Deck 12: Schizophrenia and Other Psychotic Disorders

Question 1

Neuroimaging studies of hallucinating patients suggest that auditory hallucinations

A) may reflect a cognitive error.
B) are actually heard.
C) activate the brain areas involved in speech comprehension.
D) are usually drug induced.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Which of the following is an example of a delusion?

A) The voices in Jaimie's head told him not to trust the priest.
B) Bob thought the CIA was controlling his thoughts.
C) Tracy did not think she could get pregnant the first time she had sex.
D) Carla saw and felt bugs crawling up her arm.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

The majority of cases of schizophrenia begin in

A) late adulthood or old age.
B) there is no age where the majority of cases begin.
C) late adolescence or early adulthood.
D) late childhood or early adolescence.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Which of the following people has the highest risk of developing schizophrenia?

A) a person whose father was over 50 when he/she was born
B) a person who came from New Guinea
C) someone who was physically abused as a child
D) someone who has a history of depression

Question 5

The term "demence precoce" is inconsistent with the

A) lack of brain damage that characterizes the brain of most schizophrenics.
B) effectiveness of psychological treatments for schizophrenia.
C) discovery of a late onset form of schizophrenia.
D) transient nature of most schizophrenias.

Question 6

Hallucinations are

A) sensory experiences with no basis in reality.
B) only seen in schizophrenia.
C) disturbances in the content of thought.
D) necessary for a diagnosis of schizophrenia.

Question 7

"My father and I swiggered to the beach yesterday." This is an example of a

A) negative symptom.
B) auditory hallucination.
C) delusion.
D) neologism.

Question 8

When Bleuler coined the term "schizophrenia" the kind of split he believed was central to the disorder was

A) an inability to make an intimate connection with other people.
B) a divergence between the person's chronological age and their intellectual performance.
C) a break with reality.
D) a division of personality within the person.

Question 9

Joe has a delusional belief. When people argue with him

A) he only admits he is wrong after being shown more proof than most people would need.
B) he doesn't admit he is wrong to other people, but he admits it to himself.
C) he doesn't admit he could be wrong, no matter what proof he is shown.
D) he admits he could be wrong.

Question 10

Kraepelin used the term "praecox" to convey that schizophrenia typically develops early in life. The actual age of onset of the condition

A) typically is during the mid-forties.
B) typically is during the mid-twenties.
C) typically is during the early teenage years.
D) typically is during the mid-thirties.

Question 11

Psychosis is a striking and essential feature of schizophrenia. Psychosis means

A) a significant loss of contact with reality.
B) a tendency to be unpredictably violent.
C) an inability to know right from wrong.
D) an abrupt shift in personality from one pattern to another.

Question 12

Which of the following is an example of the most common type of hallucination seen in schizophrenia?

A) Sondra tried to ignore the voices in her head.
B) Rachel would frequently see her husband, even though he had been dead for several years.
C) Bill was convinced that his mother was inserting evil thoughts into his mind.
D) Ned believed he was Elvis.

Question 13

Which of the following accounts for the belief that schizophrenia is becoming more common in males than females?

A) Males are more likely to hallucinate than females so may be overdiagnosed.
B) Men are more likely to seek treatment.
C) Women respond better to treatment than men.
D) Females with schizophrenia have less severe symptoms so may be misdiagnosed.

Question 14

People with schizophrenia may have difficult with the FORM of thoughtin other words, their thoughts do not make sense. The observable sign of this is

A) a hallucination.
B) disorganized behavior.
C) disorganized speech.
D) a delusion.

Question 15

What type of hallucinations are the most common?

A) gustatory
B) visual
C) tactile
D) auditory

Question 16

Delusions are

A) disturbances in the content of thought.
B) perceptions with no basis in reality.
C) necessary for a diagnosis of schizophrenia.
D) only seen in schizophrenia.

Question 17

Schizophrenia occurs in about of the general population.

A) 1 out of 10
B) 1 out of 10,000
C) 1 out of 100
D) 1 out of 1000

Question 18

How common are delusions in schizophrenia?

A) They are experienced by approximately 50% of schizophrenics.
B) While hallucinations are a common occurrence in schizophrenia, delusions are rare.
C) Over 90% of those with schizophrenia experience delusions.
D) Delusions are an essential feature of schizophrenia; the presence of delusions is required for a diagnosis of schizophrenia.

Question 19

Sterling believes that the TV special that was on last night was shown to tell her that she should break up with her boyfriend. She is absolutely certain this is true and plans to do it. This type of belief is an example of a

A) thought insertion delusion.
B) delusion of reference.
C) thought broadcasting delusion.
D) made feelings delusion.

