Pro questions
Terms
undefined, object
copy deck
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Offense history has been found to be a good predictor of re-offense among juvenile offenders. Of the offense history factors, which is least predictive of re-offense:
age of first contact with the law
lengthaofafirstaincarcerat -
This is a difficult question because the correct answer is inconsistent with the axiom that "past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior."
a. Incorrect The correlations reported in the literature for various risk factors and re-offense were recently summarized by C. Schwalbe, S. Day, & M. Fraser [Risk assessment in the juvenile justice system; available at http://www.unc.edu/ncjcp/Riskassessmentreview3.htm]. They report an average correlation of -.341 between age at first contact with the law and re-offense.
b. Incorrect These authors report an average correlation of .187 between length at first incarceration and re-offense.
c. Incorrect The average correlation obtained by Schwalbe et al. for age of commencement of first offense and re-offense is -.346.
d. CORRECT Schwalbe and colleagues report an average correlation of only .058 between number of prior arrests and re-offense. - Dr. X has been asked to administer a psychological test to an individual who requires special accommodations because of a physical disability. The test was not developed or normed for individuals with this disability. The APA’s Guidelines for Test User
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The APA’s position on this issue is summarized by S. M. Turner, S. T. DeMers, H. R. Fox, and G. M. Reed in APA’s Guidelines for Test User Qualifications: An executive summary (American Psychologist, 56, 2001, 1099-1113).
a. Incorrect See explanation for response d.
b. Incorrect See explanation for response d.
c. Incorrect See explanation for response d.
d. CORRECT In their summary of the Guidelines for Test User Qualifications, Turner et al. note that there may be legal requirements that apply to the administration and use of tests when an individual requires special accommodations. To ensure that these requirements are met, psychologists should consider them and, when appropriate, "obtain legal advice on legal and regulatory requirements regarding appropriate administration of tests and use of test data when assessing individuals with disabilities" (p. 1103). Note that Standard 10.2 of the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (1999) also addresses this issue and requires test users who do not have adequate knowledge or experience in modifying tests for individuals with disabilities to seek guidance from a consultant or supervisor who has expertise. -
As a result of damage to the right __________, a person is able to point to objects and avoid bumping into them but is unable to name them or describe their purpose:
frontalalobe
parietal lobe
occipital lobe
tempo -
You may have been able to get this one right by the process of elimination.
a. Incorrect The frontal lobes are involved in emotion, memory, language, and higher cognitive processes. (Language problems usually take the form of aphasia.)
b. Incorrect The parietal lobes contain the somatosensory cortex and are involved in spatial relationship and the ability to perform complex, sequential movements.
c. CORRECT The occipital lobes are involved in visual perception, recognition, and memory. Damage to the right occipital lobe can produce the unusual symptoms described in this question.
d. Incorrect The temporal lobes are involved in auditory sensation and perception. -
As originally defined by Tatum and Seevers (1931), "habituation" occurs when:
a person develops physical dependence on a drug without developing tolerance
a person develops both physical and psychological dependence -
A. L. Tatum and M. H. Seevers developed a physical addiction model of drug use and used the term "habituation" to describe situations when physical addiction has NOT developed (Theories of drug addiction, Physiological Review, 11, 1931, 107-120).
a. Incorrect See explanation for response c.
b. Incorrect See explanation for response c.
c. CORRECT Tatum and Seevers used the term habituation as a substitute for "habit forming" and defined it as a condition that occurs when, as the result of drug use, a person desires it but suffers no adverse effects from discontinuing it.
d. Incorrect See explanation for response c. - A middle-aged man with brain damage cannot pantomime motor movements when requested to do so (e.g., cannot pretend to open a door with a key) but usually has less trouble performing the same movements when using actual objects. The damage causing this im
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The man's symptoms are characteristic of apraxia.
a. CORRECT The condition described in this question is a type of ideomotor (or limb) apraxia. It is caused by damage to the left posterior parietal lobe and, consequently, is also known as left parietal apraxia.
b. Incorrect See explanation for response a.
c. Incorrect See explanation for response a.
d. Incorrect See explanation for response a. -
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder share which of the following symptoms:
prominent obsessions
repetitive rituals
risk aversion
emotionalarigidity -
The name "Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder" is misleading, since the diagnosis of this disorder does not require the presence of obsessions or compulsions.
a. Incorrect The presence of prominent obsessions may indicate a co-diagnosis of OCD.
b. CORRECT The goal of rituals is different for OCD and OCPD but both are characterized by the presence of rituals. (In OCD, rituals are performed to reduce anxiety; in OCPD, rituals are related to perfectionism.)
c. Incorrect Risk aversion is not a characteristic shared by the two disorders.
d. Incorrect Emotional rigidity is not a characteristic shared by OCD and OCPD. -
Recent research has found that women in which of the following groups have the highest lifetime rate of victimization by an intimate partner:
white Americans
African-Americans
Asians/Pacific Islanders
American Ind -
Recent statistics on the lifetime rates of victimization by an intimate partner are reported by P. Tjaden and N. Thoennes in Extent, nature and consequences of intimate partner violence: Findings from the National Violence Against Women Study, July 2000, U. S. Department of Justice.
