Question 1

What type of research enabled psychopathologists to discover that Attention-deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder is more common in boys than in girls?

Accepted Answer

A) case study 
B) epidemiological 
C) experimental 
D) correlational

Question 2

Dr.Dominguez conducted a study of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.She developed a new medication that was significantly better than placebo in treating the disorder,but this effect was not found in a similar study conducted in another laboratory.Dr.Dominguez's study has __________ internal validity and __________ external validity.

Accepted Answer

A) high; high 
B) high; low 
C) low; high 
D) low; low

Question 3

Dr.Samuelson finds that the relation between level of hopelessness and suicide is .35,and there is a less than 5 in 100 probability that this was found by chance alone.What would be concluded about this correlation?

Accepted Answer

A) It demonstrates that suicide attempts cause hopelessness. 
B) It is statistically significant. 
C) It is unreliable. 
D) It is valid.

Question 4

In correlational studies it can be hard to show which variable led to a change in the other variable.This is a problem with

Accepted Answer

A) directionality. 
B) cross-fostering. 
C) incidence. 
D) clinical significance.

Question 5

"About 2% of adults have obsessive-compulsive disorder." This is a statement about the __________ of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Accepted Answer

A) incidence 
B) prevalence 
C) risk factor 
D) correlation coefficient

Question 6

Eric is concerned about the distribution of schizophrenia in a particular city.To answer his question he would have to look at the findings of a(n)__________ study.

Accepted Answer

A) epidemiological research 
B) episodic research 
C) occasional research 
D) representative research

Question 7

Dr.Lee has been treating someone with an unusual combination of symptoms.He notes that there is no published research on such a combination of symptoms,and considers developing a case study.How would Dr.Lee conduct this study?

Accepted Answer

A) Try to find other cases like the one he is treating. 
B) Gather detailed historical and biographical information on this single individual. 
C) Examine treatment response using an ABAB design. 
D) Withhold treatment in an effort to fully understand the significance of symptoms.

Question 8

Lenny is enrolled in a study examining the psychological treatment of phobias.He sees a therapist weekly and receives support and encouragement,but no gradual exposure.Lenny is most likely in

Accepted Answer

A) a treatment group. 
B) a placebo control group. 
C) an independent variable group. 
D) a low severity group.

Question 9

If a correlation between depressive symptoms and active treatment is clinically significant this means

Accepted Answer

A) the effect is large enough to provide reliability information. 
B) the effect is large enough to provide meaningful information in predicting or treating depression. 
C) it is not statistically significant. 
D) that causation can be implied.

Question 10

Dr.Wilhelm randomly assigned 50 depressed patients (half women and half men)to two groups for treatment.One group received medication and the other received cognitive therapy.Ratings of the depression level of the subjects were taken before and after treatment.The rating of subjects' depression level is the

Accepted Answer

A) dependent variable. 
B) confound variable. 
C) third variable. 
D) independent variable.

Question 11

Researchers went door to door conducting structured diagnostic interviews to determine how common particular psychiatric diagnoses were.Which type of research was this?

Accepted Answer

A) case studies 
B) epidemiological 
C) correlational 
D) experimental

Question 12

Statistical significance is used to evaluate

Accepted Answer

A) the causal relationship between variables. 
B) the external validity of research results. 
C) the likelihood of repeating research results. 
D) the theoretical consistency of research results.

Question 13

Chris is suffering from a migraine headache.His mother gives him a small white pill to take and tells him that it is a new medication specifically for migraines.After taking the pill,Chris reports feeling a bit better.The pill was actually just a breath mint.This phenomenon is an example of

Accepted Answer

A) misdirection. 
B) malingering. 
C) the placebo effect. 
D) the hopefulness principle.

Question 14

When examining a scatter diagram,the __________ scattered the points are distributed,the __________the correlation.

Accepted Answer

A) more; lower 
B) more; more stable 
C) less; lower 
D) less; more stable

Question 15

The single subject ABAB design cannot be used to study behaviors that

Accepted Answer

A) are not prevalent in the population. 
B) do not return to baseline. 
C) are highly reactive. 
D) have highly heritable components.

Question 16

In research using the twin method,a disorder is heritable if the concordance is __________ in DZ compared to MZ twins is

Accepted Answer

A) absent. 
B) higher. 
C) the same. 
D) lower.

Question 17

If variables were found to be unrelated their correlation coefficient would be:

Accepted Answer

A) -1.00 
B) 0.00 
C) +1.00 
D) None of the above

Question 18

A good theory should

Accepted Answer

A) be incapable of being proven wrong. 
B) make sense of obscure phenomena. 
C) develop directly out of observations. 
D) explain cause-effect relationships.

Question 19

Dr.Smart conducted a study that examined the physiological reactions of rats reared in isolation to the introduction of a stranger rat in their cage.She wanted to examine the effects of growing up in isolation on social behavior in order to understand more about social phobia in humans.This study is an example of

Accepted Answer

A) an analogue experiment. 
B) a correlational design. 
C) an experimental design. 
D) none of the above.

Question 20

A risk factor may be best defined as

Accepted Answer

A) the likelihood that a disorder will be found in another culture. 
B) the likelihood of contracting a disorder in a given time period. 
C) the proportion of a population that has a disorder now. 
D) a characteristic that increases the likelihood of developing a disorder.

Exam 4: Research Methods in Psychopathology