Deck 4: Classification and Assessment of Abnormal Behavior

Question 1

What is a diagnosis?

A) an explanation of the etiology of a problem
B) an estimate of the chances of a full recovery
C) a description of behavior as fitting the criteria for a particular type of disorder
D) a mental health professional's estimate of the impact of family conflict on a disorder

Answer 1

a description of behavior as fitting the criteria for a particular type of disorder

Question 2

Modern classification systems in psychiatry were introduced

A) by biologists and then adapted by psychiatrists.
B) by clinical psychologists working for the World Health Organization.
C) by Freud before WWII.
D) shortly after WWII.

Answer 2

shortly after WWII.

Question 3

Mental disorders are currently classified on the basis of

A) causal mechanisms.
B) biological features.
C) descriptive features.
D) theoretical relatedness.

Answer 3

descriptive features.

Question 4

Labeling theory is a perspective on mental disorders that focuses on

A) interrater reliability in diagnosis.
B) identification of biological causes of mental disorders.
C) social factors that influence the assignment of a diagnosis.
D) validity of including certain symptoms in criteria for diagnosis.

Question 5

A patient was just released from a psychiatric hospital where he has spent the last five years. A social worker spends some time trying to help him prepare for what she calls stigma. What was the focus of these sessions?

A) negative attitudes that result in various forms of discrimination
B) the tendency for most mental patients to cease taking their medications
C) the tendency for the public to provide too much assistance to former mental patients
D) a government effort to assist former mental patients by providing group living arrangements

Question 6

In the case of Michael presented in your text, which of these is one of the keys that should lead a mental health professional to suspect that Michael suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder?

A) Michael's symptoms fall into a recognized pattern.
B) There is a significant family history of conflict.
C) Michael expresses a need to be alone.
D) Michael has trouble communicating his thoughts.

Question 7

The most likely theories for the cause of mental disorders involve

A) biological systems.
B) psychological systems.
C) social systems.
D) interactions involving all three of the above.

Question 8

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association is also called the DSM-IV-TR. The IV refers to the 4th edition. What does the TR stand for?

A) Text Replacements
B) Tertiary Revision
C) Text Revision
D) Tertiary Replacements

Question 9

In the 1950s and 1960s, mental health clinicians using DSM-I and DSM-II who independently evaluated the same client

A) usually arrived at the same diagnosis.
B) frequently disagreed with one another.
C) relied heavily on psychological tests.
D) tended to prefer the term "problems in living."

Question 10

A classification system that focuses on how much of a given characteristic an individual exhibits is called

A) categorical.
B) measurement based.
C) classificatory.
D) dimensional.

Question 11

A psychologist conducts an interview and administers several psychological tests in order to evaluate the nature of a person's problem and to formulate a treatment plan. What term is used to describe this process?

A) diagnosis
B) assessment
C) validation
D) ego analysis

Question 12

One advantage of a dimensional system of classification is that it allows scientists to

A) make all-or-none decisions.
B) arrive at a specific diagnosis.
C) record subtle distinctions.
D) go beyond what people say.

Question 13

Which organizations publish the two most widely recognized diagnostic systems for mental disorder?

A) American Psychiatric Association and World Health Organization
B) American Psychiatric Association and American Psychological Association
C) National Institute of Mental Health and the American Medical Association
D) American Medical Association and the National Association for the Mentally Ill

Question 14

According to labeling theory, a psychiatric diagnosis serves to

A) identify etiological factors.
B) eliminate bias due to social factors.
C) clarify the nature of a psychiatric disorder.
D) create a social role that perpetuates abnormal behavior.

Question 15

Currently there are two classification systems for mental disorders used in the world; the DSM, used mostly in North America, and in most of the rest of world the

A) WHO.
B) ICD.
C) DSM-TR.
D) PCL.

Question 16

In the classification of intellectual ability, psychologists determine how much intelligence a person has on a particular set of tasks; such a classification system is known as

A) archetypal.
B) dimensional.
C) categorical.
D) diagnostic.

Question 17

DSM-IV diagnoses are grouped under 18 general categories based on

A) presumed causes.
B) biological factors.
C) descriptive similarity.
D) theoretical assumptions.

