5 Steps to a 5 AP Psychology, 2010-2011 Edition (67 page)

(E) antisocial personality disorder

4.
Tommy came to Dr. Chambers seeking help with his fear of heights. First, Dr. Chambers asked Tommy to list all of the situations concerning heights that led to his fear response. After they had ordered them from least fear-provoking to most fear-provoking, Dr. Chambers had Tommy listen to soothing music and slowly relaxed him as he imagined each step. Which of the following best describes Dr. Chambers’s treatment?

(A) the exposure technique of flooding

(B) systematic desensitization

(C) rational emotive therapy

(D) aversive conditioning

(E) the social cognitive technique of modeling

5.
The goal of psychoanalytic therapy is

(A) to change maladaptive behavior to more socially acceptable behavior

(B) to change negative thinking into more positive attributions

(C) to attain self-actualization

(D) to unite the mind and body elements into a whole

(E) to bring unconscious conflicts to conscious awareness and gain insight

6.
Proactive preventive services available from many community mental health centers include all of the following EXCEPT

(A) 24-hour hotline services

(B) mental health screening for depression

(C) prenatal care for mothers in low-income families

(D) psychoanalytic therapy

(E) outreach programs for at-risk children

7.
An unplanned social change that occurred as a result of deinstitutionalization was

(A) the rise of a multitude of group homes to provide care for these former patients

(B) a rise in the number of better psychotropic drugs to treat schizophrenia and bipolar illness

(C) an increase in the number of schizophrenics among the homeless population in urban centers

(D) an increase in the use of the insanity plea to avoid long-term incarceration

(E) an increase in the number of mental hospitals across the nation

8.
Vic is encouraged to take charge of the therapy session and his therapist uses an active listening approach to mirror back the feelings he hears from him. Which therapy is most likely being described?

(A) client-centered therapy

(B) cognitive therapy

(C) psychodynamic therapy

(D) existential therapy

(E) rational-emotive therapy

9.
The antidepressants Prozac, Paxel, and Zoloft work to

(A) block dopamine receptors

(B) decrease the level of acetylcholine in the bloodstream

(C) break down the MAO enzymes

(D) decrease the amount of GABA at the postsynaptic neuron

(E) block the reuptake of serotonin

10.
All of the following are potential benefits of group therapy EXCEPT

(A) it is often more economical than 1:1 treatment

(B) it does not require the services of a mental health professional

(C) clients with similar problems can provide helpful insight and feedback to peers

(D) group members can see how their problems might impact others

(E) it may reduce the resistance of patients who have experienced difficulties in 1:1 settings

11.
Drew’s depression seems an outgrowth of his belief that everyone should like him. If his therapist were to utilize REBT, how might he proceed in treating Drew’s depression?

(A) He would suggest a mild antidepressant drug like Prozac to elevate his mood state.

(B) He would give him unconditional positive regard and encourage him to open up about his feelings.

(C) He would challenge Drew’s belief so that in defending it Drew will recognize just how absurd it sounds.

(D) Using the cognitive triad of Self, World, and Future, he would determine Drew’s assumptions in all three areas.

(E) He would search Drew’s early childhood for the root cause of this distortion of reality.

12.
Antabuse is a drug that, when paired with alcohol in the bloodstream, brings about extreme nausea. For many motivated alcoholics, this has proven to be an effective treatment. Under which umbrella of psychotherapy would it most likely be used?

(A) insight therapy

(B) aversive conditioning

(C) Gestalt therapy

(D) self-help therapy

(E) flooding exposure therapy

13.
Andre suffers from mood swings, alternating from wild episodes of euphoria and spending sprees to motionless staring and hopelessness. A drug to treat his condition is

(A) Lithium carbonate

(B) Haldol

(C) Xanax

(D) Thorazine

(E) Ritalin

14.
The belief of ancient Greeks such as Hippocrates and Galen about the cause of abnormal behavior was closest to which of the following modern approaches to psychology?

(A) psychoanalytic

(B) behavioral

(C) humanistic

(D) cognitive

(E) biomedical

15.
After conducting a meta-analysis of over 475 outcome studies on the effectiveness of psychotherapies, psychologists concluded that

(A) evidence supported its efficacy

(B) psychotherapy is no more effective than talking to a friend

(C) the potential to do further harm to the patient with psychotropic drugs outweighs its effectiveness

(D) psychotherapy proves no more beneficial than no treatment at all

(E) of all treatments, psychoanalysis proved the most beneficial over all other types of therapy

1. C—
Gestalt therapy includes the use of dream interpretation. What Jenna reported was the manifest content of her dream and what her analyst attempts to interpret is the latent or hidden meaning to help her gain insight into her problems.

