Psychology of Abnormal Behavior Study Guide Questions
Course Introduction
Psychology of Abnormal Behavior explores the scientific study of atypical thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. This course introduces students to the major categories of psychological disorders, their diagnostic criteria, and possible causes, including biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors. It examines contemporary methods of assessment, treatment, and prevention while considering historical perspectives and ethical issues in the field. Students will develop a deeper understanding of how abnormal behavior is defined, interpreted, and managed in various cultural and societal contexts.
Recommended Textbook
Abnormal Psychology 17th Edition by Jill M. Hooley
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17 Chapters
2107 Verified Questions
2107 Flashcards
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Page 2
Chapter 1: Abnormal Psychology: Overview and Research Approaches
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133 Verified Questions
133 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) A major scientific problem with analogue studies is ________
A) the difficulty of disentangling intercorrelated factors.
B) the difficulty of manipulating variables in a laboratory.
C) the inability to draw causal inferences from such studies.
D) the difficulty of generalizing to the naturally occurring phenomenon.
Answer: D
Q2) A researcher interested in the health problems of people with schizophrenia interviews only those people diagnosed with the disorder who are in an inpatient facility. The most glaring weakness in this study is ________
A) the absence of correlational statistics.
B) the failure to use DSM-5 criteria for health problems.
C) having an inappropriate control group.
D) nonrepresentative sampling.
Answer: D
Q3) Which of the following has been shown to reduce stigma of the mentally ill?
A) Educating people that a mental illness is a "real" brain disorder
B) Referring to a mental illness as a "mental disease"
C) Increasing contact with individuals who have a mental illness
D) Applying labels to individuals, such as "schizophrenic" or "bipolar"
Answer: C
Page 3
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Chapter 2: Historical and Contemporary Views of Abnormal Behavior
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following was a consequence of the rise of the mental hygiene movement and the occurrence of biomedical advances?
A) The social and psychological environments of mental patients were ignored.
B) Biological causes for most mental disorders were identified.
C) Physical comfort was neglected.
D) Most humanitarian gains were lost.
Answer: A
Q2) The physicians of Alexandria, Egypt, in the era after Alexander the Great were most likely to treat mental patients by ________
A) putting them in prisons.
B) using brutal forms of exorcism.
C) having them make sacrifices to gods.
D) providing activities, massage, and education.
Answer: D
Q3) In the Republic, ____________emphasized individual differences when it comes to intellect and other abilities.
Answer: Plato
Q4) Who was Wilhelm Wundt?
Answer: The man who established the first experimental psychology laboratory.
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Chapter 3: Causal Factors and Viewpoints
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Sample Questions
Q1) Neural plasticity is ________
A) the process by which neurotransmitters are broken down in the brain.
B) the flexibility of the brain-existing neural circuits can change or new ones can be made.
C) strong evidence of brain damage, leading to the development of a mental disorder.
D) the best indicator of temperament and its effect on the personality development of a child.
Answer: B
Q2) Lasting negative effects of abuse on psychological functioning are most likely when the abuse occurs in ________
A) early childhood.
B) adolescence.
C) early adulthood.
D) old age.
Answer: A
Q3) The site of chemical communication in the brain is the __________ . Answer: synapse
Q4) A(n) __________ is a person's total genetic endowment. Answer: genotype
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Chapter 4: Clinical Assessment and Diagnosis
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111 Verified Questions
111 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Dr. Kim is a psychologist who uses a number of tests to measure a person's cognitive, perceptual, and motor performance to detect brain damage. Dr. Kim is probably a specialist in using ________
A) neuropsychological assessment.
B) functional magnetic resonance imaging.
C) computerized axial tomography.
D) functional electroencephalograms.
Q2) Psychological assessment refers to the ________
A) procedures used to summarize a client's problem.
B) process used to arrive at a diagnosis.
C) development of a treatment plan.
D) determination of how environmental factors impact the course of a disorder.
Q3) The projective test called the __________ is the inkblot test used in personality assessments.
Q4) Compare and contrast the following: MRIs, PET scans, and fMRI.