Question 20

One problem with Kraepelin's use of the term "dementia praecox" is that

A) it assumed that progressive deterioration of the brain is a universal feature of the disorder.
B) it assumed that what we call schizophrenia only occurred in elderly patients.
C) it assumed the intellectual functioning of patients remained constant even as their bodies aged.
D) it was actually describing Alzheimer's dementia, not schizophrenia.

Question 21

Patients in a catatonic stupor

A) experience overwhelming hallucinations.
B) resist efforts to change their position.
C) exhibit both echopraxia and echolalia.
D) are highly suggestible.

Question 22

After her last episode of schizophrenia, Jill continued to behave a bit eccentrically and she showed little emotion. Which of the following diagnoses should she be given?

A) residual schizophrenia
B) residual schizophreniform disorder
C) schizophreniform disorder
D) schizoaffective disorder

Question 23

Negative symptoms

A) are a common side effect of antipsychotic medications.
B) are those that are harmful.
C) are characterized an absence or deficit of normal behaviors.
D) are more disturbing to the patient than positive symptoms.

Question 24

Which of the following best describes the person with undifferentiated schizophrenia?

A) Lincoln, whose schizophrenia involves a chronic pattern of wild excitement followed by muteness and immobility.
B) Jake, who shows bizarre behavior, delusions, and disordered speech but has normal emotions.
C) Constance, whose speech is incoherent and filled with invented words, but whose emotions are inconsistent and inappropriate for the situation.
D) Pauline, who is convinced that her husband is poisoning her food and can hear voices which others cannot hear) calling her a liar and a thief.

Question 25

There is some debate as to whether is a variant of schizophrenia or a form of mood disorder.

A) residual type
B) schizophreniform disorder
C) schizoaffective disorder
D) undifferentiated type

Question 26

Disorganized schizophrenia

A) usually develops in late adulthood.
B) responds well to treatment.
C) was once called hebephrenic schizophrenia.
D) is most commonly seen in women.

Question 27

Which of the following could be described as "short-term" schizophrenia?

A) delusional disorder
B) undifferentiated schizophrenia
C) schizoaffective disorder
D) schizophreniform disorder

Question 28

It has been suggested that the catatonic patient's immobility

A) is a consequence of the patient's inability to ignore irrelevant stimuli.
B) reflects a lack of willingness to comply with therapist demands.
C) results from the dopamine dysfunction known to underlie this disorder.
D) provides the patient with the calm and relaxed atmosphere they need in order to get well.

Question 29

DeJuan is highly suggestible and automatically obeys the commands of his brother. He sometimes stands in the same strange posture for hours despite his hands and feet becoming swollen due to immobility. Which subtype of schizophrenia does this best illustrate?

A) disorganized
B) undifferentiated
C) catatonic
D) positive-symptom

Question 30

The central feature of catatonic schizophrenia is

A) illogical or absurd delusions.
B) excited or stuporous motor symptoms.
C) an extreme stressor precipitating the symptoms.
D) blunted or inappropriate affect.

Question 31

Which of the following suggests a diagnosis of disorganized schizophrenia?

A) Peter appears to feel no emotion and tends to make odd facial expressions and movements.
B) Dillon rarely sits still, but will respond to any direction he is given.
C) Kyle constantly is asking for a doctor as he is convinced that his stomach is going to explode.
D) Trista fears for her life because the pictures on the wall have told her that she is not safe.

Question 32

Which of the following people with schizophrenia is likely to have the best prognosis?

A) the woman who believes she is being persecuted because she is Helen of Troy
B) the mother of three who first showed signs of schizophrenia in her teens and now is unable to care for herself or her children
C) the teen who has been in a catatonic state for several days
D) the man who shows little emotion, thinks the CIA is controlling his thoughts, and who makes no sense when he speaks

Question 33

Over the course of the disorder, most individuals with schizophrenia

A) show either positive-syndrome or negative-syndrome types.
B) show the Type II form exclusively.
C) display a mix of positive and negative symptoms.
D) develop the "disorganized" form of the disorder.

Question 34

The individual diagnosed with schizophreniform disorder

A) experiences a schizophrenia-like psychosis that lasts for less than a month.
B) has a mild case of schizophrenia combined with signs of a mood disorder.
C) usually exhibits symptoms of schizophrenia that would fit only undifferentiated type.
D) is likely to take actions based on their delusions.

Question 35

Julia clearly had psychotic symptoms. As she also showed symptoms of bipolar disorder, she was ultimately diagnosed with

A) schizophreniform disorder.
B) undifferentiated type.
C) schizoaffective disorder.
D) residual type.

