Possible Exam 4 Questions

1. Use research on the disorder of schizophrenia from chapter 13 to illustrate the point that most behaviors have multiple causes.

2. a) Would a phobia be considered a trait? Explain.

b) According to the field of psychology, what is the difference between being unique and being abnormal?

3. Mr. A has an anxiety disorder. (Name a specific one.) You are his therapist.

a) Why is Mr. A's behavior likely labeled a disorder by psychology?

b) You have a variety of therapeutic approaches available to you. Choose any approach described in text or the class other than chemotherapy. Describe how you would use this approach to deal with Mr. A's symptoms.

4. "Young boys (age 6) exhibiting a cluster of extreme personality traits, including impulsiveness, excitability, and lack of fear in new situations, are most likely to use both legal and illicit drugs in their early teens."

a) Does this research describe a correlation or a causal relationship? Explain.

b) If you said it described a correlation, change the wording so it describes a causal relationship. If you said it describes a causal relationship, change the wording so it only describes a correlation.

5. Someone comes up to you and says, "Hey, you took PSY 100, didn't you?" Does this psychological therapy stuff actually work?" How would you respond? (Hint: evidence!)

6. Describe two examples of how certain types of therapy work best on certain types of disorders. Use one type of therapy and one disorder for one example. Use a different type of therapy and a different disorder for the second example. Do not use any anxiety disorders.

7. a) According to the confirmation bias, why might psychotherapists jump to wrong conclusions about their patients at times?

b) How could the confirmation bias explain some of the results found in the studies reviewed in the "Dolphin-assisted therapy" article?

8. a) Why might the humanistic personality theorists have trouble accepting the idea that all of one's personality can be defined in terms of the Big Five?

b) Why would the social-cognitive perspective likely disagree with the idea that all of one's personality can be defined in terms of the Big Five?

9. Name a category of disorder other than anxiety disorders. For disorders within the category you named,

a) briefly describe the kinds of behavior that characterize that type of disorder;

b) explain how many of us exhibit some degree of that type of behavior but are not considered mentally ill;

c) explain how the behavior of individuals with that type of disorder can be interpreted as an attempt to adapt to their environment even though it is considered abnormal.

10. a) Both Freud and the trait theorists/researchers consider patterns of behavior useful to identify. However, why would Freud consider what the trait perspective does with those patterns of behavior to be rather trivial or superficial?

b) According to Freud, what indicates that even as normal adults we have not escaped the influence of our repressed desires? Explain.

Possible Terms

id

ego

superego

defense mechanisms

repression

fixation (Freud)

self-actualization

external locus of control

self-serving bias

trait

dissociative disorders

somatoform disorders

bipolar disorder

hallucinations

delusions

transference

systematic desensitization

aversive conditioning

psychosurgery

cognitive-behavior therapy

token economy

eclectic approach