ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY FINAL
EXAM QUESTIONS WITH COMPLETE
SOLUTIONS
Anxiety disorders - answer-a varied group of disorders that all have anxiety, fear, or
tension as an essential feature. Includes specific phobias, social phobia, panic disorder,
generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and posttraumatic stress
disorder.
Aphasia - answer-impairment or loss of language skills resulting from brain damage
caused by stroke, alzheimer's disease, or other illness or trauma.
Apraxia - answer-loss of motor activities (such as walking); one of the symptoms of
dementia.
Asperger's disorder - answer-a pervasive developmental disorder in which individuals
display profound social impairment and restricted or unusual behaviors, but without
language delays seen in autism.
Attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder (adhd) - answer-developmental disorder in
which persons are unable to focus their attention, they behave hyperactively or
impulsively, or both.
Auditory hallucinations - answer-psychotic disturbance in perception in which a person
hears sounds or voices although these are not real or actually present. The voices are
often critical, accusatory, or demanding.
Attributional style - answer-the relatively consistent explanations a person forms about
why personal stressors or other negative life events occur, taking the form of internal vs.
External, stable vs. Unstable, and global vs. Specific.
Autistic disorder (autism) - answer-pervasive developmental disorder characterized by
significant impairment in social interactions, extreme unresponsiveness to others, poor
communication skills, and highly repetitive and rigid behavior.
Avoidant personality disorder - answer-a personality disorder featuring a pervasive
pattern of social inhibition, feelings of inadequacy, and extremely sensitive to criticism.
Avolition - answer-a symptom of schizophrenia marked by apathy, and an inability to
initiate or complete important activities.
Behavior therapy - answer-an group of therapy methods based on the principles of
behavioral and cognitive science as well as principles of learning as applied to clinical
,problems. It considers specific behaviors rather than inferred internal factors as targets
for change. Also known as behavior modification.
Behavioral medicine - answer-interdisciplinary approach applying behavioral science to
the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of medical problems.
Behaviorism - answer-the view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that
(2) studies behavior, including dysfunction, without reference to mental processes. Most
research psychologists today agree with (1) but not with (2).
Binge-eating disorder - answer-an eating disorder involving consumption of large
amounts of food in a short period of time, uncontrollable and distressing to the individual
but not followed by compensatory behaviors.
Biological paradigm - answer-explanation of psychological dysfunction that primarily
emphasizes biological process in the brain or illness as the cause.
Biopsychosocial model - answer-the model that psychological disorders are not caused
by one or two factors in a linear way; rather, they are a product of a continual interaction
of a number of biological, psychological and social factors.
Bipolar i disorder - answer-mood disorder characterized by the alternation of major
depressive episodes with full manic episodes.
Bipolar ii disorder - answer-mood disorder characterized by the alternation of major
depressive episodes with hypomanic (not full manic) episodes.
Body dysmorphic disorder - answer-a somatoform disorder marked by preoccupation
with an imagined or exaggerated defect in appearance, for example, facial blemishes,
size or shape of nose or ears.
Borderline personality disorder - answer-a personality disorder involving a pervasive
pattern of erratic moods, unstable self-image and relationships, cannot stand to be
alone; intense anger, depression, and extremely impulsive behavior, including self-
mutilation.
Brief psychotic disorder - answer-psychotic disorder involving delusions, hallucinations,
or disorganized speech and behavior, that appear suddenly after a very stressful event
and last anywhere from a few hours to 1 month.
Bulimia nervosa - answer-eating disorder involving recurrent episodes of uncontrolled
excessive (binge) eating followed by compensatory actions to remove the food (e.g.,
deliberate vomiting, laxative abuse, excessive exercise).
, Anorexia nervosa, binge-eating-purging type (bulimarexia) - answer-a variation of
anorexia in which the individual turns to bingeing and then goes on to vomiting or other
purging as a way of keeping weight at very low levels.
Catatonia - answer-a pattern of extreme psychomotor symptoms sometimes found in
schizophrenia involving immobility, posturing, or excited agitation.
Categorical classification - answer-a system of placing disorders in categories with the
assumption that each disorder is clearly different from every other disorder (an "all-or-
none" approach). Based on the medical model in which every diagnosis has a distinct
set of characteristics and underlying cause. Compare to dimensional classification.
Childhood disintegrative disorder - answer-pervasive developmental disorder involving
severe regression in language, adaptive behavior, and motor skills after a 2- to 4-year
period of normal development.
Civil commitment - answer-legal proceedings that determine whether a person is
mentally disordered and may be hospitalized, even involuntarily.
Clang - answer-a rhyme used by some persons with schizophrenia as a guide to
forming thoughts and statements.
Clinical assessment / clinical interview - answer-systematic evaluation and
measurement of psychological, biological, and social factors in a person presenting with
a possible psychological disorder.
Clinical psychology - answer-the specialty of psychology involving research,
assessment, treatment, and prevention of abnormal behavior.
Cognition - answer-the process of knowing; the thinking, remembering, judging,
reasoning, and planning activities of the human mind. Behavior is often explained as
depending on these processes.
Cognitive-behavioral paradigm - answer-the model of human behavior that people can
best be understood by studying how they perceive and structure their experiences and
how this influences behavior.
Cognitive therapy - answer-treatment approach that involves identifying and altering
negative thinking styles related to psychological disorders such as depression and
anxiety and replacing them with more positive beliefs and attitudes.
Communication disorders - answer-problems in transmitting or conveying information,
including stuttering, selective mutism, and expressive language disorder.
Comorbidity - answer-the presence of two or more disorders in an individual at the
same time.