Question 36

Which schizophrenic subtype usually has the earliest onset, the greatest indifference to reality, and the worst prognosis?

A) catatonic
B) disorganized
C) undifferentiated
D) paranoid

Question 37

Which of the following is most likely seen in an individual with paranoid schizophrenia?

A) They show more significant cognitive impairments than are seen in the other subtypes.
B) They exhibit primarily negative symptoms.
C) They respond poorly to treatment.
D) They have delusions of grandeur.

Question 38

Which of the following is an example of a negative symptom of schizophrenia?

A) Karen no longer socialized with her friends.
B) Julia heard voices that told her she was evil.
C) Georgia's speech sounded normal, but made no sense.
D) Ellen suspected that her husband had poisoned her food.

Question 39

Virginia exhibits a variety of schizophrenic symptoms including delusions, auditory hallucinations, and formal thought disorder. She has been symptomatic for about a month. Virginia qualifies for a diagnosis of

A) schizophreniform disorder.
B) schizoaffective disorder, manic type.
C) paranoid schizophrenia.
D) undifferentiated schizophrenia.

Question 40

Which of the following is an example of a negative symptom?

A) emotional turmoil
B) delusions
C) emotional unresponsiveness
D) hallucinations

Question 41

Studies of the offspring of nonschizophrenic co-twins from discordant twin pairs suggest that

A) genetic factors cause schizophrenia, while environmental factors are essentially unimportant.
B) the heritability of schizophrenia involves the transmission of a single dominant gene.
C) a genetic predisposition to schizophrenia may remain unexpressed in some individuals unless it is released by some unknown environmental factors.
D) environmental factors play a more important role than genetic factors in the origin of schizophrenia.

Question 42

Which of the following statements most clearly summarizes our understanding of schizophrenia?

A) The role of genes in schizophrenia is well-established.
B) Schizophrenia is one of the few psychological disorders that is most effectively treated with medication.
C) While much is known about the causes of schizophrenia, there are many questions still to be answered.
D) The relative influence of nature and nurture has been established.

Question 43

"Familial" does not mean the same thing as "genetic" because

A) families share both genes and the environment.
B) families don't always share genes.
C) the strength of the correlations seen in familial concordance patterns does not allow any conclusions to be made.
D) genes are not expressed in every generation.

Question 44

In genetic studies, a "proband" or "index case" is someone who

A) shows signs of the disorder of interest.
B) is related to someone with the disorder of interest.
C) has the disorder of interest.
D) shares at least 25% of their genes with an affected subject.

Question 45

Individuals with delusional disorder differ from those with schizophrenia in that

A) their delusions are not well-formed.
B) they behave relatively normally.
C) they know their delusions are delusions.
D) they rarely act on their delusions.

Question 46

Harold and Tanya both have a wide range of schizophrenic symptoms that came on rather suddenly. Harold's symptoms have lasted for eight months; Tanya's have lasted only eight weeks. According to the DSM-IV their diagnoses should be

A) schizophreniform disorder for Harold; brief psychotic disorder for Tanya.
B) undifferentiated schizophrenia for Harold; schizophreniform disorder for Tanya.
C) schizoaffective disorder for Harold; schizophreniform disorder for Tanya.
D) disorganized schizophrenia for Harold; undifferentiated schizophrenia for Tanya.

Question 47

If schizophrenia were exclusively a genetic disorder,

A) numerous cures would now be available.
B) marrying a schizophrenic would not increase the likelihood of developing schizophrenia.
C) the concordance rate for dizygotic twins would be 100%.
D) anyone with schizophrenia in their family history would develop schizophrenia.

Question 48

Which of the following is a plausible explanation for how maternal influenza might lead to schizophrenia later in life?

A) The flu virus frequently has long-term effects on the behavior of affected individuals; maternal infection with influenza may result in an environment that is likely to trigger schizophrenia in the susceptible individual.
B) Maternal antibodies could cross the placenta and interfere with brain development such that the risk of developing schizophrenia is enhanced later in life.
C) The flu exposure may alter the fetal genes such that a susceptibility to schizophrenia is now part of the child's genetic makeup.
D) The flu virus may lay dormant in the brain until adolescence when it becomes active and initiates the degeneration that results in the symptoms of schizophrenia.

Question 49

Studies of family concordance patterns for schizophrenia have found

A) such strong correspondence between gene-sharing and diagnosis that environmental factors have been ruled out.
B) little evidence of increased concordance with increased gene-sharing.
C) that the more genetically related you are to someone with schizophrenia, the greater your risk of the disorder.
D) strong correspondence between gene-sharing and diagnosis but only for males.

