AP Psychology · Topic 5.3
Explaining and Classifying Psychological Disorders Practice
Part of Mental and Physical Health.
Practice questions
14
Sample questions
5 of 14 — sign in to practice the rest with adaptive difficulty and mastery tracking.
Sample 1difficulty 2/5
A team translated a Western depression questionnaire into Mandarin and administered it in rural China. Many respondents endorsed somatic items (fatigue, headaches, sleep disturbance) but rarely endorsed items about guilt or hopelessness. The researchers conclude that depression is rare in this population.
The pattern of predominantly somatic symptoms in this sample best illustrates which concept?
- Acheck_circle
Cultural variation in symptom expression of depression
- B
Universal invariance of psychiatric symptoms
- C
A new disorder distinct from depression
- D
Malingering by survey respondents
Why
Cultures shape how distress is expressed and reported. The data illustrate variation, not invariance, do not warrant a new diagnostic category, and provide no evidence of intentional symptom fabrication.
- A
Sample 2difficulty 3/5
Psychological disorders are typically defined by
- A
Brief unusual reactions to a stressful daily event
- B
Reflexive responses to ordinary environmental stimuli
- Ccheck_circle
Behavior that is dysfunctional, distressing, deviant, or dangerous
- D
Any behavior that simply differs from the cultural norm
Why
The "4 D's"; clinically meaningful impairment matters most.
- A
Sample 3difficulty 3/5
The medical model views psychological disorders as
- A
Demonic possession requiring exorcism by clergy
- Bcheck_circle
Mental illness with biological causes that can be diagnosed and treated
- C
Personal weakness reflecting flawed moral character
- D
Spiritual punishment requiring religious intervention
Why
Reinforces treating mental illness like physical illness.
- A
Sample 4difficulty 3/5
Epidemiological researchers analyzed survey data from 9,500 adults using structured diagnostic interviews. They report that 47% of respondents who met criteria for major depressive disorder also met criteria for at least one anxiety disorder within the same 12-month period—a rate substantially higher than chance.
A high comorbidity rate between depression and anxiety in DSM-based studies most directly raises which concern about classification?
- A
Survey respondents are intentionally exaggerating symptoms.
- B
Comorbidity proves both diagnoses are invalid.
- C
DSM diagnoses have no clinical utility.
- Dcheck_circle
The categories may share underlying transdiagnostic processes rather than being fully distinct disorders.
Why
High comorbidity supports the view that anxiety and depression share transdiagnostic features (e.g., negative affectivity), challenging strict categorical boundaries. The data do not imply intentional exaggeration, total lack of utility, or invalidity.
- A
Sample 5difficulty 3/5
A research team examines concordance rates for a mood disorder across 800 monozygotic and 800 dizygotic twin pairs raised together. They report concordance of 0.55 for monozygotic pairs and 0.22 for dizygotic pairs. The investigators apply behavioral genetic models to estimate heritability while acknowledging shared environment as a covariate.
Which model best integrates these genetic findings with environmental contributions to disorder onset?
- A
Strict behaviorist model
- Bcheck_circle
Diathesis-stress model
- C
Humanistic self-actualization model
- D
Pure trait theory
Why
The diathesis-stress model proposes that a genetic vulnerability (diathesis) interacts with environmental stressors to produce disorder onset.
- A