Deck 17: The Nature and Causes of Psychological Disorders

Question 1

The key feature of any psychological disorder is the extent to which it is

A) abnormal.
B) unusual.
C) a departure from established norms.
D) maladaptive.
E) unpredictable.

Answer 1

maladaptive.

Question 2

Psychological disorders appear to be caused by __________ variables.

A) cognitive
B) genetic
C) environmental
D) brain chemistry
E) an interaction of biological and environmental

Answer 2

an interaction of biological and environmental

Question 3

Etiology is a term that is often used to refer to the __________ of a psychological disorder.

A) symptoms
B) origins
C) treatment
D) physical causes
E) consequences

Answer 3

origins

Question 4

Mental health professionals holding the psychodynamic perspective view psychological disorders to be the result of

A) intrapsychic conflict.
B) malfunctioning of the brain and nervous system.
C) learned maladaptive behaviour patterns.
D) oversensitivity to the demands and criticisms of others.
E) the extent to which people interpret behaviours as normal or abnormal.

Question 5

Mental health professionals holding the medical perspective view psychological disorders to be the result of

A) intrapsychic conflict.
B) malfunctioning of the brain and nervous system.
C) learned maladaptive behaviour patterns.
D) oversensitivity to the demands and criticisms of others.
E) the extent to which people interpret behaviours as normal or abnormal.

Question 6

Mental health professionals holding the cognitive-behavioural perspective view psychological disorders to be the result of

A) intrapsychic conflict.
B) malfunctioning of the brain and nervous system.
C) learned maladaptive behaviour patterns.
D) oversensitivity to the demands and criticisms of others.
E) the extent to which people interpret behaviours as normal or abnormal.

Question 7

Mental health professionals holding the humanistic perspective view psychological disorders to be the result of

A) intrapsychic conflict.
B) malfunctioning of the brain and nervous system.
C) learned maladaptive behaviour patterns.
D) oversensitivity to the demands and criticisms of others.
E) the extent to which people interpret behaviours as normal or abnormal.

Question 8

Mental health professionals holding the sociocultural perspective view psychological disorders to be the result of

A) how people interpret their behaviour as normal or abnormal.
B) malfunctioning of the brain and nervous system.
C) learned maladaptive behaviour patterns.
D) oversensitivity to the demands and criticisms of others.
E) intrapsychic conflict.

Question 9

The diathesis-stress model of psychological disorders holds that psychological disorders are due to the interaction of

A) genetic and physiological variables.
B) genetic and environmental variables.
C) environmental and physiological variables.
D) family related stressors and autonomic arousal.
E) genetic and family related stressors.

Question 10

Erin is a clinical psychologist who specializes in researching psychological disorders. She views most disorders as being due to both genetic predisposition and environmental influences. Erin subscribes to the __________ model of psychological disorders.

A) ultimate-proximate
B) genotype-phenotype
C) diathesis-stress
D) medical
E) sociocultural

Question 11

According to the diathesis-stress model of psychological disorders,

A) a person can inherit a gene for a disorder, yet not develop the symptoms for the disorder.
B) the best way to treat a psychological disorder is through drug therapy.
C) psychological disorders are caused by organic brain dysfunctions.
D) none of the above
E) all of the above

Question 12

Which of the following perspectives on psychological disorders suggests that they are best understood in terms of psychological, social and biological factors?

A) biopsychosocial perspective
B) psychodynamic perspective
C) sociocultural perspective
D) medical perspective
E) humanistic perspective

Question 13

Which two models of psychological disorder suggest genetic factors may contribute to psychological disorders?

A) humanistic and cognitive-behavioural
B) medical and diathesis-stress
C) cognitive-behavioural and sociocultural
D) diathesis-stress and humanistic
E) psychodynamic and medical

Question 14

Which two models of psychological disorder suggest external factors may make the largest contribution to the development of psychological disorders?

A) humanistic and medical
B) medical and diathesis-stress
C) cognitive-behavioural and sociocultural
D) diathesis-stress and psychodynamic
E) psychodynamic and medical

Question 15

The current source for classifying psychological disorders is the

A) DSM.
B) DSM-III.
C) DSM-III-R.
D) DSM-IV-TR.
E) DSM-IV.

