vivo aversion therapy to eliminate a client’s shoe fetish, an electric shock or other unpleasant stimulus acts as a(n):
a. negative punisher.
b. positive punisher.
c. conditioned stimulus.
d. unconditioned stimulus.
d. unconditioned stimulus.
In this situation, the shoe is the conditioned stimulus (CS) and will be paired with electric shock or other stimulus that naturally produces an unpleasant reaction so that, eventually, the shoe also produces the unpleasant reaction. The electric shock or other stimulus that
naturally produces an unpleasant reaction is the unconditioned stimulus (US).
In the context of operant conditioning, “fading” refers to which of the following?
a. the gradual reduction of reinforcement
b. the gradual removal of prompts
c. a reduced response to punishment
d. the elimination of stimulus generalization
b. the gradual removal of prompts
When teaching a new response, nonverbal and verbal prompts may be used to help elicit that response. Because the ultimate goal is for the response to occur independently, prompts are gradually removed once the response is well-established. This procedure is referred to as fading. For the exam, you want to be sure not to confuse fading with thinning, which refers to
a reduction in reinforcement. (A is “thinning”)
Which of the following is an example of negative reinforcement?
a. A truck driver stops speeding after receiving her third ticket for driving over the speed limit.
b. A child keeps whining because of the negative attention he receives whenever he does so.
c. A college student cleans his dorm room in order to keep his roommate from nagging him about how sloppy he is.
d. A boy stops fighting with his sister because, whenever he fights with her, his parents subtract 50 cents from his weekly allowance.
c. a college student cleans his dorm room to keep his roommate from nagging him about
how sloppy he is
Negative reinforcement is occurring when a behavior is performed (increases) to escape or avoid a stimulus. In this case, the student cleans his room to avoid his roommate’s nagging. Negative reinforcement, like positive reinforcement, results in an increase in a behavior. In responses “a” and “d”, a behavior is not being performed (i.e., is decreasing) because of the
consequences. Both of these situations are examples of punishment. Response “b” is an example of positive reinforcement: The boy’s whining is increasing because of the stimulus that is applied following the whining.
Skinner attributed the “superstitious” behaviors of his experimental animals to which of the following?
a. successive approximation conditioning
b. higher-order conditioning
c. accidental reinforcement
d. overcorrection
c. accidental reinforcement
Skinner found that the odd behaviors exhibited by pigeons in his study were the result of accidental pairing of reinforcers with those behaviors. For example, if a pigeon was accidentally reinforced with food while it was pecking at the floor, it would continue pecking at the floor even though it had never been deliberately reinforced for doing so. Skinner concluded that the superstitious behaviors of humans can be attributed to accidental reinforcement.
The parents of a 7-month-old complain that he whines constantly and that he will only stop whining when they pick him up. The psychologist tells them to stop picking the boy up when he whines. When the parents do so, which of the following is most likely to occur?
a. The child’s whining will gradually decrease.
b. The child’s whining will first increase, then decrease.
c. The child’s whining will continue to increase.
d. The child’s whining will be replaced by another undesirable behavior.
b. The child’s whining will first increase, then decrease.
Use of extinction to eliminate a previously reinforced response often results in a temporary extinction (response) burst.
You reward a child whenever he does not exhibit the target behavior but, instead, engages in other activities during a prespecified period of time. This is called:
a. response cost.
b. overcorrection.
c. time out.
d. differential reinforcement.
d. differential reinforcement
Differential reinforcement for other behaviors (D.R.O.) involves reinforcing a person when he/she exhibits other, alternative behaviors to the target behavior during a prespecified period of time (e.g., every 10 minutes).
Mrs. Ichthys teaches her son to feed his pet goldfish by first showing him how to put the fish food into the aquarium. Once the boy has mastered that task, she teaches him to open the container of fish food and then put it into the aquarium. Finally, she teaches her son to
open the cupboard, take out the container of fish food, open it, and put the food into the aquarium. The procedure that Mrs. Ichthys has used is best described as:
a. backward chaining.
b. forward chaining.
c. stimulus control training.
d. sequential training.
a. backward chaining
Mrs. Ichthys’s son has been taught a complex behavior by teaching him the individual responses in the “behavior chain.” Since Mrs. Ichthys has started with the last behavior and “worked backward” from there, this is best described as an example of backward chaining.
In their revision of the learned helplessness model of depression, Abramson, Metalsky, and Alloy (1989) emphasize the role of:
a. punishment.
b. internal attributions.
c. feelings of hopelessness.
d. genetic predisposition.
c. feelings of hopelessness
In their version of the learned helplessness hypothesis, Abramson et al. de-emphasize the role of attributions (emphasized in the previous version) and emphasize the role of hopelessness in the development of depression.
When relying on the therapeutic approach of Beck, a cognitive therapist would emphasize use of which of the following?
a. circular questioning
b. Socratic questioning
c. deflection
d. positioning
b. Socratic questioning
An essential technique in Beck’s cognitive therapy is guided discovery, which makes use of Socratic questioning that is designed to help the individual identify the impact of cognitions on emotions and behavior.
As described by Beck, automatic thoughts involve:
a. interpreting experiences in patterned, reflexive ways.
b. enduring schemas that have been repeatedly reinforced.
c. “shoulds,” “musts,” or “oughts.”
d. seeing causal connections between unrelated events.
a. interpreting experiences in patterned, reflexive ways
As the name implies, automatic thoughts are automatic or reflexive. They also have an interpretive (evaluative) component – e.g., “this is awful.”
The three overlapping stages of Meichenbaum’s stress inoculation training are:
a. formulation, problem focus, and termination.
b. self-monitoring, self-evaluation, and self-reinforcement.
c. cognitive modeling, overt instruction, and covert instruction.
d. education, skills acquisition, and application.
d. education, skills acquisition, and application.
Unfortunately, the names given to the three stages of stress inoculation vary somewhat in the literature. The first stage is referred to as the education, conceptualization, or cognitive phase; the second stage as the skills application or training phase or the skills acquisition and rehearsal phase; and the third phase as the application or application and follow-through phase.
Thermal biofeedback would be most effective as a treatment for:
a. hyperventilation.
b. Raynaud’s disease.
c. stuttering.
d. Gerstmann’s syndrome.
b. Raynaud’s disease
Raynaud’s disease is a disorder of the blood vessels that limits circulation to certain areas of the body (usually the fingers and toes). Thermal (temperature) biofeedback has been found to be an effective treatment for this disorder.
One of your closest friends recently changed her e-mail address and, when you begin to compose an e-mail message to her, you accidentally type her old e-mail address. Which of the following best explains your error? a. retroactive interference b. proactive interference c. decay theory d. cue-dependent forgetting
b. proactive interference
Proactive interference occurs when previously acquired information (your friend’s old e-mail address) interferes with the ability to learn or recall recently or newly acquired information (your friend’s new e-mail address). Retroactive interference occurs when recently acquired
information interferes with your ability to recall previously acquired information. According to decay theory, forgetting is due to the fading of memory traces over time. Cue-dependent forgetting occurs when there are insufficient retrieval cues.
You are given a list of 12 unrelated words to remember. After reviewing the list several times, the list is taken away and you engage in a distracting task for ten seconds. After a brief delay, you are then asked to recall the words in any order. Your recall will be best for:
a. words in the beginning of the list.
b. words in the middle of the list.
c. words at the end of the list.
d. words that have only one syllable.
a. words in the beginning of the list
This question is asking about the serial position effect. Research on this phenomenon has found that when there is a delay between learning and recall, words at the beginning of the list are remembered best. (When there is no delay, words in the beginning and end of the list are remembered best and to about the same degree.)
Sensory memory:
a. holds a very small amount of sensory data for a brief period.
b. holds a very small amount of sensory data for a long period.
c. holds a large amount of sensory data for a brief period.
d. holds a large amount of sensory data for a long period.
c. holds a large amount of sensory data for a brief period
Sensory memory seems to be able to store a large number of sensory events, but it does so for only a very brief period of time (.5 to 1 second).
As described by the levels of processing model of memory (Craik & Tulving, 1975), __________ processing is the deepest level.
a. iconic
b. structural
c. implicit
d. semantic
d. semantic
The levels of processing model distinguishes between three levels of information processing which, from shallowest to deepest, are structural, phonemic, and semantic. Semantic processing produces the best recall and involves processing terms, concepts, etc. in terms of
their meaning.
Vicarious liability is most likely to be an issue when a psychologist is acting in the role of:
a. supervisor.
b. faculty member.
c. advocate.
d. mentor.
a. supervisor.
When a psychologist is liable for the actions of his/her supervisee or employee, this is referred to as vicarious liability.
Of the cases processed by the APA’s Ethics Committee as the result of revocation of a psychologist’s license by a state licensing board, the most common underlying cause for the loss of licensure is which of the following?
a. nonsexual dual relationship
b. sexual misconduct
c. confidentiality
d. practicing outside the boundaries of one’s competence
b. sexual misconduct
Loss of licensure is the most frequent reason for complaints processed by the APA’s Ethics Committee, and sexual misconduct is the most common underlying cause of the loss of licensure.
Dr. A. T. Tester, a licensed psychologist, is scheduled to testify on behalf of the prosecution in a criminal case. He receives a request from the defendant to act as a fact
witness. As an ethical psychologist, Dr. Tester should:
a. explain to the defendant’s attorney that he cannot do so since this would constitute a dual role, which is prohibited by ethical standards.
b. agree to do so only if he is able to get permission from the defendant and the plaintiff (or their attorneys) or from the court.
c. agree to act as a fact witness only after clarifying his responsibilities and role expectations with all parties.
d. agree to act as a fact witness since this does not conflict with his other role.
c. agree to act as a fact witness only after clarifying his responsibilities and role expectations with all parties.
The Specialty Guidelines for Forensic Psychology and the Ethics Code both caution against dual (multiple) roles in forensic settings but notes that, in some cases, they are acceptable. However, as noted in the Ethics Code, when a psychologist becomes involved in a dual
relationship, he/she should “clarify role expectations and the extent of confidentiality” at the outset and subsequently as changes occur.
During a court-ordered evaluation of a defendant to determine her competence to stand trial, she reveals information to you that confirms her guilt. You should:
a. use your discretion in determining what to include in the evaluation report.
b. include the information in the evaluation report since privilege is waived in this situation.
c. include only information relevant to the defendant’s competence in the evaluation report.
d. not provide the court with any information from the evaluation until the defendant signs a release.
c. include only information relevant to the defendant’s competence in the evaluation report.
