Discrete Practice Questions

Consult your online resources for additional practice.

1. Which of the following is an example of a negative symptom seen in schizophrenia?

   1. Auditory hallucinations
   2. Disorganized behavior
   3. Disturbance of affect
   4. Delusions

2. During an interview with a schizophrenic patient, a psychiatrist notices that the patient keeps repeating what the psychiatrist says. This phenomenon is known as:

   1. echolalia.
   2. echopraxia.
   3. loosening of associations.
   4. neologisms.

3. A 42-year-old woman has always been extremely neat and tidy. She works as a secretary and stays long after normal working hours to check the punctuation and spelling of letters she prepared during the day. Her boss referred her for counseling after she repeatedly got into fights with her coworkers. “They don’t take the job to heart,” she says. “They just joke around all day.” The most likely preliminary diagnosis for this patient is:

   1. obsessive–compulsive personality disorder.
   2. antisocial personality disorder.
   3. narcissistic personality disorder.
   4. borderline personality disorder.

4. Which of the following is true with regard to a major depressive episode?

   1. It may last less than two weeks.
   2. It must involve thoughts of suicide or a suicide attempt.
   3. It may involve a decrease in sleep.
   4. It must involve feelings of sadness.

5. A 36-year-old who works from home is referred for evaluation. He is reluctant to venture out to meet with other people and rarely has people in to visit. When selected for a company-wide award, he refused to have his picture taken for the company newsletter. During an assessment, he averts his face and asks the examiner to “stop looking at me.” Although he is average in appearance, he is convinced that his face is ugly and misshapen. The most likely diagnosis for this man would be:

   1. schizophrenia.
   2. obsessive–compulsive disorder.
   3. body dysmorphic disorder.
   4. schizoid personality disorder.

6. A young woman of unknown age is brought by the Philadelphia police to the local emergency department for evaluation after they found her wandering in a park. She carries no purse or identification. She is unable to state her name or any details about her life, except that the name Phoenix seems familiar. The police in Arizona are contacted and find a missing persons report matching the patient’s description. Based on this information, the most likely diagnosis for this patient is:

   1. depersonalization/derealization disorder.
   2. dissociative identity disorder.
   3. somatic symptom disorder.
   4. dissociative amnesia with dissociative fugue.

7. In addition to being a freestanding diagnosis, agoraphobia is most often seen in association with which other psychiatric diagnosis?

   1. Obsessive–compulsive disorder
   2. Avoidant personality disorder
   3. Generalized anxiety disorder
   4. Panic disorder

8. A 28-year-old male comes to a clinic concerned that he has pancreatic cancer. Review of his medical records shows that this is the fourth time in the past year that the patient has appeared for medical attention. No identifiable medical problem is found. When confronted with this history, he confesses that he feels relieved after being told that all of the tests are negative, but soon becomes worried again that he has cancer. Based on the information, the most likely diagnosis for this patient would be:

   1. major depressive disorder.
   2. illness anxiety disorder.
   3. conversion disorder.
   4. narcissistic personality disorder.

9. Questions 9–10 refer to the scenario described below.

10. A physician is attempting to diagnose a patient’s mental disorder based on a set of symptoms. The confirmed symptoms currently include appetite disturbance, substantial weight change, decreased energy, a feeling of worthlessness, and excessive guilt.

9. What two disorders could these symptoms indicate?

   1. Major depressive and bipolar disorders
   2. Dissociative amnesia and depersonalization/derealization disorder
   3. Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease
   4. Specific phobia and panic disorder

10. What should the physician ask about to distinguish between the two possible disorders affecting that patient?

    1. Whether the patient has amnesia
    2. Whether the patient has also had manic episodes
    3. Whether the patient is irrationally afraid of anything
    4. Whether the patient has experienced difficulty performing familiar tasks

11. A mother notices that her teenage son seems to have a phobia for snakes. In the past week, on several occasions, the teenager has had more severe fear symptoms than usual, without seeing or even thinking about a snake. Which mental disorder could cause this reaction?

    1. Schizophrenia
    2. Antisocial personality disorder
    3. Obsessive–compulsive disorder
    4. Panic disorder

12. Splitting is a defense mechanism commonly seen with which personality disorder?

    1. Antisocial personality disorder
    2. Borderline personality disorder
    3. Histrionic personality disorder
    4. Narcissistic personality disorder

13. A woman comes to the doctor with a two-week history of complete paralysis of her left arm. She has had no injury to the extremity, and full neurological workup fails to demonstrate any underlying cause. She seems surprisingly unconcerned about the paralysis, and seems more worried about an argument she had one month ago in which she hit her daughter. Based on this information, the woman’s most likely diagnosis is:

    1. conversion disorder.
    2. generalized anxiety disorder.
    3. illness anxiety disorder.
    4. histrionic personality disorder.

14. A woman notices that her father has started to move his fingers in such a way that it looks like he is rolling something, despite nothing actually being there. She also notes slowed movement and a shuffling gait. Which neurotransmitter is likely to be present in decreased levels in her father’s brain?

    1. Epinephrine
    2. Histamine
    3. Dopamine
    4. Serotonin

15. Which of the following is/are true regarding bipolar disorders?

    1. They have little, if any, genetic heritability.
    2. They are associated with increased levels of serotonin in the brain.
    3. They all require at least one depressive episode for diagnosis.
    1. I only
    2. II only
    3. I and III only
    4. II and III only