Question 50

Studies of adopted children who were at high-risk for developing schizophrenia found that which of the following appeared to increase the likelihood that these children would show high levels of thought disorders?

A) vague, confusing, and unclear communication
B) divorce
C) permissive parenting
D) physical abuse

Question 51

Lori just found out that she is pregnant. Her husband's fraternal twin has schizophrenia. What is her unborn child's risk of developing schizophrenia?

A) 48%
B) 2%
C) 16%
D) 1%

Question 52

Communication deviance

A) may be an environmental risk factor for the development of schizophrenia.
B) is an early indication of schizophrenia.
C) and disordered speech are the same thing.
D) is not seen in control adoptees.

Question 53

Both of Mary's parents have been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Bob has an identical twin who has schizophrenia. Who is more likely to develop schizophrenia and why?

A) Bob because he has inherited the same susceptibility that his twin is expressing.
B) Mary because females are more susceptible than males to the genetic forms of schizophrenia.
C) Mary because all of her genes come from her parents and they both have the disease.
D) Bob because he is male and has a family history of schizophrenia.

Question 54

Adoption studies are typically used

A) to separate the effects of nature and nurture.
B) to establish the primary role that the environment plays in most disorders.
C) in order to isolate the environmental factors that "trigger" a disorder.
D) to assess the effectiveness of long-term treatment protocols.

Question 55

The finding that prenatal viral exposure, rhesus incompatibility, and early nutritional deficiency are associated with an increased risk of developing schizophrenia indicates that

A) anything that interferes with normal brain development might lead to a greater risk of schizophrenia.
B) the results of twin studies reflect the impact of a shared prenatal environment, not shared genes.
C) environmental factors are more important than genetic factors when it comes to determining who is likely to develop schizophrenia.
D) genes do not play a role in vulnerability to schizophrenia.

Question 56

Adopted children who were high risk for schizophrenia, who were raised in healthy families

A) showed lower risk for schizophrenia than those adopted into dysfunctional families. A good environment may protect people with genetic vulnerabilities from developing schizophrenia.
B) showed the same risk for schizophrenia as those adopted into dysfunctional families. Genes were the most important factor.
C) showed higher risk for schizophrenia than those adopted into dysfunctional families. They had trouble fitting in with the family.
D) showed lower risk for schizophrenia than those adopted into dysfunctional families.The environment causes people to develop schizophrenia, not genes.

Question 57

Most of the evidence suggests that, if schizophrenia is inherited, it

A) involves one or two genes.
B) is due to an abnormality on Chromosome 21.
C) is a sex-linked, recessive condition.
D) involves a multitude of genes that work in concert.

Question 58

The Danish adoption studies have been criticized for

A) only studying males.
B) not confirming the family history of the subjects.
C) not treating the subjects found to have schizophrenia.
D) not assessing the child-rearing environments of the index and control groups.

Question 59

What is the major difference between a diagnosis of undifferentiated schizophrenia and schizophreniform disorder?

A) the duration of symptoms
B) the presence of delusions and hallucinations
C) the age of the person when they develop the disorder
D) the degree of emotional instability and disconnection from other people

Question 60

When adoption studies of schizophrenia contain all the necessary controls and measurements

A) no significant effects are seen.
B) index subjects are more likely to develop schizophrenia than the control subjects.
C) the role of genes is found to be negligible.
D) the environment is found to be a more important determinant of psychological health than family history.

Question 61

One aspect of family environment that has been found to be important in schizophrenia is

A) the level of parental grief over their child's illness.
B) if lots of double-bind communications are used.
C) the level of expressed emotion.
D) if the mother is cold and aloof.

Question 62

People with schizophrenia often show poor performance on tasks like the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task, which is thought to indicate a dysfunction of the

A) temporal lobe.
B) frontal lobe.
C) parietal lobe.
D) occipital lobe.

Question 63

Enlarged brain ventricles seen in people with schizophrenia

A) are rare.
B) are seen in childhood but have typically disappeared by adulthood.
C) are most likely due to medication.
D) continue to enlarge for many years.

Question 64

Ursula has been diagnosed with schizophrenia. If PET scans were done to measure her brain's activity, which area would probably be underactive?

A) the hypothalamus and pituitary
B) the deepest portions of the brain, the medulla and reticular activating system
C) the frontal lobes
D) the visual cortex

Question 65

Based on current research, which statement is most justified?