Question 18

In the field of mental health, a clinician's decision to assign a diagnosis when a person's behavior meets the specific criteria for a particular type of disorder is important because it tells the clinician

A) that the person's problems are similar to those experienced by others.
B) what caused the person's problems.
C) exactly how the problems can best be treated.
D) that the person's problems are unique.

Question 19

A system that classifies mental disorders on the basis their qualitative differences is known as a

A) class approach.
B) dimensional approach.
C) categorical approach.
D) measurement approach.

Question 20

The development of scientific classification system proceeds in an orderly fashion over several years from the first steps involving description to later stages involving

A) diagnosis.
B) theory.
C) dimensions.
D) categories.

Question 21

A team of researchers has developed a structured interview to diagnose a new type of personality disorder. A series of trials to check the reliability of the structured interview yields a kappa of .75. How should the researchers view this result?

A) The kappa is so low they decide to abandon the project.
B) The kappa is not at an acceptable level but encouraging for a new instrument that can be improved.
C) Kappa is not the appropriate measure to be used when evaluating the reliability of a new diagnostic category.
D) The kappa is at an acceptable level for well-established diagnostic instruments, so the interview is ready to be used in clinical settings.

Question 22

"Kappa" is a measure of interrater reliability that describes

A) the proportion of time raters agree exactly.
B) proportion of agreement beyond chance agreement.
C) whether certain diagnoses are used disproportionately.
D) whether a clinician is equally accurate with all diagnoses.

Question 23

Two clinical psychologists each interview and diagnose a group of patients. The extent to which they agree on the diagnosis of each patient is called

A) utility.
B) validity.
C) coverage.
D) reliability.

Question 24

Which of the following describes the multiaxial approach of DSM-IV?

A) five axes, two of which list specific mental disorders
B) five axes, one of which lists specific mental disorders
C) three axes, two of which list specific mental disorders
D) three axes, one of which lists specific mental disorders

Question 25

One theory to explain ataques de nervios is that it may be a culturally sanctioned way of expressing

A) fear of darkness.
B) disagreement with the cultural group.
C) distress in response to a threat to the family.
D) fear of death.

Question 26

The two principal criteria used to evaluate a classification system like DSM-IV-TR are

A) reactivity and sensitivity.
B) reliability and validity.
C) inclusiveness and exclusiveness.
D) cultural specificity and cultural universality.

Question 27

Oscar has recently lost a loved one; a mental health professional who is trying to be sensitive to the cultural context of Oscar's problem will want to know

A) what Oscar has learned about how grief should be displayed.
B) how depressed Oscar is.
C) whether Oscar suffers from some chemical imbalance.
D) whether Oscar's family has a history of depression.

Question 28

Which of the following seems to be a key feature of ataques de nervios?

A) delusions
B) hallucinations
C) loss of control
D) a need to sleep for long periods

Question 29

In the example in the textbook of Michael he met the criteria for diagnosis for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Which of the following did not point toward that diagnosis?

A) He performed repetitive hand-washing rituals in response to obsessive thoughts.
B) He considered his obsessive concerns to be logical.
C) His relationships with his friends were limited due to his fear of contamination.
D) His rituals interfered with his family's income.

Question 30

A clinician is using DSM-IV-TR to arrive at a diagnosis for Michael, the case presented in your text; to justify a diagnosis of obsessive-compulsive disorder, the clinician will have to

A) conduct extensive psychological tests.
B) refer Michael to a physician.
C) compare Michael to a specific set of criteria.
D) arrange for Michael to undergo a brain scan.

Question 31

In the DSM, the behavior referred to as ataques de nervios is viewed as an example of

A) paranoid schizophrenia.
B) panic disorder.
C) a culture-free syndrome.
D) a culture-bound syndrome.

Question 32

Your text suggests the possibility that the eating disorder known as bulimia could be listed as a culture-bound syndrome; what fact best supports this view?

A) Eating rituals vary between cultures.
B) Bulimia is found primarily in developed Western cultures.
C) Bulimia is a rare condition.
D) The prevalence of eating disorders does not vary between countries.

Question 33

In order to meet the criteria for schizotypal personality disorder, a person must have five of the listed symptoms. Moreover, the symptoms cannot be due to disorders such as schizophrenia. What aspects of the DSM system are illustrated by these diagnostic criteria?

