Facebook is a social media networking service that currently boasts over 1 billion users worldwide. For this assignment, you will analyze the Facebook page of Jacob Smith.  More specifically, analyze Jacob’s page using:

•At least three of the theories we explored in this module. Use the theories to describe what you learned about Jacob. •Which of these theories do you find the easiest to apply? Why? •Provide an example of a schema that Jacob demonstrates.

Cultivation theory explains that regular and frequent exposure to certain types of social media information have an effect on a person’s attitudes and behavior. Cultivation theorists believe that social media has effects that are small, gradual, indirect, and cumulative – they add up over time to change a person’s attitudes and behaviors, kind of like a stalagmite building up on a cave floor over the years.

Social learning theory explains that we learn through observation. According to social learning theory, the three pieces of this puzzle are the person, the modeled behavior, and the environment. We form a model of behaviors without needing to actually do it ourselves – we can see someone almost being hit by a car in the street and know that we need to be very careful in the street without being (nearly) hit ourselves. We can watch a YouTube video on makeup application or car repair and then go on to try the process in real life.

Agenda setting theory explains that social media influences people regarding what to think about rather than what to think. This theory holds that social media influences and amplifies our existing beliefs, and that people are willing to look to social media to cue us as to where we should focus our attention. You might see this as waves of people on your social media sites tend to post about similar issues, which gets you (and them) thinking about them more and leads to more posting for a while. Then the attention goes somewhere else. For example, for a while, the gold and white / blue and black dress was lighting up social media sites (google it if you don’t know), which led to a lot of discussions on visual processing and the work our brains do. Then along came the next big item on the agenda.

Uses and gratification theory identifies that people look to social media to escape from challenges or be entertained. This theory assumes that people are not passive, but are actively searching out and using the information they are consuming from social media sites.

Schemas are ways of organizing our world. We all have stereotypes that help us classify people and things. Schemas are not a theory, per se, but an explanation on how our memory organizes information. Jean Piaget developed the use of schemas to explain not only how we categorize our knowledge, but how we utilize that knowledge as well.   For example, if someone asks you to describe a Republican or a Democrat, how would you do that? You may have a particular schema of a person belonging to one or the other political party. Your information on political parties may be extensive or limited, so how you explain a person from each party will reflect that level of expertise. If you were someone who routinely watches a particular 24-hour news network, your schema may change toward a particular party as you assimilate the new information into your original framework (schema) of that political party.   In the same light, viewing the social media networks may alter or accommodate your existing schema to fit the new information.

Proponents of clinical psychologists obtaining prescription privileges argue that with prescription privileges:A. Clinical psychologists would be able to treat a wider range of clients. B. Care for patients needing therapy and medication would be more efficient and cost-effective.C. Clinical psychologists would have an edge over therapists who cannot prescribe.D. All of the above.

 

In 1993, the Ad Hoc Task Force on Psychopharmacology of APA published recommendations regarding competence in prescribing. According to these recommendations, in order to achieve the highest level of competence (Level 3) and practice independently as a prescribing psychologist, the psychologist must have completed:A. A one-semester survey course in psychopharmacology.B. Six months of prescribing experience supervised by a psychiatrist. C. A strong undergraduate background in biological sciences, two years of graduate training in psychopharmacology and a postdoctoral psychopharmacology.D. A Ph. D or Psy. D. in clinical psychology.

 

According to APA ethical principles,A. Clinicians with doctoral degrees can simply present themselves as “Doctor” and need not specify the nature of their training.B. A clinician with a Ph. D. in clinical psychology may use any treatment or assessment procedure available, even if they have not been specifically trained in it. C. Dual relationships, which can cause exploitation or harm of the client, are to be avoided.D. All of the above.

 

A psychologist is seeing a client who reports that he/she is planning to kill his/her spouse. If the ruling in the Tarasoff case is applicable to this situation, the psychologist should:A. Maintain confidentiality and not share this information with anyone.B. Break confidentiality and inform the police of this threat. C. Require the client to call the police and inform them directly of the threat.D. Break confidentiality and inform appropriate persons, including the spouse of the treat.

 

Researchers show participants one of several short films that vary in the extent to which they provoke anger and measure the heart rates of each participant immediately after each film. This research method is best described as:A. A series of case studies.B. Unsystematic observation.C. Controlled observation.D. Naturalistic observation.

