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Quiz Session - Attempts With Random Questions

ASPPB EPPP Exam Questions

Page 8 of 53

141.

Jane is driving to work along her usual route, one she has used for many years. On the way, she notices a new coffee shop and is immediately interested in trying it. According to research, which of these two situations is more likely to involve executive functioning?

  • The new coffee shop

  • The drive to work

  • Equally likely

Correct answer: The new coffee shop

According to Shallice (1990) and others, executive functioning is the higher integrative processing apparatus of the mind and is activated in unfamiliar circumstances. Thus, the new coffee shop is much more likely to involve executive functioning than the routine drive to work.

142.

Joseph is a career counselor who sees a career as a process throughout life, with work choices highly correlated to various stages in which people see themselves as filling various roles. 

Which of the following theories does Joseph reflect? 

  • Super's career and life development theory

  • Gottfredson's theory of circumscription and compromise

  • Holland's personality and environmental typology

Correct answer: Super's career and life development theory

According to Super's career and life development theory, people see themselves in various life spaces, or age- and life-stage dependent roles. A career, according to this view, is a function of one's place along a continuum of age: 

  • growth (4-13 years) 
  • exploration (14-24 years) 
  • establishment (25-44 years) 
  • maintenance (45-65 years) 
  • disengagement (65+) 

A person's choice of career, according to Super, depends on how they see themselves in this continuum.

Neither Gottfredson's theory of circumscription and compromise nor Holland's personality and environmental typology deal with career choice in this developmental way. 

143.

Which of the following is false about sexism?

  • It is not directed at men

  • It addresses identified sex

  • It addresses discrimination 

Correct answer: It is not directed at men

Sexism is a term that references discrimination against men or women. It addresses the identified sex of individuals in an unfair, prejudicial, stigmatizing, or another negative way. It has broad cultural and structural components, such as the differential treatment of boys and girls in educational environments. 

144.

Which factor separates clinical supervision from consultation?

  • Evaluation of the clinical work of another

  • Cooperation across agencies on specific issues

  • Clinical research in professional settings

  • Difference in experience level 

Correct answer: Evaluation of the clinical work of another

Clinical supervision and consultation have a lot in common, but one major difference can be used to distinguish them easily. According to Bernard and Goodyear (2009), the most important distinction is whether it is necessary to evaluate another's clinical work. In supervision, evaluation of another's work is required, whereas this is not an expectation in consultation. 

Cooperation across agencies and clinical research might happen in both clinical supervision and consultation scenarios. In most supervision and consultation situations, the person providing the supervision or the consultation is likely to be of a different experience level than the person being supervised or the person seeking consultation.

145.

Which hypothesis suggests that altruism is evoked by the desire to help someone who is suffering?

  • Empathy-altruism

  • Egoism

  • Bystander effect

  • Principlism 

Correct answer: Empathy-altruism

The empathy-altruism hypothesis posits that feelings of concern for someone else are contrasted with personal distress, which leads people to act on something that will decrease their negative emotions. People experience distress when they witness someone else experiencing suffering, and so they engage in altruism to alleviate their distress. 

Egoism is a type of altruism that is motivated by benefit to the self. The bystander effect states that people are less likely to help when others are present, and principlism is the concept of helping others to uphold a moral principle.

146.

According to Heider, people tend to overestimate what type of factors?

  • Dispositional

  • External

  • Situational

  • Random

Correct answer: Dispositional

According to Fritz Heider, people tend to overestimate dispositional factors such as personality, attitudes, and motives. People also tend to underestimate situational factors such as random chance and social norms. This is known as the fundamental attribution error.

Heider stated that people tend to underestimate, not overestimate, external, situational, and random factors.

147.

Which of the following characterizes the medication memantine?

  • Slows the progression of Alzheimer's disease

  • Restores organized thought for those with psychotic disorders

  • Is a first-line agent for severe depression

  • Can only be prescribed to children

Correct answer: Slows the progression of Alzheimer's disease

Memantine (Namenda) is a medication that is sometimes used to slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease. It works by regulating glutamate, an important transmitter for brain function that can cause cell death at high levels. Side effects of memantine include dizziness, constipation, and headaches.