In this situation, the defendant is protected by laws that prohibit the use of evaluation data to determine a defendant’s guilt without his/her consent.
Which of the following best describes the provisions of the APA’s Ethics Code regarding pro bono services?
a. The Ethics Code advises against providing free services to clients.
b. The Ethics Code recommends providing free services to clients.
c. The Ethics Code requires psychologists to provide free services to clients-in-need.
d. The Ethics Code does not address providing free or low-cost services to clients.
b. The Ethics Code recommends providing free services to clients.
“Pro bono” services are provided for the public good without compensation. Although the term “pro bono” is not used in the Ethics Code, General Principle B (Fidelity and Responsibility) states that “psychologists strive to contribute a portion of their professional time for little or no compensation or personal advantage.” Because free or low-cost services are mentioned in the General Principles (which provide aspirational guidelines), this means that the Code recommends – but does not require – psychologists to provide these services.
Which of the following best describes requirements regarding the acceptance of contingent fees as provided in the Specialty Guidelines for Forensic Psychology (APA,
2011)?
a. Psychologists may provide services to a party in a legal proceeding on the basis of contingent fees.
b. Psychologists may provide services to a party in a legal proceeding on the basis of contingent fees only when the amount of the fees is “reasonable and consistent with
current standards.”
c. Psychologists should seek to avoid providing professional services to a party in a legal proceeding on the basis of contingent fees.
d. Psychologists are prohibited from providing professional services to a party in a legal proceeding on the basis of contingent fees only when doing so represents an unacceptable dual relationship.
c. Psychologists should seek to avoid providing professional services to a party in a legal proceeding on the basis of contingent fees.
This issue is addressed in Paragraph 5.02 of the Specialty Guidelines for Forensic Psychology (APA, 2011), which states that “forensic practitioners strive to avoid providing professional services on the basis of contingent fees.”
A psychologist has received a subpoena from an attorney requesting that she testify in court about a former client and provide the court with records related to the client’s
treatment. The psychologist does not have a release from the client to do so. The psychologist should:
a. testify and release the records as requested.
b. testify but refuse to release the records without a court order.
c. not appear in court without a signed release from the client.
d. appear in court and claim the privilege on behalf of the client.
d. appear in court and claim the privilege on behalf of the client.
Assuming that the subpoena is valid, the psychologist must appear as requested but should assert the privilege on the client’s behalf.
An expert witness is recognized by the court to be qualified to offer opinions on a specific issue. To qualify as an expert witness, a psychologist must:
a. have a valid professional license.
b. have a relevant doctoral degree from an accredited school.
c. have appropriate education, training, and experience.
d. be certified as a forensic psychologist by the ABPP.
c. have appropriate education, training, and experience.
Requirements for expert testimony are provided in state and federal law. For example, Federal Rule of Evidence 702 states: “A witness who is qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education may testify in the form of an opinion or otherwise if: (a) the expert’s scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will help the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue; (b) the testimony is based on sufficient facts or data; (c) the testimony is the product of reliable principles and methods; and (d) the expert has reliably applied the principles and methods to the facts of the case.”
Dr. Opt assists with hiring decisions at the mental health clinic where he works. He recommends that an applicant for a staff psychologist position not be considered because of an unresolved charge of sexual harassment that has been filed against her with the Ethics Committee. Dr. Opt’s recommendation about the psychologist is:
a. consistent with the provisions of the Ethics Code.
b. a violation of the provisions of the Ethics Code.
c. ethical as long as the psychologist is considered when she is acquitted of the charge.
d. not addressed by the Ethics Code.
b. a violation of the provisions of the Ethics Code.
This response is most consistent with Standard 1.08 (Unfair Discrimination Against Complainants and Respondents) of the Ethics Code, which states that “Psychologists do not deny persons employment, advancement, admissions to academic or other programs, tenure, or promotion, based solely upon their having made or their being the subject of an ethics
complaint.”
A licensed psychologist who provides individual and group therapy to adolescents and adults learns that she is HIV+. In terms of ethical requirements, the psychologist:
a. should refrain from initiating any professional activities that might be adversely affected by her medical condition.
b. should obtain supervision to ensure that her medical condition does not impair her ability to provide effective services to clients.
c. should inform her clients of her medical condition “as early as is feasible.”
d. is not obligated to take any special actions or precautions in this situation.
a. should refrain from initiating any professional activities that might be adversely affected by her medical condition.
Standard 2.06 requires psychologists to “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.” Personal problems include emotional, social, health-related and other personal issues.
A client you have been seeing in therapy for several sessions tells you that her former therapist made repeated sexual advances toward her and that is why she stopped seeing him. She also says that she doesn’t want you to say anything about it to anyone. The
psychologist is someone you see frequently at professional meetings. As an ethical psychologist, you:
a. inform the client that you are ethically required to report the psychologist to the Ethics Committee or state licensing board.
b. attempt to resolve the issue informally by talking to the psychologist.
c. convince the client that it is in her best interests to file a report with the state licensing board herself.
d. tell the client that you will maintain confidentiality.
d. tell the client that you will maintain confidentiality.
This response is most consistent with the provisions of Standards 1.04 and 1.05, which require psychologists to give priority to client confidentiality when deciding how to handle knowledge about unethical behavior by a colleague.
Dr. S. Towne is the only mental health professional in Micropolis, population 912, and the next town is 105 miles away. She finds that some of her clients have problems that are outside her area of training. Dr. Towne should:
a. see the clients only if they are in a crisis situation.
b. use only interventions that she already has experience using.
c. refuse to see the clients until she receives adequate training.
d. obtain supervision or consultation by telephone.
d. obtain supervision or consultation by telephone.
Although the Ethics Code requires psychologists to provide only services within the boundaries of their competence, there are exceptions. It is, for instance, perfectly acceptable for psychologists to acquire new skills and to treat new problems – but only when appropriate supervision or consultation are obtained. This is a difficult situation, but response d is the best given the circumstances and the alternatives provided in the responses.
During the initial session with a therapy client, the client tells Dr. Goodenough that she and her husband are having “marital problems” and that she thinks they may need couples counseling. As the client describes her husband, Dr. Goodenough realizes that she had an affair with him 15 years ago in graduate school, long before he married the client. Dr. Goodenough’s best course of action would be to:
a. make an appointment with the husband to discuss the matter with him before setting up a couples session.
b. see the wife in individual therapy and refer them to another therapist for marital counseling.
c. see the couple in therapy only if she feels her previous relationship will not interfere with her objectivity.
d. not see the wife or the couple in therapy and make a referral to another therapist.
d. not see the wife or the couple in therapy and make a referral to another therapist.
This is covered by Standard 10.07, which prohibits psychologists from providing therapy to former sexual partners. In addition, providing therapy to the wife only would violate Standard 3.06, which states that psychologists refrain from engaging in professional activities when “personal, scientific, professional, legal, financial, or other interests or relationships could reasonably be expected to (1) impair their objectivity, competence, or effectiveness in performing their functions as psychologists.”
A colleague at the mental health clinic where you are employed tells you that one of his clients has admitted to sexually abusing his daughter. The colleague says he is not going to report the abuse since it was mild in nature and the client has expressed remorse, promised not to do it again, and is willing to continue therapy. In addition, he feels that reporting the abuse would be detrimental to the community since the client is a widely-known, well-respected person. You should:
a. attempt to discuss the matter further with the colleague and encourage him to make a
report to the appropriate child abuse reporting authority but do not make a report yourself.
b. file a complaint against the colleague with APA or the state licensing board.
c. contact the appropriate child abuse reporting authority and provide them with information about the abuse and with the colleague’s name.
d. contact the appropriate child abuse reporting authority and provide them with information about the abuse but refuse to give them the colleague’s name if they request it.
c. contact the appropriate child abuse reporting authority and provide them with information about the abuse and with the colleague’s name.
This issue is addressed by Leland Swenson in Psychology and the Law for the Helping Professions, Brooks/Cole, Pacific Grove, CA, 1997. He states that “Any required reporter who knows that another required reporter has not reported must report the evidence of abuse as well as identify the nonreporter” (p. 413).
The police arrive at your office with an arrest warrant for one of your clients. They tell you that they need the client’s most recent address and telephone number. You should:
a. provide them with the information they request since they have a warrant.
b. make a copy of the warrant for your files before providing them with the information they request.
c. tell them you will have to get a signed waiver from the client before you can release any information about him.
d. not give them any information about the client.
d. not give them any information about the client.
Before providing information about a client (including the fact that he/she is a client), the psychologist would have to be provided with a search warrant, court order, or signed release from the client.
You have just evaluated a child at the request of his mother. The child’s mother and father are separated and have joint custody. You receive a call from the father who says that he and his new girlfriend will be joining the mother when you meet with her to discuss the results of the evaluation. You call the mother, but she says she doesn’t want the girlfriend to be present at the meeting or to have information about the evaluation. You
should:
a. comply with the mother’s request since she is the one who paid for the evaluation.
b. explain to the mother that you have to do what the husband requests since they have joint custody.
c. tell the father that you will meet with him and his girlfriend at another time.
d. meet with the mother and father either together or separately but don’t include the girlfriend.
d. meet with the mother and father either together or separately but don’t include the girlfriend.
This response is most consistent with requirements regarding confidentiality. Legally (and ethically), the child’s parents have a right to information about the child and test data should only be released to them. Although there might be circumstances when it would be appropriate to provide evaluation data to other interested parties, there is nothing in this question to suggest that this is the case in this situation.
You are a psychologist in private practice. In response to your growing caseload, you decide to bring in a second psychologist. The psychologist will be provided with office space and some secretarial services, and you will charge him 50% of fees collected from the patients you refer to him. This is:
a. unethical because referral fees are prohibited by the Ethics Code.
b. unethical because 50% is exploitative.
c. ethical as long as 50% is standard in your area of practice.
d. ethical as long as the 50% reflects your actual expenses.
d. ethical as long as the 50% reflects your actual expenses.
Referral fees are not entirely prohibited but, in situations like this one, must reflect the costs incurred by the person making the referral.
A new client says that she wants to pay for her therapy sessions with cash and that she doesn’t want you to keep a record of the sessions or of her payments. If you agree to this arrangement:
a. you have acted ethically as long as you ascertain that her reasons for making this request are valid.
b. you have acted ethically since it is up to you to decide what to include in your records.
c. you have acted ethically and legally as long as you include her payments as income on your income tax forms.
d. you have acted unethically and possibly illegally.
d. you have acted unethically and possibly illegally.
