PSYC 350 EXAM 1 QUESTIONS WITH
ANSWERS AND EXPLANATIONS
| American Public University
1. When reviewing the following case, which conclusion is the most defensible based on the information
provided? A person routinely assumes coworkers intend harm, doubts friends' loyalty, and reads hidden
threats into neutral remarks.
A. The pattern most strongly supports avoidant personality disorder.
B. The pattern most strongly supports borderline personality disorder.
C. The pattern most strongly supports paranoid personality disorder.
D. The pattern most strongly supports schizotypal personality disorder.
Correct Answer: C. The pattern most strongly supports paranoid personality disorder.
Explanation: Paranoid personality disorder is the best conclusion because the presentation matches a pervasive
pattern of distrust and suspiciousness in which others' motives are interpreted as malevolent. A full real-world
assessment would still evaluate medical, substance-related, developmental, and cultural alternatives where
relevant.
2. A clinician is differentiating several related possibilities. Which interpretation most precisely classifies the
following case? A survivor refuses to discuss the event and takes long routes to avoid the neighborhood
where it occurred.
A. prolonged exposure therapy - a trauma-focused treatment using repeated, supported confrontation with
trauma memories and safe reminders to reduce avoidance and fear
B. cognitive processing therapy - a trauma-focused treatment that helps patients examine and modify unhelpful
beliefs related to the traumatic event
C. trauma-related avoidance - efforts to avoid internal memories or external reminders associated with
traumatic events
D. negative alterations in cognition and mood - persistent trauma-related changes such as guilt, negative beliefs,
detachment, or inability to experience positive emotion
Correct Answer: C. trauma-related avoidance - efforts to avoid internal memories or external reminders
associated with traumatic events
Explanation: The case is best classified as trauma-related avoidance because its central feature is efforts to avoid
internal memories or external reminders associated with traumatic events. The other options describe distinct
clinical patterns.
,3. A clinician is differentiating several related possibilities. Which interpretation most precisely classifies the
following case? A patient clearly hears a voice speaking when no one is present and no sound source can be
found. Focus on the feature that most clearly distinguishes the alternatives.
A. delusion - a fixed false belief that persists despite strong contradictory evidence and is not better explained
by shared cultural beliefs
B. hallucination - a perception-like experience occurring without a corresponding external stimulus
C. delusional disorder - one or more persistent delusions with relatively preserved functioning outside the
impact of the delusional belief
D. brief psychotic disorder - an abrupt psychotic episode lasting at least one day but less than one month
followed by return toward previous functioning
Correct Answer: B. hallucination - a perception-like experience occurring without a corresponding external
stimulus
Explanation: The case is best classified as hallucination because its central feature is a perception-like experience
occurring without a corresponding external stimulus. The other options describe distinct clinical patterns.
4. Select the most accurate clinical concept. When reviewing the following case, which conclusion is the
most defensible based on the information provided? After repeated uncontrollable setbacks, an individual
stops trying to change situations even when effective options later become available.
A. The pattern most strongly supports cognitive vulnerability.
B. The pattern most strongly supports classical conditioning.
C. The pattern most strongly supports learned helplessness.
D. The pattern most strongly supports expressed emotion.
Correct Answer: C. The pattern most strongly supports learned helplessness.
Explanation: Learned helplessness is the best conclusion because the presentation matches reduced effort or
passivity that can follow repeated exposure to outcomes perceived as uncontrollable. A full real-world assessment
would still evaluate medical, substance-related, developmental, and cultural alternatives where relevant.
5. Which diagnosis or concept best fits this presentation? A therapist avoids arguing and instead explores
ambivalence, elicits change talk, and supports the client's reasons for reducing substance use.
A. craving
B. motivational interviewing
C. substance use disorder
D. gambling disorder
Correct Answer: B. motivational interviewing
Explanation: The defining pattern is most consistent with motivational interviewing: a collaborative counseling
style designed to strengthen a person's own motivation and commitment to change. The distractors share some
surface features but do not match the central pattern.
