Identity, personality and psychological disorders sample question 2

Inhibiting acetylcholinesterase so acetylcholine lasts longer in the synapse

Identity, personality and psychological disorders sample question 3

A gap between her actual self and her ought self, which is linked to guilt and agitation

Identity, personality and psychological disorders sample question 4

Bipolar disorder, treated with a mood stabiliser such as lithium

Identity, personality and psychological disorders sample question 5

His scheme may undervalue an ethic of care by treating justice-based reasoning as more advanced than reasoning about relationships.

MCAT · Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior · Psychology

Identity, personality and psychological disorders

Identity, personality and psychological disorders is part of Psychology in the MCAT Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior section. The questions below are written in the style of the real test, each with the answer and a worked explanation.

Question types you will see here include erikson and Kohlberg stage matching, personality theory recognition, twin and adoption data and disorder category recognition.

Common traps: confusing Erikson crises with Kohlberg levels; judging the level by the act rather than the reasoning; placing identity versus role confusion in adulthood.

Sample questions

Question 1
A 16-year-old experiments with different friend groups, styles of dress, and political views while trying to decide what she values. According to Erikson, she is working through which psychosocial stage?
- A.
  Intimacy versus isolation
- B.
  Autonomy versus shame and doubt
- C.
  Identity versus role confusion
- D.
  Industry versus inferiority
Answer: C. Identity versus role confusion
Erikson placed identity versus role confusion in adolescence, when individuals explore roles and values to form a coherent sense of self. Intimacy versus isolation follows in young adulthood and centers on forming close relationships rather than defining the self.
Question 2
A 74-year-old man in Lisbon has progressive memory loss. Autopsy-type findings in such patients include amyloid plaques, neurofibrillary tangles and loss of cholinergic neurons in the hippocampus. Which drug action is aimed at the cholinergic deficit?
- A.
  Blocking D2 dopamine receptors to reduce psychotic symptoms such as hallucinations
- B.
  Blocking serotonin reuptake to relieve low mood and anxiety
- C.
  Replacing lost neurons directly with an injected neurotransmitter
- D.
  Inhibiting acetylcholinesterase so acetylcholine lasts longer in the synapse
Answer: D. Inhibiting acetylcholinesterase so acetylcholine lasts longer in the synapse
Memory loss in Alzheimer's disease is linked to cholinergic loss, so acetylcholinesterase inhibitors raise synaptic acetylcholine (D). D2 blockade (A) treats psychosis, serotonin reuptake blockade (B) treats depression, and injected neurotransmitter (C) cannot replace neurons.
Question 3
A student of nursing feels she must finish the degree to meet her family's expectations, though she wishes to be a painter. She reports guilt and agitation. According to self-discrepancy theory, which gap best explains these feelings?
- A.
  A gap between her actual self and her ideal self, which is linked mainly to dejection and disappointment
- B.
  The looking-glass self, in which her self-concept is shaped by how she imagines others see her
- C.
  A gap between her actual self and her ought self, which is linked to guilt and agitation
- D.
  Identity diffusion, in which she has neither explored alternatives nor committed to any identity
Answer: C. A gap between her actual self and her ought self, which is linked to guilt and agitation
Guilt and agitation about failing duties and others' expectations come from an actual-versus-ought discrepancy (C). A is the ideal-self gap, linked to sadness, B describes how the self-concept forms rather than a discrepancy, and D does not fit, since she has a clear commitment and a clear alternative.
Question 4
A man sleeps about three hours a night for a week, feels unusually energetic and confident, talks rapidly and spends his savings on impulsive purchases. Two years earlier he had two months of low mood and loss of interest. Which diagnosis and treatment pairing is most appropriate?
- A.
  Major depressive disorder, treated with an SSRI alone
- B.
  Generalised anxiety disorder, treated with a benzodiazepine
- C.
  Bipolar disorder, treated with a mood stabiliser such as lithium
- D.
  Persistent depressive disorder, treated with psychotherapy alone
Answer: C. Bipolar disorder, treated with a mood stabiliser such as lithium
C fits: a manic episode and an earlier depressive episode indicate bipolar disorder, for which lithium is a mood stabiliser. A ignores the manic week and an SSRI alone can worsen mania. B does not explain reduced sleep and elevated mood. D lacks any elevated-mood episode.
Question 5
A researcher notes that many girls resolve a moral dilemma by reasoning about preserving relationships and caring for those affected, and that Kohlberg's scoring rates such reasoning as less advanced than reasoning about abstract justice. Which criticism of Kohlberg does this illustrate?
- A.
  His scheme may undervalue an ethic of care by treating justice-based reasoning as more advanced than reasoning about relationships.
- B.
  His stages do not always occur in a fixed order across cultures.
- C.
  Moral reasoning often fails to predict moral behaviour.
- D.
  Postconventional reasoning is more common in women than in men.
Answer: A. His scheme may undervalue an ethic of care by treating justice-based reasoning as more advanced than reasoning about relationships.
The point is that justice-centred scoring ranks relational reasoning lower, which is Gilligan's care-perspective criticism: A. B and C are real criticisms but do not address how relational reasoning is scored; D is an unsupported claim that contradicts the described scoring.

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