A) Genetics increase a person's vulnerability to develop schizophrenia.
B) Genetics may not be sufficient for schizophrenia, but everyone who develops schizophrenia must have some number of "schizophrenia genes."
C) Genetics cannot play a significant role in the cause of schizophrenia because most people with the disorder have no close relatives who have it.
D) Genetics play such a strong role that they are a sufficient condition for schizophrenia.

Question 66

Glutamate is an excitatory neurotransmitter that researchers suspect might be involved in schizophrenia because

A) it causes the ventricles to enlarge.
B) it makes dopamine.
C) it is missing in the brains of people with schizophrenia.
D) it can produce schizophrenic-like symptoms in normal subjects.

Question 67

What is the value of research that monitors children at high risk for schizophrenia for a long time?

A) It can separate the impact of genetics from that of subtle neurological impairment.
B) It can identify the factors that improve treatment outcome.
C) It can identify the specific genes responsible for the disorder.
D) It can identify environmental factors that precede breakdown.

Question 68

Studies on neurocognition have found that people with schizophrenia

A) have abnormal neurochemical changes in response to negative thoughts.
B) can't control their thoughts that jump from topic to topic.
C) get too focused on one thing and tune out the rest of the real world.
D) are unable to pay attention on demand and don't habituate to stimuli.

Question 69

Schizophrenia is best described as a

A) genetically influenced polygenic disorder.
B) genetically determined monogenic disorder.
C) genetically determined polygenic disorder.
D) genetically influenced monogenic disorder.

Question 70

A mother constantly demands that her son show her how much she is loved, but when he tries to hug her she yells at him to be more discreet. No matter what the child does, he is wrong. Further, the mother prohibits him from commenting on this paradox. What does this interaction pattern best illustrate?

A) loosening of associations
B) double-bind communication
C) fragmented thinking
D) expressed emotion

Question 71

Which of the following is a brain area that has been shown to be involved in schizophrenia?

A) occipital lobe
B) hippocampus
C) parietal lobe
D) hypothalamus

Question 72

All of the following have been found to lead to an increased risk of developing schizophrenia EXCEPT

A) Rh incompatibility.
B) prenatal alcohol exposure.
C) birth complications.
D) prenatal influenza exposure.

Question 73

Enlarged brain ventricles

A) are seen in all schizophrenics.
B) suggest that there has been a loss of brain tissue.
C) can be used to confirm a diagnosis of schizophreniform disorder.
D) are more commonly seen in the brains of paranoid schizophrenics.

Question 74

Which of the following has been found to be connected with schizophrenia?

A) Abnormal thinking in childhood.
B) An incredible ability to focus intense attention on anything they did as a child.
C) Movement abnormalities in childhood and adolescence.
D) Extreme extroversion and interest in other people.

Question 75

Why might Kraepelin's idea that schizophrenia was similar to dementia not be as far from the truth as previously thought?

A) On autopsy, people with schizophrenia show the same smoothing of the brain as is seen in people with dementia.
B) Evidence suggests that there sometimes are progressive changes in brain volume over time in people with schizophrenia.
C) The same biological treatments work for both disorders.
D) The symptoms of the two disorders overlap tremendously.

Question 76

What are endophenotypes?

A) abnormally shaped cells in the brain
B) neurotransmitters that are slightly different in chemical composition than normal
C) specific chromosomes that are thought to be important in the genetic transmission of schizophrenia
D) measurable traits that are thought to be linked to specific genes that might be important in schizophrenia

Question 77

Based on developmental studies of children who later developed schizophrenia

A) the first signs are usually seen in speech problems.
B) the first signs are usually delusions or hallucinations.
C) the first signs are usually seen in the way children move.
D) it is usually impossible to detect early signs of the disorder.

Question 78

Compared to his nonschizophrenic identical twin, Matthew who is schizophrenic) is more likely to

A) be artistically or musically talented.
B) have been born with physical birth defects.
C) have a higher intelligence level on IQ tests.
D) have been considered "different" or "odd" in childhood.

Question 79

There is a new trend to focus on dopamine receptor sensitivity rather than on dopamine itself because

A) there is only one type of dopamine receptor.
B) there is strong evidence that people with schizophrenia have used too many drugs.
C) there is strong evidence that people with schizophrenia have too much dopamine.
D) there is no strong evidence that people with schizophrenia have too much dopamine.

Question 80

Aberrant salience means that

A) people with schizophrenia often show unusual motor behaviors.
B) enlarged brain ventricles cause people with schizophrenia to be unable to concentrate.
C) dysregulated dopamine can cause people with schizophrenia to pay too much attention to stimuli that are not actually important.
D) a large amount of communication deviance in the family can cause a person with schizophrenia to relapse.