_1. The essential difference between traits and states is that:
A) traits are enduring whereas states are temporary.
B) traits cause variations in behavior and states cause variation in personality.
C) traits can be inferred from behavior but states cannot.
D) traits are innate to the person and states are developed through interaction with the environment.
 
2. Which of the following theories places the most emphasis on identifying individual differences and is least concerned with explaining human behavior?
A) humanistic
B) social-cognitive
C) trait
D) psychodynamic
 
3. Generally, the goal of trait theorists is to identify the most basic personality dimensions, called ______ traits.
A) surface
B) central
C) fundamental
D) deep
 
4. Why is the Big-Five theory generally preferred over Cattell's or Eysenck's trait theories today?
A) The traits proposed by the Big-Five theory both describe and explain psychological differences in personality and behavior.
B) Cattell's theory grossly oversimplifies personality and Eysenck's theory overcomplicates personality.
C) Both Cattell's and Eysenck's theories have been found to possess little utility in clinical and research settings.
D) The Big-Five theory reflects the highly consistent results of newer factor-analytic methods applied to data from several countries, in many languages, and from children as well as adults.
 
5. Tabetha is extremely adventurous, enjoying sky diving and white water kayaking. According to Eysenck's trait theory of personality, Tabetha's interests indicate she has a tendency toward:
A) extroversion.
B) introversion.
C) neuroticism.
D) stability.
 
6. Research on the stability of personality traits over time generally suggests that:
A) introverts become extroverted later in life.
B) neuroticism steadily increases over one's lifetime.
C) there is considerable variability in most central personality traits during adulthood.
D) there is considerable stability in central personality traits, especially after the age of 30.
 
7. What aspect of novel situations or life transitions likely allows personality differences to be revealed?
A) the liberation of the individual from his or her usual defensive style
B) the absence of behavioral inhibition
C) the scarcity of cues for appropriate action
D) the common influences of learned, socially agreed-upon behavioral norms
 
8. Social-cognitive theorist Walter Mischel argued against the concept of global traits by providing evidence that supposedly trait-related behavior is relatively:
A) consistent within a given context but is relatively inconsistent across different types of contexts.
B) consistent across different types of contexts but is relatively inconsistent within a given context.
C) consistent both across different types of contexts and within a given context but is inconsistent in terms of the motives involved.
D) inconsistent both across different types of contexts and within a given context.
 
9. The fact that traits can be found that yield statistically significant degrees of cross-situational generality is most important to ______ theorists, while the fact that traits show a considerable degree of situational specificity is most important to ______ theorists.
A) social-cognitive; trait
B) trait; social-cognitive
C) trait; humanistic
D) social-cognitive; trait
 
10. Physiological evidence has demonstrated that introverts react more strongly to intense stimuli than do extroverts. This differential reactivity is thought to be due to differential sensitivity of brain systems to:
A) sodium.
B) sensory input.
C) motor tension.
D) arousal.
 
11. Eysenck claims that differences among people along the dimension of introversion-extroversion are ultimately due to:
A) socialization differences among people, which emphasize relatively active or relatively passive reactions to problems.
B) physiological differences among people, which determine how easily the central nervous system is aroused by external stimulation.
C) the kinds of information-processing strategies they typically choose.
D) the degree of attention that people choose to pay to novel stimuli.
 
12. David Lykken gave personality tests to twins separated in infancy and raised apart, as well as twins raised in the same home. He found that:
A) whether they were raised together or apart, the identical twins showed more similarity to one another than did the fraternal twins.
B) the identical twins raised apart showed less similarity to one another than did the fraternal twins raised together.
C) the identical twins showed more similarity to one another than did fraternal twins when raised together but not when raised apart.
D) none of the twins showed more similarity to one another than other studies have found among nontwin siblings.
 
13. Which of the following questions would an individual interested in an ultimate explanation of differences among people's personalities be most likely to ask?
A) How are people with different genes different from one another in terms of personality?
B) How might personality differences help people survive longer and have more offspring than they would if all people had the same personalities?
C) How will children growing up in poverty-stricken environments differ in personality from children growing up in resource-rich environments?
D) What should an individual do to make it more likely that his or her personality will develop to its fullest genetic potential?
 