The APA’s Ethics Code and Record Keeping Guidelines require psychologists to maintain adequate records. This not only protects the welfare of the client but also protects the practitioner. In addition, many state laws require that client records be maintained and indicate the minimum information that must be included in such records.
Dr. S. Swapper is starting a program for adolescents who are experiencing peer problems. She tells the editor of the local newspaper that his adolescent daughter (who is unpopular with her peers) can attend the program for free if the editor writes an article about the program for the paper. This is:
a. ethical as long as the arrangement doesn’t compromise Dr. Swapper’s objectivity when working with the editor’s daughter.
b. ethical as long as Dr. Swapper doesn’t tell the editor what to put in the article.
c. unethical because the Ethics Code explicitly prohibits this type of arrangement.
d. ethically dubious but not covered by the Ethics Code.
c. unethical because the Ethics Code explicitly prohibits this type of arrangement.
Standard 5.02 explicitly prohibits psychologists from compensating employees of the press for publicity about the psychologist and his/her work in a news item.
Requiring students in an introductory psychology class to participate in a university sponsored research project as a requirement for the class is ethical only when:
a. the research is conducted by or under the guidance of a faculty member.
b. the research exposes students to “minimal risk.”
c. students are given a choice of an alternative assignment.
d. students are made aware of the requirement prior to enrolling in the class.
c. students are given a choice of alternative assignments.
This answer is most consistent with the requirements of Standard 8.04(b) of the Ethics Code, which 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.”
When a research study might cause participants pain, deception:
a. is prohibited if the pain is physical but not if it is psychological in nature.
b. is ordinarily prohibited whether it is physical or psychological in nature.
c. is acceptable only if no alternative methods for obtaining the data are available.
d. is acceptable only if it is justified by the study’s “prospective value.”
b. is ordinarily prohibited whether it is physical or psychological in nature.
This response is most consistent with Standard 8.07(b), which states that “Psychologists do not deceive prospective participants about research that is reasonably expected to cause physical pain or severe emotional distress.”
Which of the following statements is most consistent with the requirements of the Ethics Code regarding publication credit for publications that are substantially based on a student’s doctoral dissertation?
a. Authorship credit must reflect each individual’s relative contribution to the research project.
b. Authorship credit must be “mutually agreed upon” by all individuals who contributed substantially to the project.
c. The student must be listed as first author except under “exceptional circumstances.”
d. The student must always be listed as first author.
c. The student must be listed as first author except under “exceptional circumstances.”
This answer is most consistent with Standard 8.12(c), which states that, “except under exceptional circumstances, a student is listed as principal author on any multiple-authored article that is substantially based on the student’s doctoral dissertation.”
The Ethics Code requires that a psychologist discuss with a new therapy client the issue of fees and policy regarding the provision of information to an insurance company:
a. prior to the first consultation.
b. during the first session.
c. when the psychologist deems it appropriate.
d. as early as is feasible.
d. as early as is feasible.
This is addressed in Standard 10.01, which states that, “when obtaining informed consent to therapy as required in Standard 3.10, Informed Consent, psychologists inform
clients/patients as early as is feasible in the therapeutic relationship about the nature and anticipated course of therapy, fees, involvement of third parties, and limits of confidentiality.” Similar language is included in Standard 6.04.
A client who terminated therapy with Dr. Jones several months ago calls to request an appointment because she is now very depressed and is feeling suicidal. In the past couple of months, Dr. Jones has been reducing his practice because he is starting another business. The best course of action in this situation is for Dr. Jones:
a. to see the woman until the crisis has passed and then provide her with appropriate referrals.
b. to explain to the former client that he is no longer accepting clients and refer her to a colleague.
c. to provide the woman with several referrals and ask her to call him if none of those turn out to be satisfactory.
d. to provide the woman with several referrals but let her know that he is available by phone in case of an emergency.
a. to see the woman until the crisis has passed and then provide her with appropriate referrals.
This course of action best takes the client’s welfare into account and, therefore, is most consistent with the “spirit” of the Code (see, e.g., Standards 3.04 and 10.09).
The establishment of comparable worth depends on the use of:
a. a valid needs analysis procedure.
b. a neutral job evaluation procedure.
c. an unbiased job analysis procedure.
d. an unbiased personnel selection procedure.
b. a neutral job evaluation procedure.
According to the principle of comparable worth, men and women who perform jobs that require similar levels of education, training, and skills should receive similar compensation. A job evaluation is used to establish comparable worth and, to be useful for this purpose, it
must be unbiased (gender-neutral).
Frame-of-reference training is useful for:
a. increasing organizational commitment.
b. management development.
c. increasing job productivity.
d. improving rater accuracy.
d. improving rater accuracy
Frame-of-reference training is used to improve rater accuracy by helping raters become better observers of behavior.
The incorporation of critical incidents into the Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale (BARS):
a. facilitates obtaining the information a supervisor needs to provide useful performance feedback to employees.
b. reduces rater biases by requiring a supervisor to compare employees who are doing the same job on critical dimensions of performance.
c. facilitates the rating process by allowing the supervisor to compare an employee’s performance to a predefined “ideal” standard of performance.
d. reduces the usefulness of performance ratings by focusing only on ineffective or unsuccessful behaviors.
a. facilitates obtaining the information a supervisor needs to provide useful performance feedback to employees.
Critical incidents are descriptions of specific job behaviors that are associated with successful or unsuccessful job performance. Anchoring the points on a job performance rating scale with critical incidents ensures that the scale provides information that can be used to provide employees with feedback about their job performance. BARS is one type of rating scale that
uses critical incidents.
As defined by the EEOC, adverse impact is suggested when:
a. validity coefficients for different groups differ.
b. selection rates for different groups differ.
c. criterion performance for different groups differ.
d. predictor means for different groups differ.
b. selection rates for different groups differ
As defined in the EEOC’s Uniform Guidelines, adverse impact is occurring when rates of selection or other employment practices are different for different groups of workers. Several techniques are used to determine if adverse impact is occurring, including the 80% rule and
evaluating test bias (which involves comparing the slopes and Y-intercepts of the regression lines for the groups).
In the context of training, “identical elements” is associated with:
a. learning past the point of mastery.
b. distributed practice.
c. contingent reinforcement.
d. transfer of training.
d. transfer of training
“Identical elements” refers to providing similar conditions in the training and performance environments in order to maximize transfer to training.
The primary function of a realistic job preview is to:
a. increase the number of applicants for a job.
b. maximize the reliability of job selection procedures.
c. reduce on-the-job conflicts between supervisors and employees.
d. reduce employee dissatisfaction and turnover.
d. reduce employee dissatisfaction and turnover.
Realistic job previews consist of job descriptions, discussions with current employees, work samples, and/or other procedures or techniques. Two assumptions underlying the use of realistic job previews are that (a) turnover is related to unrealistic expectations about the job and (b) providing applicants with accurate information about what the job entails will reduce
unrealistic expectations and thereby decrease dissatisfaction and turnover.
Super’s theory of career development predicts that a worker is likely to be most satisfied when:
a. the job fits his/her self-concept.
b. the job is compatible with his/her ego identity.
c. the job fulfills his/her most prepotent needs.
d. the job offers opportunities for self-actualization.
a. the job fits his/her self-concept
According to Super, the ideal circumstance is for the job to fit the individual’s self-concept, which is comprised of several elements including the individual’s interests, abilities, and values.
From the perspective of Holland’s approach to career choice and career counseling, a highly differentiated person:
a. resembles one personality type and no other type.
b. has obtained a personality profile that is unusual or unique.
c. has scored highly on two personality types that are on opposite sides of the personality/occupational hexagon.
d. has vocational aspirations that are compatible with diverse RIASEC categories.
a. resembles one personality type and no other type
According to Holland, a person is highly differentiated when he/she obtains a high score on only one personality dimension. He also believed that a personality-occupational match is most accurate for predicting outcomes for those who are highly differentiated.
Which of the following is NOT one of the five needs identified in Abraham Maslow’s need-hierarchy theory?
a. safety
b. social
c. existence
d. esteem
c. existence
From lower- to higher-order, Maslow’s five needs are physiological, safety, social (belongingness), esteem, and self-actualization. (Existence, relatedness, and growth are the three needs identified by Alderfer.)
Which of the following is central to the predictions made by equity theory?
a. social power
b. social comparison
c. social contagion
d. social penetration theory
b. social comparison
According to equity theory, worker motivation is related to the comparisons workers make between their own input/outcome ratio and those of other workers doing the same or a similar job.
When she was hired by her company, Polly Persistence was told that she’d be receiving raises and bonuses as long as her work continues to be satisfactory. Two years later, the promises made to Polly have not been fulfilled even though she has received good performance reviews from her supervisor. According to expectancy theory, which of the following of Polly’s beliefs will be most negatively affected by this situation?
a. valence
b. self-efficacy
c. expectancy
d. instrumentality
d. instrumentality
Expectancy theory proposes that motivation depends on three beliefs — expectancy, instrumentality, and valence. Instrumentality refers to the belief that one’s performance will lead to certain rewards.
Fiedler’s theory of leadership predicts that a task-oriented leader is most effective when:
a. the situation is very favorable.
b. the situation is very unfavorable.
c. the situation is moderately favorable.
d. the situation is either very favorable or very unfavorable.
d. the situation is either very favorable or very unfavorable
Fiedler distinguished between task-oriented (low LPC) and person-oriented (high LPC) leaders. He proposed that the former are most effective when the situation is extreme – either very favorable or very unfavorable in terms of the leader’s ability to control and influence
subordinates.
The team leader tells Bowler A to “do his best” and Bowler B to try to break her previous record by six points. At the end of game, Bowler A has a score of 158, which is
four points lower than his previous record, and Bowler B has a score of 180, which is seven points higher than her previous record. This outcome is predicted by which of the following theories?
a. path-goal theory
b. goal setting theory
c. ERG theory
d. expectancy theory
b. goal setting theory
One of goal setting theory’s predictions is that specific moderately difficult goals are more effective than easy or ambiguous (“do your best”) goals.
