Deck 12: Personality Disorders

Question 1

How are personality disorders different from normal personality styles?

A)They are more long-lasting.
B)They have more of an effect on others.
C)They are more extreme.
D)They are accompanied by Axis I disorders.

Answer 1

They are more extreme.

Question 2

Studies suggest that most personality disorders are characterized by

A)depressive symptoms.
B)high neuroticism.
C)low neuroticism.
D)high extraversion.

Answer 2

high neuroticism.

Question 3

The dimensional approach to personality disorders

A)clearly distinguishes normal from disordered personality.
B)has been shown to be a comprehensive theory for identifying the personalities of the DSM.
C)eliminates the problem of comorbidity among personality disorders.
D)None of the above choices are correct

Answer 3

eliminates the problem of comorbidity among personality disorders.

Question 4

Personality disorders began being placed on a separate axis in the DSM-III

A)to allow room for additional Axis I disorders.
B)because they were not considered as problematic as Axis I disorders.
C)to ensure that clinicians would consider whether a personality disorder is also present.
D)to make diagnoses more thorough.

Question 5

Compared to normal personality styles,personality disorders are more

A)bizarre and out of control.
B)dangerous and immoral.
C)inborn and physiological.
D)pervasive and inflexible.

Question 6

Personality disorders are defined as

A)maladaptive behaviors that consistently violate the rights of others.
B)long-standing,pervasive,and inflexible patterns of behavior and inner experience that deviate from the expectations of a person's culture.
C)any psychological disorder having an onset before age 12 and recurring at least three times during adult life.
D)a chronic pattern of extreme instability in relationships,mood,and self-image.

Question 7

Low reliability for a personality disorder suggests

A)people with the disorder did not,in fact,have problems functioning normally in daily life.
B)clinicians diagnosing patients had difficulty agreeing on whether a patient had the disorder or not.
C)people with the disorder at one point in time had recovered by the follow-up assessment.
D)people with the disorder often had other personality disorders as well.

Question 8

Some people propose replacing DSM's personality disorder labels with a dimensional classification approach because the present labels

A)are difficult to distinguish from each other.
B)appear to be extremes of continuous traits.
C)have few implications for daily functioning.
D)are difficult to treat.

Question 9

Compared to those without a personality disorder,the traits of people with personality disorders are

A)remarkably similar.
B)out of touch with reality.
C)categorically different but not out of touch with reality.
D)more extreme.

Question 10

Women are more likely than men to be diagnosed with _________________ personality disorders,and men are more likely than women to be diagnosed with _________________ personality disorders.

A)antisocial and narcissistic;borderline and histrionic
B)borderline and histrionic;antisocial and narcissistic
C)obsessive-compulsive and dependent;antisocial and histrionic
D)antisocial and narcissistic;obsessive-compulsive and schizoid

Question 11

People diagnosed with a personality disorder

A)cannot be diagnosed with an Axis I disorder.
B)are rarely diagnosed with an Axis I disorder.
C)are frequently diagnosed with an Axis I disorder.
D)must also be diagnosed with an Axis I disorder as well.

Question 12

The dimensional approach to personality disorders

A)places people into distinct categories of personality style.
B)explains personality disorders as extremes of normal personality traits.
C)views personality disorders as learned evolutionary behaviors.
D)identifies personality disorders according to four key dimensions.

Question 13

Recent research on diagnosing personality disorders indicates that their reliability is

A)totally inadequate.
B)improved if specialized,structured interviews are used.
C)acceptable for antisocial personality disorder,but inadequate for most others.
D)better than most diagnostic categories.

Question 14

Which of the following is not one of the factors used in the dimensional approach to personality disorders?

A)Agreeableness
B)Openness to experience
C)Extroversion
D)Depressiveness

Question 15

Which of the following personality disorders falls in the odd/eccentric cluster?

A)paranoid
B)borderline
C)avoidant
D)histrionic

Question 16

Tom is highly suspicious and believes that others are looking to exploit him.Which of the following personality disorders is the best diagnosis for Tom?

