Clinical Psychology UIowa Exam 1

What profession serves as the major front line provider of psychosocial (not pharmacologic) mental health services?

Social Worker

Which of the following is not a characteristic of a good measure? Objective, useful, reliable, valid, has magnitude

Has magnitude

What does it mean for a measure to be reliable?

It is precise and consistent

A measure that accurately assesses the construct of interest is considered

Valid

True or False: Claims about how well we can predict and treat clinical phenomena frequently are stronger than are justified by data

True

True or False: Claims that cannot be replicated independently across studies, laboratories, and methods are not scientific

True

Despite advances in clinical psychology, its impact is limited, in part, because of

A proliferation of pseudoscience

True or False: If a clinician uses a treatment that has not been evaluated in the anxiety research literature but that her clients tell him has helped with their anxiety, she is using an evidence-based treatment

False

True or False: Formulas based on the research literature predict violence better than clinical psychologists

True

What are relevant factors for defining abnormality?

Distress, Harm to self or others, Developmental stage

In thinking about the astrology article we read for discussion one, what best guides science?

Empirical Evidence

What is an exclusion criterion for a mental disorder?

Conflict between individual and society

Anorexia nervosa is associated with ____, while Bulimia nervosa is associated with ___ and___

Low weight; bingeing and use of compensatory measures

True or False: Deviant behavior that is neither harmful nor impairing typically would receive a diagnosis of a mental disorder

False

True or False: Someone might receive an NOS diagnosis within a particular diagnostic category for not meeting the frequency or duration criteria for named disorders in the category

True

True or False: It is possible that the symptoms of two people diagnosed with depression can only overlap by one

True

True or False: Comorbidity does not challenge the validity of the diagnostic system

False

What is the main concern about biases in the diagnostic system?

It overestimates psychopathology in women and minorities

The idea that abnormality lies on a continuum is referred to as ___

Dimensional

Suppose that you collect information from 50 students on sociability and alcohol consumption at a single point in time. You correlate their responses and find r=.62. What are some possible interpretations of this correlation?

Sociability causes alcohol consumption, Alcohol consumption causes sociability, A third variable causes both sociability and alcohol consumption

A mediation hypothesis suggests that ___

One variable at least partially accounts for the relationship between two other variables

True or False: Use of a large, random, and representative sample increases internal validity far more than external validity

False

As external validity increases, internal validity typically ___

Decreases

In a case study, internal validity is ____, and external validity is___

Low, Low

True or False: A correlation of r=-.86 is a weak negative correlation

False

When compared to case studies, correlational studies show ___ internal validity and ___ external validity

Better, Better

Why do longitudinal designs tend to have higher internal validity than cross-sectional designs?

You can get a sense of what comes first

What is the primary sampling technique in clinical psychology?

Convenience sampling

Your best friend fills out a questionnaire about your typical alcohol consumption pattern. This is an example of which type of measure?

Other report

True or False: Reliability tells us about the consistency of a measure

True

True or False: It is not possible to study diagnostic status as an experimentally manipulated independent variable

True

Measuring the consistency of a person's responses on the Social Anxiety Questionnaire across two different time points assesses the ___ of the questionnaire

Test-retest reliability

A statistically significant p value typically is ___

<.05

The term "practical significance" refers to ___

The magnitude of the effect

True of False: In order to meet criteria for a diagnosis of major depression, a client needs to report both depressed mood and loss of pleasure in usual activities (anhedonia)

False

True or False: Twice as many women as men are diagnosed with depression

True

The gender difference in depression begins ___

When males and females become adolescents

The biopsychosocial model serves as ___

An organizational framework for understanding the etiology of psychopathology

What biological factor is not considered to have a biological influence on depression, according to the lecture?

Immune System

True or False: Behavior genetics helps us establish the heritability of mental illness but does not tell us which genes are responsible for the mental illness

True

Molecular genetics is concerned with ___, while behavior genetics is more concerned with ___

Identifying specific genes; Determining general heritability of characteristics

The neurotransmitters implicated in depression include ___

Norepinephrine, Serotonin, Dopamine

True or False: People with depression typically have an overactive HPA and increased levels of cortisol, indicating that they are over-responsive to stress

True

The tendency to interpret everyday events negatively is ___

Known as a "negative cognitive style", A vulnerability factor or diathesis for depression, A moderator of the relationship between stress and depression

After failing an exam, a depressed person with a maladaptive attributional style would be most likely to say, "I failed the exam because ___"

I am not very smart

What is a risk factor for completing suicide?