Q5) What are the pros and cons of projective and objective personality tests?
Q6) Today, there are two major psychiatric classification systems in use: the ICD-10, and the ______.
Q7) What does a diagnostic label describe?
Q8) What is an analogue situation?
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Chapter 5: Stress and Physical and Mental Health
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112 Verified Questions
112 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Prolonged stress leads to suppression of the immune system. What might explain the evolution of such a seemingly flawed reaction?
A) There is no reasonable explanation for this.
B) Susceptibility to disease would increase the likelihood of an early death.
C) Immune suppression has no lasting effects on overall health.
D) Such immune suppression might prevent the development of autoimmune illnesses.
Q2) People with __________personality type have a tendency to experience negative emotions and also to feel insecure and anxious.
Q3) Describe two personality patterns associated with coronary heart disease.
Q4) Stress tends to do what to telomeres?
A) Increases their strength
B) Decreases their strength
C) Increases their physical length
D) Decreases their physical length
Q5) How is the severity of stress measured?
Q6) Why are uncontrollable stressors especially difficult to deal with?
Q7) The treatment that arranges for survivors to discuss their experiences with others is known as __________.
Page 7
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Chapter 6: Panic, Anxiety, Obsessions, and Their Disorders
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138 Verified Questions
138 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following seems to be the best treatment for phobias?
A) Exposure therapy
B) Psychoanalysis
C) Cognitive restructuring
D) Family therapy
Q2) As discussed in your text, much evidence now suggests a number of biological causal factors in obsessive-compulsive disorder including ________
A) a minimal or absent genetic contribution.
B) abnormalities in the functioning of the basal ganglia.
C) abnormalities in dopamine systems.
D) decreased activity in the orbital frontal cortex.
Q3) Persistent and recurrent thoughts are ________
A) compulsions.
B) delusions.
C) hallucinations.
D) obsessions.
Q4) Discuss the findings of cross-cultural research on the anxiety disorders. Provide at least two examples of disorders that illustrate the role of culture.
Q5) Describe the purpose of exposure therapy for specific phobia.
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Chapter 7: Mood Disorders and Suicide
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is true of major depressive episode?
A) It does not begin until adolescence.
B) It is equally common in men and women.
C) It occurs five times as often in elderly people as in middle-aged adults.
D) It is the most prevalent mood episode.
Q2) Which of the following is most likely to be seen in children who are at risk for depression?
A) Decreased left hemisphere activity
B) Decreased right hemisphere activity
C) Increased serotonin levels
D) Increased GABA levels
Q3) Recent research on relapse among bipolar patients suggests that _________
A) stressful life events have very little influence.
B) personality styles interact with stress to increase the likelihood of relapse.
C) relapse is most likely among those with unrealistically positive attributional styles.
D) the more frequently a person has bipolar episodes, the less likely stressful events are able to induce a relapse.
Q4) What changes in sleep are seen in depression?
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Chapter 8: Somatic Symptom and Dissociative Disorders
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106 Verified Questions
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Sample Questions
Q1) The diagnosis of somatic symptom disorder is ________ and contains no assumptions about _________.
A) descriptive, cause
B) definitive, treatment
C) superceded by a diagnosis of hypochondria, treatment
D) superceded by a diagnosis of malingering, consequences
Q2) A new disorder in DSM-5 is ________
A) conversion disorder.
B) hypochondriasis.
C) illness anxiety disorder.
D) somatization disorder.
Q3) Which of the following summarizes the posttraumatic theory for the origin of DID?
A) Therapists unwittingly reinforce role-playing of alter identities.
B) Genetically programmed tendencies to dissociate are triggered by stress.
C) Children deal with severe abuse by creating alters who provide an "escape."
D) The rewards of avoiding punishment from the legal system induces people to fake symptoms.
Q4) How do people with somatic symptom disorder typically relate to physicians?
Q5) What is the difference between malingering and factitious disorder?