a. Incorrect Tjaden and Thoennes report a lifetime rate of victimization by an intimate partner of 24.8% for white females (i.e., 24.8% of white females in their sample reported having been the victim of intimate partner rape, physical assault, or stalking).
b. Incorrect For African-American females, these investigators obtained a rate of 29.1%.
c. Incorrect For Asian/Pacific Islander females, Tjaden and Thoennes obtained a rate of 15.0%.
d. CORRECT Tjaden and Thoennes report a lifetime rate for American Indians/Alaska Natives of 37.5%. They note that this higher rate for American Indian/Alaska Native women is consistent with previous research, but state that it is not clear whether the rate is actually due to more violent experiences or an increased willingness to report them. -
To determine if the test you have developed is valid for making diagnostic decisions, you would be most interested in determining if it has adequate:
content validity
divergent validity
concurrent validity
differe -
This situation is analogous to using a predictor to estimate performance on a criterion. The predictor, in this case, is the test, while the criterion is the accuracy of the diagnosis.
a. Incorrect Content validity would be of interest when a test is designed to be a sample of a particular content domain.
b. Incorrect Divergent validity might be of interest in the development of the test (if it is measuring a construct). But the question is specifically asking about using the test to make diagnoses. Therefore, response c is the best answer.
c. CORRECT Concurrent validity is a type of criterion-related validity. It is used to establish validity when the purpose of the test is to estimate current status on a criterion. In this case, the criterion would be some method of diagnosis that is known to be accurate.
d. Incorrect Differential validity actually has a couple of meanings, neither of which applies to this situation. - Earlier statistics released by the Center for Disease Control consistently indicated that, among African-American males, those aged 25 to 44 were at the highest risk for suicide. However, more recent statistics, which report rates in terms of more precis
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The more recent National Vital Statistics Report on mortality rates (Vol. 49, No. 11, October 12, 2001) reports rates in terms of smaller age ranges than earlier reports, which presented rates for individuals aged 15 to 24 and 25 to 44.
a. Incorrect The 2001 Report indicates a suicide rate of 10.0 (per 100,000) for African-American males aged 15 to 19 in 1999.
b. CORRECT The Report indicates a suicide rate of 19.4 (per 100,000) for those aged 20 to 24.
c. Incorrect The Report indicates a suicide rate of 17.4 (per 100,000) for those aged 25 to 34.
d. Incorrect The Report indicates a suicide rate of 13.4 (per 100,000) for those aged 35 to 44. -
Incentive/reward theory implies that which of the following is most important for ensuring worker motivation:
clearlyatyingapositiveareinforcersatoaeffectiveaperformance
making jobs interesting, attractive, and satisfying
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The implications of incentive/reward and other motivational theories are summarized by R. A. Katzell and D. E. Thompson in Work motivation: Theory and practice, American Psychologist, 45(2), 1990, 144-153.
a. Incorrect This is an implication of reinforcement theory, which is different from incentive/reward theory in its premises and implications.
b. CORRECT Incentive/reward theory is broader than reinforcement theory and emphasizes the features of the job and work environment that maximize worker interest and satisfaction.
c. Incorrect This is not a key implication of incentive/reward theory.
d. Incorrect This is also not an implication of incentive/reward theory. -
You are working in a correctional facility and are asked to evaluate a prisoner to determine his eligibility for parole. In this situation, you should:
conduct the evaluation as requested since it is part of your job
conduct th -
Very little has been written about ethical considerations in correctional facilities, so few guidelines are available. However, APA did publish recommendations in a 1978 issue of the American Psychologist, which apply to this situation (Report of the task force on the role of the psychologist in the criminal justice system, American Psychologist, 1978, 33, 1099-1133).
a. Incorrect See explanation for response b.
b. CORRECT Recommendation 3 of the above-cited document states that "Other than for legitimate research purposes, psychological assessments of offenders should be performed only when the psychologist has a reasonable expectation that such assessments will serve a useful therapeutic or dispositional function."
c. Incorrect APA recommends that the "ideal level of confidentiality of therapeutic services in criminal justice settings should be the same as the level of confidentiality that exists in voluntary noninstitutional settings." Although there certainly are exceptions to confidentiality in prison settings that would not apply elsewhere, it's not true that a prisoner has no right to confidentiality, which this response implies.
d. Incorrect See explanation above. - D. W. Sue (1978) describes "worldview" in terms of two independent dimensions -- locus of control and locus of responsibility. From this perspective, an Anglo-American therapist with an internal local of control and internal locus of responsibi
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Sue uses his model of worldview to describe issues and problems that Anglo-American therapists may face when working with clients from culturally-diverse backgrounds.
a. Incorrect See explanation for response c.
b. Incorrect See explanation for response c.
