Introduction to Autism Spectrum Disorder
INTRODUCTION TO AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER VERIFIED EXAM
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS - LATEST VERSION 2026/2027
Spce 680 Final Exam
1. Which psychiatrist first used the word “autism,” originally to
describe a withdrawal into the self that he observed in adults with
schizophrenia?
A. Hans Asperger
B. Leo Kanner
C. Bruno Bettelheim
D. Eugen Bleuler
D. Eugen Bleuler. Bleuler introduced the term around 1911 as a feature
of schizophrenia, decades before it was applied to a distinct
developmental condition.
2. Leo Kanner’s 1943 paper, “Autistic Disturbances of Affective
Contact,” was based on case descriptions of how many children?
A. 4
B. 11
C. 23
D. 6
B. 11. Kanner described 11 children (8 boys and 3 girls) who shared an
extreme aloneness and an anxious insistence on sameness.
Page 1 of 64
, Introduction to Autism Spectrum Disorder
3. Hans Asperger’s 1944 case descriptions focused on boys who
generally showed which profile?
A. Absent speech with severe intellectual disability
B. Loss of purposeful hand use and repetitive hand-wringing
C. Typical development until age 3 followed by sudden regression
D. Fluent speech and average or above-average intellect alongside marked
social difficulties
D. Fluent speech and average or above-average intellect alongside
marked social difficulties. Asperger described verbally capable boys
with pedantic speech, intense interests, and pronounced difficulty in
social relationships.
4. Which researcher introduced the term “Asperger’s syndrome” to
English-speaking clinicians in a 1981 paper?
A. Michael Rutter
B. Uta Frith
C. Lorna Wing
D. Bernard Rimland
C. Lorna Wing. Lorna Wing’s 1981 paper brought Asperger’s work to
wider attention; Uta Frith later translated his original paper into English
in 1991.
5. The discredited “refrigerator mother” explanation of autism was
most strongly popularized by which author?
A. Ivar Lovaas
B. Eric Schopler
C. Bernard Rimland
D. Bruno Bettelheim
D. Bruno Bettelheim. Bettelheim’s 1967 book The Empty Fortress
blamed cold parenting; the idea has since been rejected entirely.
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, Introduction to Autism Spectrum Disorder
6. Bernard Rimland’s 1964 book Infantile Autism was historically
important because it argued that autism:
A. Has a biological, neurological basis rather than a parenting cause
B. Results from early dietary deficiencies
C. Is a childhood form of schizophrenia
D. Is caused by emotionally distant mothers
A. Has a biological, neurological basis rather than a parenting cause.
Rimland, himself the parent of an autistic son, challenged psychogenic
theories and pushed the field toward biological explanations.
7. When autism first appeared as its own diagnostic category in the
DSM-III (1980), what was it called?
A. Childhood schizophrenia
B. Autistic disorder
C. Autism spectrum disorder
D. Infantile autism
D. Infantile autism. DSM-III used “infantile autism”; DSM-III-R (1987)
changed the name to autistic disorder.
8. Under the DSM-IV-TR category of Pervasive Developmental
Disorders, which of the following was NOT one of the included
diagnoses?
A. Rett’s disorder
B. PDD–not otherwise specified
C. Social (pragmatic) communication disorder
D. Childhood disintegrative disorder
C. Social (pragmatic) communication disorder. Social (pragmatic)
communication disorder was introduced in DSM-5 (2013); it was never a
PDD subtype.
Page 3 of 64
, Introduction to Autism Spectrum Disorder
9. The DSM-5 (2013) merged the earlier subtypes into a single autism
spectrum disorder diagnosis organized around how many core
symptom domains?
A. Four
B. Two
C. Three
D. One
B. Two. DSM-5 uses two domains: social communication/interaction and
restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities.
10. Lorna Wing and Judith Gould’s “triad of impairments” described
difficulties in which three areas?
A. Social interaction, communication, and imagination
B. Language, literacy, and numeracy
C. Attention, memory, and motor coordination
D. Sensory processing, sleep, and feeding
A. Social interaction, communication, and imagination. Their 1979
Camberwell study described the triad that later shaped the three-domain
DSM-IV structure.
11. According to DSM-5 guidance, a person who has a well-established
DSM-IV diagnosis of Asperger’s disorder should now:
A. Be completely re-evaluated before any label is applied
B. Be reclassified as having social (pragmatic) communication disorder
C. Be given the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder
D. Keep Asperger’s disorder as a formal DSM diagnosis
C. Be given the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. DSM-5 states
that individuals with established DSM-IV diagnoses of autistic disorder,
Asperger’s, or PDD-NOS should be given the ASD diagnosis.