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Chapter 9: Eating Disorders and Obesity
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105 Verified Questions
105 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Delilah is overweight. She likes to eat cookies and other sugary snacks, and often eats an entire package at one sitting. She is upset by this because she knows how important weight is to health, but she does not engage in any compensatory behaviors. Which of the following would be a likely diagnosis?
A) Anorexia nervosa
B) Bulimia nervosa
C) Binge eating disorder
D) Purging disorder
Q2) Which of the following is characteristic of the binge-eating/purging type of anorexia?
A) The use of laxatives
B) 30 to 50 percent of those who begin by binge-eating and purging become restricting type anorexics
C) Body weight is within normal range
D) Efforts to restrict food intake
Q3) There is evidence of serotonergic abnormalities in anorexics and bulimics. Can it be concluded that a dysfunction in the serotonin system underlies these eating disorders? Why or why not?
Q4) What is leptin and how does it influence appetite and weight?
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Chapter 10: Personality Disorders
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142 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Since there are substantial problems with reliability and validity of the diagnoses of personality disorders, ________
A) they are rarely used in clinical practice.
B) it is less likely that research on a disorder will be able to be replicated by other researchers.
C) they are considered by clinicians only as suggestions and do not have an impact on treatment decisions.
D) very little research or search for treatments is done.
Q2) The individual with avoidant personality disorder is unlikely to develop lasting relationships as a result of his or her ________
A) callousness.
B) fear of rejection.
C) desire to control others.
D) lack of interest.
Q3) What are examples of dangerous behavior seen in borderline personality disorder?
Q4) Why is histrionic personality disorder more prevalent in women?
Q5) People with __________ are usually unable to form social relationships and have little interest in them.
Q6) Briefly describe the general characteristics of a personality disorder.
Page 12
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Chapter 11: Substance-Related Disorders
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129 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The tension-reduction model of alcoholism ________
A) does not explain why some excessive drinkers are able to maintain control over their drinking while others are not.
B) suggests that alcoholism is environmentally determined.
C) proposes that alcoholism is an incurable disease.
D) provides an explanation for the role that personality traits play in the development of alcohol abuse.
Q2) Endorphins ________
A) have been found to play a role in ending drug use.
B) are opium-like substances produced by the body.
C) are opium-like substances created synthetically to replace heroin.
D) are overproduced in the brains of addicts.
Q3) An example of a moderating influence would be ________
A) the effect of time on outcome expectancy about alcohol.
B) a wife enabling her husband to continue drinking by making excuses for him.
C) a gene that reduces the chances of a person becoming an alcoholic.
D) the impact of therapy on the divorce and suicide rates of alcoholics.
Q4) What factors might be inherited that put one at greater risk for developing alcoholism?
Q5) What is the evidence for and against genetics in alcoholism?
Page 13
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Chapter 12: Sexual Variants, Abuse, and Dysfunctions
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115 Verified Questions
115 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) John Henry Kellogg wrote that there were ______ signs of "the secret vice" of masturbation.
A) 3
B) 9
C) 39
D) 72
Q2) The beliefs about homosexuality among the Sambia tribe illustrate that ________
A) such behavior is considered abnormal in all cultures.
B) cultures in developing nations are more accepting of sexual nonconformists than other cultures.
C) classification of sexual practices as abnormal is strongly influenced by culture.
D) there really is no such thing as abnormal sexual behavior.
Q3) It is quite rare for pedophilia to ________
A) involve a female pedophile.
B) involve sexual penetration or violence.
C) occur in children between 8 and 11.
D) include manipulation of the child's genitals.
Q4) What appears to be the most important psychological factor in causing male erectile disorder?
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Chapter 13: Schizophrenia and Other Psychotic Disorders
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Sample Questions
Q1) Patients in a catatonic stupor ________
A) are highly suggestible.
B) experience overwhelming hallucinations.
C) exhibit both echopraxia and echolalia.
D) a virtual absence of all movement.
Q2) Glutamate is an excitatory neurotransmitter that researchers suspect might be involved in schizophrenia because ________
A) it makes dopamine.
B) it causes the ventricles to enlarge.
C) it is missing in the brains of people with schizophrenia.
