Lesson 4.3.6.3

4.3.6.3 Explanations for anorexia nervosa Quiz: AQA Psychology, Unit 3

20 questions

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Lesson 4.3.6.3, Explanations for anorexia nervosa: 20 multiple choice questions for the AQA Psychology (7182), Unit 3: Issues and options in Psychology, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. Which term describes the psychological explanation in which family members are closely involved and boundaries between them are weak?

    • Neophobia
    • Taste aversion
    • Covert sensitisation
    • Enmeshment

  2. In family systems theory, what does autonomy refer to in the context of anorexia nervosa?

    • The degree to which a young person is able to make independent decisions within the family
    • The degree to which a young person is exposed to media images of thin bodies
    • The degree to which a parent controls the food supply within the household
    • The degree to which a young person is able to control their own weight through diet

  3. Which concept from social learning theory is most directly linked to anorexia nervosa?

    • Classical conditioning of taste aversion to high-calorie foods
    • Operant punishment of hunger signals by the hypothalamus
    • Modelling of restrictive eating from peers or the media
    • Innate releasing mechanisms that trigger fixed food-avoidance patterns

  4. Which cognitive explanation of anorexia nervosa is most relevant?

    • Reduced levels of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens after eating
    • Distorted body image and irrational beliefs about weight and shape
    • Increased ghrelin release that drives the person to overeat
    • Inherited sensitivity to bitter tastes that causes food refusal

  5. Which biological explanation for anorexia nervosa is supported by evidence on genetics?

    • Anorexia is more common among close relatives of people with the disorder, suggesting heritability
    • Anorexia occurs only in people who have a mutation in the leptin gene alone
    • Anorexia is caused entirely by a single virus that infects the hypothalamus
    • Anorexia is equally common in monozygotic and dizygotic twins, showing no genetic link

  6. A teenager's parents frequently make decisions for her and limit her independence, and she begins restricting food. Which explanation best fits this case?

    • Family systems theory, since low autonomy and high control within the family may contribute to the disorder
    • Taste aversion, since the teenager was made ill by a particular food in the past and has avoided it ever since, even when offered other meals
    • Ghrelin deficiency, since the teenager has stopped producing appetite hormones in the stomach, which leaves her with no hunger signals at all
    • Neophobia, since the teenager has a strong fear of trying any new food at all, including foods that are offered at family meals every week

  7. A clinician argues that a patient's anorexia is maintained by a belief that she is overweight even when she is underweight. Which explanation is this?

    • A social learning explanation based on classical conditioning of food stimuli
    • A cognitive explanation based on distortion of body image
    • A biological explanation based on a reduced level of cortisol in the blood
    • An ethological explanation based on innate fixed action patterns of eating

  8. Which evaluation point applies to family systems explanations of anorexia nervosa?

    • They may not explain why some people in enmeshed families do not develop the disorder
    • They have been shown to explain anorexia purely through genetic inheritance
    • They are based only on experiments in which families are randomly assigned to conditions
    • They explain all cases of anorexia in every culture and every family type

  9. Which feature of social learning theory is most relevant to anorexia nervosa in adolescents?

    • Neural damage to the frontal lobe that reduces impulse control
    • Heritability that is measured in twin studies of body mass
    • Reinforcement, such as praise or approval for weight loss from peers or family
    • Innate releasing mechanisms triggered by a specific visual stimulus

  10. Which neural explanation has been proposed for anorexia nervosa?

    • Excess cortisol produced by the cerebellum in response to exercise, which is thought to suppress the desire to eat in every person
    • Abnormal functioning of the serotonin system or hypothalamic regions involved in appetite
    • Damage to the occipital lobe that impairs visual processing of food, so that the person cannot recognise what is on their plate at all
    • A lack of testosterone in the limbic system that reduces eating, which is thought to be the main cause of the disorder in adolescent girls

  11. A study finds that adolescents who view thin-ideal images online show more restrictive eating than those who do not. Which explanation does this best support?

