Abnormal Psychology Exam Edition Questions with Correct Answers
(Grade A+)
Question 1: Narcissistic personality disorder
Answer: a personality disorder characterized by exaggerated ideas of self-importance and achievements;
preoccupation with fantasies of success; arrogance
Question 2: Dissociative Disorders
Answer: disorders in which conscious awareness becomes separated (dissociated) from previous memories,
thoughts, and feelings
Question 3: Anxiety
Answer: a vague unpleasant emotion that is experienced in anticipation of some (usually ill-defined)
misfortune
Question 4: Abnormal Psychology
Answer: The field of psychology concerned with the assessment, treatment, and prevention of maladaptive
behavior.
Question 5: interns syndrome
Answer: a tendency to diagnose one's self while studying any particular disorder
Question 6: DSM-IV-TR
Answer: Abbrevation for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text
Revision; the book published by the American Psychiatric Association that describes the specific symptoms
and diagnostic guidelines for different psychological disorders
Question 7: Neurotic disorders
Answer: mental disorders in which a person does not have signs of brain abnormalities and does not display
grossly irrational thinking or violate basic norms but does eperience subjective distress; a category dropped
from DSM-III
Question 8: neologisms
Answer: Made-up words that typically have only meaning to the individual who uses them. Typical of
disorganized schizophrenic person
Page 1
, Question 9: Psychotic Disorders
Answer: psychological disorders of thought and perception, characterized by inability to distinguish
between real and imagined perceptions.
Question 10: eclectic
Answer: selecting what seems best of various styles or ideas
Question 11: David Rosenhan
Answer: A social psychologist that did a study in which healthy patients were admitted to psychiatric
hospitals and diagnoses with schizophrenia; showed that once you are diagnosed with a disorder, the label,
even when behavior indicates otherwise, is hard to overcome in a mental health setting
Question 12: Rosenhan Study
Answer: study in which healthy individuals were admitted into mental hospitals after saying they were
hearing voices. Once in, they acted normally and still were not labeled as impostors.
Question 13: phobia
Answer: an anxiety disorder characterized by extreme and irrational fear of simple things or social
situations
Question 14: generalized anxiety disorder
Answer: an anxiety disorder characterized by chronic free-floating anxiety and such symptoms as tension or
sweating or trembling of light-headedness or irritability etc that has lasted for more than six months
Question 15: panic disorder
Answer: an anxiety disorder marked by unpredictable minutes-long episodes of intense dread in which a
person experiences terror and accompanying chest pain, choking, or other frightening sensations
Question 16: obsessive-compulsive disorder
Answer: An anxiety disorder characterized by unwanted repetitive thoughts (obsession) and/ or actions
(compulsions).
Question 17: posttraumatic stress disorder
Answer: an anxiety disorder associated with serious traumatic events and characterized by such symptoms
as survivor guilt, reliving the trauma in dreams, numbness and lack of involvement with reality, or recurrent
thoughts and images
Page 2
(Grade A+)
Question 1: Narcissistic personality disorder
Answer: a personality disorder characterized by exaggerated ideas of self-importance and achievements;
preoccupation with fantasies of success; arrogance
Question 2: Dissociative Disorders
Answer: disorders in which conscious awareness becomes separated (dissociated) from previous memories,
thoughts, and feelings
Question 3: Anxiety
Answer: a vague unpleasant emotion that is experienced in anticipation of some (usually ill-defined)
misfortune
Question 4: Abnormal Psychology
Answer: The field of psychology concerned with the assessment, treatment, and prevention of maladaptive
behavior.
Question 5: interns syndrome
Answer: a tendency to diagnose one's self while studying any particular disorder
Question 6: DSM-IV-TR
Answer: Abbrevation for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text
Revision; the book published by the American Psychiatric Association that describes the specific symptoms
and diagnostic guidelines for different psychological disorders
Question 7: Neurotic disorders
Answer: mental disorders in which a person does not have signs of brain abnormalities and does not display
grossly irrational thinking or violate basic norms but does eperience subjective distress; a category dropped
from DSM-III
Question 8: neologisms
Answer: Made-up words that typically have only meaning to the individual who uses them. Typical of
disorganized schizophrenic person
Page 1
, Question 9: Psychotic Disorders
Answer: psychological disorders of thought and perception, characterized by inability to distinguish
between real and imagined perceptions.
Question 10: eclectic
Answer: selecting what seems best of various styles or ideas
Question 11: David Rosenhan
Answer: A social psychologist that did a study in which healthy patients were admitted to psychiatric
hospitals and diagnoses with schizophrenia; showed that once you are diagnosed with a disorder, the label,
even when behavior indicates otherwise, is hard to overcome in a mental health setting
Question 12: Rosenhan Study
Answer: study in which healthy individuals were admitted into mental hospitals after saying they were
hearing voices. Once in, they acted normally and still were not labeled as impostors.
Question 13: phobia
Answer: an anxiety disorder characterized by extreme and irrational fear of simple things or social
situations
Question 14: generalized anxiety disorder
Answer: an anxiety disorder characterized by chronic free-floating anxiety and such symptoms as tension or
sweating or trembling of light-headedness or irritability etc that has lasted for more than six months
Question 15: panic disorder
Answer: an anxiety disorder marked by unpredictable minutes-long episodes of intense dread in which a
person experiences terror and accompanying chest pain, choking, or other frightening sensations
Question 16: obsessive-compulsive disorder
Answer: An anxiety disorder characterized by unwanted repetitive thoughts (obsession) and/ or actions
(compulsions).
Question 17: posttraumatic stress disorder
Answer: an anxiety disorder associated with serious traumatic events and characterized by such symptoms
as survivor guilt, reliving the trauma in dreams, numbness and lack of involvement with reality, or recurrent
thoughts and images
Page 2
