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ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY COMPLETE STUDY
GUIDE & EXAM REVIEW 2026-2027: DSM-5-TR
HIGH-YIELD CONTENT, 200+ MULTIPLE
CHOICE QUESTIONS WITH RATIONALES,
FIRST-TIME PASS FOR UNDERGRAD, GRAD,
EPPP & NCE**
## UNIT 1 – FOUNDATIONS (20 Questions)
**Q1.** Which of the following best defines the "4 D's" of abnormality?
A. Distress, dysfunction, deviance, danger
B. Disorganization, depression, delusions, disability
C. Disturbance, dysphoria, deviation, death
D. Disinhibition, dependence, dyscontrol, disability
**Answer: A**
*Rationale:* The 4 D's are the clinical heuristic. Distress = suffering. Dysfunction
= impaired daily roles. Deviance = violates norms. Danger = risk to self/others.
**Q2.** A researcher finds a +0.80 correlation between panic attacks and
agoraphobic avoidance. This means:
A. Panic attacks cause agoraphobia
B. Agoraphobia causes panic attacks
C. As panic attacks increase, avoidance increases
D. The two variables are unrelated
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**Answer: C**
*Rationale:* Correlation does not imply causation. Strong positive correlation =
high scores on one go with high scores on the other.
**Q3.** The diathesis-stress model proposes that:
A. Only genetic factors cause mental illness
B. A predisposition plus a stressor produces disorder
C. Stress alone is sufficient for any disorder
D. Diathesis is always environmental
**Answer: B**
*Rationale:* Diathesis = vulnerability (genetic, biological, psychological). Stress =
trigger. Both needed.
**Q4.** Which is NOT a DSM-5-TR criterion for a mental disorder?
A. Clinically significant distress or impairment
B. A culturally expected response to a common stressor (e.g., bereavement)
C. Dysfunction in psychological/biological/developmental processes
D. Not primarily due to social deviance
**Answer: B**
*Rationale:* DSM-5-TR explicitly excludes culturally expected responses (e.g.,
death of a loved one) as mental disorders.
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**Q5.** A study randomly assigns depressed patients to CBT or placebo. This is a:
A. Case study
B. Correlational study
C. Randomized controlled trial (RCT)
D. Naturalistic observation
**Answer: C**
*Rationale:* Random assignment + control group = RCT, the gold standard for
causal inference.
**Q6.** Which historical figure argued that mental illness was caused by
imbalances in bodily humors?
A. Freud
B. Hippocrates
C. Pinel
D. Kraepelin
**Answer: B**
*Rationale:* Hippocrates (460–377 BCE) proposed black bile, yellow bile,
phlegm, and blood as causes.
**Q7.** The "medical model" of psychopathology states that:
A. All mental illness is a myth
B. Mental disorders are diseases with biological causes
C. Only medication can treat mental illness
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D. Society creates mental illness
**Answer: B**
*Rationale:* Medical model = mental disorders are medical diseases with specific
etiology, pathogenesis, and treatment.
**Q8.** A double-blind, placebo-controlled study controls for:
A. Experimenter bias and participant expectancy
B. Only participant expectancy
C. Only experimenter bias
D. Statistical regression
**Answer: A**
*Rationale:* Neither researcher nor participant knows group assignment →
eliminates both biases.
**Q9.** The Rosenhan study ("On Being Sane in Insane Places") demonstrated:
A. The validity of psychiatric diagnosis
B. That label of "schizophrenia" stuck even after pseudo-patients stopped
symptoms
C. That pseudopatients were never admitted
D. That hospitals easily detect faking
**Answer: B**
ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY COMPLETE STUDY
GUIDE & EXAM REVIEW 2026-2027: DSM-5-TR
HIGH-YIELD CONTENT, 200+ MULTIPLE
CHOICE QUESTIONS WITH RATIONALES,
FIRST-TIME PASS FOR UNDERGRAD, GRAD,
EPPP & NCE**
## UNIT 1 – FOUNDATIONS (20 Questions)
**Q1.** Which of the following best defines the "4 D's" of abnormality?
A. Distress, dysfunction, deviance, danger
B. Disorganization, depression, delusions, disability
C. Disturbance, dysphoria, deviation, death
D. Disinhibition, dependence, dyscontrol, disability
**Answer: A**
*Rationale:* The 4 D's are the clinical heuristic. Distress = suffering. Dysfunction
= impaired daily roles. Deviance = violates norms. Danger = risk to self/others.
**Q2.** A researcher finds a +0.80 correlation between panic attacks and
agoraphobic avoidance. This means:
A. Panic attacks cause agoraphobia
B. Agoraphobia causes panic attacks
C. As panic attacks increase, avoidance increases
D. The two variables are unrelated
,2|Page
**Answer: C**
*Rationale:* Correlation does not imply causation. Strong positive correlation =
high scores on one go with high scores on the other.
**Q3.** The diathesis-stress model proposes that:
A. Only genetic factors cause mental illness
B. A predisposition plus a stressor produces disorder
C. Stress alone is sufficient for any disorder
D. Diathesis is always environmental
**Answer: B**
*Rationale:* Diathesis = vulnerability (genetic, biological, psychological). Stress =
trigger. Both needed.
**Q4.** Which is NOT a DSM-5-TR criterion for a mental disorder?
A. Clinically significant distress or impairment
B. A culturally expected response to a common stressor (e.g., bereavement)
C. Dysfunction in psychological/biological/developmental processes
D. Not primarily due to social deviance
**Answer: B**
*Rationale:* DSM-5-TR explicitly excludes culturally expected responses (e.g.,
death of a loved one) as mental disorders.
,3|Page
**Q5.** A study randomly assigns depressed patients to CBT or placebo. This is a:
A. Case study
B. Correlational study
C. Randomized controlled trial (RCT)
D. Naturalistic observation
**Answer: C**
*Rationale:* Random assignment + control group = RCT, the gold standard for
causal inference.
**Q6.** Which historical figure argued that mental illness was caused by
imbalances in bodily humors?
A. Freud
B. Hippocrates
C. Pinel
D. Kraepelin
**Answer: B**
*Rationale:* Hippocrates (460–377 BCE) proposed black bile, yellow bile,
phlegm, and blood as causes.
**Q7.** The "medical model" of psychopathology states that:
A. All mental illness is a myth
B. Mental disorders are diseases with biological causes
C. Only medication can treat mental illness
, 4|Page
D. Society creates mental illness
**Answer: B**
*Rationale:* Medical model = mental disorders are medical diseases with specific
etiology, pathogenesis, and treatment.
**Q8.** A double-blind, placebo-controlled study controls for:
A. Experimenter bias and participant expectancy
B. Only participant expectancy
C. Only experimenter bias
D. Statistical regression
**Answer: A**
*Rationale:* Neither researcher nor participant knows group assignment →
eliminates both biases.
**Q9.** The Rosenhan study ("On Being Sane in Insane Places") demonstrated:
A. The validity of psychiatric diagnosis
B. That label of "schizophrenia" stuck even after pseudo-patients stopped
symptoms
C. That pseudopatients were never admitted
D. That hospitals easily detect faking
**Answer: B**