Page 4 of 64
INTRODUCTION TO AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER VERIFIED EXAM
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS - LATEST VERSION 2026/2027
Spce 680 Final Exam
1. Which psychiatrist first used the word “autism,” originally to
describe a withdrawal into the self that he observed in adults with
schizophrenia?
A. Hans Asperger
B. Leo Kanner
C. Bruno Bettelheim
D. Eugen Bleuler
D. Eugen Bleuler. Bleuler introduced the term around 1911 as a feature
of schizophrenia, decades before it was applied to a distinct
developmental condition.
2. Leo Kanner’s 1943 paper, “Autistic Disturbances of Affective
Contact,” was based on case descriptions of how many children?
A. 4
B. 11
C. 23
D. 6
B. 11. Kanner described 11 children (8 boys and 3 girls) who shared an
extreme aloneness and an anxious insistence on sameness.
Page 1 of 64
, Introduction to Autism Spectrum Disorder
3. Hans Asperger’s 1944 case descriptions focused on boys who
generally showed which profile?
A. Absent speech with severe intellectual disability
B. Loss of purposeful hand use and repetitive hand-wringing
C. Typical development until age 3 followed by sudden regression
D. Fluent speech and average or above-average intellect alongside marked
social difficulties
D. Fluent speech and average or above-average intellect alongside
marked social difficulties. Asperger described verbally capable boys
with pedantic speech, intense interests, and pronounced difficulty in
social relationships.
4. Which researcher introduced the term “Asperger’s syndrome” to
English-speaking clinicians in a 1981 paper?
A. Michael Rutter
B. Uta Frith
C. Lorna Wing
D. Bernard Rimland
C. Lorna Wing. Lorna Wing’s 1981 paper brought Asperger’s work to
wider attention; Uta Frith later translated his original paper into English
in 1991.
5. The discredited “refrigerator mother” explanation of autism was
most strongly popularized by which author?
A. Ivar Lovaas
B. Eric Schopler
C. Bernard Rimland
D. Bruno Bettelheim
D. Bruno Bettelheim. Bettelheim’s 1967 book The Empty Fortress
blamed cold parenting; the idea has since been rejected entirely.
Page 2 of 64
, Introduction to Autism Spectrum Disorder
6. Bernard Rimland’s 1964 book Infantile Autism was historically
important because it argued that autism:
A. Has a biological, neurological basis rather than a parenting cause
B. Results from early dietary deficiencies
C. Is a childhood form of schizophrenia
D. Is caused by emotionally distant mothers
A. Has a biological, neurological basis rather than a parenting cause.
Rimland, himself the parent of an autistic son, challenged psychogenic
theories and pushed the field toward biological explanations.
7. When autism first appeared as its own diagnostic category in the
DSM-III (1980), what was it called?
A. Childhood schizophrenia
B. Autistic disorder
C. Autism spectrum disorder
D. Infantile autism
D. Infantile autism. DSM-III used “infantile autism”; DSM-III-R (1987)
changed the name to autistic disorder.
8. Under the DSM-IV-TR category of Pervasive Developmental
Disorders, which of the following was NOT one of the included
diagnoses?
A. Rett’s disorder
B. PDD–not otherwise specified
C. Social (pragmatic) communication disorder
D. Childhood disintegrative disorder
C. Social (pragmatic) communication disorder. Social (pragmatic)
communication disorder was introduced in DSM-5 (2013); it was never a
PDD subtype.
Page 3 of 64
, Introduction to Autism Spectrum Disorder
9. The DSM-5 (2013) merged the earlier subtypes into a single autism
spectrum disorder diagnosis organized around how many core
symptom domains?
A. Four
B. Two
C. Three
D. One
B. Two. DSM-5 uses two domains: social communication/interaction and
restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities.
10. Lorna Wing and Judith Gould’s “triad of impairments” described
difficulties in which three areas?
A. Social interaction, communication, and imagination
B. Language, literacy, and numeracy
C. Attention, memory, and motor coordination
D. Sensory processing, sleep, and feeding
A. Social interaction, communication, and imagination. Their 1979
Camberwell study described the triad that later shaped the three-domain
DSM-IV structure.
11. According to DSM-5 guidance, a person who has a well-established
DSM-IV diagnosis of Asperger’s disorder should now:
A. Be completely re-evaluated before any label is applied
B. Be reclassified as having social (pragmatic) communication disorder
C. Be given the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder
D. Keep Asperger’s disorder as a formal DSM diagnosis
C. Be given the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. DSM-5 states
that individuals with established DSM-IV diagnoses of autistic disorder,
Asperger’s, or PDD-NOS should be given the ASD diagnosis.
Page 4 of 64
