Deck 16: The Cognitive Approach: Relevant Research

Question 1

According to negative schema theory, compared to nondepressed people, depressed individuals are more likely to

A) generate thoughts that cause them to become depressed.
B) change their ideas about who they are and what they want from life.
C) have a high self?image that is consistently contradicted by objective facts.
D) have experienced trauma in childhood.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

The way people process information in threatening situations begins with a social encounter and then depends on

A) the way other people are acting in the situation.
B) the way the situation is appraised in awareness.
C) the kind of situation people are in.
D) whether or not people are self-actualized.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Women and men differ in the kinds of information they recall. Researchers explain this in terms of differences in the way men and women

A) make an effort to remember.
B) form cognitive representations of themselves.
C) have been trained to remember information in school.
D) mature intellectually.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Researchers asked participants in one study to take photographs to indicate how the participants thought of themselves. The women in the study were more likely than the men to take pictures of themselves that included other people. The findings support the notion that, compared to men, women

A) are more dependent on other people.
B) have a larger network of friends.
C) are more mature socially.
D) are more likely to develop an interdependent self-construal.

Question 5

Which of the following is false about emotional memories?

A) The links between emotional memories are stronger for men than women.
B) Both happy and sad memories are more accessible for women than men.
C) Women attend to and process information about emotions more than men.
D) Recalling one sad experience is more likely to trigger another sad memory for women than for men.

Question 6

Researchers find that depressed people recall depression?related words better than nondepressed people. This finding is used to support which concept?

A) Learned helplessness
B) Depressive schema
C) Explanatory style
D) Locus of control

Question 7

Which of the following do women tend to remember better than men?

A) Information about relationships
B) Important dates
C) Names
D) Facts about American history

Question 8

All of the following statements about emotional memories are true except one. Which one is false?

A) Women attend to emotional information more than men.
B) Recalling one sad experience is more likely to trigger another sad memory for women than for men.
C) Both happy and sad memories are more accessible for women than men.
D) The connections between emotional memories are stronger for men than women.

Question 9

Which of the following is true about aggressive scripts?

A) They represent ways to act that have been learned.
B) We learn them by watching aggressive models.
C) When they have been practiced, they are more likely to be shown.
D) all of the above

Question 10

Research on recall for events between men and women has shown that men have better recall of __________ than women.

A) personal events
B) sporting events
C) impersonal events
D) emotional events

Question 11

Research findings suggest men are more likely than women to form independent self-construals. This means that men tend to

A) think of themselves as independent.
B) develop their self-concepts with little help from others.
C) have cognitive representations of themselves that are relatively unrelated to the cognitive representations they have of other people.
D) have cognitive representations of themselves that are resistant to change.

Question 12

Obtaining a complete understanding of aggressive behavior requires that

A) we focus on the unconscious motives behind our aggressions.
B) we examine aggression from a variety of theoretical perspectives.
C) we only examine the evolutionary basis of aggression.
D) we focus our attention on the cognitions involved in aggressive choices.

Question 13

In a study of boys in aggression-provoking situations, such as another student breaking the boy's radio while he is out of town, researchers found that boys with a history of reactive aggression

A) were more likely to interpret the act as intentional.
B) were more likely to interpret the act as hostile.
C) tended to act more aggressively in response to the act.
D) all of the above

Question 14

Among the personal factors cognitive psychologists consider when predicting aggressive behavior, which of the following is typically included?

A) The provocative situation
B) Genetic predisposition to aggression
C) The ego defense mechanisms the person uses
D) Visual cues in the environment.

Question 15

When researchers ask men and women to write descriptions of themselves, women are more likely than men to include statements about

A) where they live.
B) their roles as parents and family members.
C) their physical appearance.
D) their age.

Question 16

Research comparing the memories of men and women tend to find that

A) men recall more information than women.
B) women recall more information than men.
C) women recall more information about emotions, whereas men recall more nonemotional information.
D) men recall more information about their relationships, whereas women recall more information about emotions.

Question 17

Researchers have found that prevention programs designed to reduce reactive aggression

A) have generally failed until recently.
B) effectively use cognitive (behavior) therapy.
C) are successful in reducing antisocial acts like assault.
D) only work for very young boys.

