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Abnormal Psychology and DSM Flashcards

7 cards from real Psychology Degree practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.

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  1. Which DSM-5 disorder is characterized by persistent deficits in social communication and restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior?

    Answer: Autism Spectrum Disorder

    Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is defined by deficits in social communication/interaction and restricted, repetitive behaviors, collapsing previous DSM-IV categories (Asperger's, PDD-NOS) into one spectrum.

  2. A client reports recurrent, unexpected panic attacks and persistent worry about future attacks for over a month. The most appropriate DSM-5 diagnosis is:

    Answer: Panic Disorder

    Panic Disorder requires recurrent unexpected panic attacks plus at least one month of anticipatory anxiety or maladaptive behavioral change related to the attacks.

  3. In the diathesis-stress model, 'diathesis' refers to:

    Answer: A biological or psychological predisposition to a disorder

    Diathesis is a pre-existing vulnerability (genetic, biological, or psychological) that, combined with environmental stress, can lead to the development of a disorder.

  4. Which of the following is a negative symptom of Schizophrenia?

    Answer: Flat affect

    Negative symptoms in schizophrenia reflect a diminution of normal functioning, including flat affect, alogia, avolition, anhedonia, and asociality.

  5. DSM-5 replaced the multiaxial system with a single-axis approach. Which of the following was previously recorded on Axis II?

    Answer: Personality disorders and intellectual disability

    In the old DSM-IV multiaxial system, Axis II was reserved for personality disorders and intellectual disability, separating them from clinical syndromes on Axis I.

  6. A person who experiences amnesia, identity confusion, and travels to a new location unable to recall their past most likely meets criteria for:

    Answer: Dissociative Amnesia with Dissociative Fugue specifier

    Dissociative Amnesia with the dissociative fugue specifier describes purposeful travel or bewildered wandering combined with inability to recall one's past or identity.

  7. The 'kindling' hypothesis in abnormal psychology most directly relates to:

    Answer: The progressive sensitization of neural circuits leading to recurrent mood episodes

    The kindling model proposes that repeated subthreshold stressors progressively sensitize neural circuits so that later mood episodes can be triggered by minimal or no external stress.