EPPP Practice Exam UPDATED ACTUAL
Exam Questions and CORRECT Answers
J. Berry acculturation, integration - CORRECT ANSWER - J. Barry conceptualizes
acculturation as many models existing on a continuum, with the minority culture and the
majority or mainstream culture at opposite poles. Integration would be displayed by an
individual who has high retention of the minority culture and high maintenance of the
mainstream culture.
Lenore Walker cycle of violence, battered women - CORRECT ANSWER - Lenore Walker
describes a cycle of violence that involves three stags: tension building, acute battering incident,
and loving contrition. According to Walker, most of the benefits of the relationship occur in the
third stage, when the batterer offers apologies, assurances that the attacks will never happen
again, and declarations of love. The relationship tends to remain stable when the balance
between the costs of the abuse and the benefits of the relationship are fairly similar. As violence
escalates, the relationship becomes more unstable, and the man escalates his charming behavior
in an attempt to restore stability.
behavioral contrast effect - CORRECT ANSWER - If we are reinforced for performing two
different operants, and reinforcement for one of these behaviors stops, we tend to increase the
rate of the remaining reinforced behavior. That is probably because the reinforcement that
remains seems to become more valuable.
doctrine of comparable worth - CORRECT ANSWER - States that workers (in particular, men
and women) should get equal pay for performing jobs that have equivalent worth (use job
evaluation)
M. Seligman theory of learned optimism - CORRECT ANSWER - In Seligman's theory of
learned optimism, attributions of optimistic people are believed to be the opposite of attributions
of depressed people. Since depressed people make internal, stable, and global attributions to
negative events, optimistic people would tend to make external, unstable, and specific
attributions in response to negative events. Therefore, we can readily eliminate "B" ("I didn't
study enough") since that's an internal attribution. Choice "C" ("the teacher is always a tough
grader") is a stable attribution. That leaves Choices "A" ("I was unlucky") and Choice "D" ("the
test was hard this time") - which are both external and unstable attributions. Of the two, however,
Choice "D" is better since being unlucky would imply that success is a matter of luck.
,Course of Antisocial Personality Disorder - CORRECT ANSWER - The symptoms of
Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD), particularly criminal behaviors, often become less
evident as an individual grows older (DSM-TR-IV, p. 704). APD has a chronic course and while
some symptoms like criminal behaviors may decrease, other symptoms such as difficulties with
interpersonal relationships may persist. (See: Paris, J. (2004). Personality disorders over time:
Implications for therapy, American Journal of Psychotherapy, 58(4), 420-429.)
Group polarization - CORRECT ANSWER - A group's decisions tend to be more extreme (in
one direction or the other) than those that would be made by individuals in the group acting
alone. This phenomenon is referred to as group polarization. One explanation for group
polarization is that group members are more willing to support extreme decisions because, as
group members, they won't have to take as much personal responsibility for their decisions as
they would if they were acting alone.
Solomon's four group design - CORRECT ANSWER - a true experimental design used to
evaluate the effects of pretesting, since some groups are pretested and others are not.
MANOVA - CORRECT ANSWER - A MANOVA (multivariate analysis of variance) is used
to analyze the effects of one or more independent variables on two or more dependent variables
that are each measured on an interval or ratio scale.
factorial ANOVA - CORRECT ANSWER - A factorial ANOVA (a.) is used to analyze data
when a factorial design, which includes two or more independent variables, is used and the
dependent variable is measured on an interval or ratio scale.
Factorial designs also allow for the assessment of both main effects (the effects of each
independent variable considered individually) and interaction effects (the effects of each variable
at the different levels of the other variable). The study described in this question has two
"significant main effects" for the independent variables: type of reading program and past level
of reading comprehension. And a "significant interaction effect" means that the effects of the
different reading programs varied significantly for students at different reading levels. For
example, "Reading Program A" may have been highly effective for above average students,
moderately effective for average students, yet ineffective for below average students. On the
other hand, "Reading Program B" may have been only effective for below average students,
while "Reading Program C" may not have been effective for any students.
, One-Way ANOVA - CORRECT ANSWER - A one-way ANOVA (c.) is used when a study has
one independent variable and more than two independent groups.
Split-Plot (mixed) ANOVA - CORRECT ANSWER - The split-plot (mixed) ANOVA (d.) is
the appropriate technique when at least one independent variable is a between-groups variable
and another independent variable is a within-subjects variable.
experiment wise error rate - CORRECT ANSWER - alpha (chance of Type I error) for all
analyses done on a data set
capitation - CORRECT ANSWER - A common method of reimbursement used primarily by
health maintenance organizations in which the provider or medical facility is paid a fixed, per
capita amount for each individual enrolled in the plan, regardless of how many or few services
the patient uses.
time-series quasi-experimental design - CORRECT ANSWER - -Used when only ONE group
is available to study over a longer period of time
-Useful for determining trends over time
-Data are collected multiple times before the introduction of the treatment ot establish a baseline
point of reference on outcomes.
-The experimental treatment is introduced and data are collected multiple times afterward to
determine a change from baseline.
-The broad range and number of data-collection points helps rule out alternative explanations,
such as history effects.
-Potential threats to Internal validity: Testing--b/c of multiple data-collection points, maturation
and selection--b/c lack of control group
Transvestic fetishism - CORRECT ANSWER - heterosexual male has recurrent intense
sexually arousing fantasies, sexual urges, or behaviors involving cross dressing.