A)paranoid
B)borderline
C)schizoid
D)schizotypal

Question 17

The five-factor model of personality disorders is more ________ than DSM.

A)comprehensive
B)treatment-oriented
C)dimensional
D)behavioral

Question 18

The reliability of diagnosing personality disorders has improved by

A)strengthening the theoretical basis for each personality disorder.
B)showing an interrelationship with Axis I disorders.
C)developing clear diagnostic criteria.
D)paying closer attention to their possible presence.

Question 19

Personality disorders and Axis I disorders are related in that

A)they cannot both be diagnosed in the same person.
B)if both exist,the Axis I disorder is more serious.
C)if both exist,the personality disorder is more serious.
D)the personality disorder provides a context for the Axis I disorder.

Question 20

Most people who have been diagnosed as having a personality disorder

A)would be better described using one of the Axis I disorders.
B)have a pervasive developmental disorder as well.
C)have more than one personality disorder.
D)have only one personality disorder.

Question 21

Schizotypal,but not schizoid,personality disorder involves

A)odd,eccentric beliefs and behaviors.
B)interpersonal problems and few friends.
C)flat affect and emotional indifference
D)social anxiety and fear of others.

Question 22

Which personality disorder is most appropriate for Joe? He lives alone in a cabin in the woods where he does the minimum to get by.When approached,he responds appropriately but is not interested in conversation or making friends.

A)avoidant
B)schizoid
C)histrionic
D)borderline

Question 23

People with borderline personality disorder are often

A)unpredictable and impulsive.
B)uninhibited and promiscuous.
C)demanding and angry.
D)shy and withdrawn.

Question 24

Which of the following characterizes borderline personality disorder?

A)emotional dysregulation
B)low extraversion
C)bland,dull affect
D)panic attacks

Question 25

Paranoid personality disorder differs from paranoid schizophrenia in that

A)paranoid personality is not associated with unreasonable paranoia.
B)paranoid personality is more greatly associated with different delusions than schizophrenia.
C)paranoid personality is not associated with hallucinations.
D)paranoid personality is not likely to be present with depression.

Question 26

The research literature that supports the link between borderline personality disorder and troubled childhood has found that

A)most studies were conducted only on women.
B)patients are more likely to report a history of parental separation and abuse than other Axis II patients are.
C)family conflict is difficult to measure accurately.
D)most studies were conducted on families that had concurrent alcohol abuse present in the home.

Question 27

Given that people with borderline personality disorder are impulsive,we would expect them to do poorly on tests that measure functioning of the

A)frontal lobe.
B)parietal lobe.
C)occipital lobe.
D)temporal lobe.

Question 28

A person with which of the following diagnoses is most likely to also have post-traumatic stress disorder or a mood disorder?

A)borderline personality
B)obsessive-compulsive personality
C)paranoid personality
D)avoidant personality

Question 29

A major feature of object relations theory in explaining borderline personality disorder is

A)the manner of self-representation.
B)ego-functioning.
C)id control.
D)the conflict between internalized values of childhood and adult wishes/ideals.

Question 30

Compared to a person with paranoid schizophrenia,a person diagnosed as having paranoid personality disorder is

A)less likely to experience social and occupational dysfunction.
B)more disturbed.
C)suffering from a more chronic and severe mental illness.
D)more likely to respond to medication.

Question 31

The personality disorders in the odd/eccentric cluster have been genetically linked to

A)bipolar disorder.
B)major depression.
C)schizophrenia.
D)dissociative identity disorder.

Question 32

Two primary features of Linehan's diathesis-stress theory of borderline personality disorder are

A)ego functioning and transference.
B)object representation and cognitive style.
C)cognitive bias and attribution error.
D)emotional dysregulation and experiences of invalidation.

Question 33

In object relations theory,splitting refers to the tendency of people with borderline personality disorder to

A)separate themselves from society.
B)forget unpleasant events.
C)alternate between seeing people as all good or all bad.
D)think illogically.

Question 34

Yolanda vacillates between feeling extremely positive feelings for her friend,to having extreme negative feelings for her,often for no apparent reason.When these changes in her disposition occur,she also experiences deep depression and sometimes engages in self-injurious behavior.On the basis of this information,Yolanda most likely has ______________ personality disorder.

A)borderline
B)schizoid
C)obsessive-compulsive
D)paranoid

Question 35

Ken may act sad one minute and happy the next.He seems to have no idea what he wants out of life.He says he cannot stand being alone,yet he gets into violent fights with his friends over minor matters.When his marriage broke up due to his drastic mood shifts and impulsive gambling,Ken attempted suicide.Which of the following diagnoses best fits Ken's symptoms?

A)bipolar I disorder
B)dissociative identity disorder
C)schizotypal personality disorder
D)borderline personality disorder

Question 36

Schizoid and schizotypal personality disorders may be distinguished only by the presence of which of the following symptoms in schizotypal persons?

A)indifference to others.
B)visual hallucinations.
C)flat affect,little overt emotion.
D)overtly odd behaviors.

Question 37

Schizoid personality disorder has most in common with

A)histrionic personality disorder.
B)schizotypal personality disorder.
C)dissociative identity disorder.
D)bipolar I disorder.

Question 38

One of the problems with the diagnosis of schizotypal personality disorder is

A)lack of reliability in making the diagnosis.
B)difficulty distinguishing it from schizophrenia.
C)it is so rare that it is not clear whether the disorder should be listed.
D)overlap with other personality disorder diagnoses.

Question 39

Family studies

A)support the role of genetics in the odd/eccentric cluster.
B)show a very limited role of genetics in the odd/eccentric cluster.
C)have been inconclusive when examining the relationship between schizophrenia and the odd/eccentric cluster.
D)have shown there to be a stronger genetic component to schizoid and schizotypal personality disorder than paranoid personality disorder.

Question 40

Which neurotransmitter system has been implicated in anger control and has been used for borderline personality?

A)norepinephrine
B)serotonin
C)GABA
D)dopamine

Question 41

Narcissistic personality is primarily characterized by

A)avoidance of others.
B)a lack of self-confidence.
C)multiple,vague physical complaints.
D)self-centeredness with fantasies of success.

Question 42

Lykken's (1957)research provided support for the hypothesis that psychopaths experience _______________ than controls.

A)more anxiety
B)less anxiety
C)more depression
D)less depression

Question 43

A primary characteristic of histrionic personality disorder is

A)avoidance of others.
B)multiple,vague physical complaints.
C)inability to make realistic life plans.
D)overly dramatic and attention seeking behavior.

Question 44

Compared to individuals who are not psychopaths,the skin conductance of psychopaths is __________________ when they are confronted with an intense or aversive stimulus.

A)less reactive
B)more reactive
C)equally reactive
D)more reactive only in those who are criminals

Question 45

According to the social-cognitive model of narcissistic personality disorder,people with this disorder place a high value on interpersonal interactions because

A)they yearn for interpersonal closeness and warmth.
B)interpersonal interactions are central for reinforcing their self-esteem.
C)they have such high self-esteems.
D)they are very concerned about the quality of their friendships.

Question 46

It has been found that,in avoidance learning tasks,the reason psychopaths had difficulty learning to avoid shock was because

A)they were unaware that it was a possibility.
B)they experienced very little anxiety.
C)they had a learning disability.
D)the experience of the shock was a positive sensation.

Question 47

According to the social-cognitive model of narcissistic personality disorder,individuals with this disorder

A)have vulnerable self-esteems.
B)have extremely high self-esteems.
C)are socially aloof.
D)are afraid to brag or bolster themselves.

Question 48

In research on psychopathy,the startle response is used to measure

A)empathy.
B)anxiety.
C)attention.
D)impulsivity.

Question 49

Narcissism,as proposed by Kohut,develops when children are

A)abused.
B)treated by their parents as if they are special,one-of-a-kind people.
C)not getting enough approval from their parents.
D)only children or first children.

Question 50

Convicted felons are most likely to have which of the following disorders?

A)borderline personality disorder
B)sadistic personality disorder
C)psychopathy
D)antisocial personality disorder

Question 51

A precursor to antisocial personality disorder is

A)conduct disorder.
B)oppositional disorder.
C)antisocial disorder of childhood or adolescence.
D)pervasive developmental disorder.

Question 52

Which of the following personality disorders is the best diagnosis for Claude? Claude goes to great lengths to be the center of attention.He announces his views and feelings with great drama;however one soon suspects it is only for effect,and he seems willing to say or do almost anything to get others to pay attention to and like him.

A)histrionic
B)schizotypal
C)schizoid
D)paranoid

Question 53

A major family variable that contributes to later psychopathy in children is

A)high number of siblings.
B)working mothers.
C)parental inconsistency.
D)overprotection.

Question 54

Veronica imagines that she will one day have great success in business,although she now is working as a waitress.She has difficulty getting along at work because she envies her boss' position of authority (feeling she is more intelligent than him)and expects special favors such as not having to clean the stove like the other waitresses.Which of the following personality disorders best fits Veronica?

A)narcissistic
B)borderline
C)histrionic
D)avoidant

Question 55

In a study mentioned in the text,painful pressure was repeatedly paired with a neutral stimulus (a picture)to those with psychopathy and healthy controls.In this study,healthy participants showed ____________ in amygdala activity when they were shown the neutral pictures,while people with psychopathy showed __________ in amygdala activity.

A)decreases;increases
B)no change;increases
C)increases;no change
D)increases;decreases

Question 56

Which of the following is a characteristic of psychopathy but NOT of antisocial personality disorder?

A)law breaking
B)disregard for others
C)lack of emotions
D)impulsivity

Question 57

The psychoanalytic theory of histrionic personality disorder focuses on a preoccupation with

A)childhood health problems.
B)sex.
C)cleanliness.
D)oneself.

Question 58

According to the DSM-IV-TR diagnosis,adults with antisocial personality disorder must have shown problems such as running away,truancy,and theft prior to age

A)12.
B)15.
C)18.
D)7)

Question 59

Recent behavior-genetics research on antisocial personality disorder

A)indicates a significant role of heritability.
B)has shown the role of heritability to be negligible.
C)indicates no environmental effects.
D)has been inconclusive.

Question 60

Theories of the etiology of narcissistic personality disorder suggest such people actually have

A)distorted perceptions.
B)no conscience.
C)weak egos.
D)low self-esteem.

Question 61

Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder

A)are the terms from DSM-II and DSM-IV for the same basic disorder.
B)are genetically linked.
C)are actually quite different from one another.
D)have similar symptoms but a different etiology.

Question 62

Avoidant personality disorder would most likely be treated with which type of psychiatric medication in order to reduce social anxiety?

A)anti-anxiety medications
B)antidepressants
C)neuroleptics
D)None of the above choices are correct;medication has not been found effective in treating personality disorders.

Question 63

Peter not only works 70 hours a week,but he spends his off hours planning a schedule for his family.He dictates what time his wife will be home,when dinner will be served,and when they will go to bed.He is such a perfectionist that he actually finds it difficult to get work done efficiently,despite the amount of time he spends trying.Which of the following personality disorders best fits Peter?

A)dependent
B)narcissistic
C)schizoid
D)obsessive-compulsive

Question 64

In research on response modulation and psychopathy,psychopaths won or lost money depending on what playing cards appeared.In this research,the impulsivity of psychopaths was studied by

A)making them wait before deciding to continue the game.
B)having them estimate the amount of money they had won.
C)ratings of their verbal statements during the game.
D)All of the above are correct

Question 65

Social phobia is most similar to which personality disorder?

A)schizoid
B)dependent
C)antisocial
D)avoidant

Question 66

One goal of Kernberg's object relations psychotherapy for borderline personality disorder is to overcome the patient's defense of

A)seeing others as all powerful and all good.
B)splitting the world into black and white terms.
C)marginalizing their involvement with others.
D)denying impulses toward self-actualization.