According to Hersey and Blanchard’s (1974) situational leadership model, the optimal leadership style depends on which of the following?
a. the “favorableness” situation
b. the complexity and difficulty level of the task
c. the ability and motivation of employees
d. the expertise and preferences of the leader
c. the ability and motivation of the employees
Hersey and Blanchard’s situational leadership model distinguishes between four leadership styles (telling, selling, participating, and delegating), with each style being characterized by a different combination of task- and relationship-orientation. According to this model, the best leadership style depends on the employee’s job maturity, which is determined by a combination of ability and willingness to accept responsibility.
A transformational leader uses “framing” to:
a. make organizational goals more meaningful to employees.
b. ensure that workers are adequately rewarded for good performance.
c. make sure new employees receive adequate training.
d. ensure that employee performance evaluations are unbiased.
a. make organizational goals more meaningful to employees
A key characteristic of transformational leaders is their ability to motivate employees by placing goals in a meaningful context.
In the 1950s, researchers at Ohio State University developed an influential theory of leadership that focused on a leader’s:
a. personality traits.
b. behaviors.
c. attitudes toward subordinates.
d. power.
b. behaviors
Results of the Ohio State leadership studies indicated that leaders can be described in terms of two behavioral dimensions – consideration and initiating structure.
According to H. A. Simon, rational-economic decision-making often fails in organizations as the result of:
a. people’s basic irrationality.
b. a lack of time and information.
c. a lack of acceptable alternatives to choose from.
d. a lack of commitment to the organization’s goals.
b. a lack of time and information
As the result of a lack of time and information, decision makers often do not consider all possible alternative solutions but, instead, pick the first solution that seems acceptable.
The best way to reduce the effects of groupthink on a group’s ability to make good decisions would be to:
a. actively encourage dissidence and criticism.
b. have the group leader present his/her favored decision at the start of the meeting.
c. increase group cohesion and interdependence.
d. reward group members for making “riskier” decisions.
a. actively encourage dissidence and criticism
Groupthink is most likely to occur in highly cohesive groups when members feel a need to achieve consensus and, therefore, disregard and discourage consideration of alternative actions. Actively encouraging dissent and criticism would help disrupt the pattern of communication that characterizes groupthink.
Research suggests that social loafing is MOST likely to occur in which of the following conditions?
a. large group with low group cohesiveness
b. large group with high group cohesiveness
c. small group with low group cohesiveness
d. small group with high group cohesiveness
a. large group with low group cohesiveness
In one study, R. C. Liden and his colleagues found that social loafing increased as (1) group size increased, (2) group cohesiveness decreased, (3) perception of task interdependence increased, (4) task visibility (belief that one’s supervisor is aware of one’s effort) decreased,
and (5) perception of distributive justice (fair pay) decreased [Social loafing: A field investigation, Journal of Management, 30(2), 285-304, 2004].
In contrast to a centralized communication network, decentralized communication networks are associated with:
a. higher employee productivity for all types of tasks but lower employee satisfaction.
b. lower employee productivity for all types of tasks but higher employee satisfaction.
c. higher employee productivity for complex tasks and higher employee satisfaction.
d. higher employee productivity for simple or routine tasks but lower employee satisfaction.
c. higher employee productivity for complex tasks and higher employee satisfaction
The research on communication networks has found that centralized networks – for example, the “chain” and the “Y” – are most effective in terms of productivity for simple tasks, while decentralized networks – such as the “all-channel” – are better for complex tasks. In addition,
while supervisors and managers are likely to be more satisfied with a centralized network, the employees (supervisees) tend to be more satisfied with a decentralized network.
Lewin’s (1951) force-field model proposes that planned change in organizations involves which of the following stages?
a. planning, acting, and evaluating
b. envisioning, changing, and re-visioning
c. unfreezing, changing, and refreezing
d. collecting data, providing feedback, and implementing
c. unfreezing, changing, and refreezing
Lewin’s model describes the process of planned change in terms of these three stages: Unfreezing occurs when the need for change is recognized and steps are taken to make members of the organization receptive to change; changing involves moving the organization
in the new direction; and refreezing entails supporting the changes that have been made to help stabilize the organization at a new state of equilibrium.
A meta-analysis of the research by Baltes et al. (1999) found that, in terms of job outcomes, the compressed workweek has the MOST positive impact on:
a. overall job satisfaction.
b. health outcomes.
c. absenteeism and turnover.
d. objective measures of job performance.
a. overall job satisfaction
The research on the effects of the compressed workweek have produced inconsistent results, but the meta-analysis by Baltes et al. (1999) found that it has positive effects on overall job satisfaction, satisfaction with the work schedule, and supervisor ratings of performance but not on objective measures of job performance and absenteeism.
As the result of head trauma, a middle-aged woman has difficulty regulating the rate, rhythm, pitch, and loudness of her speech. This is referred to as:
a. synesthesia.
b. anomia.
c. asomatognosia.
d. dysprosody.
d. dysprosody
Prosody refers to the pattern of stress and intonation in speech. Dysprosody is a characteristic of Broca’s aphasia and other nonfluent aphasias.
The assumption that changes in regional cerebral blood flow correspond to changes in neural activity underlies the use of all of the following brain imaging techniques except:
a. PET.
b. fMRI.
c. CT.
d. SPECT.
c. CT
Regional cerebral blood flow is associated with the brain activity (functioning). CT (computerized tomography) is a structural brain imaging technique. It provides information on brain structure (e.g., tumors, lesions), not function.
The most commonly prescribed drugs for Tourette’s disorder are drugs that:
a. increase dopamine levels.
b. block dopamine transmission.
c. increase acetylcholine levels.
d. block acetylcholine transmission.
b. block dopamine transmission
Haloperidol is an antipsychotic drug that is frequently-prescribed for Tourette’s Disorder. It exerts its effects by blocking the transmission of dopamine.
Which of the following is involved in the regulation of circadian rhythms?
a. thalamus
b. basal ganglia
c. cerebellum
d. hypothalamus
d. hypothalamus
The suprachiasmatic nucleus, which is located in the hypothalamus, has been implicated in the regulation of the body’s circadian rhythms.
If you’re in a car accident that causes damage to your cerebellum, you’re most likely to:
a. have trouble jogging and playing tennis.
b. find it difficult to answer EPPP questions.
c. have trouble recognizing friends and family members.
d. find it difficult to do simple arithmetic calculations.
a. have trouble jogging and playing tennis.
The cerebellum is involved in the regulation of balance and coordination. Consequently, of the activities listed in the answers, jogging and playing tennis are most likely to be adversely affected by damage to this structure of the brain.
Bilateral lesions in which of the following areas of the brain are most likely to result in a loss of the fear response without loss of other emotional responses?
a. hippocampus
b. suprachiasmatic nucleus
c. amygdala
d. thalamus
c. amygdala
The case of “patient SM” has confirmed that the amygdala is responsible for the experience of fear in response to frightening stimuli. SM has focal bilateral amygdala lesions as the result of a rare disease. While she is able to experience other emotions, she does not experience fear.
Impaired facial recognition, left-right disorientation, difficulty recognizing familiar objects by touch, and an inability to perform complex, purposeful movements (apraxia) are most suggestive of damage to the:
a. parietal lobes.
b. frontal lobes.
c. temporal lobes.
d. occipital lobes.
a. parietal lobes
Damage to the parietal lobes can cause aphasia, tactile agnosia, and apraxia (loss of ability to perform purposeful movements).
Damage to the right hemisphere of the cerebral cortex is most likely to result in:
a. anxiety and depression.
b. indifference or undue cheerfulness.
c. aphasia.
d. increased aggression.
b. indifference or undue cheerfulness
The right hemisphere governs negative emotions, and damage to certain areas of the right hemisphere produces indifference or excessively positive emotions.
A patient with brain damage is unable to recognize his doctor’s face even though he has met with the doctor several times. This condition is known as:
a. topographagnosia.
b. prosopagnosia.
c. autotopagnosia.
d. anosognosia.
b. prosopagnosia
Prosopagnosia is a type of visual agnosia that involves an inability to recognize familiar faces. Topographagnosia involves deficits in spatial ability; autotopagnosia is the inability to locate various parts of the body; and anosognosia is the refusal or inability to recognize the existence of a defect or disease.
A person is able to say “knife” when a picture of a knife is flashed to his right visual field, but he cannot name a spoon, which he can’t see but has felt with his left hand. Most likely, this individual has damage to which of the following?
a. substantia nigra
b. corpus callosum
c. suprachiasmatic nucleus
d. prefrontal cortex
b. corpus callosum
This man is exhibiting the characteristics of “split-brain” patients whose corpus callosum has been severed, usually as a treatment for severe epilepsy.
Global aphasia is caused by widespread damage in the dominant (left) hemisphere and involves:
a. intact comprehension and nonfluent speech
b. impaired comprehension and nonfluent speech
c. intact comprehension and fluent speech
d. impaired comprehension and fluent speech
b. impaired comprehension and nonfluent speech
As its name suggests, global aphasia is caused by widespread brain injury and is characterized by extensive disruption in the ability to produce and understand language. A person with this disorder exhibits impaired auditory comprehension, nonfluent speech, anomia (inability to name a common or familiar object, attribute, or action), paraphasia (use of inappropriate words and phrases), and an inability to read or write. Depending on the brain areas affected by the injury, the person may also exhibit hemiparesis, limb apraxia, and/or catastrophic emotional reactions.
During the ________ stage of the general adaptation syndrome (GAS), the release of epinephrine results in an increase in heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration rate.
a. resistance
b. activation
c. alarm
d. exhaustion
c. alarm
Epinephrine (adrenaline) is released by the adrenal medulla during the alarm stage of the GAS and is responsible for the body’s “fight-or-flight” response.
Studies investigating age-related changes in sleep patterns have found that, over the adult years:
a. REM sleep remains fairly constant but slow-wave sleep increases.
b. REM sleep remains fairly constant but slow-wave sleep decreases.
c. REM sleep decreases but slow-wave sleep remains fairly constant.
d. REM sleep increases but slow-wave sleep remains fairly constant.
b. REM sleep remains fairly constant but slow-wave sleep decreases.
Research has confirmed that the latency (onset) of the first REM period decreases with increasing age but that the amount of REM sleep remains fairly stable over the lifespan or decreases only slightly. In contrast, Stage 3 and Stage 4 sleep (slow-wave sleep) decrease and,
in some older adults, are nearly nonexistent.
Following a closed head injury caused by a car accident, a 55-year-old woman experiences extensive retrograde amnesia that affects memories for events that occurred
up to 10 years prior to the accident. When her “lost” memories begin to return, she will most likely recall which of the following first:
a. memories from 10 years before the accident.
b. memories from 6 months before the accident.
c. memories from 1 week before the accident.
d. memories of the accident.
a. memories from 10 years before the accident
The typical pattern for the return of long-term memories following head trauma is for the most remote memories to return first.
As the result of a stroke involving the middle cerebral artery and the right (nondominant) hemisphere, a person is most likely to exhibit:
a. paralysis on the left side of his body and vision loss in his left visual field.
b. paralysis on the left side of his body and global aphasia.
c. paralysis on the right side of his body and visual agnosia.
d. paralysis on the right side of his body and visual loss in his right visual field.
a. paralysis on the left side of his body and vision loss in his left visual field
Damage to certain areas of the right hemisphere could cause paralysis on the left side of the body as well as visual loss in the left visual field. These are common symptoms of stroke.
Which of the following is an early sign of Huntington’s disease that can cause misdiagnosis as a psychiatric disorder?
a. sleep disturbances
b. disorientation
c. memory loss for autobiographical information
d. depression
d. depression
A mood disturbance, especially depression, is an early symptom in at least 40% of cases of Huntington’s disease.
Which of the following are characteristic symptoms of Parkinson’s disease?
a. resting tremor, slowed movement, rigidity, and impaired balance and coordination
b. jerky, involuntary movements, facial grimaces, restlessness, and general weakness
c. muscle weakness, impaired coordination, paresthesias, and nystagmus
d. involuntary repetitive movements of the jaw, lips, tongue, and extremities
a. resting tremor, slowed movement, rigidity, and impaired balance and coordination
The symptoms of Parkinson’s disease vary somewhat from person to person and from day to day. However, most people with this disorder experience the symptoms listed in this response.
(Huntington’s disease is associated with the symptoms listed in answer b; multiple sclerosis with the symptoms listed in answer c, and tardive dyskinesia with the symptoms listed in answer d.)
In comparison to haloperidol, risperidone:
a. is less likely to produce extrapyramidal side effects.
b. is less likely to produce weight gain.
c. is less effective for the negative symptoms of Schizophrenia.
d. is more likely to produce sexual side effects.
a. is less likely to produce extrapyramidal side effects
Risperidone is an atypical antipsychotic. It is less likely to produce extrapyramidal side effects than haloperidol and other typical (conventional) antipsychotics. According to a recent Cochrane Review, in comparison to haloperidol, risperidone is more likely to cause weight
gain, is more effective for negative symptoms, and is about equally likely to cause sexual side effects.
When tardive dyskinesia develops as the result of antipsychotic drug use:
a. its symptoms are nearly always irreversible.
b. it signals that a larger dose of the drug is required.
c. its symptoms may decline if the drug is slowly withdrawn.
d. its symptoms may increase temporarily after the drug is slowly withdrawn but thereafter decline.
d. its symptoms may increase temporarily after the drug is slowly withdrawn but thereafter decline
At one time, tardive dyskinesia was considered irreversible. However, recent studies have shown that, in some patients, its symptoms gradually decline once the drug is withdrawn, although there may be a temporary increase in symptoms first.
Which of the following drugs is considered a first-line treatment for neuropathic pain?
a. carbamazepine
b. clozapine
c. amitriptyline
d. naltrexone
c. amitriptyline
Neuropathic pain is chronic pain that is due to a nervous system injury or dysfunction. Analgesics are the first-line treatment for neuropathic pain and include certain antidepressants, anticonvulsants, opioids, and local anesthetics. Antidepressants that increase levels of both serotonin and norepinephrine not only have analgesic properties but also reduce the depression that often accompanies neuropathic pain. Of these antidepressants, amitriptyline (Elavil) is one of the oldest and most widely used tricyclic drugs for this condition.
A person who takes an MAOI concurrently with an SSRI may develop serotonin syndrome which is characterized by:
a. nausea, vomiting, a metallic taste in the mouth, and restlessness.
b. headache, dizziness, confusion, irritability, tremor, and nystagmus.
c. involuntary rhythmic movements of the jaw, lips, tongue, and extremities.
d. drowsiness, dizziness, slurred speech, and anterograde amnesia.
b. headache, dizziness, confusion, irritability, tremor, and nystagmus.
Serotonin syndrome is caused by excessive serotonergic activity and produces the symptoms listed in this answer. In extreme cases, it may cause cardiac arrhythmia and progress to coma and death.
Prescribing methylphenidate for a child who is believed to have ADHD:
a. would help confirm the diagnosis because only children with this disorder display its paradoxical effects.
b. would not help confirm the diagnosis because children without the disorder also display its paradoxical effects.
c. would be contraindicated because it can produce ADHD-like symptoms in children who do not have the disorder.
d. would be contraindicated because of the high risk for physical and psychological dependence on the drug.
b. would not help confirm the diagnosis because children without the disorder also display its paradoxical effects
At the low dose prescribed for ADHD, methylphenidate decreases motor activity and impulsivity and increases attention span not only in children with ADHD but also in those without the disorder.
Blond hair, green eyes, and unattached earlobes are due to a recessive gene. For a child to exhibit one of these traits, he/she must be __________with regard to that gene.
a. homozygous
b. heterozygous
c. monozygotic
d. dizygotic
a. homozygous
When a trait is due to a dominant gene, an offspring will manifest the trait if he/she inherits only a single dominant gene from one parent. In contrast, when a trait is due to a recessive gene, an offspring will manifest the trait only if he/she inherits the recessive gene from both
parents (i.e., only when he/she is homozygous with regard to that gene).
____________ syndrome is also known as XXY syndrome and is a chromosomal abnormality that affects male sexual development.
a. Klinefelter
b. Turner
c. Gerstmann
d. Prader-Willi
a. Klinefelter
Klinefelter syndrome occurs in males and is due to the presence of two or more X chromosomes along with a single Y chromosome. Symptoms include smaller-than-normal genitalia, the development of breasts during puberty, infertility, long legs with a short trunk, and, in some cases, learning disabilities and behavioral problems.
The most consistent evidence of neurogenesis in the adult human brain has been obtained for which of the following?
a. thalamus
b. hippocampus
c. mammillary bodies
d. reticular formation
b. hippocampus
There is consistent evidence that neurogenesis continues throughout the lifespan in the hippocampus and olfactory bulb. (See, e.g., P. S. Erikkson et al., Neurogenesis in the adult human hippocampus, Nature Medicine, 4, 1313-1317, 1998.) There have also been some
reports of postnatal neurogenesis in certain area of the cortex and a few other areas of the brain, but these findings have not been consistently replicated.
From the perspective of Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model, the microsystem refers to:
a. the womb.
b. the child him/herself.
c. the child’s parents, teachers, and classmates.
d. the child’s neighborhood and community.
c. the child’s parents, teachers, and classmates
Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model distinguishes between the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem. The former is the child’s immediate setting and includes the child’s family and school.
For Vygotsky, the “zone of proximal development” represents the difference between:
a. what a child can accomplish alone and what he/she can accomplish with help.
b. the child’s comprehension and production of language.
c. the individual’s current situation and his/her stated life goals.
d. what the child knows how to do and what he/she actually does.
a. what a child can accomplish alone and what he/she can accomplish with help
The zone of proximal development is central to Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development. This response best describes what it represents.
According to Piaget, children do not gain a true understanding of addition and subtraction until they are about ___ years of age.
a. 3
b. 5
c. 7
d. 11
c. 7
Piaget proposed that it is not until the concrete operational stage (ages 7 to 11) that children are capable of mental operations, which are logical rules for transforming and manipulating information. He believed that children younger than age 7 could be taught to memorize simple math facts (e.g., 2 plus 2 equals 4) but that children must be in the concrete operational stage before they are able to truly understand addition and subtraction.
As described by Piaget, horizontal decalage refers to:
a. the inability to understand that others have a different perspective.
b. the inability to recognize that actions can be reversed.
c. the tendency to focus on one aspect of a situation to the exclusion of other aspects.
d. the progressive acquisition of related skills within the same stage of development.
d. the progressive acquisition of related skills within the same stage of development.
Piaget found that children acquire related skills in a predictable order – e.g., they conserve number and mass first, followed by weight and volume. He concluded that this horizontal decalage occurs because tasks that appear to be similar actually differ in complexity.
When his mother’s car doesn’t start, 4-year-old Freddie says,“the car is sick.” As described by Piaget, Freddie’s statement illustrates which of the following?
a. scaffolding
b. symbolic thought
c. animism
d. decentration
c. animism
Animism is characteristic of the preoperational stage and is the belief that inanimate objects have lifelike characteristics.
Which of the following aspects of memory is likely to show the greatest age-related decline?
a. sensory memory
b. implicit memory
c. recent long-term memory
d. remote long-term memory
c. recent long-term memory
Recent long-term (secondary) memory is usually most affected by increasing age, followed by working memory. The other aspects of memory listed in the answers are relatively unaffected by normal aging.
As described by Kohlberg, gender identity development involves three stages that occur in which of the following orders?
a. stability, constancy, identity
b. constancy, stability, identity
c. identity, constancy, stability
d. identity, stability, constancy
d. identity, stability, constancy
According to Kohlberg, a child recognizes that he/she is a boy/girl by age three (gender identity). Later the child realizes that gender is stable over time (stability) and, by age 7, that gender is constant across different situations (constancy).
The “goodness-of-fit” model proposed by Thomas and Chess predicts that:
a. marital satisfaction is related to the complementarity of personality characteristics of the spouses.
b. child maladjustment is related to incompatibility between the child’s temperament and the parents’ caregiving behaviors.
c. cognitive development is maximized when environmental demands are just beyond the child’s current abilities.
d. an adolescent’s misbehavior is due to a mismatch between his/her identity and the parents’ expectations and goals.
b. child maladjustment is related to incompatibility between the child’s temperament and the parents’ caregiving behaviors
Thomas and Chess have written extensively on infant temperament and have related maladjustment in children to a lack of fit between the child’s temperament and characteristics of the environment, especially the parents’ behaviors.
Research by Diana Baumrind found that children and adolescents whose parents were \_\_\_\_ were most likely to be antisocial, use drugs and alcohol, and achieve low scores on cognitive tests. a. low in control and low in warmth b. low in control and high in warmth c. high in control and low in warmth d. high in control and high in warmth
a. low in control and low in warmth
Baumrind (1991) distinguished between four parenting styles based on level of control and warmth. As defined by Baumrind, rejecting/neglecting parents are low in both control and warmth, and her research found that children of these parents have the worst outcomes –
e.g., they are often antisocial, use drugs and alcohol, and obtain low scores on measures of cognitive ability.
A 15-year-old says she is going to be a veterinarian because that’s what her parents want her to be. This illustrates:
a. identity moratorium.
b. identity diffusion.
c. identity achievement.
d. identity foreclosure.
d. identity foreclosure
An individual exhibiting identity foreclosure has adopted an identity that has been suggested by a parent or other influential person.
Babbling ordinarily begins at about 4 to 5 months of age and initially includes:
a. phonemes from all languages.
b. phonemes from the child’s native language only.
c. morphemes from all languages.
d. morphemes that the child has heard most frequently.
a. phonemes from all languages.
Babbling involves the repetition of vowel and consonant sounds – e.g., bi-bi-bi and da-da-da.
It initially consists of phonemes from all languages; but, by about 9 months, it narrows to include the sounds of the child’s native language only.
The use of two words to express a complete sentence is referred to as:
a. telegraphic speech.
b. holophrastic speech.
c. overextension.
d. underextension.
a. telegraphic speech
The use of two words to express a sentence (e.g., “more juice” for “give me more juice”) is referred to as telegraphic speech.
In Ainsworth’s Strange Situation, a one-year-old child shows little distress when her mother leaves the room and ignores her when she returns. Most likely, this mother is:
a. neglectful or physically abusive.
b. depressed.
c. impatient or overstimulating.
d. a single parent.
c. impatient or overstimulating
Research by Ainsworth and her colleagues has found that babies exhibiting an insecure/avoidant attachment pattern often have mothers who are either very impatient and nonresponsive or overstimulating.
Young victims of child abuse are most likely to exhibit which of the following patterns of attachment in the Strange Situation?
a. disorganized
b. disengaged
c. avoidant
d. ambivalent
a. disorganized
Main, a student of Ainsworth, found that about 80% of abused children exhibit a disorganized-disoriented attachment pattern in the “strange situation.”
You decide to develop an intervention for highly aggressive children and their parents. If your intervention is heavily influenced by the work of Patterson and his colleagues, it will focus on which of the following?
a. providing children with assertiveness training
b. providing children with opportunities for catharsis
c. improving parents’ child management skills
d. increasing the family’s social and community support
c. improving parents’ child management skills
Patterson’s coercive family interaction model stresses the impact of parental behavior and parent-child interactions on the development of highly aggressive behavior in children, and his parent management training focuses on teaching parents better disciplinary and other
child rearing skills.
As described by Piaget, a child in the autonomous stage of moral development believes that:
a. rule violations will be punished.
b. rules can be changed by consensus.
c. rules can be changed by authorities only.
d. rules are made to be broken.
b. rules can be changed by consensus
Piaget distinguished between two stages of moral development – heteronomous and autonomous. Children in the autonomous stage believe that rules can be changed by consensus.
Research by Hetherington (1993) and others investigating the effects of remarriage on the adjustment of children indicates that children ages __________ have a particularly difficult time adjusting to a stepparent.
a. three to five
b. six to ten
c. thirteen to fifteen
d. seventeen to nineteen
c. thirteen to fifteen
The studies have generally found that younger children have less trouble adjusting to a stepparent than do older school-age children and adolescents, with longitudinal research by Hetherington (1993) and others suggesting that adjusting to a stepparent is especially difficult
when remarriage occurs when the child is in early adolescence.
The best predictor of a child’s level of adjustment following the divorce of his/her parents is:
a. the degree of open conflict between the parents.
b. the frequency of contact with the noncustodial parent.
c. whether the child lives with the same- or opposite-sex parent.
d. whether one or both parents remarry soon after the divorce.
a. the degree of open conflict between the parents
One of the most consistent findings of the research is that open hostility and conflict between divorced parents is predictive of poorer adjustment for the children.
Studies investigating teachers’ responses to male and female students have demonstrated that:
a. boys have more interactions with their teachers and tend to receive more feedback.
b. girls have more interactions with their teachers but receive more criticism.
c. male teachers pay more attention to boys, while female teachers pay more attention to girls.
d. student gender does not have a differential impact on teacher-student interactions.
a. boys have more interactions with their teachers and tend to receive more feedback
Recent research suggests that boys continue to get more attention from both male and female teachers, especially attention that fosters better academic performance.
In a positively skewed distribution, from smallest to largest in magnitude, the measures of central tendency are:
a. mean, median, mode.
b. mean, mode, median.
c. mode, median, mean.
d. mode, mean, median.
c. mode, median, mean.
Remembering that the “tail tells the tale” and that the median is always the middle score would have helped you identify the correct answer to this question: In a positively skewed distribution, the mode has the smallest value, the median has the middle value, and the mean
(which is affected most by the extreme scores in the positive tail) has the largest value.
The probability of making a Type I error is increased by:
a. conducting a single multivariate test rather than several univariate tests.
b. changing the level of significance from .01 to .05.
c. changing beta from .01 to .05.
d. conducting a two-tailed (rather than a one-tailed) test.
b. changing the level of significance from .01 to .05
The probability of making a Type I error is directly affected by the level of significance (alpha).
The larger the level of significance, the greater the likelihood of a Type I error.
“Sampling error” is due to:
a. the unreliability of the test.
b. the invalidity of the test.
c. random factors that produce a nonrepresentative sample.
d. non-random factors that produce a nonrepresentative sample.
c. random factors that produce a nonrepresentative sample
As the result of random (chance) factors, the sample may not “mirror” the population in important characteristics. This is referred to as sampling error.
To increase power, you would:
a. reduce alpha.
b. increase beta.
c. reduce sample size.
d. increase sample size.
d. increase sample size
Increasing sample size makes it easier to statistically detect the effects of the independent variable; i.e., it increases power. Other ways to increase power include increasing the magnitude of alpha, using a reliable dependent variable measure, and using a parametric
statistical test.
To calculate the F-ratio for a one-way ANOVA:
a. MSB is multiplied by MSW.
b. MSB is divided by MSW.
c. MSW is divided by MSB.
d. MSW is subtracted from MSB.
b. MSB is divided by MSW.
The F-ratio is calculated by dividing a measure of treatment plus error by a measure of error only in order to obtain an estimate of treatment effects. MSB (mean square between) is a measure of treatment plus error, while MSW (mean square within) is a measure of error only, and the F-ratio is calculated by dividing MSB by MSW.
For her math class assignment, a high school student will compare the average number of hours that students in her school spend playing computer games each day to the national average. To analyze the data she collects, the student will use which of the following statistical tests?
a. single-sample t-test
b. independent samples t-test
c. single-sample chi-square test
d. multiple-sample chi-square test
a. single-sample t-test
The t-test is used to compare two means, and when one of the means is a sample mean and the other is a known population mean, the appropriate t-test is the single-sample t-test.
An investigator wants to test the hypothesis that the average number of aggressive acts that children exhibit in an unfamiliar situation is related to gender and sociability (“sociable” or “shy”). He obtains a sample of 30 boys and 30 girls who have been rated as either sociable or shy and then has observers count the number of aggressive acts each child exhibits in an unfamiliar situation during a 30-minute play period. The best
statistical test to analyze the data the investigator collects in this study is which of the following?
a. t-test for independent samples
b. chi-square test
c. one-way ANOVA
d. two-way ANOVA
d. two-way ANOVA
The research study involves two independent variables (sociability and gender) and a single dependent variable that is measured on a ratio scale (number of aggressive acts). The appropriate statistical test is the two-way analysis of variance.
A researcher uses a factorial ANOVA to statistically analyze the effects of four types of training strategies and three levels of self-efficacy on a measure of job performance. The results indicate that there are significant main effects of each independent variable and a significant interaction. The researcher will conclude that:
a. training is effective regardless of level of self-efficacy.
b. each type of training is equally effective for each level of self-efficacy.
c. the most effective type of training depends on level of self-efficacy.
d. overall, training is effective only for people with a certain level of self-efficacy.
c. the most effective type of training depends on level of self-efficacy
Because the interaction is significant, this means that the effects of the types of training may differ for different levels of self-efficacy – e.g., training method #1 might be most effective for people with low self-efficacy, while training method #2 might be most effective for people with high self-efficacy.
Which of the following provides a measure of shared variability and is calculated by squaring the correlation coefficient?
a. coefficient of concordance
b. kappa statistic
c. coefficient of determination
d. eta
c. coefficient of determination
The coefficient of determination is calculated by squaring the correlation coefficient (r) and provides a measure of shared variability, or the amount of variability in one variable that is explained by variability in another variable
Which of the following correlation coefficients is useful for determining the degree of
association between two nominal variables?
a. biserial
b. contingency
c. Spearman
d. Pearson
b. contingency
The contingency coefficient is used to determine the correlation between two nominal (categorical) variables – for example, between a parent’s parenting style (authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, or rejecting/neglecting) and his/her educational achievement (high school graduate, undergraduate degree, master’s degree, doctoral degree).
An organizational psychologist is hired by a company to help identify job applicants who should be considered for managerial level positions. In this situation, the psychologist wants to develop a selection test battery that will provide the following information: “Which
group (manager or non-manager) does a job applicant most closely resemble?” Which of the following methods for combining selection test scores will be most useful for answering this question?
a. multiple regression
b. discriminant function analysis
c. factor analysis
d. canonical correlation
b. discriminant function analysis
There are several methods for combining predictor scores to estimate performance on a criterion. When the criterion is group membership (i.e., when the criterion is measured on a nominal scale), discriminant function analysis is an appropriate method.
External validity is likely to be a problem when:
a. the results of a research study indicate that a test’s validity coefficient differs for members of different groups.
b. an investigator uses a nonparametric statistical test to analyze the data she collected in a research study.
c. the research study conducted by an investigator does not include a no-treatment control (comparison) group.
d. the research design used by an investigator involves sequentially administering the different levels of the IV to the same group of participants.
d. the research design used by an investigator involves sequentially administering the different levels of the IV to the same group of participants
External validity refers to the generalizability of research results to different participants, settings, and conditions. This external validity of the research study described in this answer is threatened by multiple treatment interference because it involves exposing all participants
different levels of the IV. Consequently, it will not be possible to generalize the results to situations in which individuals receive only one level of the IV.
