COUC 601 Quiz: Midterm
Covers the Learn material from Module 1: Week 1 – Module 4: Week 4.
Score for this quiz: 139.5 out of 150 – Submitted Feb 9, 2025 at 10:14am
Question 1
1.5 / 1.5 pts
Jay Haley's approach incorporates a functionalist viewpoint with his Ericksonian and cybernetic
influences, thus combining aspects of the ________ and ________ approaches into his style of
treating families.
structural/behavioral
Bowenian/behavioral
strategic/experiential
structural/strategic
Question 2
1.5 / 1.5 pts
Unlike ________, psychoanalytic clinicians may not complete their assessment or arrive at a
final diagnosis until the end of treatment.
experientialists
behaviorists
structuralists
B and C
Question 3
1.5 / 1.5 pts
Assessments conducted in behavioral marriage therapy are designed to evaluate couples on all
except which of the following:
their ability to discuss relationship problems
the manner in which reward and punishment are exchanged
their capacity for whole object relationships
skill at pinpointing relevant reinforcers in the relationship
Question 4
1.5 / 1.5 pts
Action and insight are the primary vehicles of change in family therapy. The ________ school
emphasizes behavioral change and eschews insight as a medium for change.
structural
strategic
psychodynamic
experiential
Question 5
1.5 / 1.5 pts
"Differentiated" individuals
can extricate themselves from all emotional triangles
can balance their needs for closeness and autonomy
avoid contact with their parents
approach life in a purely rational fashion
Question 6
1.5 / 1.5 pts
The study of control processes in systems, particularly the analysis of the flow of information in
closed systems, is known as
functional analysis of behavior
cybernetics
existentialism
general systems theory
Question 7
1.5 / 1.5 pts
All but which of the following is not part of exploring a family's structure?
Subsystems
Boundaries
Family rules
Triangles
IncorrectQuestion 8
0 / 1.5 pts
The goal of family group therapy was to
promote verbalization and understanding of unmet needs
promote individuation of family members
improve family relationships
all of these choices
Question 9
1.5 / 1.5 pts
The concept of the family life cycle was introduced to the field by
Salvador Minuchin
Betty Carter and Monica McGoldrick
Jay Haley
Don Jackson
Question 10
1.5 / 1.5 pts
Which phenomena are not a focus of cybernetics, as applied to families?
sequences of interaction
family hierarchy
family rules
negative feedback
IncorrectQuestion 11
0 / 1.5 pts
The most commonly used techniques in behavior therapy fall into which category?
operant conditioning
respondent conditioning
cognitive/affective techniques
none of these choices
Question 12
1.5 / 1.5 pts
A technique used by the Milan group that prescribes a specific act for family members to
perform--it is designed to change the family system's rules.
circular questioning
pretend technique
positive connotation
family ritual
Question 13
1.5 / 1.5 pts
An emotional reaction, usually unconscious and often distorted, on the part of the therapist to a
patient or family member in treatment is known as
transference
countertransference
projective identification
introjection
Question 14
1.5 / 1.5 pts
The notions of complementarity, structuralism, and general systems theory are all embraced by
which family theory?
behavioral family therapy
experiential family therapy
communications family therapy
structural family therapy
Question 15
1.5 / 1.5 pts
A process whereby an infant begins to draw apart from the symbiotic bond with mother and
develop autonomous functioning is known as
introjection
separation-individuation
projective identification
identification
Question 16
1.5 / 1.5 pts
Unlike Bowenians, experiential therapists will ________ then behave in alternately provocative
and supportive ways in order to help families learn to express honest emotion.
encourage development of transference
discourage development of transference
raise the level of anxiety in the family
lower the level of anxiety in the family
Question 17
1.5 / 1.5 pts
Kurt Lewin's idea of ________ can be seen in action in Minuchin's promotion of crises in family
lunch sessions, Norman Paul's use of cross-confrontations, and Peggy Papp's family
choreography.
unfreezing
social equilibrium
group process
field theory
IncorrectQuestion 18
0 / 1.5 pts
With the exception of the feminist critique, what has been largely missing in family therapy has
been an examination of
cultural biases
the society we are helping people fit into
value systems
all of these choices
Question 19
1.5 / 1.5 pts
By training family members in 3 areas--teaching differentiation, avoiding triangulation, and
________, Bowen therapists can enable a single individual to transform the whole network of
his or her family system.
