AP Psychology Unit 5 Practice Test
Twelve original multiple-choice questions on Mental and Physical Health — stress, psychological disorders, and treatment — with instant scoring and an explanation for every answer.
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All 12 questions focus on Unit 5: Mental & Physical Health — shuffled every run.
Pick an answer to see instantly whether you're right and why, then move on. Your score comes at the end.
Question text
What These Unit 5 Questions Cover
Three clusters, matching how the unit is taught: stress and coping (Selye's alarm–resistance–exhaustion sequence, problem-focused vs. emotion-focused coping), disorders and classification (what the DSM is for, OCD, panic disorder vs. generalized anxiety, the two-week criterion for major depressive disorder, positive symptoms of schizophrenia), and treatment and models (CBT, systematic desensitization, SSRIs, and the biopsychosocial and diathesis-stress models).
The Unit 5 study guide walks through each cluster if you want to review before another attempt.
How Unit 5 Shows Up on the Real Exam
Expect discrimination questions: symptom descriptions where you choose between two similar diagnoses (panic vs. generalized anxiety), or a therapy description where you name the approach. The models matter too — knowing why the diathesis-stress model explains twin differences is exactly the kind of reasoning the exam rewards. Keep it educational: the goal is classification vocabulary, not diagnosing anyone.
Unit 5 Practice Test — FAQ
What does this Unit 5 practice test cover?
Stress and coping, disorders and the DSM, treatments, and the models psychologists use to explain disorders.
Is Unit 5 about diagnosing people?
No — it's an educational overview of classification and treatment vocabulary. No quiz, including this one, can diagnose anyone.
All 12 Practice Questions with Answers
Prefer to review instead of quiz? Every question in this set is below — open one to reveal the answer and the reasoning. (The interactive version above shuffles both questions and answer positions, so reading this list first won't spoil a retake.)
1. Persistent intrusive thoughts paired with repetitive behaviors that reduce anxiety characterize:
- Generalized anxiety disorder
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder ✓
- Major depressive disorder
- Bipolar disorder
Why: Obsessions (intrusive thoughts) plus compulsions (repetitive acts that relieve the anxiety) define OCD.
2. The DSM is primarily used to:
- Prescribe medication doses
- Classify and diagnose psychological disorders ✓
- Measure intelligence
- Rank therapy effectiveness
Why: The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders provides standardized criteria for classifying and diagnosing disorders.
3. A therapy that focuses on identifying and changing maladaptive thought patterns is:
- Psychoanalysis
- Cognitive therapy ✓
- Humanistic therapy
- Biomedical therapy
Why: Cognitive therapy targets distorted thinking; combined with behavior techniques it becomes cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT).
4. Hallucinations and delusions are considered which type of schizophrenia symptom?
- Negative symptoms
- Positive symptoms ✓
- Cognitive symptoms
- Prodromal symptoms
Why: Positive symptoms are added experiences (hallucinations, delusions). Negative symptoms are absences, like flat affect or withdrawal.
5. Selye's general adaptation syndrome describes stress in which order of stages?
- Resistance, alarm, exhaustion
- Alarm, resistance, exhaustion ✓
- Exhaustion, alarm, resistance
- Alarm, exhaustion, resistance
Why: The GAS proceeds from alarm (initial arousal) to resistance (sustained coping) to exhaustion (depleted resources).
6. SSRIs, a common class of antidepressants, work mainly by increasing the availability of:
- Dopamine
- Acetylcholine
- Serotonin ✓
- GABA
Why: Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors block reuptake of serotonin, leaving more available in the synapse.
7. Recurring, unexpected episodes of intense fear with racing heart and shortness of breath most likely indicate:
- Generalized anxiety disorder
- Panic disorder ✓
- A specific phobia
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Why: Panic disorder involves sudden, intense panic attacks; generalized anxiety disorder is continuous, free-floating worry without discrete attacks.
8. Gradually confronting a feared stimulus while staying relaxed, from least to most frightening, describes:
- Systematic desensitization ✓
- Free association
- Aversion therapy
- Electroconvulsive therapy
Why: Systematic desensitization is a classical-conditioning-based exposure therapy pairing relaxation with a fear hierarchy.
9. Making a study schedule to deal with exam stress, rather than just venting feelings, is an example of:
- Emotion-focused coping
- Problem-focused coping ✓
- Learned helplessness
- Catastrophizing
Why: Problem-focused coping tackles the stressor itself; emotion-focused coping manages the feelings around it.
10. A diagnosis of major depressive disorder requires depressed mood or loss of interest lasting at least:
- Two days
- Two weeks ✓
- Six months
- Two years
Why: DSM criteria require symptoms most of the day, nearly every day, for at least two weeks, plus several accompanying symptoms.
11. Explaining a disorder as the product of genes, thought patterns, and cultural stressors together reflects the:
- Medical model
- Psychoanalytic model
- Biopsychosocial model ✓
- Humanistic model
Why: The biopsychosocial model integrates biological, psychological, and social-cultural influences rather than picking one cause.
12. The diathesis-stress model proposes that psychological disorders develop when:
- Stress alone is severe enough
- A genetic predisposition combines with environmental stress ✓
- Predisposition guarantees the disorder regardless of environment
- Disorders are purely learned
Why: A diathesis (vulnerability) plus triggering stress produces the disorder — explaining why identical twins don't always share diagnoses.
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Written and fact-checked by the AppsychologyLab Editorial Team against College Board materials. Last reviewed 2026-08-26. How we verify.