Section 1.1 Historical Views and Breakthroughs
1. Chapter 1 — Section 1.1 — The Emergence of Social
Conscience
Stem: In the 19th and early 20th centuries, which social
development most directly shifted public responses to children
with emotional and behavioral problems from punishment
toward care-oriented interventions?
A. Rise of institutional asylums
B. Emergence of child-saving and social reform movements
C. Expansion of punitive juvenile laws
D. Increased belief in humoral theory
Correct Answer: B
Rationales:
• Correct: The child-saving and social reform movements
promoted welfare, education, and charitable care for
disadvantaged children, moving responses away from
purely punitive approaches toward protective services and
reform.
• Incorrect A: Institutional asylums often enforced custodial
care rather than therapeutic, and sometimes reinforced
confinement rather than social support.
, • Incorrect C: Expansion of punitive juvenile laws reflected
punishment-oriented responses, not the shift toward care.
• Incorrect D: Humoral theory is an older biological
explanation that did not by itself produce broader social
welfare reforms.
Teaching Point: Social reform movements shifted attitudes from
punishment to protective, welfare-oriented responses.
2. Chapter 1 — Section 1.1 — Early Biological Attributions
Stem: Which early biological development most influenced the
later medical model of childhood mental disorders by
suggesting brain dysfunction could underlie behavior?
A. Psychoanalytic theory
B. Discovery of neurotransmitters
C. Localization of brain function and neuropathology findings
D. Behaviorist experiments with conditioning
Correct Answer: C
Rationales:
• Correct: Evidence linking specific brain regions and
neuropathology to behavior provided a biological basis for
viewing some childhood problems as brain-related
disorders.
• Incorrect A: Psychoanalytic theory emphasized
intrapsychic conflicts rather than brain pathology.
, • Incorrect B: While neurotransmitter research influenced
modern medicine, early shifts were driven by anatomical
localization and neuropathology.
• Incorrect D: Behaviorism emphasized environmental
learning, not biological localization.
Teaching Point: Neuropathology and localization provided early
biological evidence for medical conceptualizations.
3. Chapter 1 — Section 1.1 — Early Psychological Attributions
Stem: Freud’s early influence on thinking about child
psychopathology emphasized which primary concept?
A. Classical conditioning as cause of symptoms
B. Intrapsychic conflicts and developmental stages
C. Genetic determinism of behavior
D. Social policy as primary determinant of mental health
Correct Answer: B
Rationales:
• Correct: Freud and early psychoanalytic thinkers
highlighted unconscious conflicts and the role of early
developmental stages in shaping later psychopathology.
• Incorrect A: Classical conditioning is a behaviorist concept
(Pavlov), not Freudian.
• Incorrect C: Freud did not emphasize genetic determinism.
, • Incorrect D: Psychoanalysis focused on intrapsychic
processes, not social policy.
Teaching Point: Psychoanalytic theory foregrounded
unconscious conflict and early development.
4. Chapter 1 — Section 1.1 — Evolving Forms of Treatment
Stem: The introduction of chlorpromazine in the 1950s is
historically important because it:
A. Eliminated the need for psychotherapy
B. Demonstrated that psychotropic medication could reduce
severe behavioral disturbance
C. Caused deinstitutionalization to reverse and institutions to
expand
D. Proved that all childhood disorders are biochemical
Correct Answer: B
Rationales:
• Correct: Chlorpromazine showed that medications could
reduce acute psychotic and severe behavioral symptoms,
influencing psychiatric treatment approaches.
• Incorrect A: Medications complemented but did not
replace psychotherapy.
• Incorrect C: It contributed to deinstitutionalization but did
not reverse it; other social and policy factors drove
institutional changes.