PSY 366 - Chapter 1 - Exam 1

Spring 2025

What are the 4 D's that constitute a psychological disorder?

Deviance, distress, dysfunction, and dangerousness

Deviance refers to behaviors that are __________.

Different, extreme, unusual, or bizarre.

Distress in the context of psychological disorders is described as __________.

Unpleasant and upsetting to the person.

Dysfunction in psychological terms means __________.

Interfering with the person's ability to conduct daily activities in a constructive way.

Norms are defined as __________.

Social rules that define acceptable behavior in society.

How does culture impact norms?

Norms change in time and place depending on the culture.

Cultural relativism suggests that __________.

Different cultures have their own values and standards that should be understood within their context.

Thomas Szasz is known for arguing that __________.

Medicine is a strong institution of social control that cloaks values and politics.

Positive psychology focuses on the study of __________.

Positive feelings, traits, and group-directed virtues.

To develop prevention programs, one must first __________.

Identify risk factors.

The focus of prevention programs is to __________.

Identify and reduce risk factors to prevent disorders before they occur.

Community mental health programs use prevention techniques to __________.

Address mental health issues in the community.

Prevalence refers to __________.

The total number of cases of a disorder occurring in a population over a specific period of time.

Incidence measures __________.

The number of new cases of a disorder occurring in a population over a specific period of time.

The difference between prevalence and incidence is that prevalence refers to __________.

Total cases, while incidence refers to new cases.

The National Comorbidity Survey aims to assess __________.

Prevalence, risk factors, and consequences of mental disorders.

The median age of onset for mental disorders is __________.

18 years old.

Approximately what percentage of patients receive treatment for mental disorders?

50.6%.

The median delay in receiving treatment is __________.

11 years.

What percentage of patients receive treatment from specialists?

46%.

A case study is defined as __________.

A detailed account of a person's life and psychological problems.

Strengths of case studies is that they __________.

Can offer new ideas about behavior, shows value of new therapeutic techniques, may offer opportunities to study unusual problems that do not occur often enough to permit a large number of observations 

Weaknesses of case studies is that they __________.

Are reported by biased observers, rely on subjective evidence, provide little basis for generalization

The correlational method is used to __________.

Determine how much events or characteristics vary together.

A positive correlation indicates that __________.

Variables change in the same direction.

A negative correlation indicates that __________.

One value increases while the other decreases.

A null correlation means __________.

No consistent relationship exists between the variables.

Why is conducting research essential in the treatment of disorders?

It allows for the development of better, more effective treatments.

Confirmation bias refers to __________.

The tendency to favor information that confirms one's preconceptions.

How was confirmation bias exhibited in the frontline video?

Once they saw the experiment that proved that facilitated communication is false and not real, a lot of people said that the experiment itself was flawed 

Skepticism involves __________.

Subjecting claims to scientific scrutiny.

In the frontline video, skepticism was exhibited by __________.

The opposing scientists who proved facilitated communication is not real.

Internal validity assesses __________.

The certainty that there isn't another explanation for a phenomenon.

External validity refers to __________.

The generalizability of study findings beyond the sample.

The independent variable is __________.

The variable that is manipulated in the study.

The dependent variable is __________.

The variable that is measured.

Confounds are defined as __________.

Variables other than the independent variable that also affect the dependent variable.

Control groups are used in experiments to __________.

Determine the effect of the independent variable.

Random assignment is used to __________.

Reduce the effects of preexisting differences between groups.

Masked designs are used to __________.

Avoid participant bias.

Types of control groups used in treatment outcome studies include __________.

Placebo groups, no treatment groups, and active control groups.

The strongest control group in experiments is __________.

The placebo group, it allows for the most rigarous assessment of the treatment’s efficacy

Clinical significance concerns __________.

Whether a treatment makes a real, noticeable difference in functioning.

Quasi-experimental designs lack __________.

Key elements of a pure experiment; intermixes elements of both experimental and correlational studies

Matched designs are used to __________.

Match experimental participants with control participants who have similar key characteristics for comparison.

Natural experiments rely on __________.

Nature to manipulate an independent variable; are also quasi experiments

Analogue experiments produce __________.

Abnormal-like behavior in laboratory participants.

Single-subject experiments observe __________.

A single participant before and after manipulation of the independent variable.

Longitudinal studies involve __________.

Observing the same participants across many occasions over a long period of time.

Epidemiological studies measure __________.

Incidence and prevalence of a disorder in a population.