Sample qusetions

[Oliver_123]

Hey guys sorry if these have already been answered but i just need some clarification with some questions from the vcaa sample exam

"Allostasis is initiated when an individual perceives a situation as stressful
Describe the process of allostasis in a stressful situation"

For this would i talk about fight flight, HPA axis and how they require the body to  change to meet demands?


and this one
"What approach to classifying mental dissorders has the highest inter-rater reliability?
I thought i would be categorical, as dimensional approaches arent standardised?

Thanks

[vashappenin]

"Allostasis is initiated when an individual perceives a situation as stressful
Describe the process of allostasis in a stressful situation"

For this would i talk about fight flight, HPA axis and how they require the body to  change to meet demands?

Yeah I talked about that and and also that once the perceived threat has passed/been dealt with, the brain turns off the allostatic response

"What approach to classifying mental dissorders has the highest inter-rater reliability?
I thought i would be categorical, as dimensional approaches arent standardised?

It's categorical, as with dimensional, there is no standardised system for its use, so there is a lot of inconsistency (making it have lower inter-rater reliability. Read Scooby's explanation below, it really sums it up
 

I'm pretty sure the categorical approach has higher inter-rater reliability. If a mental health professional used the dimensional approach, most of the time they'd have to create their own questionnaires or standardised inventories to assess a particular psychological characteristic. If all these mental health professionals have different ways of assessing the same characteristic, there's not going to be a great deal of consistency

With the categorical approach, they're really all using the same diagnostic criteria (which is outlined in the DSM and ICD), so there's going to be a lot more consistency in their diagnoses. Of course, the symptoms for some distinct disorders are going to overlap in a pretty big way (especially personality disorders). But on the whole, diagnosis is going be more consistent than if a dimensional approach were used

edit: Fixed up my answer

[Oliver_123]

Thanks! Good luck for monday

[vashappenin]

You too!