 

Watson’s study of Little Albert is a classic example of:A. A mixed design. B. A case study.C. The double-blind procedure.D. None of the above.

 

_____ refers to the rate of new cases of illness that develop within a given period of time, while ____ refers to the overall rate of cases (old or new) within a given period of time.A. Incidence; distribution B. Incidence; prevalence C. Prevalence; incidence D. Distribution; incidence

 

If epidemiological studies link depression with alcohol consumption, it can be concluded that:A. Alcohol causes depression.B. Depression causes alcoholism. C. All of the above.D. None of the above.

 

As r statistic of – .85 suggests that:A. As one variable goes up, the other variable goes up. B. The two variables are unrelated to each other.C. On average, the first variable is .85 less than the second variable. D. As one variable goes up, the other variable goes down.

 

____ is a statistical method that utilizes many separate correlations in order to determine which variables change in concert and thus can be considered functionally related.A. Longitudinal correlation.B. Factor analysis.C. Multiple baseline correlation.D. Scatterplot analysis.

 

Researchers at a psychology clinic screen all new clients via phone interview, and over a few weeks a list of 40 new clients who meet criteria for depression. Twenty receive cognitive-behavioral treatment, and the other are told that they are on the waiting list. The independent variable in this study is ___ and the dependent variable is ___.A. Depression level; treatment  B. Treatment; depression level C. Time of interview; depression levelD. Treatment; treatment

 

Which of the following is the best example of a confounding variable influencing the internal validity of a study?A. Researchers perform a factor analysis and in the inferential factor-naming stage, assign names to the factors that cause disagreements with other researchers.B. A participant in a psychotherapy effectiveness study receives counseling from a minister in addition to the therapy provided in the study.C. A participant in a psychotherapy study who is placed on a waiting list receives no treatment while other participants in the same study are receiving psychotherapy. D. Two variables are found to correlate highly with each other, when in fact they are both caused by a third variable.

 

A clinical psychologist assesses a client’s behavior using an objective test and finds that the score on the test is outside of the range in which 98% of scores fall. The psychologist concludes that the client’s behavior is abnormal. The psychologist’s conclusion is based upon the definition of abnormality that emphasizes:A. Experience of distress.B. Disability or dysfunction. C. Conformity to norms.D. All of the above.

 

Which of the following examples is most clearly abnormal according to the “subjective distress” definition of abnormality?A. A mean, callous supervisor who remains unaware that his/her employees hate him/her. B. A librarian whose religious hallucinations are interfering with her ability to work.C. A child whose IQ is measured below the cutoff point for mental retardation.D. A high-functioning accountant who feels depressed about several aspects of his/her life.

 

Diagnostic categories are advantageous because they facilitate:A. Communication among mental health professionals. B. Research.C. Treatment choice. D. All of the above.

 

The most revolutionary changes in DSM, including the first application of explicit diagnositc criteria for the mental disorders and a multi-axial system, appeared in:A. DSM-II.B. DSM-III.C. DSM-III-R.D. DSM-IV-TR.

 

Changes incorporated in DSM-IV and maintained in DSM-IV-TR were based on ____ to a greater extent than changes incorporated in any previous edition.A. Psychoanalytic theory.B. Empirical data.C. Cognitive-behavioral theory.D. Consensus of expert opinion.

 

Marcus is a psychotherapy client whose depressive symptoms emerged soon after he was diagnosed with cancer, for which he is currently undergoing treatment. In the DSM-IV-TR diagnostic system, the cancer diagnosis:A. Would not be listed.B. Would be listed on Axis I. C. Would be listed on Axis III.D. None of the above.

 

Jennifer is a college student seeing a psychologist in the university counseling center for test anxiety. The only other symptoms she reports are occasional verbal arguments with her boyfriend of 2 years. In the DSM-IV-TR diagnostic system, Jennifer’s GAF would appear on Axis ___ as approximately ____.A. I;50 B. V; 85 C. IV; 95D. V; 10

 

 

According to the diathesis-stress model of psychopathology:A. A vulnerability or predisposition (such as genetics) is necessary and sufficient to develop psychopathology.B. Environmental stress and a vulnerability or predisposition are both required to develop psychopathology.C. Possessing a disthesis for a disorder guarantees its eventual occurrence. D. All human beings are born with the same likelihood of developing a particular disorder.