3.2.4.5.1 Antidepressant medication and cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) Quiz: AQA Psychology, Unit 8

The 20 questions

1. Which type of medication is used in the biological treatment of depression?

   • Painkiller medication, which is used mainly to reduce headache pain at home
   • Antidepressant medication, which acts on brain chemistry such as serotonin
   • Anaesthetic medication, which is used to numb areas of the body during surgery
   • Antibiotic medication, which is used to treat bacterial infections in the body

2. How might antidepressants be linked to the serotonin explanation?

   • They have no link with neurotransmitters or chemistry in the brain at all
   • They increase the thickness of the skull of the patient over the course of treatment
   • They remove serotonin from all neurons permanently and completely from the brain
   • They may increase the level of serotonin available to pass messages in the brain

3. What is cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) aiming to change?

   • The colour of a person's blood through a special type of treatment session
   • The shape of the skull through a surgical procedure on the bone of the head
   • The number of neurons in the cerebellum through a process of training
   • Unhelpful thoughts and behaviour patterns that help maintain the problem

4. Which is the best description of CBT?

   • A talking therapy that challenges negative thinking and encourages helpful behaviour
   • A surgical procedure that removes parts of the frontal lobe of the brain
   • A brain scan that is used to measure the level of serotonin in the brain
   • A medication that blocks all brain signals for a long period of time

5. A patient with depression is offered CBT. What would the therapist most likely focus on?

   • Identifying negative thoughts and testing whether they are accurate
   • Carrying out an X-ray of the patient's chest at the start of treatment
   • Measuring the patient's blood sugar level once every hour during the session
   • Prescribing a new dose of antidepressant medication each week of the course

6. What is one difference between antidepressants and CBT in treating depression?

   • Neither treatment has any effect on mood at all in any patient group
   • Antidepressants are a biological treatment, while CBT is a psychological therapy
   • Both are surgical treatments that use the same method on the brain
   • Antidepressants are psychological, while CBT is a biological treatment with drugs

7. Which statement about antidepressant medication is most accurate?

   • It always cures depression permanently after just one single dose
   • It works only if the patient never talks to anyone about their feelings
   • It has no effect on brain chemistry in any patient who takes it
   • It may help improve mood, but side effects and dependence are possible

8. Why might a doctor offer both antidepressants and CBT?

   • Combining treatments always cancels out any benefit that either would give
   • Combining treatments is only done for physical injuries and never for mood
   • Combining treatments means that the patient needs no monitoring at any point
   • Combining treatments may address both biological and psychological causes

9. Which is a reductionist aspect of antidepressant treatment?

   • Using a range of therapies that consider the whole person and their context
   • Considering a person's life, relationships and beliefs in full detail
   • Treating depression mainly as a matter of changing one chemical level in the brain
   • Taking into account social and environmental factors in the person's life

10. Which is a holistic aspect of CBT?

    • Reducing the person's problem to a single cause without further thought
    • Considering thoughts, behaviour and the person's environment together
    • Ignoring the person's thoughts and feelings entirely in the session
    • Focusing only on one chemical level in the brain of the person

11. A patient takes an antidepressant and their mood improves, but they receive no therapy. What limitation might this highlight?

    • The treatment means that no further monitoring of the patient is needed ever
    • The treatment may address chemistry but not the thought patterns behind depression
    • The treatment shows that no brain chemistry is involved in depression at all
    • The treatment proves that depression is caused only by negative thoughts in the mind

12. What does 'reductionist' mean when applied to treatments for depression?

    • Making a problem larger by adding new explanations that were not needed
    • Explaining or treating a complex problem using a single factor
    • Explaining or treating a problem using many factors at the same time
    • Measuring a problem using only a brain scan with no other evidence at all

13. What does 'holistic' mean in the context of depression treatments?

    • Treating only the person's thoughts and ignoring the body completely
    • Treating depression with one standard medication for every person alike
    • Considering only the person's biology and nothing else in their life
    • Considering the whole person, including their biology, thoughts and social context

14. Which is a likely side effect that a doctor would monitor with antidepressant medication?

    • Permanent growth of a new limb within a single week of starting treatment
    • Changes in appetite or sleep that affect how the patient feels day to day
    • A change in the patient's height over the course of a single day of use
    • Complete loss of the ability to hear any sound from the environment at all

15. What is the main aim of CBT in the treatment of depression?

    • To help people change unhelpful thinking and behaviour patterns
    • To remove the brain tissue that is thought to cause the depression in the patient
    • To make people forget all their past events and experiences completely
    • To block all serotonin from reaching the synapse in the brain of the patient

16. Which of these would a CBT therapist be least likely to use?

    • Homework tasks that test beliefs against evidence in everyday life
    • Discussion of negative thoughts and the evidence for and against them
    • Goal setting to build the person's activity level over several weeks
    • Surgery to remove part of the frontal lobe of the brain

17. Why do researchers compare antidepressants and CBT in treatment studies?

    • To show that depression cannot be treated at all by any means
    • To see which treatment is more effective, or whether they work best together
    • To prove that all treatments are identical in every way that matters
    • To remove the need for the patient to give consent to any treatment

18. Which best describes how antidepressants and CBT differ in the mechanism they target?

    • Antidepressants act on brain chemistry, while CBT changes thought and behaviour patterns
    • Both act only on the electrical signals that pass through the heart
    • Both act only on the bone structure of the skull and the face
    • Antidepressants act on thought patterns, while CBT acts on brain chemistry

19. Which statement about treatment choice for depression is most appropriate?

    • Treatment should be based on the individual patient's needs and circumstances
    • Treatment should be decided by a single brain scan result and nothing else
    • Treatment is never needed for depression at any stage of the illness
    • Treatment should always be the same for all patients regardless of their need

20. A patient asks whether CBT works. Which response is best supported by the specification?

    • CBT has little evidence to support its use, so it should not be offered in clinical settings
    • CBT has been proven to cure every depression permanently in all patients who receive it
    • CBT is only effective for children and young people, and it has no benefit for adults
    • Its effectiveness is studied, for example in Wiles' research, and it can improve mental health

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