When using an ABAB design, you are:
a. administering two different treatments at two different times.
b. administering one treatment at two different times.
c. administering one treatment to two different groups.
d. administering one treatment to two different behaviors.
b. administering one treatment at two different times
The ABAB design has two no treatment (A) phases and two treatment (B) phases. The same treatment is administered during the B phases.
The Central Limit Theorem predicts that a sampling distribution of the mean will increasingly approach a normal shape:
a. regardless of the shape of the population distribution as the sample size increases.
b. regardless of the shape of the population distribution as the number of samples increases.
c. only when the population distribution does not deviate from the normal.
d. only when the sample distributions do not deviate significantly from the normal.
a. regardless of the shape of the population distribution as the sample size increases
This is the correct description of the prediction of the Central Limit Theorem. Note that it is the size of the sample that is the critical factor. (The Central Limit Theorem always assumes an infinite number of samples.)
A researcher calculates a kappa coefficient of .90. This provides evidence of:
a. internal validity.
b. construct validity.
c. inter-rater reliability.
d. internal consistency reliability.
c. inter-rater reliability
The kappa coefficient is used to determine the degree of association between scores assigned by different raters and provides information about a measure’s inter-rater reliability.
It would be most important to assess the test-retest reliability of a measure that:
a. is subjectively scored.
b. assesses examinees’ speed of responding.
c. purportedly measures a stable trait.
d. is designed to measure a characteristic that fluctuates over time.
c. purportedly measures a stable trait
To evaluate test-retest reliability, the same test is administered to the same group of examinees on two different occasions. The two sets of scores are then correlated. If a test is supposed to measure a stable trait, you would want to make sure that scores are stable over
time. Therefore, test-retest reliability would be important for this kind of test.
You would use the Spearman-Brown formula to:
a. determine the range within which an examinee’s true score is likely to fall given his/her obtained score.
b. determine the degree of association between two rank-ordered variables.
c. estimate what a predictor’s validity coefficient would be if the predictor and/or criterion were perfectly reliable.
d. estimate the effects of increasing or decreasing the length of a test on its reliability coefficient.
d. estimate the effects of increasing or decreasing the length of a test on its reliability coefficient.
The Spearman-Brown formula is used to estimate the effects of adding or subtracting items to a test on its reliability coefficient. It is often used in conjunction with split-half reliability.
Matilda obtains a score of 90 on a test that has a mean of 100, standard deviation of 10,mand standard error of measurement of 6. The 95% confidence interval for Matilda’s score is:
a. 80 to 100.
b. 70 to 110.
c. 84 to 96.
d. 78 to 102.
d. 78 to 102
The 95% confidence interval is obtained by adding and subtracting two standard errors from the examinee’s score.
In a multitrait-multimethod matrix, a large heterotrait-monomethod coefficient provides evidence of:
a. a lack of discriminant validity.
b. the presence of adequate discriminant validity.
c. a lack of convergent validity.
d. the presence of adequate convergent validity.
a. a lack of discriminant validity
The heterotrait-monomethod coefficient indicates the correlation between two different traits being measured with a similar type of measuring instrument. A large heterotrait-monomethod coefficient indicates a high correlation between the instruments measuring different traits, suggesting a lack of discriminant (divergent) validity.
In a factor matrix, a test’s _______ indicates the proportion of the test’s total variance that is accounted for by the identified factors.
a. factor loading
b. principal component
c. critical value
d. communality
d. communality
Each test included in a factor analysis has a communality, which indicates the total amount of variability in test scores that has been explained by the factor analysis – i.e., by all of the identified factors.
The purpose of “rotation” in factor analysis is to:
a. obtain a pattern of factor loadings that is easier to interpret.
b. reduce the impact of measurement error on the factor loadings.
c. reduce the magnitude of the communalities.
d. obtain a clearer pattern of communalities.
a. obtain a pattern of factor loadings that is easier to interpret.
The pattern of factor loadings in the initial factor matrix is often difficult to interpret, so the factors are rotated to obtain a pattern that’s easier to interpret.
To reduce the number of false positives obtained when using a new selection tool, you would:
a. raise the predictor cutoff score.
b. lower the predictor cutoff score.
c. raise the predictor and criterion cutoff scores.
d. lower the predictor and criterion cutoff scores.
a. raise the predictor cutoff score
Raising the predictor cutoff and/or lowering the criterion score would have the effect of decreasing the number of false positives.
Use of the Taylor-Russell tables would indicate that the incremental validity of a selection test that has a moderate validity coefficient is greatest when the selection ratio is ____ and the base rate is ____.
a. .85; .20
b. .85; .50
c. .15; .20
d. .15; .50
d. .15; .50
The Taylor-Russell Tables are used to determine a test’s incremental validity for various combinations of base rates, selection ratios, and validity coefficients. They indicate that a test with a low or moderate validity coefficient can improve decision-making accuracy when the selection ratio is low (e.g., .15) and the base rate is moderate (near .50).
The relationship between reliability and validity is such that:
a. a test’s validity coefficient cannot exceed its reliability coefficient.
b. a test’s validity coefficient cannot exceed the square root of its reliability coefficient.
c. a test’s validity coefficient cannot exceed the square of its reliability coefficient.
d. a test’s reliability coefficient cannot exceed its validity coefficient.
b. a test’s validity coefficient cannot exceed the square root of its reliability coefficient
Reliability places a ceiling on validity. Specifically, a test’s maximum validity coefficient cannot exceed the square root of its reliability coefficient. For example, if a test has a reliability coefficient of .81, its validity coefficient cannot exceed .90.
Cleo and Cleopatra obtain percentile ranks, respectively, of 48 and 92 on a math test. If four points is subtracted from each of their raw scores (due to scoring error) but not from the scores of the other examinees, you would expect:
a. Cleo’s percentile rank will decrease more than Cleopatra’s.
b. Cleo’s percentile rank will decrease less than Cleopatra’s.
c. Cleo and Cleopatra’s percentile ranks will decrease by the same amount.
d. Cleo and Cleopatra’s percentile ranks will not change.
a. Cleo’s percentile rank will decrease more than Cleopatra’s
In a percentile rank distribution, scores are evenly distributed throughout the distribution. Consequently, when converting raw scores to percentile ranks, small differences in the middle of the raw score distribution are larger in terms of percentile ranks than the same
differences at the extremes of the distribution.
Assuming a normal distribution, which of the following represents the highest score?
a. a z score of 1.5
b. a T score of 70
c. a WAIS score of 120
d. a percentile rank of 92
b. a T score of 70
A T score of 70 is two standard deviations above the mean and is the highest score of those given in the responses.
The distribution of percentile ranks is:
a. the same shape as the distribution of raw scores.
b. always “normal” in shape.
c. always “flat” in shape.
d. leptokurtic relative to the distribution of raw scores.
c. always “flat” in shape
Because the percentile rank distribution is ordinal, converting raw scores to a percentile rank
results in a flat distribution. This is because, at least theoretically, the converted scores are evenly spaced in the percentile rank distribution, which ranges from 1 to 100 (i.e., when there are 100 scores, there will be a frequency of 1 at each score).
Bobby B. obtains a test score of 110. The test has a mean of 120 and a standard deviation of 10 and test scores have a range of 100 and are normally distributed. If
Bobby’s teacher converts all of the students’ test scores to T-scores and z-scores, Bobby’s scores will be which of the following?
a. T = 60; z = +1.0
b. T = 90; z = -1.0
c. T = 40; z = -2.0
d. T = 40; z = -1.0
d. T = 40; z = -1.0
Knowing that the T-score distribution has a mean of 50 and standard deviation of 10 and that the z-score distribution has a mean of 0 and standard deviation of 1 would have helped you identify the correct answer to this question. Since Bobby’s raw score is one standard
deviation below the mean, his T-score would be 40 and his z-score would be -1.0. (In the T-score distribution, a score of 40 is one standard deviation below the mean and, in the z-score distribution, a z-score of -1.0 is one standard deviation below the mean.)
A salesperson at a department store treats you in a rude, unfriendly manner. If you, like many other people, are susceptible to the “fundamental attribution bias,” you will probably conclude that:
a. the salesperson is having a bad day.
b. you remind the salesperson of his mother.
c. the salesperson is essentially a rude person.
d. you acted in some way that elicited rudeness.
c. the salesperson is essentially a rude person
The fundamental attribution bias refers to the tendency to overestimate the effects of dispositional factors when making attributions about the actions of other people. Of the responses given, only this one reflects a dispositional attribution for the behavior of the salesperson.
When asked to answer a probabilistic question (e.g., “what is the probability that object X belongs to category Y?), people often rely on the __________ heuristic, which involves considering the similarity of X and Y.
a. framing
b. anchoring and adjustment
c. availability
d. representativeness
d. representativeness
The representativeness heuristic is the tendency to categorize a person or event based on the similarity of the person or event to a category. For example, if you are given a brief description of a person and asked the likelihood that he/she is engaged in each of several
occupations, you’re likely to rely on the degree to which the person’s characteristics fit the stereotype associated with each occupation to derive your estimates rather than other factors such as the number of people employed in each occupation.
Social exchange theory predicts that:
a. when we do not have objective standards for evaluating our opinions and behaviors, we tend to do so by comparing our opinions and behaviors to those of others.
b. we are more likely to continue a relationship when the rewards of the relationship exceed its costs.
c. our liking for another person is maximized when that person’s initial evaluation of us is negative but subsequently becomes positive.
d. we prefer to interact with others who provide us with feedback that is consistent with our self-views.
b. we are more likely to continue a relationship when the rewards of the relationship exceed its costs.
Social exchange theory is one of several theories that attempts to explain why people stay or leave relationships, and it focuses on the rewards and costs of a relationship. Some research suggests that social exchange theory applies more to relationships with strangers, acquaintances, and business associates than of relationships with family members and close
friends.
According to Bem’s self-perception theory, our:
a. attitudes and behaviors are unrelated.
b. attitudes shape our behaviors.
c. attitudes are inferred from our behaviors.
d. attitudes and behaviors are both shaped by our beliefs.
c. attitudes are inferred from our behaviors
According to Bem, people infer their own attitudes and emotions from their behaviors.
R. Martin (1978) proposed that which of the following bases of social power are most important for the success of mental health consultation?
a. referent and informational
b. legitimate and expert
c. legitimate and informational
d. expert and referent
d. expert and referent
R. Martin proposes that expert and referent power are most important for consultation success [Expert and referent power: A framework for understanding and maximizing consultation effectiveness, Journal of School Psychology, 1978, 16(1), 49-55].
