Deck 1: Introduction to Health Psychology

Question 1

Health psychology can be considered a discipline-specific descriptor within the field of ________.

A) psychiatry
B) behavioural medicine
C) psychology
D) occupational health

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Clinical health psychology is ________.

A) a discipline that helps people diagnosed with a disease manage their symptoms
B) a discipline that helps people diagnosed with a disease recover full health
C) a discipline that works to effect change and to promote access within health-care systems
D) a set of practices aimed at preventing disease

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Occupational health psychology is ________.

A) a discipline that helps people become highly productive in their workplace
B) a discipline that focuses on reducing stress and preventing injuries at work
C) a set of practices aimed at preventing disease transmission in the workplace
D) a discipline that works to effect change and to promote access within health-care systems

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Community health psychology is ________.

A) a field that focuses on reducing stress and preventing injuries at work
B) a field that focuses on curing illness among of a specific group of people
C) a discipline that works to effect change and to promote access within health-care systems
D) a set of practices aimed at preventing disease

Question 5

The ideas advanced by René Descartes set the stage for the development of health psychology, because ________.

A) he believed that the body and the soul operate by distinct and independent rules
B) he proposed that the body influences the mind, but not the opposite
C) he believed that our minds work like machines
D) he proposed that the mind influences the body, but not the opposite

Question 6

Psychological interventions for patients with chronic illnesses can result in ________.

A) substantial medical cost increases
B) minimal medical cost increases
C) minimal medical cost savings
D) substantial medical cost savings

Question 7

A Canadian study involving cancer patients showed that patients who were in structured group therapy intervention ________.

A) fared worse than patients who received standard psychosocial care
B) fared better than patients who received standard psychosocial care
C) fared as well as patients who received standard psychosocial care
D) fared as poorly as patients who received standard psychosocial care

Question 8

The ancient medical thinkers Hippocrates and Galen believed that ________.

A) mind and body were independent systems without reciprocal influences
B) the body dominated the mind
C) mind and body were part of the same integrated system
D) the mind dominated the body

Question 9

________ coined the term "psychosomatic."

A) Johann Christian August Heinroth
B) Ivan Pavlov
C) René Descartes
D) Sigmund Freud

Question 10

Over time, psychodynamic theory and psychoanalysis gradually became less popular in North America due to ________.

A) lack of interest
B) criticisms about insufficient scientific rigour
C) insufficient funding
D) criticisms about animal testing

Question 11

Psychosomatic medicine initially focused on ________.

A) the importance of biofeedback in the treatment and prevention of physical disease
B) illness behaviour that could be attributed to psychological causes
C) psychological illnesses that could be attributed to physical ailments
D) the independence of psychological factors and disease

Question 12

________, considered to be the father of modern psychiatry, argued that "actions of the mind could cause many illnesses."

A) Johann Christian August Heinroth
B) Franz Alexander
C) Sigmund Freud
D) Benjamin Rush

Question 13

Different health psychology programs do not ________.

A) require the same competencies from all of their graduates
B) have different research emphases
C) emphasize different sets of competencies in their curriculum
D) have faculty members with strong interests and expertise in health psychology

Question 14

Entry-level health psychologists are not expected to be able to ________.

A) develop health psychology research protocols
B) write a research proposal for a granting agency
C) evaluate biopsychosocial and cognitive assessment tools for evaluating physical illness
D) disregard the bounds/limits of their research competence

Question 15

Health psychologists may work ________.

A) as university teachers
B) as researchers
C) as consultants
D) all the above

Question 16

The biopsychosocial model of disease posits that ________.

A) illness is entirely physical
B) psychological, social, and behavioural factors are linked in the causation and maintenance of disease
C) questions about illness are answerable objectively and deterministically
D) the physical and the psychosocial are separate

Question 17

Some studies show that inadequate social support in post-surgical patients, when compared to fully supported patients, is associated with ________.

