Assessment Flashcards
Barbara is a 65-year-old and recently retired. She is experiencing trouble concentrating and sometimes suffers memory loss and was referred by her physician. Barbara completed the full WAIS-IV and received a Full-Scale IQ of 110. Barbara’s Verbal Comprehension Index was 115 and her Perceptual Reasoning Index was 95. Her Working Memory was 105 and her Processing Speed Index was 85. Briefly summarise her results and suggest the best next step.
A. Barbara’s general cognitive ability, as estimated by the WAIS-IV, is in the High Average range (FSIQ Range 110 to 119). The client’s general verbal comprehension abilities were also in the High Average range (VCI Range 110 to 119). Barbara’s ability to sustain attention, concentrate, and exert mental control is in the Average range (WMI Range 90 to 109) and her ability in processing simple or routine visual material without making errors is in the Low Average range when compared to her peers (PSI Range 80 to 89). Given that Barbara scored Low Average on the PSI subscale, work with Barbara to complete WMS-IV to get a more detailed measure of her global cognitive functioning. Further investigating Barabra’s processing speed capabilities will determine the nature of strengths and deficits in memory to help explain her current inability to retain information.
B. Barbara’s general cognitive ability, as estimated by the WAIS-IV, is in the High Average range (FSIQ Range 110 to 119). The client’s general verbal comprehension abilities were in the High Average range (VCI Range 110 to 119). Barbara’s ability to sustain attention, concentrate, and exert mental control is in the Average range (WMI Range 90 to 109), and her ability in processing simple or routine visual material without making errors is in the Average range when compared to her peers (PSI Range 80 to 89). Given that Barbara performed average or higher on all scales, work with the client to develop strategies that better manage her memory loss.
C. Barbara’s general cognitive ability, as estimated by the WAIS-IV, is in the High Average range (FSIQ Range 110 to 119). The client’s general verbal comprehension abilities were in the High Average range (VCI Range 110 to 119). Barbara’s ability to sustain attention, concentrate, and exert mental control is in the Average range (WMI Range 90 to 109), and her ability in processing simple or routine visual material without making errors is in the Low Average range when compared to her peers (PSI Range 80 to 89). Given that Barbara showed strength in verbal abilities, work with the client to develop these talents.
D. Barbara’s general cognitive ability, as estimated by the WAIS-IV, is in the High Average range (FSIQ Range 110 to 119). The client’s general verbal comprehension abilities were in the High Average range (VCI Range 110 to 119). Barbara’s ability to sustain attention, concentrate, and exert mental control is in the High Average range (WMI Range 90 to 109), and her ability in processing simple or routine visual material without making errors is in the High Average range when compared to her peers (PSI Range 80 to 89). Given that Barbara performed in the High Average across all scales, work with the client to develop a gifted and talented program for her retirement.
E. Barbara’s WAIS-IV results are inconclusive, and the WMS-IV should be administered.
A. is the most appropriate response. The WASI-IV indicate further investigation is required before you can confirm the nature of Barbara’s memory capabilities. Administering the WMS-IV can provide a comprehensive clinical assessment of the client’s memory functioning. Further investigating Barbara’s processing speed capabilities will help to determine the nature of strengths and deficits in memory to help explain her current inability to retain information.
Nathan is a 13-year-old boy, referred for an assessment of his intellectual functioning following concerns of school staff and parents about his low achievement levels that have become more of an issue in his first year of high school. Results of testing using the WISC-IV show Full-Scale IQ in the Very Low Range, with all Index scores within this range. From this information, you can conclude.
A. Nathan has an intellectual disability, unfortunately not identified during his primary school years.
B. Nathan does not have an intellectual disability, as 13 is too late to make this diagnosis.
C. Nathan may have an intellectual disability, but further assessment of academic achievement is needed.
D. Nathan may have an intellectual disability, but further assessment of adaptive behaviour is needed.
E. Nathan has an intellectual disability, and a treatment plan should be drawn up to support him.
D. is the most appropriate response. The results are consistent with a diagnosis of intellectual disability, but adaptive behaviour also needs to be assessed.
At you request, your client Lucy has completed the Sixteen Personality Factors Questionnaire (16PF). As you generate Lucy’s personality profile, you discover that Lucy falls at the 92nd percentile for Impression Management. What would be the most appropriate way to proceed.
A. Re-administer the 16PF to Lucy.
B. Re-test Lucy only on the Impression Management scale of the 16PF.
C. Ask Lucy to complete another measure of personality.
D. Finalise Lucy’s personality profile as her Impression Management Index would not be considered problematic.
E. Finalise Lucy’s personality profile even though her Impression Management Index would be considered problematic, indicating that her primary factor scores are inaccurate.
D. is the most appropriate response. Her Impression Management score does not fall within the ranges considered as potentially problematic (i.e., below the 5th percentile or above the 95th percentile).
Mary is a 10-year-old girl who was referred to you for academic difficulties at school. You administered a WISC-V, and her mother completed the ABAS-3 Parent Form. Mary’s WISC-V Full-Scale IQ (FSIQ) score of 88 falls within the Below Average and her ABAS-3 General Adaptive Composite (GAC) score of 71 falls within the Borderline range.
What would be the next step?
