psy:2301 Unit 1 Exam

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

True

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

True

Which of the following is NOT an example of a good measurement strategy?

a. It is objective

b. It has magnitude

c. It is reliable

d. It is useful

e. It is valid

b. It has magnitude

Which of the following statements is FALSE?

a. Many commonly used assessments have serious problems

b. Hypnosis does not reliably uncover accurate memories

c. Most children of alcoholics do not become alcoholics

d. Most clinical psychology training programs are firmly grounded in science

e. Many clients undergoing psychotherapy receive treatments without adequate empirical support

d. Most clinical psychology training programs are firmly grounded in science

Which of the following is a DSM-5 exclusion criterion for a mental disorder?

a. Symptoms cause a risk of harm to self or others

b. Distress

c. Interference or impairment

d. A culturally appropriate response to a common stressor or loss

e. Someone is in a punk rock band

d. A culturally appropriate response to a common stressor or loss

Which area of research in psychopathology does the DSM promote?

a. Etiology

b. Epidemiology

c. Treatment

d. Course

e. All of these choices

e. All of these choices

What is the lifetime prevalence of mental disorders in the United States?

a. Less than 10%

b. Between 10% and 25%

c. Between 25% and 50%

d. Between 50% and 70%

e. Above 70%

e. Above 70%

The idea that abnormality lies on a continuum (i.e., that it is a matter of degree) considers abnormality to be:

a. Homogeneous

b. Heterogeneous

c. Categorical

d. Dimensional

e. Comorbidity

d. Dimensional

The DSM-5 is the most consistent with a(n) __________ approach to defining psychopathology.

a. Empirical

b. Biological

c. Categorical

d. Dimensional

e. International

c. Categorical

If a mental disorder is __________, then this may imply that there are subtypes of the disorder.

a. Homogeneous

b. Heterogeneous

c. Distressing

d. Impairing

e. Categorical

b. Heterogeneous

If multiple clinicians diagnose a client with the same disorder, then this would be a good example of:

a. Test-retest reliability

b. Inter-rater reliability

c. Homogeneity

d. Heterogeneity

e. Comorbidity

b. Inter-rater reliability

True or False: The primary goal of the DSM is to give labels to people

False

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

False

As external validity increases; _______________________

a. Internal validity stays the same

b. Internal validity typically increases

c. Internal validity typically decreases

d. Practical significance increases

e. Practical significant decreases

c. Internal validity typically decreases

When compared experimental studies, correlation studies typically show _______ internal validity and _________ external validity.

a. Worse; worse

b. Worse; better

c. Better; worse

d. Better; better

e. The same; the same

b. Worse; better

An eating disorders researcher is interested in the strength of the association between bulimic symptoms and self-esteem. She collects information from the 142 studies in the literature that have examined this correlation and then combines the correlations to obtain a single estimate of the association across all relevant studies in the literature. She has conducted a(n) __________.

a. Case study

b. Correlation study

c. Experimental study

d. Quasi-Experimental study

e. Meta-analysis

e. Meta-analysis

As your sample size increases, the probability of achieving statistical significant _________ and practical significance ____________.

a. increases; increases

b. increases; decreases

c. decreases; increases

d. increases; is unaffected

e. is unaffected; increases

d. increases; is unaffected

True or False: A correlation of -.52 is weaker than a correlation of +.52.

False

True or False: A measure needs to be reliable in order for it ti be valid.

True

A meditational hypothesis suggests that:

a. One variable’s impact on a dependent variable is due to a middle variable that “passes” information along between the two.

b. One variable influences the strength of the relationship between two other variables

c. Two variables are associated with one another

d. A combination of two variables cause a third variable

e. An interaction effect

a. One variable’s impact on a dependent variable is due to a middle variable that “passes” information along between the two

While internal validity is the extent to which one can make __________, external validity is the extent to which those results can be _________.

a. Generalizable claims; interpreted as casual

b. Claims about statistical significance; attributed to practical significance

c. Meditational claims; moderational (interaction) claims

d. Causal interpretations; generalized beyond the study

e. Claims about reliability; attributed to validity

d. Causal interpretations; generalized beyond the study

Which of the following is NOT advisable as an ethical standard relevant to research, per the APA’s Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct?

a. Participants should not be offered excessive or coercive incentives for participation

b. Participant responses should be kept confidential to the best of the researcher’s ability

c. One should create fake, new data to ensure they obtain the results they want

d. Animals should be treated humanely

e. All of these are ethical and recognized as standard practice

c. One should create fake, new data to ensure they obtain the results they want

What does it mean for measurement strategies to be objective?

Measurement strategies are standardized

What does it mean for measurement strategies to be reliable?

Measurement strategies are precise and consistent

What does it mean for measurement strategies to be valid?

Measurement strategies provide an accurate assessment of a concept

What does it mean for measurement strategies to be useful?

Measurement strategies tell us something we didn’t already know

What does pseudoscience mean?

Someone makes strong claims with weak empirical/scientific evidence

What is the “science-practice gap”?

Several commonly used assessment strategies have little-to-no empirical support, and the majority of clients receive treatments without adequate empirical support

What is the “replicability crisis” in clinical psychology?

Many key findings are not replicated/reproduced within clinical psychology

True or False: Social workers provide the majority of psychosocial (not pharmacological) mental-health services in the US?

True

What is a mental disorder?

A syndrome characterized by clinically significant disturbance in an individual’s cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior

What are typical inclusion criteria for mental disorders?

Distress and disability (impairment)

What are typical exclusion criteria for mental disorders?

