ATI RN
Biological Basis of Behavior Questions
Question 1 of 5
As a patient diagnosed with a mental illness is being discharged from a facility, a nurse invites the patient to the annual staff picnic. What is the best analysis of this scenario?
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Failed to generate a rationale of 500+ characters after 5 retries.
Question 2 of 5
Which cognitive mode, according to Harry Stack Sullivan, begins in early childhood as the child begins to connect experiences in sequence?
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: The parataxic mode begins in early childhood as the child begins to connect experiences in sequence. The child may not make logical sense of the experiences, although he or she may not understand what he or she is doing. The prototaxic mode involves brief, unconnected experiences that have no relationship to one another. In the syntaxic mode, the person begins to perceive himself or herself and the world within the context of the environment and can analyze experiences in a variety of settings. There is not a bitaxic mode.
Question 3 of 5
Patients on an inpatient psychiatric unit can earn off-unit privileges for daily use of socially appropriate behavior. This is an example of employing which concept of behavior modification?
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: The theory of operant conditioning says people learn their behavior from their history or past experiences, particularly those experiences that were repeatedly reinforced. Behavior that is rewarded with reinforcers tends to recur. Positive reinforcers that follow a behavior increase the likelihood that the behavior will recur. In classical conditioning, behavior can be changed through conditioning with external or environmental conditions or stimuli. Negative reinforcement involves removing a stimulus immediately after a behavior occurs so that the behavior is more likely to occur again. In systematic desensitization, the client learns and practices relaxation techniques to decrease and manage anxiety. He or she is then exposed to the least anxiety provoking situation and uses the relaxation techniques to manage the resulting anxiety.
Question 4 of 5
Which approach to therapy is most effective when planning for a client with negative thinking?
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Cognitive therapy focuses on changing the client's thinking first, in the belief that then feelings and behavior can change as well. Behavior modification is a method of attempting to strengthen a desired behavior or response by reinforcement, either positive or negative. Client-centered therapy focuses on the role of the client, rather than the therapist, as the key to the healing process. Reality therapy focuses on the person's behavior and how that behavior keeps him or her from achieving life goals.
Question 5 of 5
What is an important role of the nurse with regard to residents opposing plans to establish a group home or residential facility in their neighborhood?
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: Frequently, residents oppose plans to establish a group home or residential facility in their neighborhood. They argue that having a group home will decrease their property values, and they may believe that people with mental illness are violent, will act bizarrely in public, or will be a menace to their children. These people have strongly ingrained stereotypes and a great deal of misinformation. Local residents must be given the facts, and nurses are in a position to advocate for clients by educating members of the community. The neighborhood residents who object to the establishment of a group home or residential setting may not be motivated to understand the needs of mentally ill people. It is not the responsibility for the nurse to provide for the safety and security of the neighborhood or protect the safety and security of persons in the group home.