BAPSY Abnormal Psychology 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Borderline personality disorder's 'splitting' defense mechanism refers to:
- Dividing the personality into multiple alters
- Viewing people as all good or all bad with no middle ground (Correct answer)
- Repressing negative memories into the unconscious
- Projecting one's own flaws onto others
Correct answer: Viewing people as all good or all bad with no middle ground
Splitting involves inability to integrate positive and negative qualities of self or others, leading to black-and-white thinking.
Question 2: Which DSM-5 specifier distinguishes Bipolar I from Bipolar II disorder?
- Presence of depressive episodes
- Presence of at least one full manic episode (Correct answer)
- Rapid cycling pattern
- Psychotic features during episodes
Correct answer: Presence of at least one full manic episode
Bipolar I requires at least one manic episode (which may include psychosis and severe impairment), whereas Bipolar II involves hypomania and major depression only.
Question 3: Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) was originally developed to treat which disorder?
- Major depressive disorder
- Borderline personality disorder (Correct answer)
- Bipolar disorder
- Generalized anxiety disorder
Correct answer: Borderline personality disorder
Marsha Linehan developed DBT specifically for chronically suicidal individuals with borderline personality disorder, incorporating mindfulness and distress tolerance skills.
Question 4: The 'fight-or-flight' response is primarily mediated by which branch of the autonomic nervous system?
- Parasympathetic nervous system
- Somatic nervous system
- Sympathetic nervous system (Correct answer)
- Enteric nervous system
Correct answer: Sympathetic nervous system
The sympathetic nervous system activates the fight-or-flight response by releasing epinephrine and norepinephrine, increasing heart rate and arousal.
Question 5: A person eats large amounts of food in a short time, feels out of control, and later compensates through self-induced vomiting. This describes:
- Anorexia nervosa, binge-eating/purging type
- Bulimia nervosa (Correct answer)
- Binge-eating disorder
- Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder
Correct answer: Bulimia nervosa
Bulimia nervosa involves recurrent binge eating followed by compensatory behaviors (e.g., purging) and is not associated with significantly low body weight.
Question 6: Which of the following is the DSM-5 criterion for the duration of a hypomanic episode in Bipolar II disorder?
- At least 2 days
- At least 4 consecutive days (Correct answer)
- At least 1 week
- At least 2 weeks
Correct answer: At least 4 consecutive days
DSM-5 requires hypomania to last at least 4 consecutive days, distinguishing it from the 7-day minimum for a full manic episode.
Question 7: The concept of 'learned helplessness' as a model for depression was developed through research by:
- Aaron Beck
- Martin Seligman (Correct answer)
- Albert Ellis
- Carl Rogers
Correct answer: Martin Seligman
Martin Seligman's animal research on inescapable shocks led to the learned helplessness model, where repeated uncontrollable events produce passive, depressive behavior.
BAPSY Abnormal Psychology 4
Borderline personality disorder's 'splitting' defense mechanism refers to: