EPPP Cognitive-Affective Bases of Behavior 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Vygotsky's zone of proximal development (ZPD) refers to:
- Tasks a child can do independently
- The gap between independent ability and potential with guidance (Correct answer)
- Innate cognitive capacity
- The range of emotionally regulated behaviors
Correct answer: The gap between independent ability and potential with guidance
The ZPD is the distance between what a learner can do alone and what they can achieve with skilled guidance or collaboration.
Question 2: Which neurotransmitter is most associated with reward, motivation, and positive reinforcement?
- Serotonin
- GABA
- Dopamine (Correct answer)
- Norepinephrine
Correct answer: Dopamine
Dopamine pathways, particularly the mesolimbic system, are central to reward processing and motivational behavior.
Question 3: Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) was originally developed to prevent:
- First episodes of depression
- Relapse in recurrent major depression (Correct answer)
- Generalized anxiety disorder
- PTSD re-experiencing
Correct answer: Relapse in recurrent major depression
MBCT was developed by Segal, Williams, and Teasdale specifically to reduce relapse rates in individuals with recurrent major depression.
Question 4: The concept of 'hot cognition' refers to:
- Fast, automatic processing in the prefrontal cortex
- Thinking influenced by emotional arousal or motivational states (Correct answer)
- Overlearned procedural skills
- Metacognitive monitoring
Correct answer: Thinking influenced by emotional arousal or motivational states
Hot cognition describes cognitive processes that are influenced by emotions or motivational states, contrasting with 'cold' neutral cognition.
Question 5: Flooding as an exposure technique works primarily through which mechanism?
- Counter-conditioning with relaxation
- Extinction of the conditioned fear response (Correct answer)
- Cognitive restructuring of threat appraisals
- Operant reinforcement of approach behavior
Correct answer: Extinction of the conditioned fear response
Flooding produces extinction by prolonged exposure to feared stimuli without the expected aversive outcome, eliminating the conditioned response.
Question 6: Which model proposes that emotions arise from the interaction between undifferentiated physiological arousal and cognitive labels?
- James-Lange theory
- Cannon-Bard theory
- Schachter-Singer two-factor theory (Correct answer)
- Appraisal theory
Correct answer: Schachter-Singer two-factor theory
Schachter-Singer two-factor theory posits that emotion = physiological arousal + cognitive label assigned to that arousal.
Question 7: In the context of emotion regulation, cognitive reappraisal differs from expressive suppression in that reappraisal:
- Occurs later in the emotional response sequence and reduces experience
- Occurs earlier and changes the emotional trajectory itself (Correct answer)
- Increases physiological arousal more than suppression
- Only affects outward expression, not inner experience
Correct answer: Occurs earlier and changes the emotional trajectory itself
Reappraisal occurs early in emotion generation by changing how one thinks about the situation, altering the emotional response itself rather than just its expression.
EPPP Cognitive-Affective Bases of Behavior 3
Vygotsky's zone of proximal development (ZPD) refers to: