ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY FINAL:
MULTIPLE CHOICE
Which of the following is NOT one of the considerations we use in trying to judge the abnormality of
some behavior?
(A) Deviance
(B) Distress
(C) Disruptiveness
(D) Disability -
✅(D) Disability
When we use a specific name for a mental disorder, we run the risk that...
(A) we will think we have explained something
(B) the name will become stigmatizing
(C) Neither; there is not risk
(D) Both A and B are risks -
✅(D) Both A and B are risks
Which of the following would NOT be consistent with the medical model view of psychopathology or
with Thomas Szasz's argument that mental illness is a "myth"?
(A) There are well-defined objective criteria for mental illness
(B) Symptoms of the illness stem from something in the person's body
(C) Mental illness always involves significant loss with reality
(D) Accurate diagnosis will lead to a proper treatment plan -
✅(C) Mental illness always involves significant loss with reality
The discovery of the link between general paresis and syphilis...
(A) was the first of many discoveries that have made the organic view of psychopathology so widely
endorsed
(B) is one of the few times that a specific physical cause has been found for a mental disorder
(C) was critical to development of Freudian psychoanalysis
1|Page
,(D) led to growing recognition of the importance of sexually transmitted diseases in psychopathology
-
✅(A) was the first of many discoveries that have made the organic view of psychopathology so
widely endorsed
The use of hypnosis in the 19th century by Charcot and others....
(A) was dismissed by most experts as a fraud
(B) led to it becoming a cure for many mental disorders
(C) added momentum to the growing emphasis on the role of psychological factors
(D) enabled researchers to study the brain using neurosurgery -
✅(D) added momentum to the growing emphasis on the role of psychological factors
Several psychologists have just interviewed a patient. All of the psychologists agree that the patient is
depressed. In fact, the patient is NOT depressed, but has been taking medication that gives the
appearance of depression. The judgements of the psychologists are....
(A) valid, but not reliable
(B) reliable, but not valid
(C) neither reliable nor valid
(D) both reliable and valid -
✅(B) reliable, but not valid
Luigi has discovered that people who eat more spaghetti are less likely to show symptoms of
depression. Based on this finding, what statement can be made about the relationship between
spaghetti and depression?
(A) Italians are happy
(B) Spaghetti prevents depression
(C) There is a positive correlation between spaghetti and depression
(D) There is a negative correlation between spaghetti and depression -
✅(C) There is a positive correlation between spaghetti and depression
The key difference between a true experiment in science and case studies, surveys, and correlational
types of research designs is that the experiment....
(A) uses trained observers
2|Page
,(B) follows the same research participants over extended periods of time
(C) intentionally manipulates at least some of the research participants to test the effect
(D) produces results that can be generalized to the whole population -
✅(C) intentionally manipulates at least some of the research participants to test the effect
Researchers need to use inferential statistics to show that...
(A) the sample is not biased
(B) the probability that the results occurred by chance is low
(C) the probability that the results are understandable
(D) the assignment of subjects to a group was indeed random -
✅(B) the probability that the results occurred by chance is low
You have finished reading a study and its results look impressive. However, you should still consider
whether...
(A) there was too much reliance on self-reports
(B) the sample might have been biased
(C) the results have been replicated by other researchers
(D) all of the above -
✅(D) all of the above
Dr. Schmidt believes that mental disorders can be classified like medical diseases and that there are
distinct disorders that have little overlap in symptoms. Dr. Schmidt's views are most similar to which
approach to classification?
(A) categorical
(B) prototypical
(C) behavioral
(D) dimensional -
✅(A) categorical
In contrast to mental health professionals, for medical professionals an accurate diagnosis is very
important because most often a correct diagnosis...
(A) ensures a patient will survive
3|Page
, (B) identifies the underlying cause of the patient's condition that needs to be treated
(C) enables a medical professional to seek insurance reimbursement
(D) provides epidemiologists with meaningful statistical data -
✅(A) ensures a patient will survive
Mental health professionals are often uncomfortable with giving a person a diagnosis because...
(A) the DSM system is so complex that few people are able to use it well
(B) there are so many different systems of diagnosis that it is hard to understand what an individual
diagnosis means
(C) a diagnosis can influence both other people's and the diagnosed person's perception of
him/herself in negative ways
(D) a diagnosis doesn't rely enough on what the person is willing to tell us -
✅(C) a diagnosis can influence both other people's and the diagnosed person's perception of
him/herself in negative ways
The DSM-5 diagnostic criteria assign diagnoses on the basis of...
(A) test results
(B) response to to treatment
(C) causal factors
(D) symptoms and signs -
✅(D) symptoms and signs
Individuals who show signs and symptoms of one disorder often show signs and symptoms of
another. This is known as...
(A) co-morbidity
(B) reification
(C) differential diagnosis
(D) stigmatization -
✅(A) co-morbidity
Martha's best friend just died in a auto accident, and Martha is having a very hard time. What else
would you need to know to justify a diagnosis of adjustment disorder?
