Unit 5 · 15 to 25% of the exam

Unit 5 practice test: Mental and Physical Health

twelve questions, every option explained

12 exam-style questions from the unit, free, with an explanation for every option. Most have four answer choices, as on the real exam, and a few ask for a number you can work out by hand; sets share one study summary, data table, graph or figure. Covers: Introduction to Health Psychology; Positive Psychology; Explaining and Classifying Psychological Disorders; Selection of Categories of Psychological Disorders; Treatment of Psychological Disorders.

Start at question 1

Data

Shared diagnosis of schizophrenia by relationship

01020304050Relative of a person with schizophreniaPercent who also have schizophreniaIdentical twinFraternal twinSiblingUnrelated

1. What pattern does the graph show?

  1. Fraternal twins share the diagnosis more often than identical twins
  2. Siblings share the diagnosis as often as identical twins
  3. The more genes two people share, the more often both have schizophrenia
  4. Relatives are no more likely than unrelated people to share it
Show the answer

Shared diagnosis rises with genetic relatedness, which points to a genetic contribution.

  • Fraternal twins share the diagnosis more often than identical twins: Identical twins are at 46%, about three times the 15% for fraternal twins.
  • Siblings share the diagnosis as often as identical twins: Siblings are at 9%, far below the 46% for identical twins.
  • Correct: The more genes two people share, the more often both have schizophrenia: Right: identical twins (all genes shared) are highest, then fraternal twins and siblings, then unrelated people.
  • Relatives are no more likely than unrelated people to share it: Each kind of relative is well above the 1% for unrelated people.

2. Identical twins share all their genes, yet in this graph fewer than half of the identical twins of people with schizophrenia also have it. What does that suggest?

  1. Environmental factors, such as stress, also play a role
  2. Genes play no part in schizophrenia
  3. The researchers made an error with the identical twins
  4. Schizophrenia is caused by being a twin
Show the answer

A genetic vulnerability raises risk but does not decide the outcome; this is the diathesis-stress idea applied to schizophrenia.

  • Correct: Environmental factors, such as stress, also play a role: Right: if genes were the whole story, identical twins would match far more often. A vulnerability plus environmental stress fits the diathesis-stress model.
  • Genes play no part in schizophrenia: The steady rise with genetic relatedness shows genes do play a part.
  • The researchers made an error with the identical twins: Nothing in the graph suggests an error. A match well under 100% is expected when environment also matters.
  • Schizophrenia is caused by being a twin: Being a twin is not a cause; the unrelated group gives the base rate for comparison.

3. Twins usually grow up in the same home. Why does that make it harder to conclude from this graph alone that genes cause the higher rate in twins?

  1. Twins are too few to be studied in research
  2. Identical twins share no environment with each other
  3. Fraternal twins share more genes than identical twins
  4. Shared family environment is a possible third variable
Show the answer

Genes and a shared home are confounded in twins raised together, so the correlation alone cannot prove that genes are the cause.

  • Twins are too few to be studied in research: Twins are often studied. The issue is that genes and environment are tangled together.
  • Identical twins share no environment with each other: Twins raised together share much of their environment, which is the problem.
  • Fraternal twins share more genes than identical twins: Identical twins share all their genes; fraternal twins share about half, like other siblings.
  • Correct: Shared family environment is a possible third variable: Right: twins share a home as well as genes, so a shared environment could explain part of the match. Adoption studies help separate the two.

Data

Family history, stressful events and depression

Percent of 600 adults who had a period of depression during a five-year study, by family history and number of stressful life events (invented data for practice)
Family history of depression0 events1 or 2 events3 or more events
No6%8%14%
Yes10%18%32%

4. Which group in the table had the highest percent with a period of depression?

  1. Adults without a family history and 3 or more events
  2. Adults with a family history and 0 events
  3. Adults with a family history and 1 or 2 events
  4. Adults with a family history and 3 or more events
Show the answer

The 32% cell, family history plus 3 or more events, is the highest.

  • Adults without a family history and 3 or more events: That group reached 14%, less than half of the 32% for the family-history group.
  • Adults with a family history and 0 events: That group had 10%, one of the lowest values.
  • Adults with a family history and 1 or 2 events: That group had 18%, lower than the 32% at 3 or more events.
  • Correct: Adults with a family history and 3 or more events: Right: 32% is the highest value in the table.

5. How do the data in the table best support the diathesis-stress model?

  1. Adults with no family history had no periods of depression
  2. Stressful events raised the rate far more for adults with a family history
  3. Stressful events made no difference to the rate
  4. Family history made the same difference at each level of stress
Show the answer

The diathesis-stress model predicts the largest effect where vulnerability and stress meet, and the 32% cell shows that.

  • Adults with no family history had no periods of depression: They did have some, 6% to 14%. The model does not say a vulnerability is required.
  • Correct: Stressful events raised the rate far more for adults with a family history: Right: with a family history the rate climbed from 10% to 32%; without one it climbed from 6% to 14%. Vulnerability and stress combine.
  • Stressful events made no difference to the rate: The rate rose with more events in both rows.
  • Family history made the same difference at each level of stress: The gap between rows grew from 4 points at 0 events to 18 points at 3 or more events.

6. The researchers measured family history and stressful events as they occurred and did not assign them. What can they conclude?

  1. Stress and family history are linked to depression, but not that they cause it
  2. Stressful events cause depression in people with a family history
  3. Family history has no relationship with depression
  4. The results apply to adults in other countries as well
Show the answer

Because nothing was manipulated, this is correlational research. It shows a relationship; a third variable, such as financial hardship, could produce both.

