Applications of Psychology: School, Counselling, Organizations, Environment and Mental-Health Intervention

Practice questions (18)

Attempt each one before opening the answer. Every explanation names the tempting wrong option as well as the right one, because that is where marks are lost.

1. A child can solve a puzzle only with a teacher's hints today, but will manage it alone next week. The gap between what she can do unaided and what she can do with guidance, central to Vygotsky's theory, is the:

   1. zone of proximal development, crossed with the help of scaffolding
   2. law of effect, by which responses that are rewarded tend to be repeated
   3. cognitive triad of negative views of the self, the world and the future
   4. fixed mindset that treats a person's ability as unchangeable
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   Answer: A — zone of proximal development, crossed with the help of scaffolding

   Vygotsky's zone of proximal development is exactly this gap between independent performance and assisted performance; the temporary support a teacher gives within it is scaffolding. The law of effect is Thorndike's principle about reinforcement, the cognitive triad is Beck's model of depression, and a fixed mindset is Dweck's term — none names the gap Vygotsky described.

2. In a classic study, teachers were told that certain randomly chosen pupils were 'late bloomers' about to spurt ahead, and those pupils later gained more than their classmates. This self-fulfilling effect of teacher expectations is called the:

   1. Hawthorne effect
   2. Pygmalion effect
   3. halo effect
   4. Zeigarnik effect
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   Answer: B — Pygmalion effect

   Raised teacher expectations that themselves improve pupil performance are the Pygmalion effect, a self-fulfilling prophecy shown in Rosenthal and Jacobson's work. The Hawthorne effect is a change in behaviour merely from being observed; the halo effect is letting one trait colour a whole judgement; and the Zeigarnik effect is the better memory for interrupted tasks — none is about expectations raising performance.

3. Children who already loved drawing were given a cash reward each time they drew; weeks after the rewards stopped, they drew far less in their free time than children who had never been paid. This outcome is best explained by:

   1. the law of effect, since a rewarded response should have been strengthened and repeated more often than before
   2. negative reinforcement, since drawing removed an unpleasant internal state and so increased in frequency
   3. the overjustification effect, in which an external reward undermines a pre-existing intrinsic motivation
   4. the Premack principle, in which a frequent, preferred behaviour is used to reinforce a rarer, less-liked one
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   Answer: C — the overjustification effect, in which an external reward undermines a pre-existing intrinsic motivation

   When an activity that was intrinsically enjoyable is heavily rewarded, people may re-attribute their behaviour to the reward, so intrinsic motivation falls once the reward is withdrawn — the overjustification effect. The law of effect predicts the opposite here and cannot explain the drop; negative reinforcement means removing an aversive stimulus, which did not happen; and the Premack principle is about using a preferred activity as a reinforcer, not about rewards undermining interest.

4. Which of the following are well-supported factors in students' educational achievement?

   1. The student's prior knowledge and the quality of her study habits
   2. The home's socio-economic status and the degree of parental involvement
   3. Teacher quality, teacher expectations and the classroom climate
   4. Matching instruction to the pupil's preferred 'learning style', which controlled studies strongly confirm
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   Answer: A — The student's prior knowledge and the quality of her study habits; B — The home's socio-economic status and the degree of parental involvement; C — Teacher quality, teacher expectations and the classroom climate

   Prior knowledge and study habits, home background and parental involvement, and teacher quality and expectations are all robustly linked to achievement. The claim that teaching to a pupil's 'learning style' raises achievement is a popular belief that controlled studies have not supported, so that is the one option to leave out.

5. A school counsellor who does not give advice but instead reflects the student's feelings back and trusts the student to reach her own solution is using the non-directive approach, which derives from the client-centred work of:

   1. E.G. Williamson, who set out the directive, counsellor-led method of counselling
   2. Frank Parsons, who founded the trait-and-factor view of vocational choice
   3. B.F. Skinner, who applied reinforcement schedules to classroom learning
   4. Carl Rogers, who developed client-centred (person-centred) therapy
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   Answer: D — Carl Rogers, who developed client-centred (person-centred) therapy

   Non-directive counselling is Carl Rogers's client-centred approach carried into the counselling room: the counsellor offers warmth and empathy and leaves the direction to the client. Williamson is the name attached to the opposite, directive method; Parsons founded trait-and-factor vocational guidance; and Skinner worked on reinforcement, not on this counselling style.

6. Holland's theory of vocational choice proposes that people are most satisfied and stable in a career when there is a good fit between their:

   1. personality type and a congruent occupational environment (as in the RIASEC types)
   2. measured IQ and the average IQ of the people already in that occupation
   3. birth order in the family and the seniority structure of the organization
   4. attachment style in childhood and the leadership style of their immediate line manager at work
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   Answer: A — personality type and a congruent occupational environment (as in the RIASEC types)

   Holland's model matches a person's personality type to a work environment of the same type — his six RIASEC types (realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising, conventional) — and predicts satisfaction when the two are congruent. The fit is not defined by IQ matching, by birth order, or by attachment style, which belong to other theories or to no theory of vocational choice.