148.

A new advertisement for a cell phone shows two attractive people talking to each other on their new phones. The two people then agree to meet in person, realize they have the same phone, and fall in love. In this example, what is the conditioned stimulus?

  • The cell phone being advertised

  • The pleasant feelings associated with the advertisement

  • The attractive couple

  • The result of falling in love

Correct answer: The cell phone being advertised

Most advertisements aim to use some type of classical conditioning, in which a conditioned stimulus (i.e., the cell phone being advertised) is associated with an unconditioned stimulus (i.e., an attractive couple), eventually leading to an unconditioned response (i.e., pleasant feelings in the viewer). This type of cognitive learning situation is used widely in the advertising and marketing worlds.

149.

A psychologist is meeting with a client for individual therapy. The client struggles to form meaningful friendships and romantic relationships with others and cannot understand why it is so difficult. When exploring the client's childhood, the psychologist discovers that the client's father died when they were six weeks old, and the client's mother was severely depressed for the first three years of the client's life.

Which of the following is the most likely explanation for the client's difficulties with relationships?

  • The client is likely to have attachment problems that contribute to relationship dysfunction.

  • The client is choosing partners with a different attachment style from their own, causing conflict.

  • Because there is a strong genetic component to depression, the client most likely suffers from depression, which is negatively impacting relationships. 

  • The client lacked appropriate language development before the age of three due to his mother's depression and has difficulty communicating.

Correct answer: The client is likely to have attachment problems that contribute to relationship dysfunction.

Attachment refers to the emotional bond between a child and primary caregivers. Healthy, secure attachment depends on at least one relationship in the first two years of life with a primary caregiver who is responsive and sensitive. Individuals' models for relationships depend heavily on the attachment formation during early childhood. 

This client may find that as they explore their early relationship with their mother, they will gain awareness of the various reasons that make relationships difficult. The other options are not the best answer. Perhaps the client is choosing partners with a different attachment style, but it appears that attachment problems in general are causing relationship dysfunction. The client could also suffer from depression because of genetics, but attachment problems are more likely to cause the dysfunction. While delayed language development could be a problem in early childhood, this is likely to have resolved by adulthood. 

150.

You are working as the director of a community mental health center, and many of your clients are low-income individuals with depression. Your agency offers therapy services, and you also employ a psychiatrist who can prescribe psychotropic medications. Stakeholders approach you because they are concerned about the costs of treatment for your client population.

What would you tell them is the best approach to keeping costs low while also delivering quality services to the community?

  • Explain that a combination of therapy and medication is the most cost-effective option due to benefits to patients.

  • Tell them you allow patients to determine the best treatment, since they tend to engage in their own cost-benefit analysis.

  • Encourage them to promote therapy-only approaches for clients, since they are lower cost.

  • Assure them that you're moving toward only offering group therapy since it allows you to serve multiple patients at once.

Correct answer: Explain that a combination of therapy and medication is the most cost-effective option due to benefits to patients.

A cost-effectiveness analysis is performed to determine the most cost-effective policies for provision of services. In this case, the best thing you can do to keep costs low is to offer a combination of therapy and medication to patients. While this may cost more than therapy alone, the benefits to patients in terms of reduction in depression symptoms and improvement in quality of life make the combined approach a more reasonable investment for the healthcare system.

While patients tend to engage in their own cost-benefit analysis, it's not always based on accurate information.

Therapy-only approaches may be cheaper but would not deliver the same benefits as both therapy and medication.

Offering only group therapy would not be appropriate, as clients could reasonably require individual services, and group services may not meet their needs. This could result in recidivism, lack of symptom improvement, etc., all of which could increase healthcare costs.

151.

How does the Cannon-Bard theory differ from the James-Lange theory of emotion?