avoiding expression of intense emotions
reopening cut-off family relationships
increasing contact with dysfunctional family members
all of these choices
Question 20
1.5 / 1.5 pts
The central intervention within the original Milan model consisted of either a ritual or a
family sculpting
positive connotation
therapeutic double bind
A and C
Question 21
1.5 / 1.5 pts
A balanced steady state of equilibrium is known as
metacommunication
homeostasis
morphogenesis
equifinality
Question 22
1.5 / 1.5 pts
During which phase of structural family therapy does assessment occur?
opening
mapping underlying structure
transformation of family structure
structural therapists do not use assessments
Question 23
1.5 / 1.5 pts
Hospital clinicians began to acknowledge and include the family in an individual's treatment
when
they noticed when the patient got better, someone in the family got worse
they realized the family was footing the bill for treatment
they realized the family continued to influence the course of treatment anyway
A and C
none of these choices
Question 24
1.5 / 1.5 pts
Experiential therapists typically use ________ to help minimize countertransference responses
to family members in session.
live observation
co-therapists
reflecting teams
their own therapy
Question 25
1.5 / 1.5 pts
The only means to effectively escape a double bind is to
withdraw from the relationship
metacommunicate
quid pro quo
A and B
Question 26
1.5 / 1.5 pts
Minuchin's term for psychological isolation that results from overly rigid boundaries around
individuals and subsystems in a family is
enmeshment
differentiation
emotional cutoff
disengagement
Question 27
1.5 / 1.5 pts
According to psychoanalytic theory, marital choice is affected in part by the ________
phenomenon, in which the insecurely attached child grows up learning to hide their real needs
and feelings to win approval.
false self
invisible loyalty
introjective
double-bind
Question 28
1.5 / 1.5 pts
The strategic technique of providing a new label for a family's description of behavior, in order to
make it more amenable to therapeutic change; for example, describing someone as "lonely"
rather than "depressed."
interpretation
restraining
reframing
A and C
IncorrectQuestion 29
0 / 1.5 pts
The authors suggest developing a tentative hypothesis about a family's problem:
After exploring the presenting complain
After the first session
After the initial phone call
During the first few sessions
Question 30
1.5 / 1.5 pts
This family therapist's personal resolution of emotional reactivity in his family was as significant
for his approach to family therapy as Freud's self-analysis was for psychoanalysis.
Salvador Minuchin
Jay Haley
Murray Bowen
Carl Whitaker
Question 31
1.5 / 1.5 pts
The Bateson group may be best remembered for the concepts of the double bind and
triangles
family structure
group process
metacommunication
Question 32
1.5 / 1.5 pts
At termination a family therapist should _
Explore the therapeutic relationship
Resolve the therapeutic relationship
Focus on the things the family has learned
Focus on what the family has been doing
Question 33
1.5 / 1.5 pts
From a Bowenian perspective, optimal development in the family occurs when all members are
relatively differentiated, anxiety is low, and parents
form an executive subsystem
cut-off from dysfunctional family members
avoid heightened emotionality
remain in emotional contact with their families of origin
Question 34
1.5 / 1.5 pts
Jackson's concept, ________, that families are units that resist change, became the defining
metaphor of family therapy's first three decades.
emotional reactivity
quid pro quo
family homeostasis
A and C
Question 35
1.5 / 1.5 pts
One of the major propositions put forth in Watzlawick et al. 's (1967) Pragmatics of Human
Communication, was that all messages have a report and a ________ function.
semantic
pragmatic
paradoxical
command
Question 36
1.5 / 1.5 pts
This behavioral technique uses a system of points or stars to reward children for successful
behavior
contingency contracting
token economy
aversion therapy
shaping
Question 37
1.5 / 1.5 pts
The group therapy model was not entirely appropriate for families for what reason?
family members are peers
families have a shared history
A and C
none of these choices
Question 38
1.5 / 1.5 pts
In order to discern a family's structure two things are necessary: a theoretical system that
explains structure and
family members' self-reports
live observation
a structured assessment interview
none of these choices
IncorrectQuestion 39
0 / 1.5 pts
The goal of internal family systems therapy is to
experience unique outcomes
achieve self-leadership
de-triangulate
B and C
Question 40
1.5 / 1.5 pts
________ is considered more important by experiential therapists for healthy family functioning
than either problem-solving skills or functional family structure.
open, spontaneous experiencing
insight
symptom relief
none of these choices
Question 41
1.5 / 1.5 pts
An increase in chronic anxiety in the nuclear family system will tend to ________ less
differentiated families, while it will ________ more highly differentiated families.
