Practice Quiz for
Explanations of Illness

No. of Questions= 10

INSTRUCTIONS: To answer a question, click the button in front of your choice. A response will appear in the window below the question to let you know if you are correct. Be sure to read the feedback. It is designed to help you learn the material. You can also learn by reading the hints and feedback for incorrect answers.

1 Which of the following statements is true concerning illness?
(Think in terms of how the term is used in this tutorial.)
a) Illness is a feeling of not being normal and healthy.
b) Illness and disease are the same thing.
c) Illness is an objectively measurable pathological condition of the body.
d) a and b
2 In which type of medical system is it assumed that illness is due to impersonal, mechanistic causes in nature that can be potentially understood and cured by the application of the scientific method of discovery?
a) naturalistic
b) personalistic
c) both of the above
3 In which type of medical system is it likely that illness would be attributed to spirit possession, loss, or damage?
a) naturalistic
b) personalistic
c) neither of the above
4 Humoral pathology is a ______________ medical system.
a) naturalistic
b) personalistic
c) none of the above
5 The intrusion of foreign objects by supernatural means was a common explanation among many Native American cultures for internal body pains such as headaches and stomach pains. How was a patient traditionally cured of this kind of illness?
a) by the patient fasting and smoking tobacco in order to have a vision.
b) by the patient swallowing medicine prescribed by a shaman
c) by a shaman manipulating or massaging the site of the patient's pain, blowing tobacco smoke over it, and then sucking out the object
6 In which type of medical system is it likely that illness would be attributed to such things as kidney stones, arterial blockage due to plaque build-up, malnutrition, bacteria, and viruses?
a) naturalistic
b) personalistic
c) both of the above
7 Which of the following statements is true?
a) The general public's belief in the efficacy of both naturalistic and personalistic medical systems is at least partly based on faith rather than objective proof.
b) Susto is an example of an illness in a naturalistic medical system.
c) Curanderos are usually the most acceptable type of medical doctor in Mexico among those who believe in a naturalistic explanation of illness.
d) None of the above are true.
8 Which of the following characterize susto?
a) It is the result of a strong person staring intently at a weak individual.
b) It usually is caused by curanderos.
c) It literally means fright or sudden fear.
d) all of the above
9 Which of the following personalistic illnesses found in Mexico is connected to the perception that some people are "stronger" than others and that their strength can harm "weak" people?
a) aire
b) susto
c) mal de ojo
d) nahua
10 Among the Indians of Central Mexico, who or what would likely be the cause of the illness known as aire?
a) a rain dwarf breathing on someone
b) a macho stranger visiting the village
c) an encounter with a ghost while sleeping

 


 

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