14. Cheetahs and rhinoceroses share overlapping territories in the African savanna, but they eat different foods and are active during slightly different parts of the day. A biologist would say they ______, a concept that psychologists have borrowed to help account for personality differences.
A) have a predator-prey relationship
B) are territorially cooperative
C) are in indirect competition with each other
D) occupy separate niches
 
15. What are some ways by which the personality-forming environment of children raised in the same family may differ?
A) Chance events lead to different experiences for different children.
B) The choices of friends and activities that children make may differ based on preexisting personality differences.
C) Children may have different interpretations of the same objective life events.
D) all of the above
 
16. A couple has two sons. Tim, the older son, identifies most with his father. On the basis of ______, we would predict that the younger brother, Tom, identifies most with his ______.
A) split-parent identification; mother
B) split-parent identification; father
C) sibling contrast; mother
D) sibling contrast; father
 
17. According to Feingold's cross-cultural analysis, on which of the following Big-Five dimensions did men and women not differ significantly?
A) conscientiousness-undirectedness
B) extroversion-introversion
C) neuroticism-stability
D) agreeableness-antagonism
 
18. The basis for Freud's belief that posthypnotic suggestion illustrates the relationship between the conscious and the unconscious mind is that the hypnotized subject:
A) performs the suggested act but is not conscious of doing so.
B) becomes conscious of the impulse to perform the suggested act after the act has begun and then makes a conscious decision about whether or not to continue.
C) is consciously aware that the hypnotist has suggested a specific act but performs the act unconsciously.
D) is conscious of the impulse to perform the suggested act and performs the act consciously, but has no conscious memory of the hypnotist's suggestion.
 
19. Which of the following types of clues did Freud use to learn about the contents of a patient's unconscious mind?
A) dreams
B) slips of the tongue
C) uncensored reporting of the patient's thoughts
D) all of the above
 
20. According to Freud, the most powerful sources of unconscious motivation are:
A) the sex drive and aggression.
B) fear and insecurity.
C) hunger and the sex drive.
D) anxiety and guilt.
 
21. Post-Freudian psychodynamic theorists tend to place more emphasis than Freud did on the role of ______ in personality development.
A) anxiety
B) aggression
C) social needs
D) sexual needs
 
22. Alfred Adler believed that failure to overcome feelings of inferiority stemming from childhood helplessness may result in:
A) an inferiority complex that involves feelings of dependency and inadequacy.
B) a superiority complex that entails a continuing effort to prove oneself better than other people.
C) a narcissistic personality.
D) either a. or b.
 
23. Louise unconsciously hates her sister Karen but avidly follows Karen's successful career and provides devoted support whenever Karen seems to need it. Louise is apparently employing the defense mechanism known as:
A) displacement.
B) projection.
C) rationalization.
D) reaction formation.
 
24. Although Greg was raised to believe that using drugs was wrong, his friends convinced him to smoke marijuana last Saturday night. In order to feel better about the incident, Greg told himself that it really wasn't a drug, but a natural plant, and that human beings have been smoking tobacco plants for centuries. Greg is using the Freudian defense mechanism known as ______ in order to alleviate his anxiety.
A) suppression
B) rationalization
C) reaction formation
D) displacement
 
25. George Vaillant compared men whom he categorized as having immature, intermediate, or mature defensive styles. He found that, as a group, those who used mature defenses:
A) did not differ from the other groups in their level of life satisfaction.
B) were rated higher than the other groups on measures of success in love but not in work.
C) were rated higher than the other groups on measures of success in work but not in love.
D) were rated higher than the other groups on measures of success in love and work and in self-reported happiness.
 
26. Julian Rotter proposed that, with experience, people acquire a feeling about whether rewards are usually determined by their own personal effort or by other forces. He describes people who are confident that their efforts will pay off as having:
A) introversion.
B) an internal locus of control.
C) an unrealistic sense of self-efficacy.
D) maladaptive optimism.
 
27. People who score toward the external end of Rotter's locus of control scale (as compared to those scoring toward the internal end) are, on average, more likely to:
A) take preventive health care measures.
B) be anxious and discontent with life.
C) resist group pressures to conform in a laboratory test.
D) do all of the above.
 
28. A person who feels very competent, but who believes that competence is not rewarded, could be said to have an ______ locus of control and ______ self-efficacy.
A) internal; high
B) internal; low
C) external; high
D) external; low
 
29. According to your textbook, the most likely explanation of why optimism seems to be positively related to successful coping is that optimism:
A) is a component of an internal locus of control, and it is this locus of control that prompts greater coping efforts.
B) is just a consequence itself of healthy adjustment, and it is healthy adjustment rather than optimism that accounts for the effect.
C) leads people to devote greater attention and effort to coping.
D) leads people to interpret their coping as more successful than it objectively is.
 
30. Two high school boys are told about the dangers of drinking and driving. One of them says it could never happen to him. He is exhibiting:
A) adaptive optimism.
B) maladaptive optimism.
C) adaptive pessimism.
D) maladaptive pessimism.
 
