PSY 255: Week 6 Latest Practice Exam
with Correct Verified Answers 2025-
2026 Updated.
Obsessive-compulsive and related disorders - Answer A group of overlapping disorders listed
in the DSM-5 that involves intrusive, unpleasant thoughts and/or repetitive behaviors
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) - Answer Characterized by the tendency to experience
intrusive and unwanted thoughts and urges (obsession) and/or the need to engage in repetitive
behaviors or mental acts (compulsions) in response to the unwanted thoughts and urges
Obsessions - Answer "persistent, unintentional, and unwanted thoughts and urges that are
highly intrusive, unpleasant, and distressing"
Compulsions - Answer "repetitive and ritualistic acts that are typically carried out primarily as
a means to minimize the distress that obsessions trigger or to reduce the likelihood of a feared
event"
Which of the following best illustrates a compulsion?
-Thoughts of harming a neighbor
-Mentally counting backward from 1,000
-Persistent fear of germs
-Falsely believing that a spouse has been cheating - Answer Mentally counting backward from
1,000
Concordance rate - Answer The probability that a person, usually a twin or family member, will
show symptoms if another has the disorder
Orbitofrontal cortex - Answer "An area of the frontal lobe involved in learning and decision-
making", believed to play a critical role in OCD
Which cortex is associated with body dysmorphic disorder? - Answer Prefrontal cortex
Which cortex is associated with hoarding disorder? - Answer Anterior cingulate cortex
,in inflammation on a child's brain, usually have sudden symptoms followed by slow
improvement
Research suggests that one of the main causes of obsessive-compulsive disorder is due to... -
Answer a genetic component.
What are some treatment options for OCD? - Answer SSRIs, CBT, exposure and response
prevention (EX/RP)
Criteria for diagnosing OCD - Answer -The obsessions and compulsions are time-consuming
and/or cause significant impairment in important areas of function (social, occupational, etc.)
-Symptoms are not caused by psychological effects of a substance or another medical condition
-Symptoms are not better explained by those of another mental disorder
-Good insight into compulsions but continue them anyway, or delusional beliefs
Research indicates that the symptoms of OCD... - Answer are related to hyperactivity in the
orbitofrontal cortex.
Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) - Answer Involves an excessive preoccupation with an
imagined defect in physical appearance
Things that may cause BDD (5) - Answer -Low serotonin
-OCD
-GAD
-Childhood abuse or trauma
-Family history
-Insecure attachment to a parent figure
-Cognitive deficits in ACC
Gender dysphoria (GD) - Answer The distress a person feels due to a mismatch between
gender identity and sex assigned at birth
What are some treatments for BDD? - Answer SSRIs and CBT
, As is the case for most mental health disorders, the underlying cause has yet to be proven;
however, it is thought that there is a strong _______ component to HD. - Answer genetic
What are some treatments for HD? - Answer Monoamine reuptake inhibitors have been
successful in some clinical studies, and serotonergic antidepressants such as SSRIs or the
tricyclic antidepressant clomipramine work when HD is comorbid with OCD; CBT**,
motivational interviewing, harm reduction, group CBT
Though researchers don't know the exact cause for HD, what we do know, regarding its
development, is that the disorder: - Answer increases in prevalence and severity with age.
Trichotillomania (TTM) - Answer Also known as hairpulling disorder or compulsive hairpulling;
a psychological disorder characterized by a long-term urge that results in pulling one's hair out,
can be unconscious or "automatic" or conscious or "focused"
Friar Tuck - Answer Classic presentation of TTM, vertex and crown alopecia
Possible etiology of TTM - Answer Dysfunction of pathways involved in affect regulation,
behavioral control, and cognition, hormones
Some studies which included neuroimaging showed that individuals with trichotillomania had
increased ______ ________ density in several brain regions involving affect regulation, motor
habits, and cognition. - Answer grey matter
________, depression, and obsessive-compulsive disorder are more frequently encountered in
people with trichotillomania. Trichotillomania also has a high overlap with _______, and some
cases of trichotillomania may be triggered by stress. - Answer Anxiety, PTSD
Which of the following descriptions best explains the signs and symptoms of trichotillomania?
-People with this disorder will often pull hair from various parts of the body such as the scalp or
eyebrows, (and in rare cases, pubic areas), but only when under a lot of stress or undergoing an
activity that makes them very uncomfortable. Often, they're not even aware that they're doing
it.
-People with this disorder are unconscious of their actions, meaning, they're never aware of
their actions of hair-pulling. Often, when plucking hair, they use tweezers or other tools and will
continue until a patch appears (i.e, an eyebrow is gone or a bald patch appears on their scalp).