A) reliable and valid criteria
B) primary and secondary criteria
C) inclusion and exclusion criteria
D) etiological diagnosis and assessment

Question 34

One pervasive issue for almost all DSM-V working groups is

A) the question of whether mental disorders are real or culturally constructed.
B) the integration of dimensional and categorical assessment procedures.
C) the validity of the classification of homosexuality as a mental disorder.
D) the cost of various models of mental health care.

Question 35

When we ask whether a category or diagnosis is useful, we are asking about its

A) kappa.
B) coverage.
C) validity.
D) reliability.

Question 36

Culture-bound syndromes in DSM are also known as idioms of distress because they represent

A) different forms of speech.
B) a unique manner of expressing emotion.
C) the non-professional term for mental disorders.
D) non-existent or imagined forms of psychopathology.

Question 37

The DSM-IV-TR uses a multiaxial system; each person is rated on five separate axes. Which of the following is NOT a concern of one of these axes?

A) diagnostic categories.
B) general medical conditions.
C) a description of the individual's psychosexual history.
D) a global assessment of the person's overall level of functioning.

Question 38

In DSM, clinical disorders can be classified on either Axis I or Axis II; which of the following statements is true?

A) Most disorders are classified on Axis II.
B) Only disorders with episodes of psychological turmoil are classified on Axis II.
C) Axis II is concerned with stable, long-standing problems.
D) Mild disorders are classified on Axis I, and more severe disorders are classified on Axis II.

Question 39

In the case of Michael, from the text, he received an Axis I diagnosis of obsessive-compulsive disorder and an Axis II diagnosis of schizotypal personality disorder. The Axis II diagnosis was based on

A) his inability to adjust to changing requirements of different people and situations.
B) his reports of hallucinations and delusions.
C) long standing depression.
D) his almost constant fear of being contaminated by anything associated with school.

Question 40

Work on DSM-V

A) will begin in 2012.
B) will be finished by 2013.
C) is. progressing, but is being done in secret.
D) it is being done by mostly lay people with experience with mental disorders.

Question 41

Split-half reliability is a measure of a test's

A) validity.
B) internal consistency.
C) interrater consistency.
D) test-retest consistency.

Question 42

The three primary goals that guide most assessment procedures are

A) making predictions, planning treatments, evaluating treatments.
B) pinpointing etiology, testing etiology, and planning treatments
C) pinpointing etiology, evaluating etiology, and making predictions.
D) deciding on a diagnosis, testing the diagnosis, and pinpointing etiology.

Question 43

If you had to briefly summarize the results of research on diagnostic reliability of mental disorders, which of the following sentences would do the job?

A) "The reliability has increased with few exceptions."
B) "Reliability for major categories is higher than for specific subtypes."
C) "The highest reliability is found for the specific examples of each of the major categories."
D) "There is good reliability for personality disorders but lower reliability for other disorders."

Question 44

Paul Meehl has suggested that when clinicians mistakenly pay attention to vague, superficial, or stereotyped statements by clients, and fail to pay to attention to subtler but more important evidence, they are victims of the cognitive error he has labeled the

A) cognitive dissonance effect.
B) unreliability bias.
C) Barnum effect.
D) diagnostic fallibility crisis.

Question 45

Your text describes a study of the reliability of diagnoses for several types of mental disorders which concludes

A) clinicians do not use psychological testing.
B) more categories of mental disorder should be introduced.
C) the diagnostic categories of the DSM are not always used reliably by clinicians.
D) psychiatrists and psychologists fail to cooperate.

Question 46

Based on their assessment, clinicians want to generalize, or draw inferences about the person's behavior in the natural environment, but

A) clinicians are unable to generalize accurately.
B) clinicians must rely on specific samples of a person's behavior.
C) only psychophysiological tests allow for such generalizations.
D) only objective tests allow for such generalizations.

Question 47

The case of Michael presented in your text illustrates comorbidity because

A) Michael suffers from more than one disorder.
B) Michael suffers from a life-threatening disorder.
C) Michael's disorder resulted from family conflict.
D) Michael shares the disorder with other members of his family.

Question 48

What are the most commonly used psychological assessment procedures?