Question 18

Studies find that women tend to recall more information about ____________ than do men.

A) American history
B) emotional experiences
C) their childhood
D) important issues

Question 19

Obtaining a complete understanding of human personality requires that

A) we focus on one or two specific approaches as a maximum.
B) we examine every aspect of personality from a biological perspective.
C) we focus our attention on the cognitive approach.
D) we examine personality from several different perspectives.

Question 20

In a study in which researcher presented a series of hypothetical situations to boys, those with a history of reactive aggression

A) were more likely to perceive actions as intentional or hostile.
B) suppressed their tendency toward aggression.
C) learned how to cope with the feelings of hostility.
D) hardly ever had aggressive thoughts related to the situations.

Question 21

People processing information through a negative schema have greater access to depressing memories.

Question 22

Discuss the general aggression model proposed by cognitive researchers. What are the components? Give an example of your own of an aggressive response you have recently made and provide an explanation from the model, including all the components.

Question 23

How does the negative (depressive) schema work? Explain how negative thoughts are related to depressing feelings and contrast the outlook on life between most normal people and depressed individuals.

Question 24

Depressed patients in one study were asked to recall personal experiences associated with words from a list. The researchers found patients were more likely to recall unhappy experiences when feeling particularly depressed. This finding supports which concept?

A) Learned helplessness
B) Negative schema
C) Explanatory style
D) Locus of control

Question 25

According to cognitive researchers, the happiest people are those who

A) pay attention to negative information so they can deal with it more effectively.
B) pay attention to both positive and negative information equally.
C) interpret ambiguous information in a positive light.
D) are always on the alert for negative information.

Question 26

The cognitive approach maintains that negative thoughts are a symptom of depression.

Question 27

Researchers use the idea of negative cognitive style to

A) identify people at high risk for depression.
B) predict students who will have at least one episode of major depression.
C) determine those suffering more depressive symptoms after trauma.
D) all of the above

Question 28

How do men and women differ in their emotional memories and the kinds of information they process more rapidly? Give an example of your own of an independent self-construal and an interdependent self-construal. How do the genders differ in these cognitive representations of the self?

Question 29

Cognitive theorists see the causal arrow between cognitions and depressive symptoms running in one direction, from thoughts to symptoms.

Question 30

When investigators looked at the psychological effects of physical and emotion abuse of women, those suffering from deeper depression showed signs of

A) a negative cognitive style.
B) curiosity.
C) positive emotions beginning to surface after two weeks.
D) false interpretations of events since the trauma.

Question 31

Define negative cognitive style and whether the research evidence points to it as a cause of depression or a symptom of it. Indicate the usefulness of studying the negative cognitive styles of students.

Question 32

Depressed and nondepressed participants in one study were given a list of words to recall. The researchers found

A) the nondepressed participants recalled more words.
B) the depressed participants recalled more words.
C) the depressed participants recalled more depression?related words, but the nondepressed participants recalled more of the other words.
D) differences between the two groups of participants only when the depressed participants knew what the researchers were looking for.

Question 33

The cognitive approach to personality suggests that negative thoughts can

A) be a symptom of depression.
B) cause depression.
C) be the result of changes in brain receptors.
D) be more slowly processed.

Question 34

Which of the following have researchers found about negative cognitive style?

A) It is related to depression.
B) Processing filters out positive information.
C) It tends to identify one's problems with specific events.
D) It is a form of negative reinforcement.

Question 35

Aggressive scripts that have been practiced are the most likely to be ignored first.

Question 36

According to the cognitive approach to depression, processing information through the negative schema causes people to

A) become depressed.
B) generate even more depressing thoughts.
C) ignore positive information.
D) all of the above

Question 37

While men and women do not differ in their general memory abilities, they also do not show differences in what they remember.

Question 38

You read about cognitive research that investigated word memory in depressed people between depression-associated words and nondepression-associated words. Which of the following was not a group that recalled depression-associated words better than normal people?

A) Clinically depressed patients
B) Mildly depressed college students
C) Nondepressed patients
D) Students simply asked to think about some sad events

Question 39

Which of the following is a component of the depressive cognitive triad?

A) Interpreting ongoing experiences in a negative light.
B) Pessimistic thoughts about the future.
C) Negative thoughts about oneself.
D) all of the above