2. B—
Psychiatrists are medical doctors who can prescribe medications and are more likely to use a somatic treatment than to utilize another psychotherapy. Clinical psychologists are often eclectic and have good training in many of the therapies currently used.

3. D—
Major depression. For patients who are potentially suicidal, ECT can be a fairly quick and effective treatment. Its mechanism in the brain is still not entirely understood.

4. B—
Dr. Chambers first worked with Tommy to create an anxiety hierarchy of Tommy’s fears, and then attempted to use the counterconditioning therapy of systematic desensitization to prevent the phobic response, which is incompatible with relaxation.

5. E—
The goal of psychoanalysis is to uncover the hidden childhood trauma and make this unconscious conflict conscious so that the patient can gain insight into the problem. Psychoanalysis does not offer a cure; rather it offers the patient better understanding of the source of the problem.

6. D—
Psychoanalytic therapy is a long, expensive type of therapy that cannot be provided at community mental health centers.

7. C—
Deinstitutionalization was intended to result in better services for patients closer to their homes. Unexpectedly, former clients did not continue to seek out services and went off their medications. They now are part of the growing homeless population in America, making up 40% of that adult population according to some estimates. Many are suffering from some form of schizophrenia.

8. A—
Vic is most likely engaging in client-centered or person-centered therapy. Therapists take a nondirective approach and encourage clients to discuss their feelings in a nonjudgmental setting. Through active listening, therapists help clients become aware of their feelings, clarify their emotions, and take responsibility for future growth toward full potential.

9. E—
Prozac is one of a category of drugs called SSRIs, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. By increasing the length of time serotonin stays in the synaptic cleft, serotonin becomes more available. Many sufferers of depression see mood improvement in about 2 weeks. The SSRIs have fewer side effects than the older tricyclic and MAO inhibitors.

10. B—
Group therapy is effective for all of the reasons given, with the exception that it does utilize a trained professional. Psychotherapists are necessary in this dynamic process to give needed direction and counseling to all involved clients.

11. C—
REBT, devised by Albert Ellis, can be a very confrontational cognitive treatment. The hope is that by facing the irrationality of their belief systems, clients like Drew will become more rational in how they view the world.

12. B—
Antabuse is an aversive therapy because of the punishing effects of the nausea, which, through repeated pairings, leads to the extinction of the desire for alcohol. As in all classically conditioned therapies, occasional pairing of the alcohol and Antabuse will be necessary to maintain its effectiveness over the long term.

13. A—
A psychiatrist would prescribe lithium carbonate for Andre’s symptoms of bipolar disorder. Though the chemical nature of mania is not completely understood, the metal lithium is effective with many patients. However, care must be taken to avoid lithium poisoning. Some patients might still suffer depressive symptoms, and a combination of an antidepressant drug with lithium is often used.

14. E—
Both medical doctors, Galen and Hippocrates pursued the belief that imbalances in the body were the bases for abnormal behavior, much as the biomedical approach today believes that neurochemical and hormonal balances underlie disorders.

15. A—
Though there have been conflicting individual studies, meta-analysis of 475 studies found that psychotherapy was effective in treating psychological disorders. Although cognitive-behavioral approaches to therapy are popular today for treating a wide variety of disorders, no single treatment has been found more effective for all types of mental health problems.

Professionals who treat people with psychopathologies include:

Psychiatrists
—medical doctors (M.D.); can prescribe medication and perform surgery.

Clinical psychologists
—have doctoral degree (Ph.D. or Psy.D.); use different therapeutic approaches depending on training and diagnosis.

Counseling psychologists
—have Ph.D., Ed.D., Psy.D., or M.A. in counseling; tend to deal with less severe mental health problems.

Psychoanalysts
—may or may not be psychiatrists, but follow the teaching of Freud and practice psychoanalysis or other psychodynamic therapies.

Clinical or psychiatric social workers
—have masters degree in social work (M.S.W.).

Table 17.1 Therapy/Cause/Goal

IN THIS CHAPTER

Summary:
If you could spare a few minutes for a close friend who asked for some help, would you? Of course you would. How other people, groups, and cultures shape our perceptions, attitudes, and behavior is the study of
social psychology
. It looks at how social and situational factors can influence us in both positive and negative ways. Research by
social psychologists
has raised important ethical questions because of the use of deception and manipulation to get as accurate results as possible. The American Psychological Association’s ethical guidelines have tightened the reins on researchers as a result of some of the more controversial, yet important findings in this field.

This chapter deals with how groups affect the individual, how we perceive others and others perceive us, and attitudes and attitude change.

Key Ideas

Group dynamics