,6. Which diagnosis or concept best fits this presentation? A patient with restrictive eating presents with
fainting, marked bradycardia, and electrolyte abnormalities that require urgent medical care before routine
outpatient psychotherapy.
A. avoidant restrictive food intake disorder
B. bulimia nervosa
C. medical stabilization in eating disorders
D. rumination disorder
Correct Answer: C. medical stabilization in eating disorders
Explanation: The defining pattern is most consistent with medical stabilization in eating disorders: priority
management of acute physiological risk such as severe bradycardia, electrolyte disturbance, dehydration, or
hemodynamic instability. The distractors share some surface features but do not match the central pattern.
7. Which diagnosis or concept best fits this presentation? A therapist asks a client who feels unreal to name
visible objects, notice feet on the floor, and describe current sounds and textures.
A. dissociative amnesia
B. grounding technique
C. differential diagnosis of dissociation
D. trauma association
Correct Answer: B. grounding technique
Explanation: The defining pattern is most consistent with grounding technique: a strategy that directs attention to
immediate sensory information and the present environment to reduce dissociative detachment. The distractors
share some surface features but do not match the central pattern.
8. When reviewing the following case, which conclusion is the most defensible based on the information
provided? A patient consistently cannot maintain sufficient erection during sexual activity and is distressed
by the problem across many encounters.
A. The pattern most strongly supports female orgasmic disorder.
B. The pattern most strongly supports voyeuristic disorder.
C. The pattern most strongly supports gender dysphoria.
D. The pattern most strongly supports erectile disorder.
Correct Answer: D. The pattern most strongly supports erectile disorder.
Explanation: Erectile disorder is the best conclusion because the presentation matches persistent difficulty
obtaining or maintaining an erection or reduced erectile rigidity that causes clinically significant distress. A full
real-world assessment would still evaluate medical, substance-related, developmental, and cultural alternatives
where relevant.
, 9. A clinician is differentiating several related possibilities. Which interpretation most precisely classifies the
following case? A teenager suddenly punches a wall and threatens a peer after interpreting an ambiguous
comment as insulting.
A. multisystemic intervention - an intensive approach addressing interacting family, peer, school, and
community factors that maintain serious adolescent behavior problems
B. proactive aggression - planned or goal-directed aggression used instrumentally to obtain a desired outcome
C. parent management training - a behavioral intervention teaching caregivers consistent reinforcement,
effective commands, monitoring, and noncoercive consequences for child behavior problems
D. reactive aggression - impulsive aggression in response to perceived threat, frustration, or provocation rather
than calculated gain
Correct Answer: D. reactive aggression - impulsive aggression in response to perceived threat, frustration, or
provocation rather than calculated gain
Explanation: The case is best classified as reactive aggression because its central feature is impulsive aggression
in response to perceived threat, frustration, or provocation rather than calculated gain. The other options describe
distinct clinical patterns.
10. Which diagnosis or concept best fits this presentation? A depressed patient believes nothing can improve
regardless of treatment or future circumstances.
A. suicidal ideation assessment
B. behavioral activation
C. hopelessness
D. peripartum onset
Correct Answer: C. hopelessness
Explanation: The defining pattern is most consistent with hopelessness: a pervasive expectation that negative
outcomes will continue and desired outcomes will not occur. The distractors share some surface features but do not
match the central pattern.
11. Which concept is best defined as a first-line behavioral treatment combining strategies such as stimulus
control, sleep restriction, cognitive work, and sleep scheduling?
A. cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia
B. hypersomnolence disorder
C. REM sleep behavior disorder
D. circadian rhythm sleep-wake disorder
Correct Answer: A. cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia
Explanation: Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia refers to a first-line behavioral treatment combining
strategies such as stimulus control, sleep restriction, cognitive work, and sleep scheduling. The alternatives name
different constructs within the same clinical area.