    • Innate releasing mechanisms, since the images trigger a fixed action pattern of food refusal
    • Enmeshment, since the images directly alter family boundaries within the household
    • Taste aversion, since the images are paired with bitter tasting food in the study
    • Social learning theory, since the media provides models and reinforcement for thinness

  12. Which criticism of cognitive explanations of anorexia nervosa is most appropriate?

    • It has been shown that distorted beliefs never occur in people with anorexia at any time
    • It is difficult to tell whether distorted beliefs cause the disorder or are a consequence of starvation
    • It ignores all forms of learning and modelling in the development of the disorder
    • It shows that anorexia is entirely genetic and unaffected by any beliefs

  13. A researcher finds that anorexia is more concordant in monozygotic twins than in dizygotic twins. Which explanation does this best support?

    • A genetic contribution to the risk of anorexia nervosa
    • A purely environmental cause, because twins share their environment equally in both groups
    • A psychological cause, because twins always learn restrictive eating from each other
    • A neural cause limited to the cerebellum, because twins share the same brain structure

  14. Which combination of explanations best reflects the interactionist approach to anorexia nervosa?

    • Classical conditioning alone, which accounts for all of the variation in eating behaviour
    • Family pressure alone, with no role for any biological vulnerability in the person
    • Genetic vulnerability together with family and social pressures that reinforce restrictive eating
    • Genetic inheritance alone, with no role for the family or social environment at all

  15. Which statement best describes the cognitive explanation of anorexia nervosa?

    • Genetic variation alters the taste receptors so that food tastes bitter to the person
    • Cognitive processes are unrelated to eating and only affect the person's sleep patterns
    • Hormonal signals from the stomach continuously stimulate the desire to eat large amounts
    • Irrational beliefs about weight and shape maintain restrictive eating, even when the person is underweight

  16. A patient with anorexia is treated with cognitive behaviour therapy. Which explanation of the disorder does this treatment most directly address?

    • The ethological explanation, by removing innate releasing stimuli from the environment
    • The evolutionary explanation, by reintroducing neophobia into the patient's diet
    • The genetic explanation, by changing the sequence of the patient's DNA
    • The cognitive explanation, by challenging distorted beliefs about body image and weight

  17. Which evidence would most strengthen a social learning explanation of anorexia nervosa?

    • Adolescents with the disorder show no change in behaviour after receiving any reinforcement, which would suggest that praise does not affect their eating
    • Adolescents with the disorder have no contact with peers or media at any stage of life, which would mean that modelling could never have happened
    • Adolescents who observe a peer losing weight and receive praise for it are more likely to restrict their own eating
    • Adolescents with the disorder show identical brain scans to those without it at all times, which would suggest that learning plays no real role

  18. Which finding would challenge a purely biological explanation of anorexia nervosa?

    • Twin concordance is very high for anorexia, showing a strong genetic influence
    • Twin discordance is high for anorexia, and environmental differences within families appear to matter
    • Neural imaging shows altered activity in the hypothalamus in people with anorexia
    • Anorexia is found to run in families, with close relatives at higher risk

  19. A clinician asks whether anorexia nervosa is caused by family dynamics or by neural factors. Which response is most appropriate?

    • Family dynamics are the only cause, and neural factors have no relevance at all to the development of the disorder in any patient
    • Neural factors are the only cause, and family dynamics have no relevance at all to the development of the disorder in any patient
    • Both may contribute, and an interactionist explanation considers biological and family factors together
    • Neither factor is relevant, since anorexia is caused by a poor diet alone and can be cured simply by changing what the person eats

  20. Which of these is the best example of a cognitive distortion maintaining anorexia nervosa?

    • A patient whose hypothalamus is damaged eats much less than usual because the brain no longer signals hunger
    • A patient who is severely underweight believes she is still overweight and refuses to eat more
    • A patient who has been ill after eating a particular food avoids that food for the rest of her life
    • A patient who fears trying new foods refuses any dish that she has never eaten before in her life

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