D) alterations in glutamate levels can produce schizophrenic-like symptoms in normal subjects.
Q3) What are endophenotypes?
A) Abnormally shaped cells in the brain
B) Neurotransmitters of slightly different chemical composition than normal
C) Discrete, stable, and measurable traits thought to be under genetic control
D) Specific chromosomes thought to be important in the genetic transmission of schizophrenia
Q4) What is the evidence for and against the dopamine hypothesis?
Q5) What is schizoaffective disorder?
Page 15
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Chapter 14: Neurocognitive Disorders
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Sample Questions
Q1) An individual with neuropsychological damage ________
A) will almost always evidence moderate to severe psychopathology, including hallucinations and delusions.
B) may or may not have psychopathological symptoms.
C) usually manifests symptoms of psychopathology that are the opposite of the person's predisorder personality.
D) will develop psychopathological symptoms only when areas of the frontal cortex have been damaged.
Q2) Which of the following is the most typical example of the onset of Alzheimer's disease?
A) After Bill's death, Carol was never the same again.
B) When Yula's dementia became obvious, her family looked back on her behavior and realized that she had been exhibiting memory deficits.
C) Rachel has always suffered from mood disorders. When she descended into a state of dementia after her last manic episode, no one was surprised.
D) Christa began showing signs of forgetfulness after her last surgery.
Q3) What is anterograde amnesia?
Q4) What factors determine the amount of impairment from brain damage?
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Page 16
Chapter 15: Disorders of Childhood and Adolescence (Neurodevelopmental Disorders)
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Sample Questions
Q1) Currently, the cause of ADHD is believed to be ________
A) a combination of family pathology and poor peer modeling.
B) excessive sugar in the diet.
C) an allergic reaction to certain foods and food additives.
D) both genetic and social-environmental factors.
Q2) Children with autism spectrum disorder who participated the Early Start Denver Model intervention showed an improvement in IQ score of _______ on average.
A) 50 points
B) 17 points
C) 6 points
D) 28 points
Q3) Girls with conduct disorder ________
A) seek security from a father figure.
B) are at risk for teen pregnancy.
C) usually have a comorbid diagnosis of ADHD and/or a mood disorder.
D) do not show the same social deficits seen in boys.
Q4) Many children with ______ become preoccupied with and form strong attachments to inanimate objects.
Q5) What are three factors that can cause intellectual disability?
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Chapter 16: Psychological Treatment
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Sample Questions
Q1) The outcome of psychotherapy is usually dependent on whether the therapist and client achieve ________
A) a certain similarity of personal style.
B) mutual self-disclosure.
C) an explicit therapeutic contract.
D) a productive working alliance.
Q2) The main use of lithium is for ________
A) anxiety disorders.
B) personality disorders.
C) major depressive disorder.
D) bipolar disorder.
Q3) The use of drugs that have noxious effects and viewing movies that elicit disgust are both techniques associated with ________
A) token economies.
B) aversion therapy.
C) guided exposure therapy.
D) EMDR therapy.
Q4) What is aversion therapy? Explain and provide an example of how it might be used.
Q5) Neuroleptics are also called _________.
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Chapter 17: Contemporary and Legal Issues in Abnormal Psychology
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Sample Questions
Q1) For which person is aftercare likely to be helpful because the person will fit the services typically offered?
A) Bart, who has a lengthy criminal record
B) Helen, who has developed posttraumatic stress disorder after being attacked
C) Ned, who has had several schizophrenic episodes
D) Vera, who has few psychological problems but who frequently moves from place to place
Q2) Discuss three principles that are commonly used to define insanity when a crime is committed. How is insanity most commonly defined today?
Q3) In a study by Paul and Lentz designed to assess the effectiveness of different approaches to the treatment of chronically hospitalized patients, what treatment approach was found to yield the best results?
A) Milieu therapy
B) Social learning
C) Traditional mental hospital treatments
D) Psychotherapy alone
Q4) What factors increase the risk of violence in someone with mental illness?
Q5) Discuss three of the six specific mental health risk factors in work situations.
Q6) What principles guide the approach called milieu therapy?
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