ANSWERS AND EXPLANATIONS
| American Public University
1. When reviewing the following case, which conclusion is the most defensible based on the information
provided? A person routinely assumes coworkers intend harm, doubts friends' loyalty, and reads hidden
threats into neutral remarks.
A. The pattern most strongly supports avoidant personality disorder.
B. The pattern most strongly supports borderline personality disorder.
C. The pattern most strongly supports paranoid personality disorder.
D. The pattern most strongly supports schizotypal personality disorder.
Correct Answer: C. The pattern most strongly supports paranoid personality disorder.
Explanation: Paranoid personality disorder is the best conclusion because the presentation matches a pervasive
pattern of distrust and suspiciousness in which others' motives are interpreted as malevolent. A full real-world
assessment would still evaluate medical, substance-related, developmental, and cultural alternatives where
relevant.
2. A clinician is differentiating several related possibilities. Which interpretation most precisely classifies the
following case? A survivor refuses to discuss the event and takes long routes to avoid the neighborhood
where it occurred.
A. prolonged exposure therapy - a trauma-focused treatment using repeated, supported confrontation with
trauma memories and safe reminders to reduce avoidance and fear
B. cognitive processing therapy - a trauma-focused treatment that helps patients examine and modify unhelpful
beliefs related to the traumatic event
C. trauma-related avoidance - efforts to avoid internal memories or external reminders associated with
traumatic events
D. negative alterations in cognition and mood - persistent trauma-related changes such as guilt, negative beliefs,
detachment, or inability to experience positive emotion
Correct Answer: C. trauma-related avoidance - efforts to avoid internal memories or external reminders
associated with traumatic events
Explanation: The case is best classified as trauma-related avoidance because its central feature is efforts to avoid
internal memories or external reminders associated with traumatic events. The other options describe distinct
clinical patterns.
,3. A clinician is differentiating several related possibilities. Which interpretation most precisely classifies the
following case? A patient clearly hears a voice speaking when no one is present and no sound source can be
found. Focus on the feature that most clearly distinguishes the alternatives.
A. delusion - a fixed false belief that persists despite strong contradictory evidence and is not better explained
by shared cultural beliefs
B. hallucination - a perception-like experience occurring without a corresponding external stimulus
C. delusional disorder - one or more persistent delusions with relatively preserved functioning outside the
impact of the delusional belief
D. brief psychotic disorder - an abrupt psychotic episode lasting at least one day but less than one month
followed by return toward previous functioning
Correct Answer: B. hallucination - a perception-like experience occurring without a corresponding external
stimulus
Explanation: The case is best classified as hallucination because its central feature is a perception-like experience
occurring without a corresponding external stimulus. The other options describe distinct clinical patterns.
4. Select the most accurate clinical concept. When reviewing the following case, which conclusion is the
most defensible based on the information provided? After repeated uncontrollable setbacks, an individual
stops trying to change situations even when effective options later become available.
A. The pattern most strongly supports cognitive vulnerability.
B. The pattern most strongly supports classical conditioning.
C. The pattern most strongly supports learned helplessness.
D. The pattern most strongly supports expressed emotion.
Correct Answer: C. The pattern most strongly supports learned helplessness.
Explanation: Learned helplessness is the best conclusion because the presentation matches reduced effort or
passivity that can follow repeated exposure to outcomes perceived as uncontrollable. A full real-world assessment
would still evaluate medical, substance-related, developmental, and cultural alternatives where relevant.
5. Which diagnosis or concept best fits this presentation? A therapist avoids arguing and instead explores
ambivalence, elicits change talk, and supports the client's reasons for reducing substance use.
A. craving
B. motivational interviewing
C. substance use disorder
D. gambling disorder
Correct Answer: B. motivational interviewing
Explanation: The defining pattern is most consistent with motivational interviewing: a collaborative counseling
style designed to strengthen a person's own motivation and commitment to change. The distractors share some
surface features but do not match the central pattern.