  • The Cannon-Bard theory posits that emotion leads to physiological changes, while the James-Lange theory proposes the opposite

  • The Cannon-Bard theory applies to situations involving fear or anger, while the James-Lange theory applies to more nuanced emotions

  • The Cannon-Bard theory typically can only apply to animals, while the James-Lange theory can be generalized to humans

  • The Cannon-Bard theory proposes that individuals carefully appraise a situation before reacting, while the James-Lange theory is based on instinct

Correct answer: The Cannon-Bard theory posits that emotion leads to physiological changes, while the James-Lange theory proposes the opposite

There are several theories that attempt to explain the emotional experience. The James-Lange theory proposes that an individual experiences physiological arousal and increased autonomic activity, then concludes that they are experiencing the emotion. The Cannon-Bard theory proposes that an individual first processes the event and experiences the emotion, which leads to changes in their autonomic state.

152.

Becky is a psychologist interested in the reliability of her assessment of introversion in teenagers. She administered three interchangeable instruments to the same group of participants about a month apart. Based on this testing practice, what measure of reliability is Becky interested in establishing? 

  • Alternate-form reliability coefficient

  • Split-half reliability coefficient

  • Internal-consistency reliability coefficient

Correct answer: Alternate-form reliability coefficient

By administering various forms at various times and noting the variance in results, Becky is interested in the alternate-form reliability coefficient, which is a measure of how using alternate forms of the same testing instrument indicates the validity of one or more of those instruments. 

A split-half reliability coefficient is a way of indicating instrument reliability without the need for parallel forms, as is an internal-consistency reliability coefficient. Both of these use items from one instrumental iteration to formulate a measure of reliability.

153.

At what point do regulations take effect in the psychologist-client relationship?

  • The moment the client expresses interest in services

  • After payment terms are arranged

  • After the client has come in for an assessment 

  • After the client signs the informed consent document 

Correct answer: The moment the client expresses interest in services

As soon as a client expresses interest in receiving services from the psychologist, regulations begin to take effect. These include obtaining consent and protecting confidentiality through the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). From this point forward, psychologists have a responsibility to the client to ensure their privacy is not compromised and that they are fully aware of the course of treatment and the psychologist's range of abilities.

Regulations should take effect before payment terms are arranged to ensure the client is fully informed before agreeing to treatment. Regulations are also in play before the assessment is conducted, as the psychologist must follow ethical regulations when engaging the client in services and performing the assessment. Finally, since the requirement for informed consent is a regulation in and of itself, it does not make sense to say that regulations take effect after the document is signed. 

154.

A concerned parent approaches you on the street, recognizing you as a local psychologist. Having previously encouraged their adult child to come see you, the parent asks you if the child followed through and is now seeing you for therapy. You are seeing the adult child, and they have not signed a release of information for the parent.

Which of the following would be the best way for you to respect the client's confidentiality rights?

  • Tell the parent that, due to confidentiality laws, you can neither confirm nor deny that you're seeing their child.

  • Tell the parent that you aren't seeing their child, to protect the client's confidentiality.

  • Tell the parent you are seeing their child, to alleviate the parent's concerns.

  • Call the client and ask if you can share their treatment information with the parent.

Correct answer: Tell the parent that, due to confidentiality laws, you can neither confirm nor deny that you're seeing their child.

Psychologists are ethically obligated to uphold client confidentiality. This means you cannot discuss a client's treatment, or even tell someone you're seeing a client, without the client's permission. The best option is to neither confirm nor deny that the client is seeking treatment from you.

Telling the parent that you aren't seeing the child would be dishonest, and it also would involve giving the parent information about their child, which you should not do. This is why neither confirming nor denying is the best option.

Telling the parent you are seeing their child is a violation of confidentiality, and calling the client to ask permission is not the best option either. Ideally, you would have already discussed confidentiality rights at the onset of treatment and obtained permission from the client to contact people like family.

155.

Aptitude tests are often used for which of the following?

