Theoretical Foundations Flashcards
7 cards from real ACT practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Theoretical Foundations flashcards as text
The ACT 'hexaflex' model organizes six core processes. Which pairing correctly links a process to its psychological flexibility function?
Answer: Acceptance — increasing willingness to have private events
Acceptance in ACT means adopting an open, willing stance toward private events rather than struggling against them, directly fostering psychological flexibility.
Which statement best reflects ACT's view on the relationship between symptoms and functioning?
Answer: Functioning can improve even as symptom levels remain unchanged
ACT emphasizes that clients can live rich, meaningful lives even when symptoms persist, because psychological flexibility mediates functioning independently of symptom severity.
In behavior analysis terms, ACT's defusion techniques function primarily as:
Answer: Extinction of the literal stimulus functions of verbal events
Defusion works by altering the literal or evaluative functions of language so that thoughts lose their direct control over behavior, analogous to extinction of verbal stimulus functions.
The ACT concept of 'values' differs from 'goals' primarily because values are:
Answer: Ongoing directions that can never be fully attained
Values in ACT are chosen life directions—like 'being a caring parent'—that guide behavior continuously rather than destinations that can be crossed off a list.
Which of the following is the best example of a 'clean' versus 'dirty' discomfort in ACT?
Answer: Clean: grief after loss; Dirty: anxiety about the grief
Clean discomfort is the natural primary emotion (grief), while dirty discomfort is the secondary suffering created by struggling against the primary emotion (anxiety about grieving).
The ACT therapeutic stance is best described as:
Answer: Collaborative, with therapist modeling willingness and using self-disclosure
ACT therapists adopt a collaborative stance, often using self-disclosure and modeling psychological flexibility to create an equalized therapeutic relationship.
According to the ACT model, psychological inflexibility is maintained primarily by:
Answer: The interaction of cognitive fusion and experiential avoidance
ACT theory holds that fusion with unhelpful thoughts combined with avoidance of unwanted internal experiences create a self-reinforcing cycle of psychological inflexibility.