  • Correct: Stress and family history are linked to depression, but not that they cause it: Right: this is a correlational study, so a third variable, such as poverty, could explain the links.
  • Stressful events cause depression in people with a family history: A causal claim needs an experiment with random assignment. Nothing was manipulated here.
  • Family history has no relationship with depression: The rates were higher in the "Yes" row at every level of stress.
  • The results apply to adults in other countries as well: Generalizing depends on who was studied, and the table tells us only about these 600 adults.

7. Over a month, Cole deals with a slow laptop, long lines at the cafeteria, a noisy roommate and lost keys. Researchers would classify these as which kind of stressor?

  1. Catastrophic events
  2. Eustress
  3. Adverse childhood experiences
  4. Daily hassles
Show the answer

Daily hassles are minor everyday stressors; their buildup predicts health problems.

  • Catastrophic events: Catastrophes are large-scale disasters, such as earthquakes or wars.
  • Eustress: These annoyances are not motivating challenges.
  • Adverse childhood experiences: Adverse childhood experiences are serious early events such as abuse or neglect.
  • Correct: Daily hassles: Right: small, everyday irritations that can add up and affect health.

8. A research team studies what helps ordinary people thrive: what makes work meaningful, which habits raise life satisfaction, and how communities support flourishing. Which field best describes their work?

  1. Health psychology
  2. The psychodynamic approach
  3. Positive psychology
  4. Industrial-organizational psychology
Show the answer

Positive psychology studies human flourishing scientifically.

  • Health psychology: Health psychology studies how stress and behavior affect physical health and illness.
  • The psychodynamic approach: The psychodynamic approach studies unconscious conflicts, not flourishing.
  • Correct: Positive psychology: Right: the scientific study of well-being, strengths and what helps people and communities thrive.
  • Industrial-organizational psychology: I/O psychology studies workplaces, but this team studies flourishing in all areas of life.

9. A therapist mostly listens. She restates what her client says ("It sounds like you felt invisible at that dinner"), never judges him, and lets him lead each session, trusting that he can find his own way forward. Which therapy is she using?

  1. Cognitive restructuring therapy
  2. Psychodynamic therapy
  3. Person-centered therapy
  4. Aversion therapy
Show the answer

Person-centered therapy offers genuineness, empathy shown through active listening, and unconditional positive regard, and the client directs the work.

  • Cognitive restructuring therapy: A cognitive therapist would actively challenge distorted thoughts, not mainly reflect feelings.
  • Psychodynamic therapy: A psychodynamic therapist would interpret unconscious conflicts, not mainly mirror feelings.
  • Correct: Person-centered therapy: Right: active listening, unconditional positive regard and a client-led session are the core of person-centered (humanistic) therapy.
  • Aversion therapy: Aversion therapy pairs an unwanted behavior with an unpleasant stimulus. It is behavioral.

10. A deer freezes in the headlights of a car, and a hiker who meets a bear stands perfectly still. Which response do these examples show?

  1. The freeze part of fight-flight-freeze
  2. Tend-and-befriend response to danger
  3. Problem-focused coping with a threat
  4. The resistance stage
Show the answer

Fight-flight-freeze is the fast, automatic response to threat driven by sympathetic arousal.

  • Correct: The freeze part of fight-flight-freeze: Right: under sudden threat, the body may freeze as well as fight or flee.
  • Tend-and-befriend response to danger: Tend-and-befriend means caring for others and seeking support, not going still.
  • Problem-focused coping with a threat: Problem-focused coping is a planned effort to change the stressor, not an automatic reaction.
  • The resistance stage: The resistance stage comes after the first alarm, during long-term stress.

11. A teacher notices that Mateo is at his best when he is curious and learning new things, and he says those moments feel most like "the real me." In positive psychology, what are these strengths called?

  1. Personality traits from the Big Five
  2. Defense mechanisms
  3. Signature strengths
  4. Virtue categories
Show the answer

Signature strengths are a person's most characteristic strengths; using them is linked to well-being.

  • Personality traits from the Big Five: The Big Five are broad trait dimensions, not the strengths a person uses most and values most.
  • Defense mechanisms: Defense mechanisms protect against anxiety, not strengths that feel authentic.
  • Correct: Signature strengths: Right: the character strengths a person shows most and that feel most central to who they are.
  • Virtue categories: The six virtues are the broad groups; his personal top strengths are his signature strengths.

12. After a large dog bit him at age seven, Luis began to panic whenever he saw any dog, and he crossed the street to avoid them. A psychologist says his fear was learned by pairing dogs with pain and is kept going because avoiding dogs brings relief. Which perspective is the psychologist using?

  1. Psychodynamic
  2. Humanistic
  3. Evolutionary
  4. Behavioral
Show the answer

The behavioral perspective explains a disorder by learning: the bite paired dogs with pain, and the relief of avoiding dogs reinforces the avoidance.

  • Psychodynamic: A psychodynamic explanation would point to unconscious conflicts, not to learning from a bite.
  • Humanistic: A humanistic explanation would focus on self-concept and growth, not on conditioning.
  • Evolutionary: An evolutionary explanation would say fears of dangerous animals helped ancestors survive. The psychologist talks about Luis's own learning.
  • Correct: Behavioral: Right: the explanation uses learning, classical conditioning for the fear and negative reinforcement for the avoidance.