A) an unchanged amount of pain
B) increased experience of pain
C) higher functional outcomes
D) decreased experience of pain

Question 18

A psychological factor that may contribute to obesity is ________.

A) depression and low-self esteem
B) slower metabolic rate
C) absence of social support
D) inability to afford healthy foods

Question 19

According to some critical evaluations, the health belief model does not account for all the factors that guide health-relevant behaviours and/or their treatment. For example, ________ are not accounted for by this model.

A) demographic factors
B) beliefs regarding susceptibility to disease
C) beliefs regarding disease severity
D) economic factors

Question 20

According to empirical data collected to test the social cognitive theory, ________ influence health-promoting behaviours during recovery from coronary artery surgery.

A) self-efficacy beliefs
B) various types of social support
C) normative beliefs
D) control beliefs

Question 21

According to the theory of planned behaviour, "behavioural beliefs" are ________.

A) beliefs about others' expectations
B) beliefs about factors that facilitate or prevent performance of behaviour
C) beliefs about the consequences of inaction
D) beliefs about the likely consequences of behaviour

Question 22

According to the theory of planned behaviour, "control beliefs" refer to ________.

A) beliefs about others' expectations
B) beliefs about factors that facilitate or prevent performance of behaviour
C) beliefs about the consequences of inaction
D) beliefs about the likely consequences of behaviour

Question 23

The theory of planned behaviour does not account for ________.

A) emotional factors
B) behavioural beliefs
C) normative beliefs
D) control beliefs

Question 24

________ argues that different people with the same health condition may show different emotional responses to their health depending on their and behaviours.

A) The health belief model
B) The theory of planned behaviour
C) The common-sense model of self-regulation
D) The cognitive behavioural perspective

Question 25

________ is not a stage in the transtheoretical model of behaviour change.

A) Contemplation
B) Preparation
C) Action
D) Protection

Question 26

Provide a specific experimental example that illustrates why a contemporary technique such as brain imaging can expand our knowledge in health psychology.

Question 27

Describe and discuss one of the main challenges facing the practical implementation of health psychology in the developing world.

Question 28

Briefly illustrate how an illness such as pneumonia can be described using both the medical model of disease and biopsychosocial theory.

Question 29

Suggest one therapeutic measure for each factor contributing to bacterial pneumonia.

Question 30

Briefly discuss how the interplay of biological, psychological, and social factors may explain the current epidemic of obesity among youth.

Question 31

Suggest one therapeutic measure for the biological, psychological, and social factors that may explain the current epidemic of obesity among youth.

Question 32

Chapter 7 will present studies illustrating how multiple factors, as predicted by the biopsychosocial theory, explain chronic pain. Using your current knowledge, briefly suggest three hypothetical factors-biological, psychological, and social-responsible for pain and discuss how they could interact.

Question 33

Briefly describe the theory of planned behaviour.

Question 34

Provide an example of how beliefs can affect compliance to well-established preventive practices such as vaccinations.

Question 35

Provide an example of how economic factors are poorly accounted for by the health belief model.

Question 36

Compare and contrast the three different subspecialties of health psychology.

Question 37

Within the biopsychosocial model, compare and contrast the relative influence of different factors on recovery from two medical conditions: (1) bacterial pneumonia (an infection of the lungs that is treated with antibiotics); and (2) cardiac disease (which is clearly multifactorial and is treated with surgical and/or pharmacological approaches).

Question 38

Discuss how the dualistic theory of René Descartes has shaped modern medicine and how his ideas have influenced the ways in which disease is interpreted today.

Question 39

Chapter 1 presents obesity and drug addiction as classic medical conditions influenced by biological, psychological, and social factors. Based on your knowledge and/or experience, discuss a third example, with an emphasis on the contributing weight of each factor. Complete your essay with suggestions as to why it is exceedingly difficult to change certain behaviours.

Question 40

Discuss one theory, among those presented in Chapter 1, that best accounts for a lack of compliance in adopting certain health habits, such as taking advantage of freely available flu vaccines.