31. In her paper, Rita maintains that "a person is not simply the sum of instinct plus experience, or of drives plus defenses; a person is a unified entity that strives toward goals that characterize the whole person." Rita is most likely an adherent of ______ personality theories.
A) psychodynamic
B) trait
C) social cognitive
D) humanistic
 
32. Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of human needs moves upward from physiological needs at the bottom to ______ needs at the top.
A) safety
B) attachment
C) esteem
D) self-actualization
 
33. What is a personality trait? Distinguish between surface traits and central traits. Describe the general approach that trait theorists have used to uncover central personality traits. Then briefly describe the pioneering work of either Cattell or Eysenck's and the contemporary Big-Five theory.
 
34. Present a physiological explanation of extroversion-introversion, including relevant evidence consistent with each of them.
 
35. Discuss two major issues concerning the predictive value of traits: a) Are personality traits consistent across situations? b) Are they consistent over time? Present evidence to support your answer.
 
36. Discuss Freud's concept of the unconscious mind. Why is it a cornerstone in Freud's theory of personality? How can the contents of the unconscious mind be explored, according to Freud?
 
37. Define Rotter's concept of locus of control and Bandura's concept of self-efficacy. Are they really different concepts? Support your answer. For either locus of control or self-efficacy, present research evidence suggesting that the concept is meaningfully related to behavior.
 
38. Compare and contrast the view of human nature presented by Freud's psychoanalytic theory of personality with that presented by humanistic theories of personality.
 
39. What are the hallmarks of humanistic theories of personality? Illustrate this approach to personality through the work of Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow.
 
40. For each of the following classes of personality theories discussed in the text--trait, psychodynamic, social-cognitive, and humanistic--choose the one idea in that theory that you think is most valuable to an understanding of personality. Briefly explain each of these ideas and your reasons for choosing it.
 
41. A constellation of interrelated symptoms manifested by a given individual is referred to as a:
A) syndrome.
B) disorder.
C) diagnosis.
D) prognosis.
 
42. To say that a syndrome is clinically significant is to say that:
A) it has been shown to have a biological cause.
B) it is prevalent enough to represent a social problem.
C) a clinical psychologist can diagnose accurately which of several possible disorders the syndrome might represent.
D) the problem may be serious enough to require professional help.
 
43. Reliability of a diagnostic system refers to the extent to which:
A) the categories it includes are clinically meaningful.
B) different diagnosticians using the same system arrive at the same conclusion when diagnosing the same people.
C) different people diagnosed according to the same system suffer psychologically in similar ways.
D) similar causes in different people give rise to the same diagnosed disorder.
 
44. The purpose of DSM-III was to increase the manual's diagnostic reliability by:
A) defining mental disorders in terms of observable symptoms rather than inferred causes.
B) identifying mental disorders primarily by their causes and only secondarily by their symptoms.
C) refining the diagnostic categories of "neuroses" and "psychoses."
D) expanding the number of diagnostic categories to accommodate mental disorders not previously included.
 
45. Some researchers study whether people diagnosed with a particular mental disorder are suffering in similar ways from similar causes. These researchers are evaluating the:
A) underlying causes of the mental disorder.
B) reliability of the diagnostic system.
C) genetic predisposition to the disorder.
D) validity of the diagnostic category.
 
46. Suppose you read about an experiment in which psychotherapists watched a videotape of a man talking about his personal problems. You learn that they rated his level of adjustment far more negatively if they believed that he was a mental patient than if they believed he was not. This experiment would be highlighting the dangers of:
A) lack of reliability in diagnosis.
B) labeling.
C) lack of validity in diagnosis.
D) medical students' disease.
 
47. Mental disorders occur when mental conflicts and drives that have not been successfully resolved result in anxiety and in various mental attempts to relieve anxiety, according to the _______ perspective.
A) psychodynamic
B) cognitive
C) sociocultural
D) humanistic
 
48. If learned beliefs, habitual patterns of reacting to stress, and specific genetic traits put an individual at risk for developing a mental disorder, they would be considered ______ causes if the disorder developed.
A) predisposing
B) precipitating
C) maintaining
D) diagnostic
 
49. John has been depressed for over a year. One reason his condition has not improved is that his problem provides some benefits, such as reduced expectations of him at work and home, increased attention and sympathy from friends, and so on. These benefits could be considered:
A) precipitating causes.
B) a syndrome.
C) maintaining causes.
D) additional stressors.
 
50. According to your text, women may be diagnosed with anxiety and mood disorders more often then men for all of the following reasons except:
A) men are less inclined to report mental distress than women are.
B) men are more likely than women to repress their mental distress by abusing drugs and alcohol.
C) men are more likely than women to be made to feel responsible for events over which they have little real control.
D) mental health professionals often show a gender bias when diagnosing these disorders.
 
