AP Psychology: Categories of Psychological Disorders (Part 1) (Drill 28)

Question 1. For about eight months, Marisol has felt persistently on edge most days. She has trouble concentrating at work, her muscles ache from tension, and she wakes up in the middle of the night without a clear reason. When her friends ask what is wrong, she says she does not know; she worries about her kids, her finances, her job, her health, and things she cannot even name. Which category of psychological disorder best fits Marisol's presentation?

• A) Panic disorder
• B) Generalized anxiety disorder ✓
• C) Major depressive disorder in the situation described
• D) Illness anxiety disorder

Explanation: Marisol's presentation, persistent, uncontrollable worry across many areas of life, lasting well over six months, with restlessness, concentration problems, muscle tension, and sleep disturbance, best fits the profile of generalized anxiety disorder as covered in AP Psychology. (A) is wrong because panic disorder is defined by sudden, discrete panic attacks that peak within minutes; Marisol's distress is chronic and diffuse, not episodic. (D) is the true-but-irrelevant distractor: illness anxiety disorder is a real disorder category, but it specifically involves preoccupation with having or acquiring a serious illness, which is not what the stem describes. Major depressive disorder would require core features like depressed mood or anhedonia lasting at least two weeks, which are not the focus here. [Practice 1]

Question 2. A researcher is studying whether a new cognitive training app reduces symptom severity in adults who have been diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Participants are randomly assigned to either the app group or a waitlist control group. After twelve weeks, symptom severity is measured using a standardized OCD symptom rating scale. Which of the following is the dependent variable?

• A) Whether participants were assigned to the app or the waitlist
• B) The length of the study period
• C) Symptom severity scores at twelve weeks ✓
• D) Whether participants had been previously diagnosed with OCD

Explanation: The dependent variable is what the researcher measures to see whether the manipulation had an effect, here, the symptom severity scores at the end of the study. (A) is the independent variable, not the dependent variable; this is the classic reversal students make. (D) is the true-but-irrelevant distractor: prior OCD diagnosis is genuinely relevant because it is a participant selection criterion, but it is neither manipulated nor measured as an outcome, so it is not the dependent variable. (B) is a constant across both conditions, not a variable at all. [Practice 2]

Question 3. Two years after returning from deployment, a veteran finds that certain sounds, a car backfiring, a door slamming, make his heart race and cause him to scan the room for threats. He avoids crowded places, has difficulty sleeping, and reports emotionally numb patches where he cannot feel close to his family. Which category of psychological disorder best fits this clinical picture?

• A) Generalized anxiety disorder in the case described here
• B) Adjustment disorder
• C) Posttraumatic stress disorder ✓
• D) Specific phobia

Explanation: The veteran's presentation, intrusive reactivity to trauma-linked cues, hyperarousal, avoidance, and emotional numbing persisting well beyond a month after a traumatic event, best fits posttraumatic stress disorder as described in AP Psychology. (A) is wrong because generalized anxiety disorder centers on diffuse, future-oriented worry across many domains, not trauma-triggered reactivity tied to specific cues. (D) is the true-but-irrelevant distractor: loud sounds can indeed trigger specific phobias, but specific phobia involves a circumscribed fear of a particular object or situation, not a trauma-response syndrome with avoidance, numbing, and hyperarousal. Adjustment disorder typically resolves within six months of a stressor and lacks the re-experiencing and hyperarousal features described. [Practice 1]

Question 4. A clinical psychologist tracks a patient's mood across two years. The chart below summarizes the pattern (each row is roughly a three-month interval):

Interval	Dominant mood state	Key features reported
1	Depressed	Low energy, hopelessness, oversleeping
2	Elevated (~2 weeks, then depressed again)	Little need for sleep, rapid speech, grandiose plans, impulsive spending that caused serious financial and work problems
3	Depressed	Anhedonia, fatigue
4	Elevated (~10 days, then depressed again)	Sleeping 2–3 hrs and feeling rested, racing thoughts, reckless driving leading to a brief hospitalization
5	Depressed	Low mood, poor concentration

Which category of psychological disorder does this pattern most clearly indicate?

• A) Major depressive disorder with anxious distress
• B) Persistent depressive disorder (dysthymia)
• C) Cyclothymic disorder
• D) Bipolar I disorder ✓

Explanation: The data show distinct depressive periods alternating with full manic episodes, elevated mood, sharply decreased need for sleep, pressured speech, grandiosity, and reckless behavior severe enough to disrupt daily functioning and require hospitalization. That level of impairment is the defining mark of mania (rather than hypomania) and points to bipolar I disorder as covered in AP Psychology. (A) is wrong because major depressive disorder, even with anxious distress, does not include manic episodes; the elevated intervals rule it out. (C) is the true-but-irrelevant distractor: cyclothymic disorder does involve fluctuating mood over at least two years, but its elevated and depressive symptoms are subthreshold and do not cause this level of impairment, the severe consequences in Intervals 2 and 4 go well beyond hypomania. Persistent depressive disorder lacks any elevated phase. [Practice 3]

Question 5. A student reading about the biological bases of emotion learns that the amygdala plays a central role in detecting threat and triggering fear responses. Which of the following findings would most directly support the idea that the amygdala is involved in anxiety-related disorders?

• A) Research shows greater amygdala activation in people with PTSD than in people without PTSD when they are shown trauma-related images ✓
• B) Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are often prescribed for generalized anxiety disorder
• C) People with specific phobias typically develop their fears in childhood or adolescence
• D) Cognitive-behavioral therapy is an evidence-based treatment for OCD

Explanation: The strongest support for an amygdala-anxiety link is direct evidence that the amygdala behaves differently in people with an anxiety-related disorder, greater activation in PTSD patients shown trauma-related images connects the structure's known fear-detection function to the disorder's symptoms. (B) is the true-but-irrelevant distractor: SSRIs are genuinely used for anxiety, but their effectiveness is evidence about serotonin, not about the amygdala specifically. (C) describes when phobias develop, which is true but does not point to any particular brain structure. (D) concerns treatment effectiveness, not the brain. This question draws on Unit 1 content (biological bases of behavior) to support a Unit 5 claim about disorders. [Practice 3]