Being divorced

The single best predictor of a completed suicide is ___

A previous suicide attempt

What is not associated with suicidality?

Fear of a specific object

According to the diathesis stress model of MDD, ___

Stress and diathesis interact to influence MDD, Stress moderates the effect of a diathesis on MDD

Alpha is a measure of ___

Internal consistency

Kappa is a measure of ___

Inter-rater reliability

The binge drinking cutoff for women is ___ drinks in a two-hour period and for men is ___ drinks in a two-hour period

4:5

What is scientific attitude?

Some people already have strong opinions based on personal experience, need to maintain some objectivity

What are some impressive advances in clinical psychology?

Understanding of psychopathology, Methods of assessment, Treatment strategies

How can you guard against undue influence of personal beliefs and biases on research?

With double blind studies and randomly assigned participants

Mental disorders are not a concrete thing they are merely a description of ___

Behaviors

Are mental disorders biologically defined or culturally defined?

Culturally defined

What areas of research does the DSM promote?

Epidemiology, Etiology, Course, Treatment

What are some concerns about the DSM?

Comorbidity, disorder subtypes and features no based on empirical data, heterogeneity, mental disorders are not infrequent, inter-rater reliability, test-retest reliability, diagnostic validity, categorical/dimensinal

What is inter-rater reliability?

Consistency of diagnostic judgements across raters/therapist

What is test-retest reliability?

Consistency of diagnostic judgements across time

What is research?

Research is a way of learning things about the world by systematically observing and testing things empirically

What are the goals of research?

To describes, to predict, to understand, and to apply

What is a hypothesis?

A proposed explanation for a phenomenon that is testable (falsifiable)

What are the types of hypotheses?

Correlational, Causal, Mediation, Interaction

What is a correlational hypothesis?

Variables related in non-causal fashion. Shows the variables go together, but don't show if they are related

What is a causal hypothesis?

Variable(s) causes another variable. Says two things go together, they influence each other

What is a mediation hypothesis?

One variable at least partially explains (accounts for) relationship between two other variables. Answers question: Why? or How? When you include the mediator the correlation goes down

What is an interaction hypothesis?

One variable influences relationship between two other variables. The predictor and outcome depend on the moderator. Answers question: For whom? or it depends

What is the internal validity of a study?

Extent to which causal interpretations justified and alternative causal explantations ruled out

What is external validity?

Generalizability of findings beyond study

What are types of research studies?

Case study, Correlation/Observational, Experiment

What is the independent variable?

The item you manipulate

What is the dependent variable?

The one we are measuring

What is a case study?

Detailed description of links between variables for small number of people. Low external and internal validity

What is a correlation study?

Examine associations between two variables (predictor and outcome) for multiple people. Low internal validity, high external validity

What does r represent?

The direction and magnitude. Ranges from -1 to 1

Positive Association

As predictor increases, the outcome increases. Moves in the same direction

Negative Association

As predictor increases, the outcome decreases. Moves in different directions

Why can't we infer causality in correlational studies?

Direction of effect and Third variable

What is an experimental study?

Examine effect of experimentally manipulated "independent variable" on "dependent variable". Random assignment to level of IV. High internal validity, low external validity

What is Between-Subject manipulations?

Compare across the groups

What is Within-Subect manipulations?

Compares the individuals to themselves

What is a Cross-Sectional design?

Evaluates sample at a single time

What is a Longitudinal design?

Follows same persons over time

What is Reliability?

Consistency of measurement

What is Validity?

Accuracy of Measurement

What is Concurrent Validity?

Association of measure with another measure of the same concept at same point in time

What is Predictive Validity?

Association of measure with another measure of same concept at future point in time

What is Incremental Validity?

Extent to which measure predicts more than what already could predict

Can a measure be reliable but not valid?

Yes

Can a measure be valid but not reliable?

No

What is the lifetime prevalence of depression?

~16%

What is the current prevalence of depression?

~6%

Does nature or nurture cause depression?

They both do