Question 16

According to the DSM-IV-TR, Alzheimer's disease is classified as an Axis __________ disorder.

A) I
B) II
C) III
D) IV
E) I and III

Question 17

Which of the following is NOT one of the axes found in the current scheme for classifying psychological disorders?

A) severity of stress
B) personality disorders
C) global assessment of functioning
D) quality of family and peer relations
E) major clinical syndromes

Question 18

A personality disorder is to __________ as a mood disorder __________ is to.

A) axis I; axis II
B) axis III; axis IV
C) axis V; axis III
D) axis II; axis I
E) axis IV; axis I

Question 19

Factitious psychological disorders are disorders that

A) involve a loss of personal identity.
B) involve pain.
C) involve fetishes.
D) involve false reports of physical illness.
E) are biologically based.

Question 20

The primary function of the Global Assessment of Functioning scale is to assess the

A) extent to which a psychological disorder is physical.
B) severity of the stressors in a person's life.
C) extent to which one's quality of life is impaired.
D) effects of long-term therapy on a person's overall quality of life.
E) severity of a personality disorder in a person's life.

Question 21

Axis II of the DSM-IV is devoted exclusively to __________ disorders.

A) sexual
B) sleep
C) personality
D) anxiety
E) somatoform

Question 22

A high GAF score, for example, 87, indicates that the person

A) is probably not experiencing much impairment in social and work settings.
B) is probably experiencing a great deal of impairment in social and work settings.
C) is probably experiencing a moderate amount of impairment in social and work settings.
D) has never had a psychological disorder.
E) has probably previously experienced a psychological disorder.

Question 23

__________ is the appearance of two or more disorders in a single person.

A) increase
B) decrease
C) comorbidity
D) bidirectionality
E) interactivity

Question 24

Research has found that disorders such as alcoholism and depression have a __________ of 8.6% in Canada.

A) increase
B) decrease
C) comorbidity
D) bidirectionality
E) interactivity

Question 25

Walter is hearing voices from the walls of his room. He is also depressed and has pains in his stomach. When admitted to a psychiatric hospital, he will be diagnosed using which axes of the DSM-IV-TR?

A) I and II
B) I and III
C) I, III, and V
D) IV and V
E) all of the above

Question 26

The DSM-IV-TR is most consistent with which of the following perspectives?

A) cognitive-behavioural
B) medical
C) humanistic
D) sociocultural
E) psychodynamic

Question 27

A problem with the DSM-IV-TR system of classifying psychological disorders is its

A) emphasis on clinical and personality disorders.
B) reliability.
C) use of only five axes.
D) all of the above
E) none of the above

Question 28

Which of the following is a criticism of the DSM-IV-TR?

A) It is not perfectly reliable.
B) The categorization is not valid.
C) It is biased toward the medical perspective.
D) all of the above
E) none of the above

Question 29

Rosenhan's classic (1973) study "On being sane in insane places"questioned the __________ of the diagnostic system for psychological disorder.

A) necessity for the existence
B) reliability
C) medical basis
D) validity
E) bias

Question 30

Horowitz and Wakefield (2007) have questioned the validity of using the diagnostic category of major depressive disorder for

A) those with schizophrenic hallucinations.
B) the natural sadness of bereavement.
C) the depressive symptoms of Alzheimers.
D) the depression that often accompanies alcoholism
E) those suffering from anorexia.

Question 31

A problem with labeling people with a psychological disorder is that

A) it associates the name of a disorder with that disorder's symptoms.
B) the DSM-IV-TR does not involve the categorization of psychological disorders.
C) a label only describes the symptoms of a disorder; it does not explain them.
D) the label will mean very little to the person who is labeled.
E) all of the above

Question 32

A person who has suggested that we should not make any attempts to classify and diagnose psychological disorders is

A) Breuer.
B) Beck.
C) Graves.
D) Szasz.
E) Bleuler.

Question 33

Szasz argues that we should abandon any attempt at classifying and diagnosing psychological disorders in part because

A) it relieves people of the responsibility for their psychological conditions and for taking personal steps toward improving those conditions.
B) the DSM-IV-TR is not reliable.
C) people's psychological states are too complex to be described using a label.
D) people's psychological states are too complex to ever uncover the causes of maladaptive behaviour and thought patterns.
E) none of the above

Question 34

The development of successful treatment programs for different disorders is often preceded by

A) a knowledge of their specific causes.
B) extensive etiological research.
C) discovery of "cures" for those disorders.
D) placing those disorders into specific diagnostic categories.
E) a clear understanding of the genetics involved.