Question 67

Dependent personality disorder has been hypothesized to develop from parental

A)anxiety.
B)modeling.
C)overprotectiveness.
D)abuse.

Question 68

In contrast to research on anxiety and inhibition,recent research on psychopathy has focused upon

A)empathy.
B)the psychopaths' ability to learn under different conditions.
C)distress.
D)suicidal ideas.

Question 69

What diagnosis would be most appropriate for Tonya? She says she would like to meet people but is too afraid of saying something foolish to speak to them.She describes herself as the ultimate social klutz because she never knows what to say or do.As a result,she keeps to herself except for interacting with a few friends she has known since childhood.

A)schizoid personality disorder
B)schizotypal personality disorder
C)avoidant personality disorder
D)dependent personality disorder

Question 70

Which of the following is emphasized in Linehan's Dialectical Behavior Therapy for borderline personality disorder?

A)systematic assessment before therapy begins
B)calm acceptance of contradictions and acting out
C)focusing on fears of vulnerability in a dangerous,unpredictable world
D)setting appropriate limits clearly from the beginning

Question 71

Drug treatment for borderline personality disorder

A)has been shown to be ineffective for treating the symptoms of the disorder.
B)must be conducted with weekly consultations from a neurologist.
C)must be done with care as people with the disorder often abuse drugs.
D)has been researched too little to make any general statements.

Question 72

Dependent personality disorder has been hypothesized to develop when children

A)are sexually abused.
B)have parents who have anxiety disorders.
C)are made to care for elderly or sick parents at a young age.
D)have attachment problems.

Question 73

Schema-focused cognitive therapy for personality disorders

A)focuses on challenging maladaptive beliefs in the client's current relationships.
B)is primarily concerned with challenging the schemes clients come up with in their daily interactions.
C)focuses exclusively on cognitions formed during critical periods of the client's childhood.
D)enriches traditional cognitive therapy with a broader focus on early childhood antecedents and parenting influences that shape current cognitive patterns.

Question 74

Individuals with borderline personality disorder are difficult to treat because

A)their intellectual functioning is too low for them to reach true insights.
B)they do not feel distressed,despite being so distressing to others.
C)they have extreme difficulties trusting others,including a therapist.
D)All of the above choices are correct.

Question 75

Karl relies on his wife to make every decision,from what kind of suits he should buy to which people at work he should get to know better.He feels that he must rely heavily on his wife because he feels he is not competent to carry out these tasks.Which of the following personality disorders would fit Karl?

A)schizoid
B)avoidant
C)dependent
D)borderline

Question 76

Dialectical behavior therapy for patients with borderline personality disorder combines

A)social skills training and free-association.
B)ego analysis and more directive behavioral techniques.
C)cognitive-behavioral problem-solving,social skills training and client-centered empathy.
D)Gestalt techniques and relaxation training.

Question 77

Which therapy approach seeks to break down personality disorders into sets of separate,concrete problems?

A)cognitive-behavioral
B)cognitive
C)psychodynamic
D)interpersonal

Question 78

Johanna seeks psychotherapy and has been diagnosed with a personality disorder in addition to her Axis I disorder.It is reasonable to expect that

A)therapy will focus primarily on the personality disorder.
B)therapy will take longer,and Johanna will most likely not improve as much as someone with only an Axis I disorder.
C)choosing one of the problems and focusing on it will improve both of them.
D)biological factors will require drug treatment.

Question 79

Which of the following is characteristic of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder?

A)The person is filled with fears that things were not done right.
B)The person is bothered by recurring,uncontrollable thoughts.
C)The person engages in elaborate,senseless rituals.
D)The person is preoccupied with details,rules,and schedules.

Question 80

The primary outcome (or goal)in Kernberg's therapy for borderline personality disorder is

A)achieving insight by probing childhood conflicts.
B)helping clients learn to solve problems more effectively.
C)strengthening their weak ego so the client will stop splitting.
D)correcting dysfunctional ways of thinking.