-Trichotillomania is difficult to diagnose because most people with this disorder pull hair from
with Correct Verified Answers 2025-
2026 Updated.
Obsessive-compulsive and related disorders - Answer A group of overlapping disorders listed
in the DSM-5 that involves intrusive, unpleasant thoughts and/or repetitive behaviors
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) - Answer Characterized by the tendency to experience
intrusive and unwanted thoughts and urges (obsession) and/or the need to engage in repetitive
behaviors or mental acts (compulsions) in response to the unwanted thoughts and urges
Obsessions - Answer "persistent, unintentional, and unwanted thoughts and urges that are
highly intrusive, unpleasant, and distressing"
Compulsions - Answer "repetitive and ritualistic acts that are typically carried out primarily as
a means to minimize the distress that obsessions trigger or to reduce the likelihood of a feared
event"
Which of the following best illustrates a compulsion?
-Thoughts of harming a neighbor
-Mentally counting backward from 1,000
-Persistent fear of germs
-Falsely believing that a spouse has been cheating - Answer Mentally counting backward from
1,000
Concordance rate - Answer The probability that a person, usually a twin or family member, will
show symptoms if another has the disorder
Orbitofrontal cortex - Answer "An area of the frontal lobe involved in learning and decision-
making", believed to play a critical role in OCD
Which cortex is associated with body dysmorphic disorder? - Answer Prefrontal cortex
Which cortex is associated with hoarding disorder? - Answer Anterior cingulate cortex
,in inflammation on a child's brain, usually have sudden symptoms followed by slow
improvement
Research suggests that one of the main causes of obsessive-compulsive disorder is due to... -
Answer a genetic component.
What are some treatment options for OCD? - Answer SSRIs, CBT, exposure and response
prevention (EX/RP)
Criteria for diagnosing OCD - Answer -The obsessions and compulsions are time-consuming
and/or cause significant impairment in important areas of function (social, occupational, etc.)
-Symptoms are not caused by psychological effects of a substance or another medical condition
-Symptoms are not better explained by those of another mental disorder
-Good insight into compulsions but continue them anyway, or delusional beliefs
Research indicates that the symptoms of OCD... - Answer are related to hyperactivity in the
orbitofrontal cortex.
Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) - Answer Involves an excessive preoccupation with an
imagined defect in physical appearance
Things that may cause BDD (5) - Answer -Low serotonin
-OCD
-GAD
-Childhood abuse or trauma
-Family history
-Insecure attachment to a parent figure
-Cognitive deficits in ACC
Gender dysphoria (GD) - Answer The distress a person feels due to a mismatch between
gender identity and sex assigned at birth
What are some treatments for BDD? - Answer SSRIs and CBT
, As is the case for most mental health disorders, the underlying cause has yet to be proven;
however, it is thought that there is a strong _______ component to HD. - Answer genetic
What are some treatments for HD? - Answer Monoamine reuptake inhibitors have been
successful in some clinical studies, and serotonergic antidepressants such as SSRIs or the
tricyclic antidepressant clomipramine work when HD is comorbid with OCD; CBT**,
motivational interviewing, harm reduction, group CBT
Though researchers don't know the exact cause for HD, what we do know, regarding its
development, is that the disorder: - Answer increases in prevalence and severity with age.
Trichotillomania (TTM) - Answer Also known as hairpulling disorder or compulsive hairpulling;
a psychological disorder characterized by a long-term urge that results in pulling one's hair out,
can be unconscious or "automatic" or conscious or "focused"
Friar Tuck - Answer Classic presentation of TTM, vertex and crown alopecia
Possible etiology of TTM - Answer Dysfunction of pathways involved in affect regulation,
behavioral control, and cognition, hormones
Some studies which included neuroimaging showed that individuals with trichotillomania had
increased ______ ________ density in several brain regions involving affect regulation, motor
habits, and cognition. - Answer grey matter
________, depression, and obsessive-compulsive disorder are more frequently encountered in
people with trichotillomania. Trichotillomania also has a high overlap with _______, and some
cases of trichotillomania may be triggered by stress. - Answer Anxiety, PTSD
Which of the following descriptions best explains the signs and symptoms of trichotillomania?
-People with this disorder will often pull hair from various parts of the body such as the scalp or
eyebrows, (and in rare cases, pubic areas), but only when under a lot of stress or undergoing an
activity that makes them very uncomfortable. Often, they're not even aware that they're doing
it.
-People with this disorder are unconscious of their actions, meaning, they're never aware of
their actions of hair-pulling. Often, when plucking hair, they use tweezers or other tools and will
continue until a patch appears (i.e, an eyebrow is gone or a bald patch appears on their scalp).
-Trichotillomania is difficult to diagnose because most people with this disorder pull hair from