Question 35

A good reason for developing a system for classifying and diagnosing psychological disorders is that

A) diagnosis of a disorder aids in finding successful treatments for it.
B) accurate classification of a disorder allows researchers to learn more about the causes of that disorder.
C) it can guide the direction of future research efforts.
D) all of the above
E) none of the above

Question 36

Which of the following is the most prevalent psychological disorder in Canadian surveys?

A) anxiety disorder
B) mood disorder
C) substance use disorder
D) antisocial personality disorder
E) schizophrenia

Question 37

The three most prevalent psychological disorders in Canadian surveys are __________ disorders.

A) personality, schizophrenic, and mood
B) antisocial personality, mood, and anxiety
C) schizophrenia, mood, and dissociative
D) mood, anxiety, and substance abuse
E) antisocial personality, substance abuse, mood

Question 38

__________ judgments are based on the therapist's prior experience.

A) Actuarial
B) Clinical
C) Therapeutic
D) Calculated
E) Stereotyped

Question 39

Dr. Proust administered an IQ test to one of her clients and determined that the client's score fell into the normal range of intellectual performance. Dr. Proust's work with this client reflects a(n) __________ judgment.

A) actuarial
B) clinical
C) therapeutic
D) calculated
E) evaluative

Question 40

Dr. Parks suspects that his client, Nate, was abused as a child. Nate has not yet confirmed this during therapy sessions. However, Nate's behaviour and thinking resemble many patient's who Dr. Parks has treated for child abuse. Dr. Parks' suspicions about Nate's abuse are based on a(n) __________ judgment.

A) actuarial
B) clinical
C) therapeutic
D) calculated
E) stereotyped

Question 41

Research suggests that which one of the following statements is TRUE?

A) Actuarial judgments are more reliable than clinical judgments because they are based on a consistent, preestablished set of criteria.
B) The actuarial method is only accurate when applied to groups of people.
C) The level of a therapist's expertise will often determine whether a clinical or an actuarial judgment will be more accurate.
D) Actuarial judgments are usually more accurate than clinical judgments because they are based on a clearly recognized set of tested heuristic rules.
E) Clinical judgments are more reliable than actuarial judgments because they are based on a consistent, preestablished set of criteria.

Question 42

Actuarial judgments are more accurate than clinical judgments because

A) clinical judgments are influenced by information that is salient to the therapist at that time.
B) therapists do not always produce the same judgment given the same set of data.
C) therapists judgment can be led astray by underutilizing valuable information.
D) actuarial judgments are more reliable because they are based on a formula.
E) all of the above

Question 43

Both __________ and __________ are psychological disorders that usually appear first during childhood.

A) schizophrenia; dementia
B) panic disorder; phobia
C) attention-deficit disorder; autism
D) conversion disorder; autism
E) dementia; Alzheimer's disease

Question 44

Research indicates that attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder is associated with delayed maturation of __________ and early maturation of __________.

A) the motor cortex; the cerebral cortex
B) the occipital lobe; the parietal lobe
C) the motor cortex; the sensory cortex
D) the cerebral cortex; the motor cortex
E) the sensory cortex; the motor cortex

Question 45

The major symptoms of __________ disorder are abnormal development of communication and social interaction, together with limited interests and activities.

A) depressive
B) schizophrenic
C) attention-deficit
D) manic
E) autistic

Question 46

Before the psychiatric diagnosis was developed, autistic disorder was often misdiagnosed as

A) childhood schizophrenia.
B) due to poor parenting.
C) part of a language disorder.
D) mental retardation.
E) all of the above

Question 47

In contrast to those suffering a "neurosis", people suffering from a psychosis

A) are anxious.
B) experience delusions.
C) realize that they have a serious problem.
D) exhibit avoidance behaviours.
E) experience a greater number of stress reactions.

Question 48

__________ is a sense of apprehension or doom that is accompanied by physiological symptoms such as tightness of the stomach, increased heart rate, and sweaty palms.