be absorbed by/promote growth in
promote growth in/be absorbed by
cause an increase in symptoms in/be absorbed by
cause a decrease in symptoms in/promote growth in
Question 42
1.5 / 1.5 pts
An essential role of an internal family systems therapist is to
educate family members about internal positive feedback loops
help family members notice when their parts have taken over
solve the family's presenting problem
reposition the family hierarchy
Question 43
1.5 / 1.5 pts
People tend to marry spouses at ________ levels of differentiation.
varying
similar
complementary
opposite
Question 44
1.5 / 1.5 pts
According to feminist Bowenians, ________ causes the most problems in American families.
patriarchy
domestic violence
emotional fusion
A and C
Question 45
1.5 / 1.5 pts
Challenging linearity means:
Asking how others are involved in the presenting problem
Asking for a chronology of the presenting problem
Asking for a family history
Asking family members for a circular explanation of the presenting problem
Question 46
1.5 / 1.5 pts
The Bateson group may be best remembered for the concepts of the double bind and
metacommunication
family structure
group processes
triangles
Question 47
1.5 / 1.5 pts
According to behaviorists, disturbed marital interactions result from
low rates of positive reinforcement exchange
positive expectancies
low rates of aversive control
none of these choices
Question 48
1.5 / 1.5 pts
Psychoanalytic clinicians identify pathology in families as the result of ________, while
structural family therapists locate dysfunction in the boundaries between subsystems.
conflict
intrapsychic rigidity
developmental arrest
all of these choices
Question 49
1.5 / 1.5 pts
The internal family systems therapist uses ________ or sense of when people are and are not
leading with their Selves, to help family members maintain Self-leadership as they interact.
an analytic third ear
a parts detector
a quid pro quo
metacommunication
Question 50
1.5 / 1.5 pts
"Unbalancing" involves
realigning relationships between subsystems
therapeutic neutrality
restorying the family's narrative
taking sides
Question 51
1.5 / 1.5 pts
The current form of Haley/Madanes therapy is called ________, and still involves giving
directives based on therapist hypotheses, though shifting the focus away from the power
elements of family hierarchy.
post-modern strategism
positive strategism
strategic humanism
none of these choices
Question 52
1.5 / 1.5 pts
In Bowen theory, the flight from a conflictual emotional attachment to one's parents is known as
emotional cutoff
enmeshment
disengagement
fusion
Question 53
1.5 / 1.5 pts
The major intent of behavioral exchange procedures is to help couples
with severe marital problems
establish reinforcement reciprocity
resolve sexual arousal disorders
evaluate treatment outcome
Question 54
1.5 / 1.5 pts
A Bowen therapist working with an individual family member in treatment is most likely to do
which of the following?
create a therapeutic triangle
use displacement stories
model how to take an "I" position
work with a genogram
C and D
Question 55
1.5 / 1.5 pts
Bowen's concept "differentiation of self" is most like, which of the following?
independence
disengagement
self-actualization
ego strength
IncorrectQuestion 56
0 / 1.5 pts
General systems theory, cybernetics, and social constructionism are ________ concepts.
epistemological
metapsychological
clinical
metaphysical
Question 57
1.5 / 1.5 pts
The idea that because the mind is so complex, it's better to study people's input and output
(e.g., behavior and communication) than to speculate about what goes on in their minds is
known as
black box concept
general systems theory
paradox
metacommunication
Question 58
1.5 / 1.5 pts
When parents are unable to resolve the conflicts between them, a common pattern is to
continue to argue through the children. When father says mother is too permissive, she says
he's too strict. He may in turn withdraw, and she responds to the child with excessive concern
and devotion. The structural term which best describes the resulting family structure is
diffuse boundaries between husband and wife
a cross-generational coalition between mother and child
overinvolvement between father and child
a pathological triangle
Question 59
1.5 / 1.5 pts
Which is not a concept of von Bertalanffy's general systems theory?
"black box" metaphor
a system is more than the sum of its parts
equifinality
homeostatic reactivity
Question 60
1.5 / 1.5 pts
A family therapist who begins a session by greeting individual family members by name and
asking for each person's view of the problem is demonstrating which strategy?
boundary making
highlighting the interactions
accommodating
joining
Question 61
1.5 / 1.5 pts
Structural family therapists use ________ to observe and then change transactions that make
up family structure.
genograms
paradoxical directives
double-binds
enactments
Question 62
1.5 / 1.5 pts
A collection of beliefs based on a distortion of historical reality and shared by all family
members, which help shape the rules governing family functioning are known as
family rules
invisible loyalties
family myths
none of these choices
Question 63
1.5 / 1.5 pts
A major treatment strategy in behavioral couples therapy is to
increase the rate of aversive control
improve communication skills
decrease positive control
all of these choices
Question 64
1.5 / 1.5 pts
Narrative therapy differs from solution-focused therapy in being more focused on ________
than ________.
exceptions; problems
cognitions; interactions
attitudes; behavior
individuals; families
Question 65
1.5 / 1.5 pts
This Bowenian concept describes the level of emotional "stuck-togetherness" or fusion in the
family.
unconscious need complementarity
lack of differentiation of self
triangling
A and C
Question 66
1.5 / 1.5 pts
In order to highlight and modify interactions in the family, structural therapists use intensity to
interrupt rigid patterns of conflict-avoidance
break families loose from their patterns of equilibrium
extend interactional sequences beyond the point where dysfunctional homeostasis is
reinstated
all of these choices
Question 67
1.5 / 1.5 pts
Systematic desensitization and assertive training are both examples of ________ techniques.
operant conditioning
cognitive/affective
respondent conditioning
aversion
Question 68
1.5 / 1.5 pts
MRI therapists identify 3 categories of client solutions which tend to perpetuate or exacerbate
their problems. They include attempting to solve something which isn't really a problem, taking
action to solve a problem but doing so at the wrong level, and
complying with a paradoxical directive
failing to take action, though action is necessary
denying that a problem exists
B and C
none of these choices
Question 69
1.5 / 1.5 pts
Relabeling a family's description of behavior to make it more amenable to therapeutic change is
called
reframing
prescribing the symptom
reinforcement reciprocity
a double-bind
Question 70
1.5 / 1.5 pts
Structuralists believe the family must first accept the therapist, in a process called ________,
which allows the therapist to increase stress and unbalance the family homeostasis, thus
opening the way for structural transformation in the family.
detouring
taking an "I" position
restructuring
joining
Question 71
1.5 / 1.5 pts
The greatest conceptual influence on the early development of family therapy was
the family life cycle
constructivism
feminism
systems theory
Question 72
1.5 / 1.5 pts
According to the authors a therapist should focus on --------
A family's strengths and weaknesses
The presenting problem
The family life cycle stage of the family
The bio-psycho-social milieu
Question 73
1.5 / 1.5 pts
Behavioral assessment methods fall into each of the following categories except which?
clinical interview
observation
objective testing
projective testing
Question 74
1.5 / 1.5 pts
According to Bowen theory, more highly differentiated individuals will likely
avoid the expression of intense emotions
avoid contact with dysfunctional family members
have parents who are well differentiated
be firstborn children
A and C
Question 75
1.5 / 1.5 pts
________ is a prominent technique in Bowen therapy designed to clarify emotional processes
involved in altering key triangles. The technique is used in order to help family members
become aware of systems processes and recognize their own roles in them--it was first
developed for use with emotional pursuers and distancers.
relationship experiments
coaching
use of genograms
use of displacement stories
Question 76
1.5 / 1.5 pts
The primary goal of Bowen family therapy is to
heighten emotional experiencing in family members
increase the family's repertoire of problem-solving skills
improve communication between family members
increase the level of self-focus in family members
Question 77
1.5 / 1.5 pts
According to the text, one problem with treating families as though they were groups like any
other group is that
it fails to consider the intrapsychic components of family problems
it fails to appreciate the need for hierarchy and structure
family members are released from their inhibitions
there is no problem with treating families like any other group
Question 78
1.5 / 1.5 pts
A conflict created when a person receives contradictory messages on different levels of
abstraction in an important relationship, and cannot leave or comment is known as a
reframe
complementarity
quid pro quo
double bind
Question 79
1.5 / 1.5 pts
Lyman Wynne's term for the facade of family harmony that characterized many schizophrenic
families is
pseudocomplementarity
pseudomutuality
pseudoharmony
pseudohostility
Question 80
1.5 / 1.5 pts
Within experiential therapy, the ________ is believed to be the essential healing force in the
psychotherapeutic process, whereby the therapist establishes caring, person-to-person
relationships with each family member while modeling openness, honesty, and spontaneity.
interpretation of unconscious conflict
existential encounter
therapeutic double-bind
paradoxical intervention
Question 81
1.5 / 1.5 pts
A paradoxical technique that forces a patient to either give up a symptom or admit that it is
under voluntary control is known as
a positive connotation
scapegoating
an ordeal
prescribing the symptom
Question 82
1.5 / 1.5 pts
Disengaged subsystems are surrounded by ________ boundaries while ________ subsystems
have ________ boundaries.