7. Which statement correctly characterizes the three classic approaches to counselling?

   1. Directive counselling is client-centred, non-directive counselling is counsellor-centred, and eclectic counselling rejects both of those in favour of pure diagnosis alone
   2. Directive counselling is counsellor-centred, non-directive counselling is client-centred, and eclectic counselling draws on both as the case requires
   3. All three approaches are equally counsellor-centred and differ only in the length of their sessions
   4. Directive and non-directive counselling are identical, and eclectic counselling is a fourth, unrelated method
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   Answer: B — Directive counselling is counsellor-centred, non-directive counselling is client-centred, and eclectic counselling draws on both as the case requires

   The directive approach (associated with Williamson) is counsellor-centred — the counsellor diagnoses and advises; the non-directive approach (Rogers) is client-centred — the client leads; and the eclectic approach blends the two according to the client and the problem. The choice that swaps 'directive' and 'non-directive' reverses the defining feature of each, and the remaining choices misdescribe the relationships among the three.

8. In Herzberg's two-factor theory, factors such as salary, job security, company policy and physical working conditions are:

   1. motivators, whose presence directly produces job satisfaction, recognition and real psychological growth
   2. self-actualization needs sitting at the very top of a strict motivational hierarchy
   3. hygiene factors, whose absence causes dissatisfaction but whose presence does not by itself motivate
   4. valences, meaning the value a person attaches to each possible outcome of effort
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   Answer: C — hygiene factors, whose absence causes dissatisfaction but whose presence does not by itself motivate

   Herzberg calls pay, security, policy and conditions hygiene (maintenance) factors: when they are poor people are dissatisfied, but improving them only removes dissatisfaction — it does not create positive motivation, which comes from motivators such as achievement, recognition and growth. Labelling them motivators reverses the theory; self-actualization and valence belong to Maslow and to Vroom respectively.

9. Vroom's expectancy theory holds that a person's motivation to put in effort is strongest when:

   1. needs are satisfied strictly one level at a time, moving from the very bottom of a fixed hierarchy upward
   2. the hygiene factors in the job have all been fully provided by the employer
   3. the assigned goal is specific and difficult and the person has genuinely accepted it
   4. effort is believed to lead to performance, performance to valued rewards, and those rewards are genuinely wanted
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   Answer: D — effort is believed to lead to performance, performance to valued rewards, and those rewards are genuinely wanted

   Vroom's model multiplies expectancy (effort will yield performance), instrumentality (performance will yield outcomes) and valence (the outcomes are valued); motivation is high only when all three are high. A strict need hierarchy is Maslow, fully provided hygiene factors are Herzberg, and specific-difficult-accepted goals are Locke's goal-setting theory — each a different theory of motivation.

10. Which of the following statements about how perception and emotion operate in organizations are correct?

    1. The halo effect lets one strong trait colour the overall judgement of a person
    2. Emotional labour is the effort of managing one's feelings to meet a job's display rules
    3. The fundamental attribution error over-attributes other people's behaviour to their disposition
    4. Social facilitation reliably improves performance on complex and unfamiliar tasks
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    Answer: A — The halo effect lets one strong trait colour the overall judgement of a person; B — Emotional labour is the effort of managing one's feelings to meet a job's display rules; C — The fundamental attribution error over-attributes other people's behaviour to their disposition

    The halo effect, emotional labour and the fundamental attribution error are all correctly described. Social facilitation improves performance on simple or well-learned tasks but typically impairs it on complex or novel ones, so the claim that it reliably helps on complex tasks is false and is the option left out.

11. Edward Hall's study of proxemics describes four interpersonal distance zones. From the nearest to the farthest, their correct order is:

    1. intimate, personal, social, public
    2. public, social, personal, intimate
    3. personal, intimate, public, social
    4. social, public, intimate, personal
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    Answer: A — intimate, personal, social, public

    Hall's four zones, from closest contact outward, are the intimate distance, the personal distance, the social distance and the public distance; each suits a different kind of interaction, and the comfortable size of each is shaped by culture. The other sequences scramble that nearest-to-farthest order.

12. A student always sits at the same desk in a shared classroom; the desk is not hers to keep, but others usually leave it for her. In Altman's classification of territories, this desk is:

    1. a primary territory, owned exclusively and central to her daily life
    2. a secondary territory, used regularly with some sense of control but not owned
    3. a public territory, equally open to any user at any time
    4. a neutral territory that carries no social meaning at all
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    Answer: B — a secondary territory, used regularly with some sense of control but not owned

    A secondary territory is used regularly and gives some sense of control, but is neither owned nor exclusive — a usual classroom desk or a regular table at a cafe is the standard example. A primary territory is owned and central (a home or bedroom); a public territory is open to anyone on a first-come basis (a park bench); and Altman's scheme has no 'neutral' category, so that option is invented.