A. Given that her GAC score indicates that Mary’s overall adaptive behaviour is below that of most other children her age, recommend that her school implement a tailored individual support plan for Mary.
B. Recommend that Mary engage in ongoing supportive counselling with a focus on building her adaptive functioning skills and conduct a second ABAS-3 assessment in 6 months.
C. Review Mary’s performance within the Communication, Functional Academics, and Self-Direction skills areas to obtain a more detailed understanding of her unique profile of adaptive functioning and relative strengths and weaknesses. This will pinpoint areas for which Mary may need the most help and inform recommendations for an appropriate intervention stragey.
D. Conclude that Mary’s intellectual functioning is negatively impacting her adaptive behaviour and recommend interventions aimed at improving her cognitive abilities.
E. Request that Mary’s parents arrange a paediatric assessment to rule out medical factors which may account for her academic difficulties.
C. is the most appropriate response. Whilst the GAC provides an estimate of overall adaptive functioning, an examination of the client’s functioning within each of the skill areas highlights relative strengths and weaknesses, which then can inform appropriate recommendations for interventions.
17-year-old Tina is referred to you after concern over increasing conflict with her parents. Recently, she has been irritable, not sleeping well, and truant from school. You administer the Beck Depression Inventory, Second Edition (BDI-II) as part of the clinical assessment. Tina’s responses indicate an overall score for depression in the clinical range.
What is the most appropriate conclusion?
A. Tina meets the criteria for Major Depressive Disorder.
B. Tina’s difficulties are most likely rational.
C. Tina’s results are consistent with, but not sufficient to diagnose, a depressive disorder.
D. Tina requires medication for depression.
E. Tina’s responses should be viewed with caution as the BSDI-II is not appropriate for use with adolescents.
C. is the most appropriate response. Scoring in the clinical range of the BDI-II is consistent with depression, but best practice dictates further collateral be collected from multiple informants across a number of settings (as possible) to inform diagnosis.
A 7-year-old child is referred to you by her GP for treatment of anxiety. Her mother completes the Child Behaviour Checklist, and her teacher completes the Teacher Report Form. Her mother’s responses place the child’s scores on the three Internalising Behaviours scales in the clinical range. However, her teacher’s responses do not indicate any scores are in the clinical range. This means:
A. The child does not have difficulties with anxiety as the teacher has not noticed any issues.
B. The child is likely to have difficulties with anxiety across all situations, but as the items teachers respond to are different to the parents items, the Teacher Report Form just hasn’t asked the right questions to pick up anxiety in the school context.
C. The child is likely to have difficulties with separation anxiety when she is separating from her mother, but once she gets to her classroom, she is no longer anxious.
D. The child is likely to have difficulties with anxiety that her mother notices, but that is not evident to a teacher in the school setting.
E. It is uncertain whether the child has anxiety issues, and further testing is required to provide a comprehensive assessment.
D. is the most appropriate answer. The clinical range on either parent or teacher report forms indicates clinically significant anxiety in at least one context. Behaviour is often similar across contexts but sometimes it can be quite different.
Which of the following provides the best description of the potential use of the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS) and its shorter form the DASS-21?
A. The DASS and DASS-21 are excellent diagnostic tools that can assess the severity of Depression, Anxiety, and Stress-related disorders with great precision.
B. Given that the DASS and DASS-21 have been validated in Australia, they would be valid for use among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.
C. The DASS and DASS-21 have been validated in Australia and may give a practitioner valuable information about the levels of distress in a client.
D. The DASS and DASS-21 can be used with children as young as 7 years of age.
E. All of the above.
C. is the most appropriate response. The DASS and DASS-21 are reliable and valid measures of depression, anxiety, and stress that have been standardised in Australian and Western populations.
In the process of completing an assessment of diagnosis for a 16-year-old client, the referring clinician has requested that you provide a GAF (Global Assessment of Functioning) score in your report to the referring agency. What is the most appropriate action/response?
A. Complete the GAF and include the score alongside other standardised scales and assessed risk (i.e., suicidality from the Core-10 and interview).
B. Complete the GAF clinician-assessed rating as per instructions and report within DSM-IV-TR multiaxial structure.
C. Provide the GAF to the client to self-rate, as it is an easy to read visual rating.
D. Complete the GAF working from the lowest interval range up, to avoid overestimating the client’s global functioning.
E. Politely decline and use the WHODAS 2.0 instead as the functioning and risk assessment measure.
A. is the most appropriate response. Providing a GAF score can be useful in communicating a summary of function domains. However, this should be provided within the context of other standardised scales and assessment to cover the areas of functioning and risk.
A psychologist administered the KAIT (Kaufman Adolescent and Adult Intelligence Test) to identify the cognitive strengths and weaknesses of Katie, who is 17-years-old. She administers the core battery of the KAIT comprising of six subtests and generates the three Intelligence Quotients (Crystallised, Fluid, and Composite). Which subtests are used to compute the Crystallised Intelligence Quotient?
A. Logical Steps, Mystery Codes, and Rebus Learning.
B. Auditory Comprehensions, Definitions, and Double Meanings.
C. Rebus Delayed Recall and Auditory Delayed Recall.
D. Memory for Block Designs and Famous Faces.
E. The Mental Status subtest is a short form of crystallised intelligence.
B. is correct. The three crystallised subtests (Auditory Comprehension, