Psychopathology
Review for Examination #1 (Thursday February 7th)
General comments: Examination #1 will cover all lecture material presented thus far in the quarter as well as all material
in Chapters 1 - 4 in your book (with the exception of the sections indicated below). The exam is worth 100 points.
Probable format: 20 multiple choice questions worth 3 points each. One required short-answer question will be worth 10
points, and you will choose to answer 3 out of 5 additional short-answer questions worth 10 points each.
Guidelines for areas to review in each section of the book
Chapter 1: Abnormal Behavior in a Historical Context
1. Definition of psychopathology (pp. 2 - 6)
2. Clinical description (pp. 6-7)
3. History of psychopathology and overview of supernatural, biological, and psychological traditions (pp. 7-21)
-you can skim this section, but make sure you know the points that we discussed in class.
4. The behavioral model (pp. 22-25; read this section closely and make sure you know and understand the
definitions in this section and covered in class. For now don't worry about systematic desensitization)
Chapter 2: An Integrative Approach to Psychopathology
1. One-dimensional vs. multidimensional models (pp. 31 – 33)
2. Genetic contributions to psychopathology (pp. 34-40 and chapter 4, pages 111-113)
-you can skip “nongenomic inheritance” (pp. 38-40) and "genetic linkage and association" (pp. 112-113)
3. Neuroscience (pp. 41 - 53)
-focus on the brain structures, neurotransmitters, and neural pathways covered in class. The book is
more detailed than I think is useful for a survey course, and we will come back to any regions of interest
when we cover each specific disorder.
4. Behavioral approaches: read classical conditioning on page 54 and review the terms covered in class.
5. Pages 55-65: you can skip this for now—we will cover these in depth in the clasess on specific disorders.
Chapter 3: Assessing Psychological Disorders
1. Reliability, validity, and standardization (p. 71 and see lecture)
2. The clinical interview
-mental status exam
-structured vs. unstructured vs. semi-structured interviews
3. Behavioral assessment: skim for the main ideas (p. 74 – 77)
3. Psychological testing
-projective measures and personality measures (how they are used and strengths and weaknesses)
-Intelligence Testing
-Neuropsychological Testing
-other methods to understand the structure and function of the brain (PET, MRI, EEG, ERP)
4. Diagnosing Psychopathology
-don't worry about the exact terms in the intro section on page 86, just the main ideas.
-classification: pros and cons of categorical vs. dimensional approaches
-DSM: history, current status, and criticisms
-be sure to read the section on “creating a diagnosis” (p. 93-95)
Chapter 4: Research Methods
All material from chapter 4 will be covered on the exam with the exception of the sections listed at the
end. Focus your studying on things that we covered in class, but be sure to read this chapter well. Be sure you
know the meaning of these terms that we did not discuss in depth in class (as well as those that we did discuss,
like clinical vs. statistical significance, epidemiology and different definitions of prevalence, and placebo
effects/control):
-hypothesis (pages 100-101)
-independent and dependent variable (page 100)
-testability (page 101)
-confound (page 101)
-control group (page 101)
-randomization (page 101)
-generalizability (page 102)
-replication (page 116)
Terms and concepts you don't need to worry about for now (to be covered later in the course):
-effect size (p. 102)
-single-case experimental designs (pp. 108 - 111)
-correlation and the difference between a positive and negative correlation (pages 104-105)
Psychopathology
Spring 2008
Sample Multiple Choice items
1. (96% correct) Which of the following is not assessed as part of a mental status exam?
a. family history
b. thought processes
c. awareness of surroundings
d. general mood
2. (92% correct) The term “comorbidity” means:
A. Two individuals in a family have the same disorder.
B. An individual meets criteria for more than one disorder.
C. Two disorders are due to the same causal factors.
D. The presence of one disorder leads to a decreased risk for a second disorder.
3. (89% correct) Available research suggests that most psychopathologies are caused by
a. environmental factors alone
b. a single mutated gene
c. a single mutated gene in combination with environmental factors
d. multiple genes in combination with environmental factors
4. (45% correct) Why has Freudian theory has fallen out of favor in recent years?
a. He believed that all behavior was the direct result of life experiences.
b. His theories are difficult to test.
c. Later research has demonstrated clearly that his theories are incorrect.
d. b and c
Sample Essays
1. Describe what questions can be answered by an adoption study. Explain why adoption studies are hard to conduct.
2. Describe the supernatural model of psychopathology. What are some reasons why this model was popular? Why is it
not used widely today?