TERMS
A person with gambling addiction has lost money on six consecutive spins of a roulette wheel. They tell themselves, “Red is definitely due to come up next because it hasn’t appeared in the last six spins.” Which cognitive distortion is this?
A. Confirmation bias
B. Gambler’s fallacy
C. Illusion of control
D. Availability heuristic
E. Sunk cost fallacy
B. Gambler’s fallacy
During relapse-prevention counseling, a person who recently returned to drug use says, “Looking back, I knew that spending time with my old using friends would lead to relapse. The warning signs were obvious, and I should have known from the beginning that I was going to use.” However, before the encounter, they had viewed the situation as manageable and had not predicted a relapse. Which cognitive bias is most clearly demonstrated by this statement?
A. Confirmation bias
B. Availability heuristic
C. Hindsight bias
D. Sunk cost fallacy
E. Illusion of control
C. Hindsight bias
A person in recovery from drug addiction says, “I don’t really have a drug problem. I can stop whenever I want,” despite repeated consequences related to their drug use. Which concept best describes this response?
A. Denial
B. Cognitive restructuring
C. Social loafing
D. Hindsight bias
E. Self-fulfilling prophecy
A. Denial
A person in recovery from drug addiction believes, “I used drugs once after treatment, so treatment clearly does not work.” They ignore the many weeks when treatment helped them remain sober. Which concept best describes this type of thinking?
A. Cognitive bias
B. Denial
C. Social support
D. Behavioral activation
E. Withdrawal
A. Cognitive bias
A person in recovery repeatedly tells themselves, “I’m going to relapse eventually, so there’s no point in trying to change.” Because they expect failure, they stop attending support meetings, avoid healthy coping strategies, and return to people and situations associated with past drug use. Their actions eventually contribute to a relapse. Which psychological concept best explains this pattern?
A. Sunk cost fallacy
B. Gambler’s fallacy
C. Self-fulfilling prophecy
D. Social loafing
E. Confirmation bias
E. Confirmation bias
A person in recovery from drug addiction has spent months trying to maintain a relationship with a friend who repeatedly encourages them to use drugs. Although they recognize that continuing the relationship threatens their recovery, they think, “I’ve already invested so much time and effort into this friendship that I can’t walk away now.” Which cognitive bias best explains this reasoning?
A. Gambler’s fallacy
B. Sunk cost fallacy
C. Confirmation bias
D. Illusion of control
E. Availability heuristic
B. Sunk cost fallacy
True or False: In addiction recovery, the illusion of control can involve believing that strong willpower alone is sufficient to prevent relapse, even when powerful environmental triggers and conditioned responses are present.
TRUE!
True or False: A person demonstrating self-serving bias will necessarily accept complete personal responsibility for both successful and unsuccessful recovery outcomes.
FALSE!
A person in recovery from drug addiction thinks, “Other people may relapse, but I’m different. I’ve learned my lesson, so there’s almost no chance it will happen to me.” They underestimate their own vulnerability despite having several known relapse risk factors. Which bias is most evident?
A. Optimism bias
B. Framing effect
C. Authority bias
D. Status quo bias
E. Base-rate neglect
A. Optimism bias
A person in recovery from drug addiction becomes overwhelmed after an argument with a family member. They think, “Nobody understands me, so using drugs is the only way I can cope.” This thought increases feelings of hopelessness, which then leads to an urge to use. In the CBT triangle, which sequence best represents this interaction?
A. Behavior → thought → physical environment
B. Thought → emotion → behavior
C. Emotion → behavior → personality
D. Memory → emotion → social support
E. Behavior → consequence → genetic predisposition
B. Thought → emotion → behavior
In group therapy, several members begin contributing less during group discussions because they believe other members will take responsibility for sharing insights, encouragement, and coping strategies. Which concept best explains this behavior?
A. Social facilitation
B. Group polarization
C. Social loafing
D. Cognitive dissonance
E. Learned helplessness
C. Social loafing
A person in recovery has successfully avoided drug use for six months. After experiencing one intense craving, they conclude, “My recovery is falling apart, and I’ll probably relapse soon.” They ignore the many previous cravings they managed without using. Which cognitive bias is most evident?
A. Availability bias
B. Confirmation bias
C. Sunk cost fallacy
D. Illusion of control
E. Hindsight bias
A. Availability bias
A person with limited knowledge about addiction believes they understand relapse prevention better than trained professionals. They reject professional recommendations because they are convinced their personal experience gives them all the knowledge they need. Which cognitive bias is most relevant?
A. Dunning-Kruger effect
B. Freddy- Kruger effect
C. Know it all Syndrome
D. Taco Bell is Life Syndrome
E. Running-Kruger effect
A. Dunning-Kruger effect
A person receives positive feedback from their counselor but remembers only one critical comment. They conclude, “My counselor thinks I’m doing poorly,” despite the overall feedback being supportive. Which bias may be contributing to this conclusion?
