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 veteran experiences nightmares, avoids driving past the site of an accident, and feels emotionally numb three months after a traumatic event. Which diagnosis is most appropriate?
Answer: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
PTSD is diagnosed when symptoms of re-experiencing, avoidance, negative cognitions/mood, and hyperarousal persist for more than one month following trauma.
Which eating disorder is characterized by recurrent episodes of eating large amounts of food followed by compensatory behaviors such as self-induced vomiting?
Answer: Bulimia Nervosa
Bulimia Nervosa involves binge eating followed by purging behaviors and occurs in individuals who are typically at or above normal weight.
According to the DSM-5, which criterion differentiates a manic episode from hypomania?
Answer: Manic episodes require hospitalization or cause marked impairment or psychosis
A manic episode is severe enough to cause marked impairment, require hospitalization, or include psychotic features; hypomania does not reach this threshold.
Learned helplessness, a model relevant to depression, was originally demonstrated by Seligman using:
Answer: Inescapable electric shocks administered to dogs
Seligman showed that dogs exposed to inescapable shocks later failed to escape even when escape was possible, modeling the passivity seen in depression.
In the context of substance use disorders, 'tolerance' is best defined as:
Answer: Needing increased amounts of a substance to achieve the same effect
Tolerance refers to needing markedly increased amounts of a substance to achieve intoxication or the desired effect, or diminished effect with continued use of the same amount.
A 7-year-old boy is impulsive, often interrupts others, cannot stay seated in class, and these behaviors have been present since age 4 across home and school settings. The most likely diagnosis is:
Answer: Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
ADHD requires symptoms of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity present in two or more settings before age 12, causing functional impairment.
The two-factor theory of anxiety proposed by Mowrer suggests that phobias are acquired through classical conditioning and maintained by:
Answer: Negative reinforcement via operant avoidance
Mowrer proposed that avoidance behavior is negatively reinforced because it reduces anxiety, thereby maintaining the phobia.