A) IQ tests
B) interviews
C) rating scales
D) personality tests

Question 49

A clinician has met with a client who presents symptoms that would meet the criteria for several disorders; according to DSM, the clinician would

A) pick the most severe disorder to diagnose.
B) pick the disorder that appeared first to diagnose.
C) diagnose each disorder that fits the client's symptoms.
D) have to decide which disorder was the most treatable.

Question 50

Which of the following is the best word or phrase to explain the meaning of validity of an assessment procedure?

A) meaning
B) consistency
C) reliability
D) predictability

Question 51

What is one of the advantages of structured interviews in assessing clients?

A) Scoring is based on empirical research.
B) Structured interviews do not require training.
C) The interviewer can probe further when necessary.
D) The structured interview has a strict time limit that provides more time for other diagnostic tests.

Question 52

Why are interviews with psychiatric patients important?

A) They incorporate talk therapy.
B) Diagnoses cannot be made without them.
C) The therapist can explain the diagnosis.
D) Many psychiatric symptoms are subjective.

Question 53

In DSM, many disorders are defined in terms of cutoff point for the number of features required for a diagnosis; such cutoff points

A) are based on extensive empirical justification.
B) are often chosen with little empirical justification.
C) are usually set at a low threshold to increase the number of diagnosed cases.
D) are usually set at a high threshold to decrease the number of diagnosed cases.

Question 54

Which of the following disorders have especially low diagnostic reliability?

A) anxiety disorders, substance use disorders, mood disorders
B) schizophrenic disorders, mood disorders, personality disorders
C) substance use disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, manic episodes
D) schizotypal personality disorder, histrionic personality, dependent personality disorder

Question 55

You are part of a team designing a study to see if a given DSM category tends to run in families. With regards to validity your team is looking for evidence of

A) genetic validity.
B) test-retest validity.
C) reliable validity.
D) etiological validity.

Question 56

A psychologist wants to obtain a measure of children's attention spans under quiet conditions. She arranges for a group of children to meet individually with a research assistant who reads each child a list of numbers and then asks the child to repeat the numbers in reverse order. A week later the children repeat this task. The psychologist finds that the scores that each child received at week one and at week two tend to be very similar. She concludes that this test has high

A) validity.
B) split-half reliability.
C) interrater reliability.
D) test-retest reliability.

Question 57

A clinical psychologist is interviewing a client and asks a series of questions. Later the same psychologist interviews another client and asks the same series of questions in the same order. What type of interview is the psychologist using?

A) primary interview
B) objective interview
C) projective interview
D) structured interview

Question 58

According to the National Comorbidity Survey, what percentage of people who qualify for a diagnosis of one mental disorder in their lifetime are likely to meet the criteria for two or more disorders?

A) less than 5 percent
B) almost 100 percent
C) a little more than 50 percent
D) no more than 20 percent

Question 59

Videotapes of 10-year-old children are being used to determine if their social interactions are related to the development of schizophrenia in adulthood. What type of validity is the focus of interest here?

A) prognostic validity
B) predictive validity
C) concurrent validity
D) test-retest validity

Question 60

Why do researchers conducting epidemiological studies often employ structured interviews?

A) to reduce the need for value judgments
B) to reduce the need to establish rapport
C) to increase the validity of diagnostic decisions
D) to increase the reliability of diagnostic decisions

Question 61

Self-monitoring refers to

A) clinicians looking out for their own biases.
B) children learning to regulate their own behavior.
C) adult clients keeping records of their own behavior.
D) the importance of the clinician's presence in formal observation.

Question 62

Using observation as part of a clinical interview can help the interviewer to

A) confirm the person's self-report.
B) question the person's self-report.
C) both confirm and question the person's self-report.
D) neither confirm nor question, because observation is a different assessment procedure.

Question 63

Several questions on the MMPI-2 contain questions that almost everyone is likely to answer in the same way; these questions are included to catch unsophisticated attempts to avoid answering honestly and are scored on the

A) D or Deception Scale
B) L or Lie Scale
C) T or Truth Scale
D) O or Obfuscation Scale

Question 64

Reactivity refers to the

A) effects of personal judgment on observers' ratings.
B) tendency for observers to rate less severity over time.
C) tendency for a person to change her behavior when she knows she is being observed.
D) tendency for a person to reveal less in a structured interview than on a questionnaire.