A) Fear
B) Stress
C) A psychosis
D) Anxiety
E) Panic

Question 49

Both __________ disorder and __________ disorder are part of the group of anxiety disorders.

A) somatization; phobic
B) panic; conversion
C) obsessive-compulsive; somatization
D) panic; obsessive compulsive
E) hypochondriasis; panic

Question 50

Just as he was about to get out of his chair to give his oral report to his classmates, Lucien felt as if he was going to die. He suddenly developed a shortness of breath and felt dizzy. Lucien is experiencing a __________ disorder.

A) mood
B) conversion
C) manic
D) panic
E) phobic

Question 51

Women are __________ times more likely than men to develop panic disorder. The disorder usually begins in __________, and rarely after the age of __________.

A) two; early adulthood; 40
B) three; middle adulthood; 50
C) two; adolescence; 20
D) three; middle adulthood; 35
E) two; adolescence; 35

Question 52

The fear of having a panic attack is called __________ anxiety.

A) preemptive
B) anticipatory
C) pre-panic
D) pre-onset
E) obsessive

Question 53

Ramona suffers from panic attacks. She often worries about having a panic attack, especially when she is out in public. Several times in the last week, she has declined offers to attend parties and other social gatherings with her friends. Ramona's fear of being in public may be caused by her

A) psychotic behaviour.
B) obsession to be with others.
C) compulsion to think about her panic attacks.
D) anticipatory anxiety.
E) pre-panic behaviour.

Question 54

People who suffer from panic attacks

A) seem to be extremely sensitive to any elements of risk or danger in their environments.
B) will have a panic attack if they breathe air laced with helium.
C) often have a twin who also suffers from panic attacks.
D) inherited a recessive gene for the disorder.
E) do not usually experience anticipatory anxiety.

Question 55

__________ is to open spaces as __________ is to closed spaces.

A) acrophobia; claustrophobia
B) arachnophobia; agoraphobia
C) astraphobia; acrophobia
D) agoraphobia; acrophobia
E) agoraphobia; claustrophobia

Question 56

A person who has an excessive and irrational fear of situations in which he or she will be observed by others is called

A) simple phobia.
B) social phobia.
C) agoraphobia.
D) ochlophobia.
E) monophobia.

Question 57

Men and women are equally like to develop __________ but women are more likely than men to develop __________.

A) a simple phobia; a specific phobia
B) claustrophobia; acrophobia
C) a specific phobia; a simple phobia
D) a social phobia; agoraphobia
E) acrophobia; a social phobia

Question 58

The majority of clinical psychologists believe that phobias are

A) learned through classical conditioning.
B) the result of the need to lower one's optimal level of arousal.
C) due to brain trauma.
D) the basis for paranoid schizophrenia.
E) the result of a biological predisposition to fear.

Question 59

An irresistible urge to repeat an action over and over again is called a(n)

A) obsession.
B) compulsion.
C) phobia.
D) fetish.
E) conversion.

Question 60

People who are engaged in obsessive-compulsive behaviour may do so because it

A) projects their anxiety onto an acceptable object.
B) reduces their anxiety.
C) displaces their anxiety.
D) satisfies their need for perfection.
E) all of the above

Question 61

People with obsessive-compulsive disorder

A) often attempt suicide.
B) enjoy being with others.
C) are unlikely to marry.
D) likely developed the disorder in adolescence.
E) do not fear criticism from others.

Question 62

Obsessions are to __________ as compulsions are to __________.

A) anxiety; depression
B) thoughts; behaviours
C) anxiety relief; anxiety production
D) actions; ideas
E) checking; doubt

Question 63

In the film "As Good as it Gets,"Jack Nicholson plays a man who tends to be isolated from others by his fear of contamination. His character most likely has

A) an antisocial personality disorder.
B) a phobic disorder.
C) hypochondriasis.
D) obsessive-compulsive disorder.
E) multiple personality disorder.

Question 64

The two principal kinds of obsessions identified in the chapter are

A) obsessive counting and obsessive cleaning.
B) obsessive avoidance and obsessive checking.
C) obsessive doubt and obsessive fear of doing something prohibited.
D) obsessive avoidance and obsessive fear of doing something prohibited.
E) none of the above

Question 65

Which of the following is NOT one of the four categories into which most compulsions fall?

