ASPPB Abnormal Psychology 2

Question 1

A patient experiences recurrent, intrusive thoughts about contamination and spends hours each day washing their hands. Which DSM-5 diagnosis best fits?

Accepted Answer

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Answer

OCD is characterized by obsessions (recurrent intrusive thoughts) and compulsions (repetitive behaviors like hand-washing performed to reduce distress).

Question 2

Which neurotransmitter system is most implicated in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia according to the dopamine hypothesis?

Accepted Answer

Dopamine excess in mesolimbic pathway

Answer

The dopamine hypothesis proposes that hyperactivity of dopamine transmission in the mesolimbic pathway underlies positive symptoms of schizophrenia.

Question 3

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?

Accepted Answer

With atypical features

Answer

Atypical features include mood reactivity, hypersomnia, increased appetite/weight gain, leaden paralysis, and rejection sensitivity.

Question 4

Diathesis-stress models of psychopathology propose that mental disorders arise from:

Accepted Answer

An interaction between a predisposing vulnerability and environmental stressors

Answer

Diathesis-stress models hold that a biological or psychological predisposition combines with environmental stress to produce disorder.

Question 5

Which of the following is a key distinction between Borderline Personality Disorder and Bipolar II Disorder?

Accepted Answer

BPD mood shifts are typically triggered by interpersonal events and last hours, not days

Answer

In BPD, affective instability is typically reactive to interpersonal stressors and resolves within hours, unlike the sustained episodes seen in Bipolar II.

(ASPPB) Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards Practice Test

(ASPPB) Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards Practice Test

ASPPB Abnormal Psychology 2