Behavior that is statistically unusual is not, by itself, enough to make it a psychological disorder.
Correct Answer
True
True. Being atypical is not sufficient for a diagnosis, since many rare traits, such as exceptional talent, are not harmful. Definitions of disorder also look for dysfunction, distress or impairment, and responses that are not culturally expected.
Category: Defining and Diagnosing
Question 2
The International Classification of Diseases (ICD) is published by the American Psychiatric Association.
Correct Answer
False
False. The ICD is published by the World Health Organization and is used around the world for diagnosis and for tracking health problems. The American Psychiatric Association publishes the DSM.
Category: Defining and Diagnosing
Question 3
The first edition of the DSM was published in 1952.
Correct Answer
True
True. The original DSM appeared in 1952, and the manual has since gone through several revisions, including DSM-III in 1980 and DSM-5 in 2013. Each revision has added, removed, or redefined diagnoses.
Category: Defining and Diagnosing
Question 4
The supernatural perspective explains psychological disorders as the result of imbalances in neurotransmitters.
Correct Answer
False
False. The supernatural perspective attributes disorders to forces beyond scientific explanation, such as spirit possession or witchcraft. Explanations based on neurotransmitters, genes, and brain structure belong to the biological perspective.
Category: Defining and Diagnosing
Question 5
A specific phobia can be acquired through vicarious learning, such as watching a parent react with terror to a spider.
Correct Answer
True
True. Besides direct classical conditioning, fears can be learned by observing others' fearful reactions and by being told that something is dangerous. These routes help explain phobias in people who never had a bad experience with the feared object.
Category: Anxiety and OCD
Question 6
In obsessive-compulsive disorder, obsessions are repetitive behaviors, and compulsions are intrusive, unwanted thoughts.
Correct Answer
False
False. The terms are reversed. Obsessions are intrusive, unwanted thoughts, images, or urges, while compulsions are repetitive behaviors or mental acts, such as checking or counting, performed to reduce the distress the obsessions cause.
Category: Anxiety and OCD
Question 7
Hoarding disorder is now classified as a distinct disorder rather than only as a symptom of obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Correct Answer
True
True. DSM-5 lists hoarding disorder separately within the obsessive-compulsive and related disorders. It is defined by persistent difficulty discarding possessions, leading to clutter that interferes with the use of living spaces.
Category: Anxiety and OCD
Question 8
A diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder requires that symptoms have lasted at least six months.
Correct Answer
False
False. PTSD symptoms must last at least one month after the traumatic event. Symptoms include intrusive memories or flashbacks, avoidance of reminders, negative changes in mood and thinking, and heightened arousal.
Category: Trauma and Mood
Question 9
A lack of social support after a traumatic event increases the risk of developing PTSD.
Correct Answer
True
True. People who have little comfort, advice, or practical help from others after a trauma are more likely to develop PTSD. Strong social support is one of the factors that protects against it.
Category: Trauma and Mood
Question 10
In adults, persistent depressive disorder requires a depressed mood on most days for at least six months.
Correct Answer
False
False. Persistent depressive disorder, formerly called dysthymia, requires depressed mood on most days for at least two years in adults. Its symptoms are often milder than those of major depression but are long lasting.
Category: Trauma and Mood
Question 11
Rumination, repeatedly dwelling on one's own sad feelings, is linked to longer and more severe episodes of depression.
Correct Answer
True
True. Rumination is a passive, repetitive focus on depressed mood and its causes, and people who ruminate tend to have depressive episodes that are more severe, longer, and more frequent. Women, on average, ruminate more than men.
Category: Trauma and Mood
Question 12
The peripartum onset specifier applies to depression that begins at least six months after childbirth.
Correct Answer
False
False. The peripartum onset specifier applies when a depressive episode begins during pregnancy or within four weeks after delivery. This pattern is often called postpartum depression.
Category: Trauma and Mood
Question 13
Enlarged ventricles in the brain are a common structural finding in people with schizophrenia.
Correct Answer
True
True. Many people with schizophrenia have enlarged fluid-filled ventricles, which suggests a loss of surrounding brain tissue. Reduced gray matter and lower activity in the frontal lobes are also reported.
Category: Schizophrenia and Dissociation
Question 14
Delusions are sensory perceptions that occur without any external stimulus.
Correct Answer
False
False. Perceptions without an external stimulus are hallucinations. Delusions are firmly held false beliefs that persist despite contrary evidence, such as believing others are plotting harm.
Category: Schizophrenia and Dissociation
Question 15
Depersonalization is a feeling of being detached from oneself, as if watching one's own body or thoughts from the outside.
Correct Answer
True
True. Depersonalization involves feeling unreal or cut off from one's own mind or body, sometimes like an out-of-body experience. When episodes of it recur and cause distress, they can form part of depersonalization/derealization disorder.
Category: Schizophrenia and Dissociation
Question 16
Scientific research has supported a causal link between the MMR vaccine and autism spectrum disorder.
Correct Answer
False
False. The study that claimed the link was retracted after it was found to be fraudulent, and large studies since then have found no relationship between vaccines and autism spectrum disorder. Genetic factors play a strong role in the condition.
Category: Childhood Disorders
Question 17
Maternal smoking during pregnancy is associated with a higher risk of ADHD in children.
Correct Answer
True
True. Prenatal exposure to nicotine has been linked to ADHD and to more severe symptoms. Strong genetic influences and differences in dopamine regulation and frontal lobe functioning are also implicated.
Category: Childhood Disorders
Question 18
Asperger's disorder is still listed as a separate diagnosis in DSM-5.
Correct Answer
False
False. DSM-5 removed Asperger's disorder as a separate diagnosis and folded it into autism spectrum disorder. The spectrum approach describes symptoms that range from mild to severe.
Category: Childhood Disorders
Question 19
Borderline personality disorder is marked by instability in relationships, self-image, and mood, along with impulsive behavior.
Correct Answer
True
True. People with borderline personality disorder often have intense relationships that swing between idealizing and devaluing others, an unstable sense of self, and strong fear of abandonment. Impulsive and self-harming behavior is also common.
Category: Personality Disorders
Question 20
People with antisocial personality disorder typically show heightened skin conductance when anticipating an electric shock.
Correct Answer
False
False. Studies find that people with antisocial tendencies show reduced skin conductance when expecting a shock, a sign of low arousal and weak fear responses to cues of punishment. This may help explain why punishment does little to change their behavior.
Category: Personality Disorders