Question 1

As a cognitive psychologist you hypothesis that many factors can contribute to the cause of an anxiety disorder, but the following are especially important:

Accepted Answer

Perception, memories, and attention play a crucial role in the development and maintenance of anxiety disorders. Negative experiences, memories, and perception can trigger anxiety symptoms, and heightened attention towards these potential threats can reinforce the disorder. Therefore, these cognitive factors are considered critical in the development of anxiety disorders. The other options may also contribute, but they are not as central to the cognitive model of anxiety disorders.

Question 2

The two different pathways in the brain involved in the detection of danger differ from one another with respect to

Accepted Answer

The two different pathways involved in the detection of danger differ in terms of the amount of conscious thinking and reasoning they require. The first pathway involves the amygdala and is responsible for the rapid detection of danger without conscious awareness or reasoning. The second pathway involves processing through the prefrontal cortex and is slower but allows for conscious evaluation and reasoning about the potential danger.

Question 3

Cognitive psychologists believe that people whose threat schemas contain a high proportion of "what-if" questions

Accepted Answer

The answer of Cognitive psychologists believe that people whose threat...

Question 4

According to Wegner, what typically happens when people prone to anxiety disorders try to rid their mind of distressing or unwanted thoughts?

Accepted Answer

According to Wegner, when people prone to anxiety disorders try to rid their mind of distressing or unwanted thoughts, the thoughts actually become more associated with emotions. This is known as the rebound effect.

Question 5

The episodic nature of obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms is thought to be related to

Accepted Answer

The answer of The episodic nature of obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms...

Question 6

According to cognitive models of anxiety (such as Borkovec et al's model), why do people continue to worry despite the fact that it is unproductive?

Accepted Answer

According to cognitive models of anxiety, people continue to worry because the act of worrying is reinforced by a temporary reduction in uncomfortable physiological sensations. This creates a negative feedback loop where worry becomes an automatic response to anxiety. Option A is incorrect as there is no evidence of a superstition that worry will lead to symptom reduction. Option B is incorrect as classical conditioning may play a role in anxiety, but it does not explain why people continue to worry despite its unproductivity. Option D is incorrect as it is an irrelevant explanation to cognitive models of anxiety.

Question 7

While walking along the road, a car drives by and honks right next to you. The car hits your leg, and you are slightly injured. A few weeks later you hear a car horn and become very nervous. What is the horn honking in this scenario?

Accepted Answer

The horn honking in this scenario is the conditioned stimulus (CS) because it has become associated with the original unconditioned stimulus (US) of being hit by a car. The nervous response to the horn honking is now the conditioned response (CR).

Question 8

The preparedness model of phobic acquisition holds that phobias develop in response to

Accepted Answer

The preparedness model of phobic acquisition holds that phobias develop in response to objects and situations that humans are biologically "wired" to fear. This means that certain stimuli, such as snakes or spiders, are more likely to be associated with fear and lead to the development of phobias compared to stimuli to which the person has had little exposure or objects with symbolic associations to sex and aggression. The preparedness model also suggests that phobias can develop through a single pairing of a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus, further supporting the idea that certain stimuli are inherently feared by humans.

Question 9

A person with social phobia can perform a particular task when alone but not in front of an audience; according to Barlow's model of anxious apprehension, this is due to

Accepted Answer

Barlow's model of anxious apprehension proposes that individuals with social phobia experience self-focused attention, where they are hyper-aware of their bodily sensations and internal thoughts, leading to increased anxiety. When in front of an audience, this self-focused attention can be distracting and overwhelming, making it difficult to perform the task, whereas when alone, there is less or no social evaluation, and the individual may be able to focus more on the task itself.

Question 10

According to D.M. Clark's research, people with anxiety sensitivity would likely be frightened most by

Accepted Answer

D.M. Clark's research suggests that people with anxiety sensitivity are most likely to be frightened by bodily sensations that are related to the fear of having a panic attack. Heart palpitations are one such sensation that can trigger anxiety in individuals with anxiety sensitivity. Stomach discomfort, foot pain, and insomnia are not commonly associated with panic attacks and therefore are less likely to be feared by individuals with anxiety sensitivity.

Question 11

A patient with panic disorder tends to interpret the rapid beating of his heart as a heart attack; a cognitive psychologist would call this

Accepted Answer

This is an example of catastrophic misinterpretation, which is a pattern of thinking where a person interprets normal bodily sensations or minor events as catastrophic or life-threatening. The individual with panic disorder misinterprets the rapid beating of their heart as a heart attack, leading to intense fear and panic.

Question 12

After Harriet was in a bicycle accident, she became fearful of riding bicycles. Which theory of the development of phobias would explain her fearing of riding bicycles?

Accepted Answer

Classical conditioning theory states that phobias develop through the pairing of a stimulus that initially does not elicit fear (the conditioned stimulus, or CS) with a negative experience or stimulus that naturally elicits fear (the unconditioned stimulus, or US). In Harriet's case, the bicycle accident would be the US, and riding bicycles would be the CS that she now associates with fear.

Question 13

What is thought suppression?

Accepted Answer

Thought suppression is an active attempt to stop thinking about something. It involves consciously trying to push away or get rid of unwanted thoughts or feelings, which can actually make them more persistent and intrusive.

Question 14

Research has suggested that a factor contributing to the development of some anxiety reactions is

Accepted Answer

Social learning theory proposes that people can learn anxiety reactions through observation of others. If individuals observe someone else showing a strong fear response to a certain stimuli, they may learn to avoid that stimuli themselves, even if they have never directly experienced a negative consequence from it. This can be a contributing factor in the development of anxiety.

Question 15

One important element in the development of social phobias may be a biologically-based preparedness to fear

Accepted Answer

Research suggests that humans may have a biological preparedness to fear faces that appear angry or rejecting toward us. This may be related to our evolutionary history and the need to quickly recognise potential threats in our environment.

Question 16

Research has consistently found evidence that problems with anxiety show up at high rates in people who believe

Accepted Answer

Research has consistently found evidence that problems with anxiety are more likely to show up in people who believe they are not in control of events. They may feel helpless and unable to cope with challenging situations, leading to feelings of anxiety.

Question 17

Several lines of research have clarified the basic cognitive mechanisms involved in generalized anxiety disorder as well as panic disorder. Experts now believe that a factor that plays a crucial role in the onset of this process is

Accepted Answer

Research has shown that individuals with generalized anxiety disorder and panic disorder have a tendency to focus their attention on potential threats and dangers in their environment, leading to a heightened state of anxiety. This suggests that attentional processes play a crucial role in the onset and maintenance of these disorders.

Question 18

Twin studies of anxiety disorders indicate that they have a heritability of

Accepted Answer

Twin studies have shown that anxiety disorders have a heritability of around 20 to 30 percent, meaning that about 20 to 30 percent of the variation in anxiety disorders can be attributed to genetic factors.

Question 19

What have studies of the genetics of panic disorder and generalized anxiety disorder found concerning the genetic component in a model of the cause of these disorders?

Accepted Answer

Studies have found that both panic disorder and generalized anxiety disorder have a moderate heritable component, indicating that genetic factors contribute to the development of these disorders to some extent. However, environmental factors also play a significant role in the onset and maintenance of these conditions.

Question 20

The brain pathway that operates as a "short cut" in the detection of danger

Accepted Answer

The brain pathway that operates as a "short cut" in the detection of danger is the amygdala, which allows for some threats to be responded to very quickly, without needing to go through the slower conscious processing of threat.

Quiz 6: Anxiety Disorders