13. Stokols drew a distinction between density and crowding. On his account, the relationship between them is that:

    1. density and crowding are simply two names for the very same measurable quantity
    2. crowding is the objective count of people per unit area, while density is merely the subjective feeling of being hemmed in and short of room
    3. density is the physical number of people per unit space, while crowding is the subjective, unpleasant experience of that density
    4. crowding always rises in strict linear proportion to density, with no psychological step in between
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    Answer: C — density is the physical number of people per unit space, while crowding is the subjective, unpleasant experience of that density

    Stokols separated density — an objective measure of people per unit space — from crowding, the subjective and usually negative psychological experience of that density. The reversed definition mislabels which term is objective; treating them as identical erases the very distinction he drew; and a strict linear link denies the mediating psychological appraisal that is the whole point of the distinction.

14. Which of the following are recognized theoretical accounts of why crowding has negative effects on people?

    1. Stimulus overload, in which too much social input overwhelms the person
    2. Loss of perceived behavioural control in the crowded setting
    3. The density-intensity hypothesis, in which density intensifies whatever the person already feels
    4. Reciprocal inhibition, in which relaxation is paired with a feared stimulus
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    Answer: A — Stimulus overload, in which too much social input overwhelms the person; B — Loss of perceived behavioural control in the crowded setting; C — The density-intensity hypothesis, in which density intensifies whatever the person already feels

    Stimulus overload, loss of perceived control, and the density-intensity hypothesis are all standard explanations of crowding's ill effects. Reciprocal inhibition is the learning principle behind Wolpe's systematic desensitization — a therapy mechanism, not a theory of crowding — so it is the option that does not belong.

15. A programme that teaches coping and life skills to all schoolchildren before any disorder has appeared, so as to reduce the number of new cases, is an example of:

    1. tertiary prevention, which limits disability and relapse in people who are already ill
    2. secondary prevention, which detects and treats individual cases as early as possible
    3. crisis intervention, which gives brief emergency help during an acute episode
    4. primary prevention, which acts on causes and risk factors before onset to reduce the number of new cases
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    Answer: D — primary prevention, which acts on causes and risk factors before onset to reduce the number of new cases

    Primary prevention acts on causes and risk before onset to reduce the number of new cases, which is exactly what a universal skills programme does. Tertiary prevention works with people already ill to limit disability, secondary prevention catches cases early, and crisis intervention handles acute emergencies — none fits an effort made before any disorder exists.

16. The PERMA model of well-being — positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning and accomplishment — was proposed within positive psychology by:

    1. Martin Seligman
    2. Carol S. Dweck
    3. Edward T. Hall
    4. Frederick (Fritz) Perls
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    Answer: A — Martin Seligman

    Martin Seligman, a founder of positive psychology, set out the five-element PERMA model of flourishing. Carol Dweck is known for mindset research, Edward Hall for proxemics, and Fritz Perls for Gestalt therapy, so none of them proposed PERMA.

17. The Mental Healthcare Act, 2017 of India is best described as a law that:

    1. requires every adult citizen in the country to undergo a compulsory annual psychiatric screening examination at a designated government facility
    2. guarantees access to mental healthcare, protects the rights of persons with mental illness, and in effect removed ordinary punishment for attempted suicide
    3. prohibits the use of all psychiatric medication, including lithium and antidepressants, throughout government hospitals, clinics and community health centres
    4. exists mainly to set the official IQ cut-off scores used by schools and employers to classify degrees of intellectual disability
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    Answer: B — guarantees access to mental healthcare, protects the rights of persons with mental illness, and in effect removed ordinary punishment for attempted suicide

    The Act frames mental healthcare as a right, lays down protections and standards for the care of persons with mental illness, and — by presuming, unless proved otherwise, severe stress in a person who attempts suicide — is generally read as having removed ordinary criminal punishment for the attempt. It does not mandate universal screening, ban medication, or exist to set IQ cut-offs, so those options describe things the Act does not do.

18. Which of the following are recognized, current approaches to promoting mental health and wellbeing?

    1. psychoeducation and public-awareness programmes
    2. primary prevention that targets risk factors before disorders appear
    3. mindfulness-based interventions for stress and relapse
    4. defaulting to involuntary, lifelong institutionalization as the standard model of care
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    Answer: A — psychoeducation and public-awareness programmes; B — primary prevention that targets risk factors before disorders appear; C — mindfulness-based interventions for stress and relapse

    Psychoeducation, primary prevention and mindfulness-based interventions are all accepted approaches to wellbeing. Involuntary lifelong institutionalization runs against the modern, rights-based move toward community care reflected in India's Mental Healthcare Act, 2017, so it is the option that does not belong.