Emotion and Stress

Q1A patient reports intense sadness during an interview but shows a blank face and monotone voice. Which statement is accurate?

C. Feeling sadness (cognitive) without expression (behavioral) means components can dissociate. The patient clearly has a cognitive component. Mood and emotion are different, and nothing shows that physiology is absent.

Q2A runner says she feels excited because she notices her heart pounding at the starting line. Which theory does this most directly illustrate?

D. Perceiving bodily change as the source of the feeling is James-Lange. Cannon-Bard has parallel output, Lazarus has appraisal first, and Yerkes-Dodson concerns arousal and performance.

Q3A patient with bilateral amygdala damage would most likely show

D. The amygdala is central to threat detection and fear. Declarative memory formation relies on the hippocampus, circadian rhythm on the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nucleus, and facial movement on motor pathways.

Q4Why is a polygraph considered unreliable for detecting lies?

D. Skin conductance and heart rate reflect arousal, which can result from anxiety, fear of being accused, or excitement. They are sympathetic measures, the device does record heart rate, and the cerebellum is not involved.

Q5A patient has low cortisol and elevated ACTH. Where is the most likely problem?

D. Low cortisol with high ACTH means the pituitary is responding appropriately and the adrenal cortex fails to respond (primary adrenal insufficiency). A pituitary or hypothalamic failure would give low ACTH, and the medulla does not make cortisol.