Question 65

A psychologist is reviewing results of the MMPI-2 test administered to a client who was mandated by a judge to seek therapy. The psychologist is concerned that the client may not have answered the questions consistently and honestly. Which part of the MMPI-2 will be of special interest to this psychologist?

A) validity scales
B) actuarial scales
C) projective scales
D) reliability scales

Question 66

What is one of the limitations of structured interviews?

A) There is no room for clinical judgment.
B) They are based only on open-ended questions.
C) Information provided by the client can be distorted.
D) The interviewer cannot control the course of the interview.

Question 67

Projective tests

A) are objectively scored.
B) are used mostly by cognitive behavioral therapists.
C) involve the presentation of stimuli that elicit standardized responses.
D) involve the presentation of ambiguous stimuli.

Question 68

A researcher wants to compare the use of rating scales to behavioral coding systems. After making the comparison, he concludes that behavioral coding systems tend to

A) be less reliable.
B) be more qualitative.
C) require more subjective judgment.
D) require less inference by the observer.

Question 69

What is the primary assumption of projective personality tests?

A) Self-report checklists are more efficient than interviews.
B) Visual processing errors often indicate a schizophrenic process.
C) Individuals would project unconscious feelings onto ambiguous stimuli.
D) A person's future goals reveal a lot about motivation, emotion, and personality.

Question 70

Carol is asked to complete a questionnaire made up of more than 500 true-false items. What test is she taking?

A) Visual Analogue Test
B) Thematic Apperception Test
C) Wechsler Adult Intelligence Test
D) Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory

Question 71

An actuarial procedure of interpretation of psychological tests relies on

A) subjective ratings of clinical interviews.
B) current behavior rather than past behavior.
C) psychoanalytic interpretation of test results.
D) probability statements derived from empirical research.

Question 72

After reviewing the manual for scoring the MMPI-2, Elizabeth decides that the scoring can best be described as

A) reactive.
B) objective.
C) subjective.
D) projective.

Question 73

What is one of the limitations of the MMPI-2 as a personality measure?

A) It relies on subjective scoring.
B) It is limited to use with the normal personality.
C) There is little research on its reliability or validity.
D) People who are acutely psychotic often have difficulty reading and comprehending.

Question 74

Ray is suspicious and has the unrelenting delusion that agents of a foreign government are following him with the intention of killing him. If administered the MMPI-2 you expect that Ray would have a high score on the scale measuring

A) Hysteria.
B) Paranoia.
C) Ego Identity.
D) Narrow-mindedness.

Question 75

An advantage of the MMPI-2 in clinical assessment is that it

A) provides an in-depth measure of a small number of critical dimensions.
B) gives the clinician ample opportunity to ask additional questions.
C) covers a wide range of problems in an efficient manner.
D) allows clinicians to include their own professional judgments.

Question 76

A psychologist administers a series of projective tests to a client. Which major theoretical orientation is most consistent with this psychologist's preference in assessment methods?

A) behavioral
B) biological
C) humanistic
D) psychodynamic

Question 77

One empirical finding about the MMPI-2 scales is that an individual's scores change over time. This could be an indication

A) of the scales' lack of reliability.
B) of the scales' sensitivity to changes in personality.
C) both a and b
D) none of the above are correct.

Question 78

A client is asked to respond to items such as "How much distress do your obsessive thoughts cause you?" by using numbers from 0 to What type of assessment is being used?

A) rating scale
B) behavioral coding
C) projective testing
D) self-report inventory

Question 79

What is the benefit of personality tests in psychological assessment?

A) the same stimuli are used every time the test is given
B) it is more useful to assess personality than specific behaviors
C) people are generally unable to describe their own personalities
D) they don't have to be administered and interpreted by trained clinicians

Question 80

Alice has been experiencing a number of symptoms of anxiety for several months. A psychologist decides to assess her symptoms by using a behavioral coding system. What is Alice likely to be asked to do?

A) evaluate the symbolism of each of her symptoms
B) record the presence of specific symptoms during 30-minute segments throughout the day
C) rate the level of anxiety she feels on a scale ranging from very anxious to not anxious
D) discuss her symptoms while a psychologist checks instruments designed to measure her pulse and breathing