EXAM QUESTIONS WITH COMPLETE
SOLUTIONS
Anxiety disorders - answer-a varied group of disorders that all have anxiety, fear, or
tension as an essential feature. Includes specific phobias, social phobia, panic disorder,
generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and posttraumatic stress
disorder.
Aphasia - answer-impairment or loss of language skills resulting from brain damage
caused by stroke, alzheimer's disease, or other illness or trauma.
Apraxia - answer-loss of motor activities (such as walking); one of the symptoms of
dementia.
Asperger's disorder - answer-a pervasive developmental disorder in which individuals
display profound social impairment and restricted or unusual behaviors, but without
language delays seen in autism.
Attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder (adhd) - answer-developmental disorder in
which persons are unable to focus their attention, they behave hyperactively or
impulsively, or both.
Auditory hallucinations - answer-psychotic disturbance in perception in which a person
hears sounds or voices although these are not real or actually present. The voices are
often critical, accusatory, or demanding.
Attributional style - answer-the relatively consistent explanations a person forms about
why personal stressors or other negative life events occur, taking the form of internal vs.
External, stable vs. Unstable, and global vs. Specific.
Autistic disorder (autism) - answer-pervasive developmental disorder characterized by
significant impairment in social interactions, extreme unresponsiveness to others, poor
communication skills, and highly repetitive and rigid behavior.
Avoidant personality disorder - answer-a personality disorder featuring a pervasive
pattern of social inhibition, feelings of inadequacy, and extremely sensitive to criticism.
Avolition - answer-a symptom of schizophrenia marked by apathy, and an inability to
initiate or complete important activities.
Behavior therapy - answer-an group of therapy methods based on the principles of
behavioral and cognitive science as well as principles of learning as applied to clinical
,problems. It considers specific behaviors rather than inferred internal factors as targets
for change. Also known as behavior modification.
Behavioral medicine - answer-interdisciplinary approach applying behavioral science to
the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of medical problems.
Behaviorism - answer-the view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that
(2) studies behavior, including dysfunction, without reference to mental processes. Most
research psychologists today agree with (1) but not with (2).
Binge-eating disorder - answer-an eating disorder involving consumption of large
amounts of food in a short period of time, uncontrollable and distressing to the individual
but not followed by compensatory behaviors.
Biological paradigm - answer-explanation of psychological dysfunction that primarily
emphasizes biological process in the brain or illness as the cause.
Biopsychosocial model - answer-the model that psychological disorders are not caused
by one or two factors in a linear way; rather, they are a product of a continual interaction
of a number of biological, psychological and social factors.
Bipolar i disorder - answer-mood disorder characterized by the alternation of major
depressive episodes with full manic episodes.
Bipolar ii disorder - answer-mood disorder characterized by the alternation of major
depressive episodes with hypomanic (not full manic) episodes.
Body dysmorphic disorder - answer-a somatoform disorder marked by preoccupation
with an imagined or exaggerated defect in appearance, for example, facial blemishes,
size or shape of nose or ears.
Borderline personality disorder - answer-a personality disorder involving a pervasive
pattern of erratic moods, unstable self-image and relationships, cannot stand to be
alone; intense anger, depression, and extremely impulsive behavior, including self-
mutilation.
Brief psychotic disorder - answer-psychotic disorder involving delusions, hallucinations,
or disorganized speech and behavior, that appear suddenly after a very stressful event
and last anywhere from a few hours to 1 month.
Bulimia nervosa - answer-eating disorder involving recurrent episodes of uncontrolled
excessive (binge) eating followed by compensatory actions to remove the food (e.g.,
deliberate vomiting, laxative abuse, excessive exercise).
, Anorexia nervosa, binge-eating-purging type (bulimarexia) - answer-a variation of
anorexia in which the individual turns to bingeing and then goes on to vomiting or other
purging as a way of keeping weight at very low levels.
Catatonia - answer-a pattern of extreme psychomotor symptoms sometimes found in
schizophrenia involving immobility, posturing, or excited agitation.
Categorical classification - answer-a system of placing disorders in categories with the
assumption that each disorder is clearly different from every other disorder (an "all-or-
none" approach). Based on the medical model in which every diagnosis has a distinct
set of characteristics and underlying cause. Compare to dimensional classification.
Childhood disintegrative disorder - answer-pervasive developmental disorder involving
severe regression in language, adaptive behavior, and motor skills after a 2- to 4-year
period of normal development.
Civil commitment - answer-legal proceedings that determine whether a person is
mentally disordered and may be hospitalized, even involuntarily.
Clang - answer-a rhyme used by some persons with schizophrenia as a guide to
forming thoughts and statements.
Clinical assessment / clinical interview - answer-systematic evaluation and
measurement of psychological, biological, and social factors in a person presenting with
a possible psychological disorder.
Clinical psychology - answer-the specialty of psychology involving research,
assessment, treatment, and prevention of abnormal behavior.
Cognition - answer-the process of knowing; the thinking, remembering, judging,
reasoning, and planning activities of the human mind. Behavior is often explained as
depending on these processes.
Cognitive-behavioral paradigm - answer-the model of human behavior that people can
best be understood by studying how they perceive and structure their experiences and
how this influences behavior.
Cognitive therapy - answer-treatment approach that involves identifying and altering
negative thinking styles related to psychological disorders such as depression and
anxiety and replacing them with more positive beliefs and attitudes.
Communication disorders - answer-problems in transmitting or conveying information,
including stuttering, selective mutism, and expressive language disorder.
Comorbidity - answer-the presence of two or more disorders in an individual at the
same time.