In a group decision-making situation, one of the seven group members holds a different opinion than the other six members. If that member continues to “stick to” his initial position in a consistent manner:
a. he will be ostracized or eventually expelled from the group.
b. members will attempt to “pacify” him by appearing to agree with his position.
c. the pressure for him to change his opinion will gradually increase.
d. he may eventually change the opinions of other group members.
d. he may eventually change the opinions of other group members
Work on minority influence has demonstrated that, if a minority sticks to his position, eventually he may change the opinions of others and that this change in opinion often reflects a real change rather than simple compliance or conformity.
A message is likely to be most persuasive when:
a. the listener is in a bad mood and the message is in the listener’s latitude of acceptance.
b. the listener is in a neutral mood and the message is in the listener’s latitude of noncommitment.
c. the listener is in a good mood and the message is in the listener’s latitude of acceptance.
d. the listener is in a neutral mood and the message is in the listener’s latitude of acceptance.
c. the listener is in a good mood and the message is in the listener’s latitude of acceptance
People are more likely to be persuaded when they are in a good mood and when the message targets an opinion that they find tolerable and are willing to consider (i.e., is in their latitude of acceptance).
In the context of attitude change, “inoculation” is a method for:
a. reducing the likelihood that a listener will be persuaded by a message.
b. increasing a listener’s attention to a message.
c. reducing the likelihood that a listener will forget a message.
d. increasing the attractiveness of the person delivering the message.
a. reducing the likelihood that a listener will be persuaded by a message
The purpose of inoculation is to reduce a listener’s susceptibility to a persuasive message. It involves three steps: warning the listener of the impending persuasive message; making a weak attack against the listener’s position; and having the listener actively defend his/her
position.
Festinger concluded that research participants paid $1 subsequently described a dull experiment as interesting because:
a. they were forced to comply with the attitude of a confederate.
b. their judgments were affected by a “self-serving” bias.
c. they concluded that their behavior was the result of the context in which it occurred.
d. they made a dispositional attribution because the context did not provide them with an explanation for their behavior.
d. they made a dispositional attribution because the context did not provide them with an
explanation for their behavior
In Festinger’s original study, the $1.00 subjects said they enjoyed the dull experiment after trying to convince others to participate in the experiment. Festinger believed this was because there was no external justification for describing the experiment as interesting, and the subjects actually changed their attitudes to reduce their “cognitive dissonance.”
When making attributions about our own actions we ordinarily attribute actions that have positive outcomes to dispositional factors but those that have negative outcomes to situational factors. This tendency is referred to as the:
a. Barnum effect.
b. self-serving bias.
c. confirmation bias.
d. Rosenthal effect.
b. self-serving bias.
As its name implies, the self-serving bias is the tendency to take responsibility for our actions when the actions have positive outcomes (i.e., to make dispositional attributions) but to blame external events for our actions when they have negative outcomes (i.e., to make situational attributions).
Research on gender and crowding has found that, in laboratory (experimental) settings:
a. males are more stressed than females by crowded conditions.
b. females are more stressed than males by crowded conditions.
c. males and females do not differ consistently with regard to response to crowded conditions.
d. males are more stressed than females by crowded conditions when the crowd consists only of other males but not when it consists of males and females.
a. males are more stressed than females by crowded conditions
Studies conducted in laboratory settings have found that males are not only stressed more by crowded conditions than females but are also more likely to react to crowded conditions with increased aggressiveness. The relationship between gender and crowding is modified by the setting, however, with men doing worse in laboratory settings and women responding more
negatively in naturalistic settings.
The approach-avoidance conflict model predicts that as you get closer to a goal:
a. the positive aspects of the goal continue to increase, while the negative aspects decrease.
b. the negative aspects of the goal continue to increase, while the positive aspects decrease.
c. the positive and negative aspects of the goal both increase, but the negative aspects increase more.
d. the positive and negative aspects of the goal both increase, but the positive aspects increase more.
c. the positive and negative aspects of the goal both increase, but the negative aspects increase more.
In an approach-avoidance conflict, as the distance from the goal decreases, the strength of both the “approach gradient” and “avoidant gradient” increase, but the strength of the avoidant gradient increases more rapidly.
When administering a measure of cognitive ability, “testing the limits” is done:
a. prior to administering the test.
b. prior to administering each subtest.
c. after using standardized procedures to administer the entire test.
d. whenever it seems appropriate to do so.
c. after using standardized procedures to administer the entire test.
Testing the limits is done to obtain additional qualitative information about an examinee (e.g., how the examinee derived his/her responses). It is done after the test has been administered using standardized procedures.
The results of the Seattle Longitudinal Study suggested that:
a. many of the negative effects of increasing age on intelligence found in previous research were actually due to confounding factors.
b. many of the negative effects of increasing age on intelligence found in previous research were the result of age-related biases in IQ tests.
c. longitudinal studies are more likely to find age-related declines in intelligence than are cross-sectional studies.
d. longitudinal studies are not useful for studying age-related declines in intelligence test scores.
a. many of the negative effects of increasing age on intelligence found in previous research were actually due to confounding factors
The Seattle Longitudinal Study utilized a cross-sequential design, which allowed researchers to determine that the age-related declines found in cross-sectional studies were due more to the methodology than to the actual effects of aging – i.e., many of the apparent age-related
effects were due to the confounding effects of educational and other factors.
Scores on the WAIS-IV ____________ Index remain fairly consistent throughout adulthood, with scores on this Index continuing to increase into the early 50s before they begin to decline.
a. Processing Speed
b. Perceptual Reasoning
c. Working Memory
d. Verbal Comprehension
d. Verbal Comprehension
Research indicates that the Verbal Comprehension Index score is least negatively affected by increasing age, while the Processing Speed Index score is most negatively affected
A child with ADHD is likely to get the lowest scores on which of the following WISC-IV subtests?
a. Block Design, Matrix Reasoning, and Picture Concepts
b. Picture Concepts, Picture Completion, and Similarities
c. Comprehension, Symbol Search, and Coding
d. Cancellation, Arithmetic, and Coding
d. Cancellation, Arithmetic, and Coding
The WISC-IV Technical Manual provides score patterns that are characteristic of examinees belonging to several specific groups. The Manual reports that children with ADHD generally obtain the highest scores on the Picture Concepts, Picture Completion, Word Reasoning, and
Similarities subtests and the lowest scores on the Cancellation, Arithmetic, and Coding subtests.
Research on Raven’s Progressive Matrices has confirmed that it is a measure of:
a. nonverbal memory.
b. Spearman’s “g.”
c. psychomotor ability.
d. sequential processing.
b. Spearman’s “g”
The Raven Progressive Matrices test is a nonverbal measure of intelligence, and validity studies have confirmed that it assesses Spearman’s “g” (general intelligence) factor.
Development of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, Second Edition (K-ABC-II) was based on which of the following models of intelligence?
a. Spearman’s
b. Luria’s
c. Binet’s
d. Sternberg’s
b. Luria’s
Development of the K-ABC-II was based on two models of intelligence– Luria’s neuropsychological model and the Cattell-Horn-Carroll model of cognitive abilities.
Which of the following approaches was used to derive the “Big Five” personality factors?
a. cognitive
b. psychodynamic
c. lexical
d. content validity
c. lexical
The lexical approach is atheoretical and is based on the assumption that all socially-relevant
personality traits have been incorporated into language (e.g., are included in the dictionary). Advocates of this approach note that it is objective since it does not rely on any single theory of personality. The Big Five personality traits – conscientiousness, extroversion/introversion,
openness to experience, emotional stability, and agreeableness – were originally identified through factor analyses of personality traits that are included in the dictionary.
On the MMPI, “faking bad” is suggested by:
a. a very high F or K scale score.
b. a very high F scale score or a very low K scale score.
c. a very low F scale score or a very high K scale score.
d. a very low F or K scale score.
b. a very high F scale score or a very low K scale score
The F scale measures the extent to which the examinee answers in a deviant manner, and a high score on this scale suggests random responding, significant pathology, or faking bad.
The K scale measures the degree to which an examinee describes him/herself in an overly favorable way, and a low score suggests lack of insight, disorientation, or faking bad.
A “conversion V” pattern on the MMPI-2 occurs when an examinee’s scale 2 score is significantly lower than his/her scores on scales 1 and 3 and is associated with:
a. passive-aggressive behavior.
b. an attempt to present oneself in a favorable light.
c. the presence of psychotic symptoms.
d. a tendency to somaticize psychological problems.
d. a tendency to somaticize psychological problems
Scales 1, 2, and 3 are the hypochondriasis, depression, and hysteria scales, respectively. The conversion V pattern (scale 2 score lower than scores on scales 1 and 3) is characteristic of individuals with conversion disorder or other somatoform disorder and has also been found
among patients whose chronic pain has an organic etiology.
When scoring the Rorschach, form quality refers to the degree to which:
a. the examinee’s response conforms to the actual shape of the inkblot.
b. the examinee’s response incorporates all parts of the inkblot.
c. the examinee’s response integrates positive and negative spaces.
d. the determinants are fully integrated.
a. the examinee’s response conforms to the actual shape of the inkblot
As its name implies, form quality refers to the degree to which an examinee’s response conforms to the form (shape) of the inkblot.
On the Stroop test, an examinee is likely to have trouble correctly naming the color of ink that a word is printed in when:
a. the word is projected to the right visual field only.
b. the word is projected to the left visual field only.
c. the word names a color that is different than the color of the ink.
d. the word is a pronounceable “nonsense syllable.”
c. the word names a color that is different than the color of the ink
When administering the Stroop test, the examinee names the color of the ink of printed words. Development of the Stroop test was based on the observation that people can read words faster than they can identify and name colors. When words that name colors are printed in a different color ink (e.g., when the word red is printed in blue), the prepotent response is to say red.
The MMSE (Mini Mental State Exam) is most often administered to:
a. children as a measure of intelligence.
b. adolescents and adults as a measure of brain dysfunction.
c. older adults as a measure of cognitive functioning.
d. older adults as a measure of quality of life.
c. older adults as a measure of cognitive functioning
The MMSE measures several aspects of cognitive functioning and it often used as a screening tool for dementia in older adults. The score is derived by considering both age and level of education; and a score of 24 or less (out of 30) is considered indicative of cognitive impairment.
