Intro to Clinical Psychology - U Iowa Exam 1

What are characteristics of a good measure? (VOUR)

- Valid

- Objective

- Useful

- Reliable

- DOES NOT NEED 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 what?

Valid

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

True

T or F: 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 what?

A proliferation of pseudoscience

T or F: 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

Which activities can a clinical psychologist engage in?

- Public policy

- Expert witness testimony

- Teaching

- Clinic administration

What are relevant factors for defining abnormality?

- Distress

- Harm to self or others

- Developmental stage

Thinking about the astrology article we read for discussion one, which of the following best guides science?

Empirical evidence

Anorexia nervosa is associated with ____________

Low Weight

Bulimia nervosa is associated with __________ and ____________

Bingeing AND use of compensatory measures

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

False

T or F: 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

What areas of research in psychopathology does the DSM promote?

- Epidemiology

- Etiology

- Course

- Treatment

T or F: It is possible that two individuals, both diagnosed with depression, only share one overlapping symptom.

True

T or F: Comorbidity does not challenge the validity of the diagnostic system

False

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

Overestimates psychopathology in women and minorities

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

Dimensional

Suppose you collect info 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 mediational hypothesis suggests what?

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

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

False

As external validity increases, what typically happens to internal validity?

Internal validity typically decreases

In a case study, internal validity is _________, and external validity is _________

Low and Low

T or F: A correlation of r = -.86 is a weak negative correlation.

False (Strong negative)

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 over time

T or F: Reliability tells us about the consistency of a measure

True

T or F: 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 what?

< .05

The term "practical significance" refers to what?

The magnitude of the effect

T or F: 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

T or F: Twice as many women as men are diagnosed with depression

True

The gender difference in depression begins when?

When males and females become adolescents

The biopsychosocial model serves as what?

An organizational framework for understanding the etiology of psychopathology

T or F: 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 what?

- Norepinephrine

- Serotonin

- Dopamine

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

True

What are diatheses for depression?

- Elevated levels of cortisol

- Negative cognitive style

- Low levels of perceived social support

- Female Gender

The tendency to interpret everyday events negatively is what?

- 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

Which of these is a risk factor for completing suicide?

A. Being divorced

B. Being African American

C. Being Female

Being Divorced

The single best predictor of a completed suicide is what?

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 a diathesis interact to influence MDD

- Stress moderates the effect of diathesis on MDD

Alpha is a measure of what?

Internal consistency

Kappa is a measure of what?

Inter-rater reliability

The binge drinking cutoff for women is _______ drinks in a two hour period and for men is ________ drink is a two hour period.

4 & 5