Thanatology Final Exam
Behaviorism - Answer- The school of psychological thought that views learning as
the most important aspect of an organism's development. Behaviorism seeks to
objectively measure behavior and the way in which stimulus-response relationships
are formed.
1. Another name for Enculturation - Answer- Socialization
1. List categories of complicated grief. - Answer- Chronic, Delayed/Inhibited,
Exaggerated, Masked, Disenfranchised, Absent, Unbalanced
1. If parents of a child who died, keep the room of the child exactly like it was prior to
death for 4 or 5 years, what type of denial are they experiencing according to
Worden? - Answer- denial of facts / mummification
1. List some characteristics of an Extended family. - Answer- Found in rural regions
and inner cities, self suffiecient, patriarchal, politically conservative
2. According to Worden, the task of accepting the reality of loss takes time, but is
aided by what? - Answer- viewing the body
2. Grief whereby the mourner does not experience the emotional reaction in
proportion to the loss, and at a later time experiences a degree of emotional reaction
in excess of that expected to some other incident/loss. - Answer- Delayed Grief
2. List the 5 aspects of Funeralization. - Answer- announcement of death; care of the
deceased; method of disposition; ceremony or ritual; memorialization
2. A basic family group consisting of married female and male parents and
dependent children, living away from other relatives - Answer- nuclear
biological psychology - Answer- The school of psychological thought in which all our
behaviors can be traced to the biological functions of the brain. Therefore most of
our behaviors are caused by the chemicals of our physical body.
clinical psychology - Answer- The field of psychology which is designed to
understand, diagnose and treat abnormal or deviant behavior.
3. A family that consists of a father and mother and their unmarried children from
previous marriages - Answer- Blended family
3. List 2 descriptions of the typical American Adult. Tell whether or not you agree
with the statement that this describes the typical American Adult. - Answer- lives in a
youth oriented society (true); Is highly mobile (technologically speaking, not normally
geographically)
,3. Define linking objects - Answer- Symbolic objects that the survivor keeps and
which provides a means through which the relationship with the deceased can be
maintained & continued external of memory
3. After the death of their father, two sons allowed their mother to go to the funeral,
but then they went to great lengths to keep her busy so she would not cry. They did
this by taking her out to various things, having someone stay with her every day and
night, and not allowing her to be alone for any length of time. According to Worden,
which task of mourning are they negating by their actions? - Answer- to work through
the pain of grief
4. List the 5 factors that may influence a person's failure to grieve. - Answer-
Relationship; Circumstantial; Personality; Social; Historical
4. According to Worden, what are the three types of adjustment a person goes
through following the loss of a loved one? - Answer- internal, external, and spiritual
adjustments
4. What is the primary responsibility of a family? - Answer- Teach, take care of each
other, discipline, give direction, motivate
4. Give an example (other than the example in the notes) of direct learning relating to
culture. - Answer- How to read
cognition - Answer- The study of the origins and consequences of thoughts,
memories, beliefs, perceptions, explanations and other mental processes.
Cognitive Psychology - Answer- The field of psychology which studies internal
mental processes, which include thinking, memory, concept formation, perception,
and the processing of information.
5. What effect has the decline of the traditional extended family had on
funeralization? - Answer- shortened the time spent, more humanistic, harder time
seing the value of funeral
5. Give an example (other than the example in the notes) of Indirect learning relating
to culture. - Answer- how to read people's expressions
5. Define Exaggerated Grief - Answer- Grief responses whereby the loss is so
overwhelming that some psychiatric disorder develops, such as clinical depression
5. Which of Worden's tasks of mourning involves the bereaved evolving some
ongoing relationship with the thoughts and memories of the deceased and do this in
a way that would allow them to continue on? - Answer- to emotionally relocate the
deceased and move on with life
counseling psychology - Answer- The field of psychology which is designed to held
solve personal, academic, or vocational problems that do not stem from mental
disorders.
,6. What impact does a death have on an extended family? - Answer- financial,
emotional, stability
6. Describe the four justifications for a funeral. - Answer- Biological; Economical;
Religious; Humanitarian; Psychological
6. Grief responses where the individual experiences a symptom/behavior but doesn't
see them being related to the loss. - Answer- masked grief
6. Who developed the 4 tasks of mourning? - Answer- William J. Worden
7. What is the most frequent type of relationship that results in unresolved grief? -
Answer- highly ambivalent with unexpressed hostilities
7. List the four tasks of mourning? - Answer- to accept the reality of the loss; to work
through the pain of grief; to adjust to an environment in which the deceased is
missing; to emotionally relocate the deceased and move on with life
7. A family in which the decisions are made primarily by the males rather than by the
females - Answer- Patriarchal
7. The term defined by - A funeral rite that is adjusted to the needs and wants of
those directly involved; one which has been altered to suit the trends of the times. -
Answer- Adaptive Funeral Rite
developmental psychology - Answer- The field of psychology which study the way in
which behaviors develop and change during a lifespan.
educational psychology - Answer- The field of psychology which studies education
systems, methods of teaching, methods of learning, curricula and other factors that
influence the learning process.
8. List the effects of Industrialization. - Answer- increase production, elevated
income, loss of craftmenship, break up of extended family
8. The term defined by - The intentional infliction of physical or psychological harm
on another. - Answer- Aggression
8. Other than the example listed in the notes, give an example of how circumstances
can lead to unresolved grief. - Answer- missing/kidnapped person/child
8. According to Worden, a person who does not accept the reality of death is in a
form of denial. What three forms of denial does he believe a person may
experience? - Answer- denial of facts; denial of the meaning of loss; denial of the
irreversibility of loss
functionalism - Answer- The school of psychological thought which proposed that the
function, not the structure, of conscious experience should be studied.
, 9. The creation of a system which govern through departments and subdivisions
managed by sets of officials following an inflexible routine, which then has the
tendency to refine their procedures to ever more efficiently attain their goals. -
Answer- Bureaucratization
9. The term defined by - A formal or symbolic act or observance. - Answer-
Ceremony; Similar to ritual but it may/may not have symbolic content
9. List the five psychiatric disorders that may accompany exaggerated Grief. -
Answer- clinical depression, anxiety, phobias, alcoholism, substance abuse
9. Describe Bargaining as a stage of grief according to Kubler-Ross. - Answer-
attempting to make deals with God to stop or change the diagnosis by begging,
wishing, praying not to die, or at least delay death
10. In what two ways may masked grief manifest itself? - Answer- physical symptom
or maladaptive behavior
10. Who developed the theory known as the "Grief Syndrome" which included some
type of bodily distress during grief? - Answer- Eric Lindemann
10. The term defined by - A social grouping in which members possess roughly
equivalent culturally valued attributes. - Answer- Class
10. List the effects of Bureaucratization. - Answer- availability of modern
conveniences, cannot persue individual activity without permission
humanistic - Answer- A school of psychological thought that emphasizes the
uniqueness of the individual and the search for self-actualization.
motivation - Answer- The process that initiates, directs, and sustains behavior
satisfying physiological or psychological needs.
11. What effect has extended life and institutional death had on funeralization? -
Answer- led to abstract concept of death, reduce society exposure, led us to devalue
human life
11. The term meaning the rite of finality in a fun. service preceding cremation/earth
burial/entombment/burial at sea. - Answer- Committal Service
11. What are the three categories of social conditions that contribute to unresolved
grief? - Answer- Socially Unspeakable; Socially Neglected; Absence of a social
support network
11. According to Kubler-Ross, what is the final stage of grief? - Answer- acceptance
personality psychology - Answer- The specialization of study in which a persons
personality is tied to the mental processes of the individual.