  • Job placement programs

  • IQ tests

  • Academic achievement assessments

  • Neuropsychological assessments

Correct answer: Job placement programs

Aptitude tests typically include subtests that assess an individual's aptitude (potential to learn different skills). They are often used for job placement programs or vocational counseling. One example is the General Aptitude Test Battery, developed by the United States Employment Service.

Aptitude tests are not used to test an individual's intelligence quotient (IQ); they are not measures of academic achievement or a form of neuropsychological assessment.

156.

James has severe schizophrenia and historically has not demonstrated medication compliance with his atypical antipsychotic. His insight is poor, and he rarely presents for care until he enters a psychotic crisis. What is an effective way to help him with this issue?

  • Advocate for long-acting medication

  • Change to a first-generation antipsychotic

  • Suggest naturopathic remedies

Correct answer: Advocate for long-acting medication

Those with thought disorders not only have poor insight into their illness and its causes but also avoid treatment for various reasons, including personal, psychosocial, or the illness itself. Although every effort should be made continually to reach James and educate him about his need for treatment—as his active engagement and compliance would be the most desirable solution—the most effective remedy is long-acting medication.

Changing to a first-generation antipsychotic may or may not be effective. No known naturopathic remedy will help James with severe schizophrenia or prevent a mental health crisis. 

157.

Why might psychologists in institutional settings stay compliant with CE requirements with relative ease?

  • There are more opportunities for lectures and rounds

  • They receive reminders from their employers

  • They receive CE credit for working in an institutional setting

  • Their supervisors are often licensed to issue CEs

Correct answer: There are more opportunities for lectures and rounds

Psychologists in institutional settings may stay compliant with CE requirements more easily because there are usually numerous opportunities for rounds and lectures at the workplace. There is also a higher likelihood of both formal and informal peer consultation.

Psychologists in institutional settings do not necessarily receive reminders from employers. Clinical psychologists do not receive CE credit simply for working in an institutional setting. Psychologists' supervisors might be licensed to issue CEs for giving certain presentations or training sessions, but this is not the best answer.

158.

Why is interrater reliability important in psychological research?

  • It ensures that information is coded correctly

  • It guarantees that items on two tests measure the same psychological constructs

  • It ensures that risk factors are identified

  • It measures external influences on the study

Correct answer: It ensures that information is coded correctly

Interrater reliability ensures that information is coded correctly. For example, raters are often asked to code behaviors of study participants, and two raters must be familiar with the codes to the point that they assign the same codes to the same behaviors.

Interrater reliability has to do with the relationship between data measured by two different raters. It does not guarantee that items on two tests measure the same psychological constructs or that risk factors are identified. It also does not measure external influences on the study.

159.

Paul is working with a client who is concerned about her work life. She is highly anxious about an upcoming interview for a senior position and says, "If I don't get this promotion, I will never get a chance again." 

Following Aaron Beck's theory, what kind of cognitive distortion is this? 

  • Dichotomous thinking 

  • Personalization

  • Overgeneralization

Correct answer: Dichotomous thinking 

Aaron Beck's cognitive therapy (CT) involves identifying cognitive distortions, which are flawed patterns of thinking and belief with an emotional component. In this case, the client is enacting dichotomous thinking (all-or-nothing ideas that tend to dramatize the world unnecessarily).

Personalization consists of taking neutral data from the environment and applying them to oneself. Overgeneralization is taking a small, observed set of data about the world and externalizing it to the entire world. 

160.

The site of primary auditory processing is located in what part of the brain?

  • The superior temporal gyrus

  • The parietal lobe

  • The cerebellum

  • The hippocampus

Correct answer: The superior temporal gyrus

Auditory processing takes place in the superior temporal gyrus, which is a division of the temporal lobe. This region inputs frequencies detected by the inner ear and interprets these sounds to the brain.

The parietal lobes are the site of primary somatosensory processing, such as the detection of touch, pressure, and pain in the post-central gyrus. The cerebellum is primarily concerned with the regulation of movement and some cognitive functions. The hippocampus is critical for memory formation.

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