rigid, enmeshed, diffuse
executive, rigid, enmeshed
rigid, executive, diffuse
rigid, diffuse, enmeshed
Question 83
1.5 / 1.5 pts
Boundaries around the executive subsystem in the family are of particular importance because
the family ________ is seen by structural therapists as crucial to the family's well-being.
network
hierarchy
life cycle
quid pro quo
Question 84
1.5 / 1.5 pts
According to the principles of which Bowenian construct, simply teaching a mother better
techniques for disciplining her son will fail, because the intervention ignores the problem that
she is overinvolved with the boy as a result of her husband's emotional distance.
enmeshment
multigenerational transmission process
emotional cutoff
triangles
IncorrectQuestion 85
0 / 1.5 pts
The behavioral parent training model
focuses on triadic constructions of the identified problem
aims to restructure the family hierarchy and generational boundaries
requires that the entire family to attend therapy
supports the parents' view that the child is the problem
Question 86
1.5 / 1.5 pts
The use of ________ is designed to block or change dysfunctional behavior using indirect,
seemingly illogical means.
therapeutic double-binds
paradox
directives
all of these choices
Question 87
1.5 / 1.5 pts
The tendency of families to resist change in order to maintain a steady state is known as
homeostasis
the black box concept
paradox
complementarity
Question 88
1.5 / 1.5 pts
The family theory of the etiology of schizophrenia which focused on disturbed patterns of
communication was founded by Gregory Bateson, Theodore Lidz, and
Carl Whitaker
Lyman Wynne
Virginia Satir
Mara Selvini-Palazzoli
Question 89
1.5 / 1.5 pts
The goals of experiential family therapy would not include
increased personal integrity
greater freedom of choice
restructuring of the family system
increased sensitivity to one's needs and feelings
Question 90
1.5 / 1.5 pts
Selvini Palazzoli's technique of ascribing helpful motives to family behavior in order to promote
family cohesion and avoid resistance to therapy is known as
ordeal therapy
mystification
pretend technique
positive connotation
Question 91
1.5 / 1.5 pts
A biological model of living systems as whole entities which maintain themselves through
continuous input and output from the environment, developed by Ludwig von Bertalanffy is
known as
systems theory
cybernetics
constructivism
general systems theory
Question 92
1.5 / 1.5 pts
According to communications theory, healthy families are able to adapt to changing
circumstances through use of
positive feedback
negative feedback
homeostasis
therapeutic double-binds
Question 93
1.5 / 1.5 pts
The strategic and systemic therapies have been most directly influenced by the ideas of
Gregory Bateson
Carl Rogers
Virginia Satir
Milton Erickson
A and D
Question 94
1.5 / 1.5 pts
According to the authors, the best way to develop cultural sensitivity is _
To have therapists with similar backgrounds to clients
To ask questions
To study cultural and ethnic traditions
To accept how clients wish to relate within their own families
Question 95
1.5 / 1.5 pts
Frieda Fromm-Reichmann's concept, "________ mother," described a domineering, aggressive,
rejecting, and insecure mother who was thought to provide the pathological parenting that
produced schizophrenia.
undifferentiated
schizophrenogenic
reactive
symbiotic
Question 96
1.5 / 1.5 pts
A relationship in which husband and wife both pursue careers and share housekeeping and
childrearing responsibilities is
complementary
unrealistic
competitive
symmetrical
Question 97
1.5 / 1.5 pts
Psychoanalytic family therapists pay particular interest to childhood memories when
they feel family members' need reassurance and direction
family members' associations and spontaneous interactions cease
they are re-enacted in the present, manifested as transference
none of these choices
Question 98
1.5 / 1.5 pts
Experiential family therapists believe ________ is/are the primary cause of dysfunction in
families.
interlocking triangles
unexpressed emotion
cross-generational coalitions
poor problem-solving
Question 99
1.5 / 1.5 pts
A non-verbal experiential technique, in which family members position themselves in a tableau
that reveals significant aspects of their perceptions and feelings, is known as
existential encounter
family sculpting
family ritual
conjoint family drawing
Question 100
1.5 / 1.5 pts
When two people marry, they must learn to negotiate the nature of the boundary between them,
as well as the boundary separating them from the outside. This structural requirement is known
as
accommodation
complementarity
disengagement
differentiation
Quiz Score: 139.5 out of 150