A. Negativity bias
B. Sunk cost fallacy
C. Gambler’s fallacy
D. Illusion of control
E. Self-serving bias
A. Negativity bias
A person in recovery from opioid addiction has successfully avoided using for several months. They begin intentionally visiting places where they previously obtained drugs, telling themselves, “I have enough willpower now that I can be around dealers and drug-related situations without using. If I ever feel tempted, I’ll simply decide not to use.” Despite repeated warnings from their counselor, they continue exposing themselves to these high-risk situations because they believe their personal decisions can completely control whether they relapse. Which cognitive distortion is most evident?
A. Hindsight bias
B. Confirmation bias
C. Illusion of control
D. Sunk cost fallacy
E. Gambler’s fallacy
C. Illusion of control
During CBT-based relapse-prevention treatment, a person in recovery from stimulant addiction experiences a strong craving after receiving criticism from their supervisor. They automatically think, “I can’t handle stress without using, and one bad day proves I’m going to relapse eventually.” Instead of simply replacing the thought with a positive statement, their therapist asks them to examine the evidence for and against the belief, identify cognitive distortions, consider alternative interpretations, and develop a more balanced thought. Which intervention is being used?
A. Thought suppression
B. Cognitive restructuring
C. Exposure and response prevention
D. Behavioral activation
E. Motivational interviewing
B. Cognitive restructuring, because the person evaluates and modifies distorted interpretations using evidence and more balanced alternatives
A person agrees to attend several meetings, exercise daily, complete therapy assignments, and completely avoid all high-risk situations beginning the next day. They underestimate how difficult it will be to maintain all of these changes and become discouraged when they cannot sustain the schedule. Which bias is most evident?
A. Dunning-Kruger effect
B. Planning fallacy
C. Affect heuristic
D. Social Loafing
E. Hindsight bias
B. Planning fallacy
True or False: Cognitive restructuring generally involves examining the evidence for and against an unhelpful thought rather than simply replacing every negative thought with an unrealistically positive one.
TRUE!
A person focuses heavily on their first experience with a particular treatment program and concludes, “This program did not work for me, so no treatment will work.” They fail to consider later evidence that contradicts this. Which bias is most likely involved?
A. Sunk cost fallacy
B. Anchoring bias
C. Gambler’s fallacy
D. Self-serving bias
E. Hindsight bias
B. Anchoring bias
A person in recovery strongly trusts a famous recovery speaker's recommendation about treatment solely because the speaker is well known. They do not examine the evidence supporting the recommendation. Which bias is illustrated?
A. Present bias
B. Authority bias
C. Optimism bias
D. Self-handicapping
E. Actor-observer bias
B. Authority bias
A person believes they are “not really an addict” because they know someone whose drug use has caused more consequences, using the comparison to minimize the seriousness of their own addiction. Which cognitive distortion is most closely represented?
A. Anchoring bias
B. Availability bias
C. Downward social comparison
D. Gambler’s fallacy
E. Hindsight bias
C. Downward social comparison
PICK THE FALSE!
A. Anchoring bias can influence recovery decisions when a person relies too heavily on an initial experience or piece of information when evaluating later treatment or recovery options.
B. The framing effect occurs when different wording or presentation of objectively equivalent information changes a person's judgment or decision.
C. Optimism bias always improves recovery outcomes because expecting positive results motivates a person to engage in healthier behaviors.
C. Optimism bias always improves recovery outcomes because expecting positive results motivates a person to engage in healthier behaviors.
Which of the following statements is FALSE?
A. Confirmation bias can cause a person to focus on information that supports an existing belief while overlooking contradictory evidence.
B. Hindsight bias can make a relapse seem more predictable after it has occurred than it actually was beforehand.
C. The illusion of control involves believing that external triggers have complete control over whether a person will relapse.
D. Present bias can cause someone to prioritize immediate relief from a craving over longer-term recovery goals.
C. The illusion of control involves believing that external triggers have complete control over whether a person will relapse.
The illusion of control involves overestimating one's personal ability to control outcomes, not believing that external triggers have complete control.
A person expects to fail at an upcoming treatment assignment, so they intentionally delay starting it until the last minute. When the assignment is incomplete, they say, “I knew I wasn't capable of doing it anyway.” Which concept best explains this behavior?
A. Self-handicapping
B. Optimism bias
C. Hindsight bias
D. Social loafing
E. False consensus effect
A. Self-handicapping
A person sees another group member miss several meetings and immediately concludes that the person is lazy and uncommitted, failing to consider possible factors such as transportation problems, work responsibilities, or family emergencies. Which bias best explains this judgment?
A. Fundamental attribution error
B. Authority bias
C. Planning fallacy
D. Distinction bias
E. Status quo bias
A. Fundamental attribution error