Homework #1

1. a) All people who are right-handed or ambidextrous.
b) All people who are right-handed or all people who are left-handed and normal.

c) All people who are right-handed, ambidextrous, or normal.
d) All normal females who are left-handed, all color-blind females who are either right-handed or ambidextrous, and all males.

e) All people who are right-handed, ambidextrous, female, or color-blind.

2. a) finite

b) countably infinite

c) uncountably infinite

d) finite

e) finite

f) countably infinite

3.a. All males and all females.

b. All registered Republicans and all registered Democrats.

c. All people born before 1960 and all people born after 1940.

d. All people who own a cat and all people who own a dog.

4, 6, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15. see answer sheet (page 2)

18. There could be a conditional probability involved with this situation. Let’s assume that there are two other mutually exclusive groups of people in our set: huskies and cougars. According to the data, given that one is a husky, a lion-tamer is 90% likely to be killed and a lumberjack is 10% likely to be killed. Huskies may only make up a small subset of our entire universal set, and of because there happens to be a much larger group of cougars who are much more likely to be killed by being a lumberjack, the statistics report that lumberjacks are more likely to be killed of those in the universal set. Unfortunately for Al, because he is a husky, there is a much greater chance of him being killed if he serves as a lumberjack.

21. see answer sheet (page 2)

Section 9 – Case Study 16

After reading this article, I can only imagine how difficult it would be to raise a child who suffers from ADHD. The disorder appeared to be pretty much what I had always assumed, but I feel like I have a greater understanding of why ADHD is overdiagnosed. Some of Billy’s symptoms were exaggerated, prolonged normalcies of the growing up process. For an unprepared parent, less severe forms of Billy’s actions may cause alarm for potential ADHD.

Also, one thing in particular from Billy’s story surprised me. I was in that “group of people” who thought that Ritalin and other ADHD medications provided some sort of tranquilizing effect. I understand the reasoning behind treating ADHD with stimulants, but I wonder about what happens why and how the drug does not work for certain patients. When stimulants fail ADHD children, is it mostly because there is no improvement, or rather does the disorder simply worsen? Does it have anything to do with the child being misdiagnosed, or do researches take that into effect when they calculate the number of successes and failures?

One final note I’d like to make is on the fact that Billy had a relapse of sorts. The author told us that it was overcome with a change in medication dosage and a “renewed effort” in Billy’s behavioral program. I worry a little for Billy; does this mean that his parents only put forth the maximum effort when Billy is behaving badly? How is he ever to completely overcome his problem if he isn’t treated consistently within his family? (Then again, I’m implying all of this from one sentence in the case, so perhaps the outlook isn’t as gloomy as I make it out to be.)

Section 8 – Case Study 13

Karen’s case was interesting in that it seemed so hard for her to not only stick with her therapy, but also to even want to help herself. I can understand why, however, after all the negative attention Karen received for her disorder. I was especially surprised to hear about the therapist who refused her treatment and called her symptoms “manipulation.” Do therapists get frustrated and refuse treatment often? The last thing Karen needed was to be labeled like that, and it seemed to only set her up for possible failure in future treatments. Also, the text mentions that people with borderline personality disorder suffer from emotional dysregulation, biological vulnerability, and an invalidating environment during childhood. Which of these factors weighs the most? For Karen, it seems that her invalidating environment provided a foundation for her disorder. Can borderline personality disorder start later in life, and are their many cases that do not stem from a horrific childhood?

