Free Abnormal Psychology MCQs with Answers

• A. counterconditioning.
• B. cognitive therapy
• C. psychoanalysis
• D. client-centered therapy

Explanation: Client-centered therapy is the most nondirective option because the therapist provides empathy, genuineness, and acceptance while the…

• A. are less likely to use psychoanalytic mathods than psychologists
• B. are physicians who specialize in the treatment of mental disorders
• C. are more likely to use cognitive methods than psychologists
• D. have essentially the same education as clinical psychologists

Explanation: Psychiatrists are medical doctors who specialize in diagnosing and treating mental disorders, so they can prescribe medication as well as…

• A. acute
• B. free-floating
• C. personality
• D. reactive

Explanation: Personality disorders involve enduring, inflexible patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving that create social or functional problems.

• A. obsessive-compulsive disorder.
• B. antisocial personality disorder.
• C. dissociative identity disorder.
• D. schizophrenia

Explanation: Low birth weight is among the prenatal or early developmental risk factors associated with later schizophrenia, although it does not…

• A. The frequency of mental illness
• B. Two or more causes of death indicated for patients
• C. The occurrence of 2 or more disorders at the same time
• D. The degree of suffering of mentally ill patients

Explanation: Comorbidity means that two or more disorders occur in the same person, either simultaneously or within the relevant clinical period.

• A. Abnormal behavior occurs in frequently.
• B. Abnormal behavior is odd or strange.
• C. Abnormal behavior is characterized by suffering.
• D. Abnormal behavior causes impairment in the person's life.

Explanation: Abnormal behavior is generally considered clinically significant when it interferes with a person’s functioning or ability to manage life…

• A. Bipolar disorder
• B. Panic disorder
• C. Schizophrenia
• D. a and c

Explanation: Bipolar disorder and schizophrenia both have substantial biological and genetic evidence, while psychosocial factors alone do not…

• A. overly optimistic
• B. negative, pressmistic
• C. delusional
• D. dysthymic

Explanation: Persistent negative and pessimistic thinking increases vulnerability to depression by encouraging hopeless interpretations of setbacks.

• A. delusions of persecution
• B. loosening of associations
• C. compulsions
• D. delusions of grandeur

Explanation: A belief in having an exceptional status or ability, such as being invited to sing at a royal coronation despite contrary evidence, is a…

• A. a defendant is unable to understand the nature and purpose of legal proceedings
• B. a person cannot be held responsible for his or her actions because of mental illness
• C. a person has a chronic mental illness that is not responsive to treatment
• D. an individual is dangerous to themselves or to others

Explanation: Insanity is a legal, not purely clinical, judgment that mental illness prevented a defendant from being legally responsible for the act.

• A. be mainic
• B. be insane.
• C. be depressed
• D. neurotic

Explanation: Daniel M’Naghten was judged insane, leading to the development of the M’Naghten rule concerning criminal responsibility and the ability to…

• A. the deliberate faking of physical illness
• B. apparent physical illness caused by psychological factors
• C. not acknowledge the presence of a real mental or physical illness
• D. a tendency to misinterpret minor bodily changes as being indicative of serious illness

Explanation: Hypochondriasis, now largely classified under illness anxiety disorder or related somatic symptom conditions, involves excessive fear that…

• A. depression.
• B. schizophrenia.
• C. compulsions.
• D. antisocial personality disorder.

Explanation: Learned helplessness develops when repeated uncontrollable negative experiences produce passivity and the expectation that actions will…

• A. generalized anxiety disorder.
• B. post-traumatic stress disorder.
• C. phobias.
• D. antisocial personality disorder.

Explanation: Low autonomic arousal has been proposed as a biological factor in antisocial behavior because underarousal may reduce sensitivity to…

• A. bipolar disorder
• B. conversion disorder
• C. multiple personality disorder
• D. generalized anxiety disorder

Explanation: Bipolar disorder is characterized by episodes of mania or hypomania alternating with episodes of depression.

• A. is the most important indicator of his or her competence.
• B. should be the major consideration in choosing a therapist.
• C. is not all that important, since telented therapists can be found in all of the mental health professions.
• D. involves both a and b.

Explanation: Professional credentials matter, but the therapist’s effectiveness, therapeutic relationship, and suitability for the client are also…

• A. they have been stabilized through drug therapy; their condition deteriorates once again because of inadequate out patient care
• B. they run out of funds to pay for hospitalization, they once again can afford it
• C. they have been cured of their disorder, they develop another disorder
• D. they no longer want to be hospitalized; they voluntarily re-commit themselvesBook Online Therapy

Explanation: Repeated hospitalization often occurs when medication stabilizes a person but limited or inadequate outpatient support fails to maintain…

• A. Phobic disorders
• B. Dissociative order
• C. Obsessive-compulsive disorder
• D. Post-traumatic stress

Explanation: Dissociative disorders involve disruptions in memory, identity, or consciousness and are classified separately from anxiety disorders.

• A. Cohabitation
• B. Comorbidity
• C. Codependence
• D. Coexistence

Explanation: Comorbidity means that two or more disorders occur in the same person at the same time.

• A. 40%
• B. 50%-60%
• C. 75%
• D. 90%-95%

Explanation: Older epidemiological estimates commonly stated that about 90% to 95% of identified eating-disorder patients were female, although current…