NSG 527 FINAL EXAM:
PSYCHOPATHOLOGY, THEORIES, AND
ADVANCED CLINICAL MODALITIES
1. According to Aaron Beck’s Cognitive Theory, the ‘Cognitive Triad’ in depression consists of
negative views about which three components?
A. Self, family, and work
B. Self, world, and future
C. Past, present, and future
D. Emotions, behaviors, and cognitions
Answer: B
Conceptual Explanation: Beck’s Cognitive Triad describes three key areas of negative
thinking in depressed patients: a negative view of oneself, a negative view of the
world/environment, and a negative view of the future.
,2. In Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), the therapist focuses on the fundamental tension
between which two concepts?
A. Past trauma and current behavior
B. Thinking and feeling
C. Individual and group dynamics
D. Acceptance and change
Answer: D
Conceptual Explanation: DBT is based on the dialectic of accepting the patient as they are
while simultaneously helping them to change maladaptive behaviors.
3. Which defense mechanism involves a person attributing their own unacceptable thoughts
or feelings to another person?
A. Reaction Formation
B. Projection
C. Sublimation
D. Displacement
Answer: B
Conceptual Explanation: Projection is the process of misattributing one’s own undesired
thoughts, feelings, or impulses onto another person who does not have them.
, 4. In family systems theory, what term describes the process where a two-person system
draws in a third person to reduce tension?
A. Differentiation
B. Enmeshment
C. Codependency
D. Triangulation
Answer: D
Conceptual Explanation: Triangulation occurs when a third person is brought into a
dyadic relationship to stabilize it and diffuse anxiety between the original two people.
5. Which neurotransmitter is primarily targeted by benzodiazepines to produce an anxiolytic
effect?
A. Serotonin
B. GABA
C. Dopamine
D. Norepinephrine
Answer: B
Conceptual Explanation: Benzodiazepines work by enhancing the effect of Gamma-
aminobutyric acid (GABA), the primary inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain.
PSYCHOPATHOLOGY, THEORIES, AND
ADVANCED CLINICAL MODALITIES
1. According to Aaron Beck’s Cognitive Theory, the ‘Cognitive Triad’ in depression consists of
negative views about which three components?
A. Self, family, and work
B. Self, world, and future
C. Past, present, and future
D. Emotions, behaviors, and cognitions
Answer: B
Conceptual Explanation: Beck’s Cognitive Triad describes three key areas of negative
thinking in depressed patients: a negative view of oneself, a negative view of the
world/environment, and a negative view of the future.
,2. In Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), the therapist focuses on the fundamental tension
between which two concepts?
A. Past trauma and current behavior
B. Thinking and feeling
C. Individual and group dynamics
D. Acceptance and change
Answer: D
Conceptual Explanation: DBT is based on the dialectic of accepting the patient as they are
while simultaneously helping them to change maladaptive behaviors.
3. Which defense mechanism involves a person attributing their own unacceptable thoughts
or feelings to another person?
A. Reaction Formation
B. Projection
C. Sublimation
D. Displacement
Answer: B
Conceptual Explanation: Projection is the process of misattributing one’s own undesired
thoughts, feelings, or impulses onto another person who does not have them.
, 4. In family systems theory, what term describes the process where a two-person system
draws in a third person to reduce tension?
A. Differentiation
B. Enmeshment
C. Codependency
D. Triangulation
Answer: D
Conceptual Explanation: Triangulation occurs when a third person is brought into a
dyadic relationship to stabilize it and diffuse anxiety between the original two people.
5. Which neurotransmitter is primarily targeted by benzodiazepines to produce an anxiolytic
effect?
A. Serotonin
B. GABA
C. Dopamine
D. Norepinephrine
Answer: B
Conceptual Explanation: Benzodiazepines work by enhancing the effect of Gamma-
aminobutyric acid (GABA), the primary inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain.
