EPPP Practice Exam Questions
J. Berry acculturation, integration - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - a true experimental design used to evaluate the effects of pretesting,
since some groups are pretested and others are not.
MANOVA - 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 - 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 - A one-way ANOVA (c.) is used when a study has one independent variable and
more than two independent groups.
Split-Plot (mixed) ANOVA - 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 - alpha (chance of Type I error) for all analyses done on a data set
capitation - 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 - -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 - heterosexual male has recurrent intense sexually arousing fantasies, sexual
urges, or behaviors involving cross dressing.
Exhibitionism - exposing of one's genitals to an unsuspecting stranger
Gender Identity Disorder - strong and persistent cross-gender identification with evidence of clinically
significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other areas of functioning.
cognitive dissonance - The theory that we act to reduce the discomfort we feel when two of our
thoughts are inconsistent. For example, when our awareness of our attitudes and our actions clash, we
can reduce the resulting dissonance by changing our attitudes.
A person is motivated to reduce the negative, aversive state that results when his or her cognitions
conflict with each other. From the perspective of this theory, the poor client paying a very high fee
would experience a state of dissonance. Therefore, this client, more than those in the other responses,
would be motivated to believe that he or she is benefitting from therapy.
J. Berry acculturation, integration - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - a true experimental design used to evaluate the effects of pretesting,
since some groups are pretested and others are not.
MANOVA - 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 - 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 - A one-way ANOVA (c.) is used when a study has one independent variable and
more than two independent groups.
Split-Plot (mixed) ANOVA - 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 - alpha (chance of Type I error) for all analyses done on a data set
capitation - 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 - -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 - heterosexual male has recurrent intense sexually arousing fantasies, sexual
urges, or behaviors involving cross dressing.
Exhibitionism - exposing of one's genitals to an unsuspecting stranger
Gender Identity Disorder - strong and persistent cross-gender identification with evidence of clinically
significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other areas of functioning.
cognitive dissonance - The theory that we act to reduce the discomfort we feel when two of our
thoughts are inconsistent. For example, when our awareness of our attitudes and our actions clash, we
can reduce the resulting dissonance by changing our attitudes.
A person is motivated to reduce the negative, aversive state that results when his or her cognitions
conflict with each other. From the perspective of this theory, the poor client paying a very high fee
would experience a state of dissonance. Therefore, this client, more than those in the other responses,
would be motivated to believe that he or she is benefitting from therapy.
