After Liang Has Gone on Three or Four Dates with the Same

question 440

Multiple Choice

After Liang has gone on three or four dates with the same person, he finds himself coming up with reasons why he doesn't like her. He has done this with everyone he has dated since his parents were divorced two years ago. He tells himself that his parents' divorce has nothing to do with his own behaviour and tells his friends that he simply is yet to meet a woman who meets his standards. A psychodynamic therapist might say that Liang

• A)is unconsciously using defense mechanisms to avoid anxiety related to dating and romantic attachments.
• B)obviously experienced a traumatic loss of some kind before the age of seven.
• C)probably had severe problems with dating during adolescence.
• D)is secretly trying to show his parents what it felt like to have them break up and become single.
• E)is repeating behaviour that had been previously reinforced.

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Definitions:

Language Acquisition Device

Hypothetical innate capability of human beings proposed by Noam Chomsky that allows for the learning of languages, especially during childhood.

Behaviourist Theory

A psychological approach that emphasizes the study of observable behaviors, especially as they pertain to the process of learning, without reference to mental states.

Overregularizations

A language development error where children apply grammatical rules too broadly, often observed in early language learning.

Nativist Theory

This theory posits that certain skills or abilities are innate and hardwired into the brain at birth.