Exhibitionism - CORRECT ANSWER - exposing of one's genitals to an unsuspecting stranger
Exam Questions and CORRECT Answers
J. Berry acculturation, integration - CORRECT ANSWER - J. Barry conceptualizes
acculturation as many models existing on a continuum, with the minority culture and the
majority or mainstream culture at opposite poles. Integration would be displayed by an
individual who has high retention of the minority culture and high maintenance of the
mainstream culture.
Lenore Walker cycle of violence, battered women - CORRECT ANSWER - Lenore Walker
describes a cycle of violence that involves three stags: tension building, acute battering incident,
and loving contrition. According to Walker, most of the benefits of the relationship occur in the
third stage, when the batterer offers apologies, assurances that the attacks will never happen
again, and declarations of love. The relationship tends to remain stable when the balance
between the costs of the abuse and the benefits of the relationship are fairly similar. As violence
escalates, the relationship becomes more unstable, and the man escalates his charming behavior
in an attempt to restore stability.
behavioral contrast effect - CORRECT ANSWER - If we are reinforced for performing two
different operants, and reinforcement for one of these behaviors stops, we tend to increase the
rate of the remaining reinforced behavior. That is probably because the reinforcement that
remains seems to become more valuable.
doctrine of comparable worth - CORRECT ANSWER - States that workers (in particular, men
and women) should get equal pay for performing jobs that have equivalent worth (use job
evaluation)
M. Seligman theory of learned optimism - CORRECT ANSWER - In Seligman's theory of
learned optimism, attributions of optimistic people are believed to be the opposite of attributions
of depressed people. Since depressed people make internal, stable, and global attributions to
negative events, optimistic people would tend to make external, unstable, and specific
attributions in response to negative events. Therefore, we can readily eliminate "B" ("I didn't
study enough") since that's an internal attribution. Choice "C" ("the teacher is always a tough
grader") is a stable attribution. That leaves Choices "A" ("I was unlucky") and Choice "D" ("the
test was hard this time") - which are both external and unstable attributions. Of the two, however,
Choice "D" is better since being unlucky would imply that success is a matter of luck.
,Course of Antisocial Personality Disorder - CORRECT ANSWER - The symptoms of
Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD), particularly criminal behaviors, often become less
evident as an individual grows older (DSM-TR-IV, p. 704). APD has a chronic course and while
some symptoms like criminal behaviors may decrease, other symptoms such as difficulties with
interpersonal relationships may persist. (See: Paris, J. (2004). Personality disorders over time:
Implications for therapy, American Journal of Psychotherapy, 58(4), 420-429.)
Group polarization - CORRECT ANSWER - A group's decisions tend to be more extreme (in
one direction or the other) than those that would be made by individuals in the group acting
alone. This phenomenon is referred to as group polarization. One explanation for group
polarization is that group members are more willing to support extreme decisions because, as
group members, they won't have to take as much personal responsibility for their decisions as
they would if they were acting alone.
Solomon's four group design - CORRECT ANSWER - a true experimental design used to
evaluate the effects of pretesting, since some groups are pretested and others are not.
MANOVA - CORRECT ANSWER - A MANOVA (multivariate analysis of variance) is used
to analyze the effects of one or more independent variables on two or more dependent variables
that are each measured on an interval or ratio scale.
factorial ANOVA - CORRECT ANSWER - A factorial ANOVA (a.) is used to analyze data
when a factorial design, which includes two or more independent variables, is used and the
dependent variable is measured on an interval or ratio scale.
Factorial designs also allow for the assessment of both main effects (the effects of each
independent variable considered individually) and interaction effects (the effects of each variable
at the different levels of the other variable). The study described in this question has two
"significant main effects" for the independent variables: type of reading program and past level
of reading comprehension. And a "significant interaction effect" means that the effects of the
different reading programs varied significantly for students at different reading levels. For
example, "Reading Program A" may have been highly effective for above average students,
moderately effective for average students, yet ineffective for below average students. On the
other hand, "Reading Program B" may have been only effective for below average students,
while "Reading Program C" may not have been effective for any students.
, One-Way ANOVA - CORRECT ANSWER - A one-way ANOVA (c.) is used when a study has
one independent variable and more than two independent groups.
Split-Plot (mixed) ANOVA - CORRECT ANSWER - The split-plot (mixed) ANOVA (d.) is
the appropriate technique when at least one independent variable is a between-groups variable
and another independent variable is a within-subjects variable.
experiment wise error rate - CORRECT ANSWER - alpha (chance of Type I error) for all
analyses done on a data set
capitation - CORRECT ANSWER - A common method of reimbursement used primarily by
health maintenance organizations in which the provider or medical facility is paid a fixed, per
capita amount for each individual enrolled in the plan, regardless of how many or few services
the patient uses.
time-series quasi-experimental design - CORRECT ANSWER - -Used when only ONE group
is available to study over a longer period of time
-Useful for determining trends over time
-Data are collected multiple times before the introduction of the treatment ot establish a baseline
point of reference on outcomes.
-The experimental treatment is introduced and data are collected multiple times afterward to
determine a change from baseline.
-The broad range and number of data-collection points helps rule out alternative explanations,
such as history effects.
-Potential threats to Internal validity: Testing--b/c of multiple data-collection points, maturation
and selection--b/c lack of control group
Transvestic fetishism - CORRECT ANSWER - heterosexual male has recurrent intense
sexually arousing fantasies, sexual urges, or behaviors involving cross dressing.
Exhibitionism - CORRECT ANSWER - exposing of one's genitals to an unsuspecting stranger