51. Research suggests that some people may have a genetic predisposition to generalized anxiety disorder and that the same genes may predispose them to:
A) obsessive-compulsive disorders.
B) schizophrenia.
C) major depression.
D) bipolar disorder.
 
52. Susie totally avoids walking on anything but paved surfaces outdoors because she has an intense fear of grasshoppers. Her fear of grasshoppers is irrational and powerful. Which of the following would Susie most likely be diagnosed with?
A) a simple phobia
B) agoraphobia
C) generalized anxiety disorder
D) obsessive-compulsive disorder
 
53. The most common compulsions experienced by people with obsessive-compulsive disorders are:
A) disease, disfigurement, and death.
B) financial gain or loss and sexuality.
C) talking and eating.
D) cleaning and checking.
 
54. Whenever Cheryl leaves her house in the morning, she constantly worries that she has left the iron on. She usually drives home two or three times a day to make sure that it is unplugged. Worrying about the iron represents a(n) ______ and repeatedly driving home represents a(n) ______.
A) compulsion; obsession
B) phobia; obsession
C) obsession; compulsion
D) compulsion; compulsion
 
55. An important predisposing or maintaining cause in panic disorder, one that has implications for treatment, is the tendency of sufferers to:
A) engage in ritualized behaviors in an effort to ward off their fears.
B) interpret heightened physiological arousal as the prelude to disaster.
C) underreact to normal physiological stimulants such as caffeine and lactic acid injections.
D) vividly relive traumatic events.
 
56. Posttraumatic stress disorder commonly involves all of the following except:
A) the experience of extreme and horrorific events such as torture, war, or prolonged abuse.
B) frequent and uncontrollable reliving of horrifying events.
C) unconscious denial that the horrifying events took place.
D) sleeplessness, guilt, and depression.
 
57. An individual experiencing chronic mild to moderate depressive symptoms for over a two-year or longer period would probably be diagnosed as suffering from:
A) major depression.
B) dysthymia.
C) cyclothymia.
D) double depression.
 
58. One fact that calls into question the monoamine theory of depression is that:
A) drugs that selectively increase the activity of serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine have very different clinical effects.
B) antidepressant drugs boost neurotransmitter activity immediately after being taken but must be administered for 2 or more weeks in order to affect mood.
C) monoamines play no known role in any of the specific behaviors or emotional states commonly involved in depression.
D) drugs that increase monoamine activity relieve mania but not depression.
 
59. Nesse proposes that depression may be an exaggerated form of a response that, when less extreme, is:
A) more problematic because it is less likely to elicit help and therefore more likely to become chronic.
B) experienced as fear rather than depression.
C) well accounted for by the monoamine theory.
D) actually adaptive when viewed in evolutionary terms.
 
60. According to the hopelessness theory of depression, depression-prone individuals tend to attribute their negative experiences to causes that are:
A) unstable and global.
B) unstable and specific.
C) stable and specific.
D) stable and global.
 
61. Which of the following statements is true of depression?
A) Depressed mood promotes negative thinking and withdrawal from enjoyable activities.
B) Negative thinking promotes depressed mood and withdrawal from enjoyable activities.
C) Withdrawal from enjoyable activities promotes depressed mood and negative thinking.
D) All of the above are true, together describing the vicious triangle of severe depression.
 
62. Studies have shown that there is a disproportionately high incidence of ______ in highly creative people and that they often produce their best work while in a ______ episode.
A) bipolar disorder; manic
B) bipolar disorder; depressive
C) cyclothymia; manic
D) cyclothymia; depressive
 
63. Depending on prevailing beliefs, the same underlying problem may be expressed as ______ in one culture or time period and as ______ in another.
A) a mood disorder; an anxiety disorder
B) schizophrenia; somatization disorder
C) a sociocultural disorder; a genuine physical disorder
D) a mood or anxiety disorder; a somatoform disorder
 
64. Adriana has seen some grim things during her country's civil war. Though there is no organic cause, she experiences paralysis which keeps her confined to bed in her small home. Adriana appears to be suffering from:
A) agoraphobia.
B) obsessive-compulsive disorder.
C) conversion disorder.
D) dissociative identity disorder.
 
65. The underlying factor that seems to be responsible for the relationship between Type A behavior and heart disease is:
A) a hurried lifestyle.
B) negative emotions.
C) intense job involvement.
D) a suppressed immune function.
 