c. CORRECT D. W. Sue and D. Sue discuss this issue in Counseling the culturally different, New York, John Wiley & Sons, 1999. They conclude that an IC-ER worldview is likely to "pose the most difficult problems for the IC-IR white therapist" (p. 180) because the client is likely to challenge the therapist's authority, view the therapist as part of the "Establishment that has oppressed minorities" (p. 181), be reluctant to self-disclose, and prefer adopting an active role in the therapy process.
d. Incorrect See explanation for response. -
When empirical criterion keying is used to develop a test, items chosen for inclusion are those that:
correlate highly with only one of the identified criteria
distinguish between preselected groups or subgroups
achievea -
THE CORRECT ANSWER IS "B"
The original MMPI scales and several scales of the SVIB were developed on the basis of empirical criterion keying.
a. Incorrect One of the criticisms of the MMPI, for example, is that the same items contribute to different scales; i.e., each item does not correlate with only one criterion group.
b. CORRECT Items that distinguish between different criterion groups or between criterion groups and a control (general reference) group are included in each scale.
c. Incorrect See explanation for response “b.â€
d. Incorrect See explanation for response “b.†-
From the perspective of Bandura's social learning theory, a failure to perform does not necessarily mean that learning has not occurred. This view is most similar to that espoused by:
Mowrer
Thorndike
Tolman
Pavlo -
THE CORRECT ANSWER IS "C"
Like most current learning theorists, Bandura distinguishes between the processes of learning and performance.
a. Incorrect See explanation for response "c."
b. Incorrect See explanation for response "c."
c. CORRECT Tolman's notion of latent learning proposes that learning occurs without necessarily being manifested as performance. As behaviorists, the individuals listed in the other responses do not make this distinction.
d. Incorrect See explanation for response "c." -
Malingering and Factitious Disorder are often difficult to distinguish. However, the presence of which of the following is more suggestive of Malingering:
the motive for symptom production is an external reward
the motive for s -
THE CORRECT ANSWER IS "A"
Malingering is defined in DSM-IV as "the intentional production of false or grossly exaggerated physical or psychological symptoms, motivated by external incentives."
a. CORRECT The motivation for producing symptoms in Malingering is to obtain external rewards (e.g., obtaining a drug or avoiding a specific activity), while, in Factitious Disorder, the motive seems to be to adopt the "sick role."
b. Incorrect This is characteristic of Conversion Disorder and refers to keeping an inner conflict out of consciousness.
c. Incorrect This is not true. Symptoms associated with Malingering usually can't be alleviated with these techniques.
d. Incorrect Symptoms are intentionally produced in both disorders, so this symptom would not be useful for distinguishing between them. - Dr. Browne, a psychologist, undertakes a child custody evaluation at the request of the child's mother. The father agrees to be evaluated also, and Dr. Browne obtains signed informed consents from both parents before beginning her assessment. Dr. Browne
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THE CORRECT ANSWER IS "C"
The Ethics Code and the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing both require that tests be used only for purposes for which they have been validated.
a. Incorrect Although the psychologist acted appropriately by evaluating both parents prior to making a recommendation, answer "c" is a better answer.
b. Incorrect Obtaining signed informed consents does not overcome the problem of using the MMPI and Rorschach as predictors of parental functioning, a purpose for which they have not been validated.
c. CORRECT Based on the information given, it appears that Dr. Browne has acted unethically by basing her recommendations on MMPI and Rorschach test results since these tests have not been validated for this purpose. Also, even if the tests had been validated for this purpose, Dr. Browne's recommendation should have been based on more than test results.
d. Incorrect Recommendations are acceptable as long as they are based on a thorough evaluation. -
6. For young children, which of the following is a critical ingredient of Vygotsky's zone of proximal development?
happiness
societal rules
culture
pretend pl - "D" Pretend play has an important role in Vygotsky's zone of proximal development. However, adults play an even more important role in providing support in the zone of proximal development, which is the gap between what a child can currently do alone and what the child can do with assistance from an adult or more competent peer.
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21. Which of the following statements regarding the use of biofeedback to treat headaches is true?
EMG Biofeedback would be more useful for tension than for migraine headaches.
EMG Biofeedback would be more - "A" EMG Biofeedback has been shown to be useful for treating tension headaches but not migraine headaches. For migraines, thermal biofeedback is considered more effective. Some have suggested that the effectiveness of biofeedback is related to an artifact of treatment (e.g., attention, support) rather than to the biofeedback itself. Regardless of whether its effects are artifactual, EMG biofeedback seems to work better for tension than for migraine headaches.
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22. If the corpus callosum is split in half in an otherwise normal person
something grasped in the left hand can be identified but not named.
something grasped in the right hand can be identified but not na - "A" Information perceived on the left side of the body gets projected to the right brain (and vice versa). And the left hemisphere is responsible for most language functions (e.g., naming objects). The corpus callosum is the tract which connects the two hemispheres. So, if this is cut, the result is two parallel but non-communicating brains. Thus, if a person with a severed corpus callosum grasps something with the left hand, the information gets projected to the right hemisphere. But since the right hemisphere wouldn't communicate with the left hemisphere, the person couldn't give a name to what was grasped.