,6. Which diagnosis or concept best fits this presentation? A patient with restrictive eating presents with
fainting, marked bradycardia, and electrolyte abnormalities that require urgent medical care before routine
outpatient psychotherapy.
A. avoidant restrictive food intake disorder
B. bulimia nervosa
C. medical stabilization in eating disorders
D. rumination disorder
Correct Answer: C. medical stabilization in eating disorders
Explanation: The defining pattern is most consistent with medical stabilization in eating disorders: priority
management of acute physiological risk such as severe bradycardia, electrolyte disturbance, dehydration, or
hemodynamic instability. The distractors share some surface features but do not match the central pattern.
7. Which diagnosis or concept best fits this presentation? A therapist asks a client who feels unreal to name
visible objects, notice feet on the floor, and describe current sounds and textures.
A. dissociative amnesia
B. grounding technique
C. differential diagnosis of dissociation
D. trauma association
Correct Answer: B. grounding technique
Explanation: The defining pattern is most consistent with grounding technique: a strategy that directs attention to
immediate sensory information and the present environment to reduce dissociative detachment. The distractors
share some surface features but do not match the central pattern.
8. When reviewing the following case, which conclusion is the most defensible based on the information
provided? A patient consistently cannot maintain sufficient erection during sexual activity and is distressed
by the problem across many encounters.
A. The pattern most strongly supports female orgasmic disorder.
B. The pattern most strongly supports voyeuristic disorder.
C. The pattern most strongly supports gender dysphoria.
D. The pattern most strongly supports erectile disorder.
Correct Answer: D. The pattern most strongly supports erectile disorder.
Explanation: Erectile disorder is the best conclusion because the presentation matches persistent difficulty
obtaining or maintaining an erection or reduced erectile rigidity that causes clinically significant distress. A full
real-world assessment would still evaluate medical, substance-related, developmental, and cultural alternatives
where relevant.
, 9. A clinician is differentiating several related possibilities. Which interpretation most precisely classifies the
following case? A teenager suddenly punches a wall and threatens a peer after interpreting an ambiguous
comment as insulting.
A. multisystemic intervention - an intensive approach addressing interacting family, peer, school, and
community factors that maintain serious adolescent behavior problems
B. proactive aggression - planned or goal-directed aggression used instrumentally to obtain a desired outcome
C. parent management training - a behavioral intervention teaching caregivers consistent reinforcement,
effective commands, monitoring, and noncoercive consequences for child behavior problems
D. reactive aggression - impulsive aggression in response to perceived threat, frustration, or provocation rather
than calculated gain
Correct Answer: D. reactive aggression - impulsive aggression in response to perceived threat, frustration, or
provocation rather than calculated gain
Explanation: The case is best classified as reactive aggression because its central feature is impulsive aggression
in response to perceived threat, frustration, or provocation rather than calculated gain. The other options describe
distinct clinical patterns.
10. Which diagnosis or concept best fits this presentation? A depressed patient believes nothing can improve
regardless of treatment or future circumstances.
A. suicidal ideation assessment
B. behavioral activation
C. hopelessness
D. peripartum onset
Correct Answer: C. hopelessness
Explanation: The defining pattern is most consistent with hopelessness: a pervasive expectation that negative
outcomes will continue and desired outcomes will not occur. The distractors share some surface features but do not
match the central pattern.
11. Which concept is best defined as a first-line behavioral treatment combining strategies such as stimulus
control, sleep restriction, cognitive work, and sleep scheduling?
A. cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia
B. hypersomnolence disorder
C. REM sleep behavior disorder
D. circadian rhythm sleep-wake disorder
Correct Answer: A. cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia
Explanation: Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia refers to a first-line behavioral treatment combining
strategies such as stimulus control, sleep restriction, cognitive work, and sleep scheduling. The alternatives name
different constructs within the same clinical area.