66. Research has shown that there is ______ type of alcohol dependence and that heritability for alcohol dependence is ______.
A) only one; not well established by research
B) only one; higher for some ethnic groups than for others
C) more than one; higher for some times than for others
D) more than one; equal for all types identified
 
67. The cognitive model of alcoholism proposed by M. Lynne Cooper suggests that the predisposing causes of alcoholism consist of:
A) learned adverse responses to society's rules.
B) learned beliefs that alcohol makes a person more sociable, powerful, and sexually vital.
C) learned avoidance of positive emotions.
D) all of the above.
 
68. In a carefully documented study of dissociative identity disorder, Philip Coons and his colleagues found that the disorder occurs primarily among:
A) women who were severely abused in childhood.
B) men who were severely abused in childhood.
C) women with attention and concentration deficits.
D) men with attention and concentration deficits.
 
69. Which of the following is not a symptom of schizophrenia?
A) delusions
B) dissociation
C) disorganized speech
D) hallucinations
 
70. Hilda suffers from a form of schizophrenia in which she spends most of her day sitting in her bedroom chair without speaking or moving. Her symptoms are characteristic of ______ schizophrenia.
A) paranoid
B) negative
C) catatonic
D) disorganized
 
71. Twin studies of schizophrenia show that the concordance for identical twins is:
A) only 5 percent, suggesting little or no heritability for the disorder.
B) about 10 percent, which is no higher than that for nontwin siblings, suggesting that environment is the major determinant.
C) nearly 50 percent, suggesting that both genes and environment play roles in who gets the disorder.
D) nearly 100 percent, suggesting an almost purely genetic basis.
 
72. According to the dopamine theory of schizophrenia, the disorder arises from:
A) overactivity at brain synapses where dopamine is the neurotransmitter.
B) underactivity at brain synapses where dopamine is the neurotransmitter.
C) fluctuations in activity where dopamine is the neurotransmitter.
D) the presence of dopamine in neural centers where it should be absent.
 
73. People with schizophrenia are more likely to recover if they live in a(n):
A) industrialized society, in part because of access to the most modern medical treatments.
B) industrialized society, in part because the people tend to be educated about and sympathetic to mental disorders.
C) nonindustrial society, in part because the scorn expressed for those who are not self-sufficient is a powerful punishment.
D) nonindustrial society, in part because the people tend to regard the disorder as temporary and refer to it in less stigmatizing terms.
 
74. When is it reasonable to diagnose someone as having a mental disorder, according to the American Psychiatric Association? Discuss some of the difficulties in applying these guidelines. Use specific examples to illustrate your points where appropriate.
 
75. Define and discuss the issues of reliability and validity in the diagnosis of mental disorders. How can reliability and validity be evaluated? How are they related? Describe the primary goal behind the development of DSM-III (and revisions) and indicate whether that goal is generally thought to have been fulfilled.
 
76. Discuss the risks of labeling as it relates to mental disorder. Present evidence to support your answer.
 
77. Compare and contrast two of the following perspectives on mental disorders: biological, psychodynamic, cognitive, behavioral, and sociocultural. Then show how each of the two perspectives you have discussed would explain a particular mental disorder.
 
78. Mental disorders have multiple causes. Discuss the framework for thinking about multiple causation that was described in the text. Provide a specific example to show how the various types of causes combine to affect an individual with a mental disorder.
 
79. How does the prevalence of mental disorders differ for males and females? What might account for these apparent sex differences?
 
80. Explain the monoamine theory and the hopelessness theory of depression and present one piece of evidence consistent with each.
 
81. Knowing what you know about the cognitive, behavioral, and sociocultural factors involved in alcohol abuse and dependence, design a campaign to reduce drinking among college students. Be sure to explain how your ideas are tied to psychological principles and/or research findings.
 
82. Discuss the dopamine theory of schizophrenia and describe two kinds of evidence supporting it. Why is the original, simple version of the theory not accepted today?
 
83. Discuss the heritability of schizophrenia.
 
 
Answer Key
1. A
2. C
3. B
4. D
5. A
6. D
7. C
8. A
9. B
10. D
11. B
12. A
13. B
14. D
15. D
16. A
17. B
18. D
19. D
20. A
21. C
22. D
23. D
24. B
25. D
26. B
27. B
28. C
29. C
30. B
31. D
32. D
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41. A
42. D
43. B
44. A
45. D
46. B
47. A
48. A
49. C
50. C
51. C
52. A
53. D
54. C
55. B
56. C
57. B
58. B
59. D
60. D
61. D
62. C
63. D
64. C
65. B
66. C
67. B
68. A
69. B
70. C
71. C
72. A
73. D
74.
75.
76.
77.
78.
79.
80.
81.
82.
83.