Abnormal Psychology Flashcards
7 cards from real ASPPB practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Abnormal Psychology flashcards as text
A patient experiences recurrent, intrusive thoughts about contamination and spends hours each day washing their hands. Which DSM-5 diagnosis best fits?
Answer: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
OCD is characterized by obsessions (recurrent intrusive thoughts) and compulsions (repetitive behaviors like hand-washing performed to reduce distress).
Which neurotransmitter system is most implicated in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia according to the dopamine hypothesis?
Answer: Dopamine excess in mesolimbic pathway
The dopamine hypothesis proposes that hyperactivity of dopamine transmission in the mesolimbic pathway underlies positive symptoms of schizophrenia.
A 45-year-old presents with depressed mood, hypersomnia, significant weight gain, and leaden paralysis that has persisted for three weeks. These features are most consistent with which specifier?
Answer: With atypical features
Atypical features include mood reactivity, hypersomnia, increased appetite/weight gain, leaden paralysis, and rejection sensitivity.
Diathesis-stress models of psychopathology propose that mental disorders arise from:
Answer: An interaction between a predisposing vulnerability and environmental stressors
Diathesis-stress models hold that a biological or psychological predisposition combines with environmental stress to produce disorder.
Which of the following is a key distinction between Borderline Personality Disorder and Bipolar II Disorder?
Answer: BPD mood shifts are typically triggered by interpersonal events and last hours, not days
In BPD, affective instability is typically reactive to interpersonal stressors and resolves within hours, unlike the sustained episodes seen in Bipolar II.
A child refuses to attend school, complains of stomachaches on school mornings, and clings to parents. This presentation is most consistent with:
Answer: Separation Anxiety Disorder
Separation Anxiety Disorder involves excessive fear about separation from attachment figures, commonly manifesting as school refusal and somatic complaints.
The concept of 'negative symptoms' in schizophrenia includes:
Answer: Flat affect, alogia, and avolition
Negative symptoms represent diminished or absent normal functions: flat affect (reduced emotional expression), alogia (poverty of speech), and avolition (lack of motivation).