Expectable or culturally approved responses to a common stressor; socially deviant behavior; and conflict between individual and society

What are the three specifications for diagnostic assessment in the DSM-5?

Clinical diagnosis and medical conditions; psychosocial and contextual factors; disability

What are “rule outs” for a mental disorder?

Alternate explanations for abnormal behavior that need to rule out/eliminate before making a diagnosis

What does the stigma of mental illness mean?

Negative attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors directed at those struggling with psychological problems

What does it mean for psychopathology to be categorical?

Persons either have or do not have psychopathology (i.e., it is either present or absent)

What does it mean for psychopathology to be continuous?

Psychopathology is a matter of degree (e.g., high, medium, or low)

What does epidemiological research of a mental disorder focus on?

Distribution of mental disorder in population

What does etiological research of a mental disorder focus on?

Causes of a mental disorder

What does research on the course of a mental disorder focus on?

How a mental disorder unfolds over time

What does treatment research of a mental disorder focus on?

Development and evaluation of an approach to address psychopathology

What does heterogeneity of a mental disorder mean?

Variability of symptom profiles within a diagnosis

What does comorbidity of mental disorders mean?

the co-occurrence of two or more mental disorders

True of False: About 50% of people will meet criteria for a mental disorfer at some point in their life

False

True or False: Client distress and disability are exclusion criteria for diagnosis of a mental disorder

False

True or False: The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) has become more objective, reliable, and research-based over time.

True

True or False: Stigma associated with mental illness can occur at both strucutural and public levels

True

Does the research literature generally indicate that psychopathology is more categorical or continuous?

Continuous

Does the DSM-5 treat psychopathology as more categorical or continuous

Categorical

What does the lifetime prevalence of a mental disorder mean?

The percent of individuals who meet criteria for a mental disorder at some point in their lives

True or False: The comorbidity of Major Depressive Disorder with Anxiety Disorders is substantial

True

What is the inter-rater reliability of a diagnosis?

The consistency of diagnositic judgements across raters or therapists

What is the test-retest reliability of a diagnosis?

The consistency of a diagnosis over time

What is the diagnostic validity of a diagnosis?

The extent to which a diagnostic category accurately captures an abnormal phenomenon of interest

What is a path diagram?

Schematic depicting relationships among variables

What is a correlational hypothesis?

Variables are related in a non-causal fashion

What is a causal hypothesis?

A variable causes/influences another variable

What is a meditational hypothesis?

One variable at least partially accounts for relationship between two other varibles

What is a moderational hypothesis?

One variable influences the relationship between two other variables

What is the internal validity of a study?

Extent to which causal interpretations are justified and alternative causal explanations are ruled out

What is the external validity of a study?

Extent to which findings generalize beyond study

What is a case study?

Provides a detailed description of links between variables for small number of people

What is a correlation study?

Examines and quantifies associations between variables for a larger number of people

What are the two primary characteristics of a correlation?

Magnitude and direction

What is a scatterplot?

A graph showing the relationship between two variables, where dots on the plot correspond to individual subjects

What is an experimental study?

Exams effect of experimentally manipulated “independent variable” (IV) on “dependent variable” (DV) or “criterion variable” across multiple persons; involves random assignments to levels of IV

What does a meta-analysis study do?

Quantitatively integrates findings from multiple studies asking similar research question

What is a cross-sectional research design?

Evaluates sample at single point in time

What is a longitudinal research design?

Follows same persons/cases over multiple points in time

What is a convenience sample?

Persons who are readily available to participate in a study (typically volunteers)

What is a random sample?

Everyone in the population is equally likely to be in the sample

What does it mean for a measure to be reliable?

Consistent

What does it mean for a measure to be valid?

Accurate

What is internal consistency?

Consistency of responses across items on a measure

What is test-retest reliability?

consistency of responses over time on a measure

What is inter-rater reliability?

Consistency of judgments across raters on a measure

What is Cronbach’s alpha?

A measure of internal consistency reliability

What is kappa?

A measure of inter-rater reliability

What is Content Validity?

Extent to which item content reflects all aspects of concept of interest

What is Concurrent Validity?

Association of measure with a measure of a related concept at same point in time is strong

What is Predictive Validity?

Association of measure with a measure of a related concept at future point in time is moderate to strong

What is Convergent Validity?

Association of measures inteded to measure same or similar concepts is moderate to strong

What is Discriminant Validity?

Association of measures intended to assess different concepts is weaker than association of measures inteded to assess same concepts

What is Incremental Valididty?

Extent to which measure predicts more than what already could predict

What is statistical significance?

Reliability of an effect, typically indicated by b < .05

What is practical significance?

Magnitude of an effect, typically indicated by Cohen’s d or correlation coefficient “r”

What is Cohen’s d?

A measure of practical significance

Does a p-value tell us about the statistical significance or practical significance of an effect?

statistical significance

Does the magnitude of an effect tell us about the statistical significance or practical significance of an effect?

practical significance

Does a case study, an experimental study, or a correlation study typically show the highest internal validity?

an experimental study

True or False: The strength of a correlation study of -.56 is the same as the strength of a correlation of .56

True

True or False: A perfect negative correlation has a value of 1.0

False

True or False: Correlations vary between -100 and +100

False

True or False: Case studies can be useful for generating hypotheses but generally are low in both internal and external validity

True

True or False: As internal validity decreases, external validity typically increases

True

True or False: A moderational hypotheses evaluates WHY or HOW one variable impacts another

False

True or False: A meta-analysis generally has high external validity

True

True or False: Cross-sectional designs are particularly helpful for increasing our understanding of the development, course, and treatments of psychopathology

False

True or False: It is almost impossible to obtain a fully representative sample

True