After Examining a Patient and Reviewing the Results of His

question 9

Multiple Choice

After examining a patient and reviewing the results of his blood tests,a physician tells the patient that his mild depressive symptoms are not the result of a serious health problem.The physician suggests that the patient should try regular exercise and take the dietary supplement St.John's wort for three months.After this period,the physician will prescribe antidepressant medication,if the patient does not feel emotionally better.This advice is

• A)quackery and medically irresponsible.
• B)an indication that the physician practices integrative medicine.
• C)unreliable because the physician is not considering alternative methods of treating the patient's mental illness.
• D)typical for a conventional medical practitioner.

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Definitions:

Attended To

Focused on or paid special attention to; involves the allocation of cognitive resources towards specific stimuli or tasks.

Dichotic Listening Task

An experimental task used in psychology to study selective attention and the lateralization of brain function, involving presenting two different auditory messages simultaneously, one to each ear.

Attenuation Theory

A model of attention in which unattended perceptual events are transmitted in weakened form but not blocked completely before being processed for meaning.

Conscious Awareness

The state of being mentally awake and having an active sense of self, environment, and thoughts.