PRITE PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY EXAM
SCRIPT PREMIUM QUESTIONS AND
SOLUTIONS GRADED A+
●● Synaptic pruning
Answer: Which of the following neurodevelopmental processes
predominantly occurs during adolescence and young adulthood?
●● Cohort study
Answer: Medical record data was used to estimate the prevalence of
diabetes among patients who started on an antipsychotic medication.
Which of the following best describes this study design?
●● Poverty of speech
Answer: An 80-year-old presents with depressed mood and cognitive
decline. The patient answers the interviewer's questions with brief, one-
word responses and rare spontaneous elaboration. This is an example of
which of the following?
●● Schedule frequent brief follow-up appontments
Answer: Despite an extensive workup, no medical etiology can be
identified as the cause of a patient's leg pain and weakness. The patient's
primary care physician suspects a diagnosis of somatic symptom
,disorder. Which of the following responses is the most appropriate next
step?
●● ODD
Answer: Over the last six months a ten-year-old child has been
exhibiting anger and temper tantrums. The child has been deliberately
annoying others and blaming this misbehavior on classmates. This has
led to multiple disciplinary actions at school. What is the most likely
diagnosis?
●● Depersonalization/derealization disorder
Answer: A patient presents to the psychiatrist with the complaint of, "I
think I'm going crazy." The patient reports that she often feels as if she
has "no self" and her thoughts are not her own. In fact, she often feels
like a robot and as if she is unable to control her body. She states that she
knows she has feelings but is not able to feel them, instead feeling
emotionally numb, and she frequently feels that her head is "full of
cotton." Recently, she has begun having "out of body" experiences.
Which of the following is the most likely diagnosis?
●● Conditioned response
Answer: A cancer patient becomes nauseous when seeing a commercial
on television for the local cancer center where they receive
chemotherapy. The patient's nausea is best described as what element of
classical conditioning?
,●● Fluoxetine
Answer: In the 1970's, evidence for the role of serotonin in depression
and a desire to develop drugs with a better side effect profile than the
tricyclics and monoamine oxidase inhibitors, led to the development of
which of the following medications?
●● Prion disease
Answer: A 72-year-old patient is seen for a six-month history of rapid
dementia, gait unsteadiness and jerky movements.
Electroencephalogram (EEG) demonstrates a periodic discharge with
sharp waves occurring every one second. What is the most likely
diagnosis?
●● Collaborative care
Answer: A primary care practice follows patient progress through a
registry. Each patient is assigned a primary care provider and a
behavioral health care manager. A psychiatrist is consistently available
to these providers for consultation. This arrangement is best described
by which model?
●● Effectiveness trials
Answer: Which of the following types of research studies is most likely
to result in external validity?
●● Mirtazapine
, Answer: Which antidepressant has demonstrated efficacy in the
treatment of akathisia?
●● Alpha
Answer: An awake electroencephalogram (EG) in a patient with
encephalopathy will show which of the following waves?
●● Nonmaleficence
Answer: A 16-year-old patient was brought to the emergency room after
an overdose of acetaminophen in a suicide attempt. After medical
stabilization, the parents demand that the patient return home rather than
going to a psychiatric hospital for continuing suicidal ideation. The
psychiatrist decides that the patient should remain in the hospital due to
being a danger to self. This action by the psychiatrist is best described
by which ethical principle?
●● Disinhibition impulsivity and tactlessness
Answer: Lesions to the orbitofrontal-subcortical circuit produce which
of the following behaviors?
●● Arcuate fasciculus
Answer: Which of the following connects the frontal and temporal
lobes?
●● Fluctuating consciousness
SCRIPT PREMIUM QUESTIONS AND
SOLUTIONS GRADED A+
●● Synaptic pruning
Answer: Which of the following neurodevelopmental processes
predominantly occurs during adolescence and young adulthood?
●● Cohort study
Answer: Medical record data was used to estimate the prevalence of
diabetes among patients who started on an antipsychotic medication.
Which of the following best describes this study design?
●● Poverty of speech
Answer: An 80-year-old presents with depressed mood and cognitive
decline. The patient answers the interviewer's questions with brief, one-
word responses and rare spontaneous elaboration. This is an example of
which of the following?
●● Schedule frequent brief follow-up appontments
Answer: Despite an extensive workup, no medical etiology can be
identified as the cause of a patient's leg pain and weakness. The patient's
primary care physician suspects a diagnosis of somatic symptom
,disorder. Which of the following responses is the most appropriate next
step?
●● ODD
Answer: Over the last six months a ten-year-old child has been
exhibiting anger and temper tantrums. The child has been deliberately
annoying others and blaming this misbehavior on classmates. This has
led to multiple disciplinary actions at school. What is the most likely
diagnosis?
●● Depersonalization/derealization disorder
Answer: A patient presents to the psychiatrist with the complaint of, "I
think I'm going crazy." The patient reports that she often feels as if she
has "no self" and her thoughts are not her own. In fact, she often feels
like a robot and as if she is unable to control her body. She states that she
knows she has feelings but is not able to feel them, instead feeling
emotionally numb, and she frequently feels that her head is "full of
cotton." Recently, she has begun having "out of body" experiences.
Which of the following is the most likely diagnosis?
●● Conditioned response
Answer: A cancer patient becomes nauseous when seeing a commercial
on television for the local cancer center where they receive
chemotherapy. The patient's nausea is best described as what element of
classical conditioning?
,●● Fluoxetine
Answer: In the 1970's, evidence for the role of serotonin in depression
and a desire to develop drugs with a better side effect profile than the
tricyclics and monoamine oxidase inhibitors, led to the development of
which of the following medications?
●● Prion disease
Answer: A 72-year-old patient is seen for a six-month history of rapid
dementia, gait unsteadiness and jerky movements.
Electroencephalogram (EEG) demonstrates a periodic discharge with
sharp waves occurring every one second. What is the most likely
diagnosis?
●● Collaborative care
Answer: A primary care practice follows patient progress through a
registry. Each patient is assigned a primary care provider and a
behavioral health care manager. A psychiatrist is consistently available
to these providers for consultation. This arrangement is best described
by which model?
●● Effectiveness trials
Answer: Which of the following types of research studies is most likely
to result in external validity?
●● Mirtazapine
, Answer: Which antidepressant has demonstrated efficacy in the
treatment of akathisia?
●● Alpha
Answer: An awake electroencephalogram (EG) in a patient with
encephalopathy will show which of the following waves?
●● Nonmaleficence
Answer: A 16-year-old patient was brought to the emergency room after
an overdose of acetaminophen in a suicide attempt. After medical
stabilization, the parents demand that the patient return home rather than
going to a psychiatric hospital for continuing suicidal ideation. The
psychiatrist decides that the patient should remain in the hospital due to
being a danger to self. This action by the psychiatrist is best described
by which ethical principle?
●● Disinhibition impulsivity and tactlessness
Answer: Lesions to the orbitofrontal-subcortical circuit produce which
of the following behaviors?
●● Arcuate fasciculus
Answer: Which of the following connects the frontal and temporal
lobes?
●● Fluctuating consciousness