A) avoidance
B) checking
C) counting
D) obsessing
E) cleaning

Question 66

One cognitive explanation for why people engage in compulsive behaviours, such as checking, is because they

A) have a strong desire for affiliation.
B) were abused as children.
C) wish to avoid people's criticisms that they are not perfect.
D) are unhappy with their status in life; to take their minds off their "miserable" states, they engage in compulsive behaviours.
E) all of the above

Question 67

Tourette's syndrome is a neurological disorder that family studies indicate is associated with

A) antisocial personality disorder.
B) phobic disorder.
C) hypochondriasis.
D) obsessive-compulsive disorder.
E) schizophrenia.

Question 68

Some cases of obsessive-compulsive disorder can be traced to

A) birth trauma.
B) spinal cord injury.
C) a defect in chromosome pair 16.
D) all of the above
E) none of the above

Question 69

A psychological disorder characterized by physical problems for which there is no physiological basis is called a __________ disorder.

A) somatoform
B) dissociative
C) psychogenic
D) psychoneurological
E) psychosomatic

Question 70

__________ is a subclassification of __________.

A) Somatoform disorder; somatization disorder
B) Somatization disorder; somatoform disorder
C) Hypochondriasis; somatization disorder
D) Somatization disorder; hypochondriasis
E) Somatoform disorder; conversion disorder

Question 71

Hypochondriasis is classified as a form of __________ disorder.

A) conversion
B) somatotization
C) somatoform
D) dissociative
E) psychogenic

Question 72

A type of somatoform in which the individual has actual loss of bodily function, such as blindness or paralysis, when there is no physiological basis is termed

A) hypochondriasis
B) conversion disorder.
C) dissociative amnesia.
D) Tourette's syndrome.
E) Munchausen's syndrome.

Question 73

Although Julie and Jane both suffer from somatoform disorder, they have different forms of this condition. Julie suffers from __________ and tends to imagine that a headache means she has a brain tumour. Jane, in contrast, suddenly lost the ability to walk and was diagnosed with __________.

A) hypochondriasis; Tourette's syndrome
B) conversion disorder; somatization disorder
C) conversion disorder; hypochondriasis
D) Tourette's syndrome; somatization disorder
E) hypochondriasis; conversion disorder

Question 74

Mason has just experienced a particularly nasty divorce. He suddenly begins to experience large voids in his memory of himself, his ex-wife, and their marriage. Mason is most likely experiencing

A) dissociative fugue.
B) retrograde amnesia.
C) anterograde amnesia.
D) dissociative amnesia.
E) psychogenic dissociation.

Question 75

Mason has just experienced a particularly nasty divorce. He suddenly loses total recall of his memories of himself, his ex-wife, and their marriage. Shortly thereafter Mason moves to a different city and now calls himself "Ned."Mason is most likely experiencing

A) dissociative fugue.
B) retrograde amnesia.
C) anterograde amnesia.
D) dissociative amnesia.
E) psychogenic dissociation.

Question 76

__________ is a subclassification of __________.

A) Multiple personality disorder; somatization disorder.
B) Somatoform disorder; somatization disorder.
C) Fugue; dissociative disorder
D) Amnesic disorder; anxiety disorder.
E) Fugue; phobic disorder.

Question 77

Idiosyncratic psychological disorders that are specific to a particular culture are referred to as

A) culture-specific disorders.
B) monocultural complexes.
C) culture-bound syndromes.
D) monocultural disorders.
E) none of the above

Question 78

Understanding the etiology of culture-bound syndromes is made difficult by the fact that

A) they are often characterized in terms of folklore.
B) a world-wide classification scheme for psychological disorders does not exist.
C) they have not been the subject of much research.
D) all of the above
E) none of the above

Question 79

The culture-bound syndrome known as 'nangiarpok' seems similar to what is described in the DSM-IV-TR as a

A) somatization disorder.
B) phobia.
C) personality disorder.
D) dissociative disorder.
E) panic.

Question 80

Shawn is 14 years old. He has been caught stealing seven times in the past year. He is impulsive and often finds himself in fist fights. He seems not to respect the rights of others and shows no remorse when he gets caught breaking the law. Shawn seems likely to have __________ personality disorder.

A) paranoid
B) schizoid
C) antisocial
D) histrionic
E) avoidant