Section 7 – Case Study 12

After reading this case study, it’s no wonder to me why so many people are interested in abnormal psychology! Jim’s paranoid schizophrenia was such an involved abnormality that required such diligent treatment; I was not surprised at the length of time that was committed to helping Jim overcome his disorder. It was really interesting to see how Jim’s on volition played a major part in his recovery, and how much effort it took on behalf of Jim to stay on track. I also believe that Jim’s family system played a major role in the perpetuation of his schizophrenia – as evident by the comments from his mother and the outcomes of their behavioral family management sessions. I was really glad to see that the integration of all these therapies seemed to work for Jim, even though the process was long and tedious. Also, how did Jim maintain a driver’s license during all this time? Is there any criteria for which psychologists can recommend the suspension of certain privileges (like operating an automobile) because of the probability of harm to self or others? Just a thought…

Quiz Section 6 – Case Study 9

After attending lectures and reading this particular case study, bulimia nervosa seems to make a lot more sense. I noticed that with Rita, purging wasn’t an immediate response to her guilty feelings; she had tried many other techniques before resorting to throwing up her food. One part of the story I found interesting was that after a few months of purging, Rita often did not have to use her finger at all to purge – the feelings and gastrointestinal movements came naturally. Was this a sort of classical conditioning? Did the sight of the toilet gradually become a conditioned stimulus that, paired with an intention to throw up, elicited the conditioned response of purging?

Also, I recall Lexi telling us that eating disorders were some of the hardest disorders to treat. After reading about Rita, I can see how this is the case. Rita’s treatment was such a long, involved process, but she slowly seemed to make a lot of progress. I thought one of the most effective components was for Rita to eat “bad” foods in front of her therapist. In doing this, not only would she not want to purge in front of her therapist, but she could spend time talking to Dr. Heston afterwards (therefore allowing her mind to focus on other things). I wish we had been given a little more information on Rita’s relationship problems (that were introduced in the epilogue) and they related to her newly-healed eating disorder, but overall, I was satisfied with how Rita’s case was explained and handled.

Quiz Section 4 – Case Study 6

Andrea’s disorder is interesting in that its roots (for her) go back as far as the age of 10. I was surprised to hear that at this age, she had a “sudden awareness of [her] own mortality,” a notion that seems rather mature for a 10-year-old. If she was having those feelings at such a young age, I also wonder why it took 34 years or so for her feelings to develop into hypochondriasis. One of the side notes, however, says that this it is common for patients to develop hypochondriasis in young adulthood. Any thoughts as to why Andrea had such a delayed onset? Also, concerning Andrea’s exposure treatment, I was surprised to see the effectiveness of the listing exercise compared to the failed visualization exercise. I understand that different treatments will work better for different clients, but it was interesting to see that Andrea’s list of possible illness fears worked even better than visualizing her actual suffering. (She said that the visualization exercise just seemed “artificial,” which is a little ironic considering then nature of her disease.) Andrea did, however, seem to overcome her problem fairly quickly with just the one main technique. Potential Daddy?

Quiz Section 3 – Case Study 1

A few things in particular about Sofia’s story strike me as interesting:

1. As I was reading the introduction to the case study, I half-expected Sofia’s disorder to stem from her experiences during WWII. This was not the case; however, during session 4 of Sofia’s treatment, Dr. Fehrman helps Sofia by guiding her into thinking that awful experiences do not necessarily demean a person. She then thought of how she overcame and grew from her experiences in WWII, and this cognitive change formed a basis for the rest of her treatment. Are psychologists able to differentiate what general types of events cause PTSD and which do not? The text mentions that Sofia was able to think of her temporary time in the labor camp as a “transient interlude in an other-wise independent existence” – was this because she had escaped Nazi terror so many times that she felt she could do it again? Is this also why those repeatedly traumatic experiences did not cause her PTSD, but a subway accident did?

2. During the second session, Sofia explained that she had not monitored herself (as requested per her therapist) and had been utterly consumed with the question of whether or not to have knee surgery. Was this some sort of subconscious way of avoiding having to recall her trauma all over again?

Quiz Section 1 – Case Study 20

1. Do you think Joe’s experience in the army (with the man who was thrown from his jeep) had some link to his panic disorder, even though his symptoms did not show up for another 50 years or so?
2. The text says that Dr. Gellar used both cognitive and behavior techniques to treat Joe’s panic disorder. Which of Joe’s therapies fall into the cognitive category? Which of them fall into the behavior category?