(A) Her reaction is unusually severe
4|Page
MULTIPLE CHOICE
Which of the following is NOT one of the considerations we use in trying to judge the abnormality of
some behavior?
(A) Deviance
(B) Distress
(C) Disruptiveness
(D) Disability -
✅(D) Disability
When we use a specific name for a mental disorder, we run the risk that...
(A) we will think we have explained something
(B) the name will become stigmatizing
(C) Neither; there is not risk
(D) Both A and B are risks -
✅(D) Both A and B are risks
Which of the following would NOT be consistent with the medical model view of psychopathology or
with Thomas Szasz's argument that mental illness is a "myth"?
(A) There are well-defined objective criteria for mental illness
(B) Symptoms of the illness stem from something in the person's body
(C) Mental illness always involves significant loss with reality
(D) Accurate diagnosis will lead to a proper treatment plan -
✅(C) Mental illness always involves significant loss with reality
The discovery of the link between general paresis and syphilis...
(A) was the first of many discoveries that have made the organic view of psychopathology so widely
endorsed
(B) is one of the few times that a specific physical cause has been found for a mental disorder
(C) was critical to development of Freudian psychoanalysis
1|Page
,(D) led to growing recognition of the importance of sexually transmitted diseases in psychopathology
-
✅(A) was the first of many discoveries that have made the organic view of psychopathology so
widely endorsed
The use of hypnosis in the 19th century by Charcot and others....
(A) was dismissed by most experts as a fraud
(B) led to it becoming a cure for many mental disorders
(C) added momentum to the growing emphasis on the role of psychological factors
(D) enabled researchers to study the brain using neurosurgery -
✅(D) added momentum to the growing emphasis on the role of psychological factors
Several psychologists have just interviewed a patient. All of the psychologists agree that the patient is
depressed. In fact, the patient is NOT depressed, but has been taking medication that gives the
appearance of depression. The judgements of the psychologists are....
(A) valid, but not reliable
(B) reliable, but not valid
(C) neither reliable nor valid
(D) both reliable and valid -
✅(B) reliable, but not valid
Luigi has discovered that people who eat more spaghetti are less likely to show symptoms of
depression. Based on this finding, what statement can be made about the relationship between
spaghetti and depression?
(A) Italians are happy
(B) Spaghetti prevents depression
(C) There is a positive correlation between spaghetti and depression
(D) There is a negative correlation between spaghetti and depression -
✅(C) There is a positive correlation between spaghetti and depression
The key difference between a true experiment in science and case studies, surveys, and correlational
types of research designs is that the experiment....
(A) uses trained observers
2|Page
,(B) follows the same research participants over extended periods of time
(C) intentionally manipulates at least some of the research participants to test the effect
(D) produces results that can be generalized to the whole population -
✅(C) intentionally manipulates at least some of the research participants to test the effect
Researchers need to use inferential statistics to show that...
(A) the sample is not biased
(B) the probability that the results occurred by chance is low
(C) the probability that the results are understandable
(D) the assignment of subjects to a group was indeed random -
✅(B) the probability that the results occurred by chance is low
You have finished reading a study and its results look impressive. However, you should still consider
whether...
(A) there was too much reliance on self-reports
(B) the sample might have been biased
(C) the results have been replicated by other researchers
(D) all of the above -
✅(D) all of the above
Dr. Schmidt believes that mental disorders can be classified like medical diseases and that there are
distinct disorders that have little overlap in symptoms. Dr. Schmidt's views are most similar to which
approach to classification?
(A) categorical
(B) prototypical
(C) behavioral
(D) dimensional -
✅(A) categorical
In contrast to mental health professionals, for medical professionals an accurate diagnosis is very
important because most often a correct diagnosis...
(A) ensures a patient will survive
3|Page
, (B) identifies the underlying cause of the patient's condition that needs to be treated
(C) enables a medical professional to seek insurance reimbursement
(D) provides epidemiologists with meaningful statistical data -
✅(A) ensures a patient will survive
Mental health professionals are often uncomfortable with giving a person a diagnosis because...
(A) the DSM system is so complex that few people are able to use it well
(B) there are so many different systems of diagnosis that it is hard to understand what an individual
diagnosis means
(C) a diagnosis can influence both other people's and the diagnosed person's perception of
him/herself in negative ways
(D) a diagnosis doesn't rely enough on what the person is willing to tell us -
✅(C) a diagnosis can influence both other people's and the diagnosed person's perception of
him/herself in negative ways
The DSM-5 diagnostic criteria assign diagnoses on the basis of...
(A) test results
(B) response to to treatment
(C) causal factors
(D) symptoms and signs -
✅(D) symptoms and signs
Individuals who show signs and symptoms of one disorder often show signs and symptoms of
another. This is known as...
(A) co-morbidity
(B) reification
(C) differential diagnosis
(D) stigmatization -
✅(A) co-morbidity
Martha's best friend just died in a auto accident, and Martha is having a very hard time. What else
would you need to know to justify a diagnosis of adjustment disorder?
(A) Her reaction is unusually severe
4|Page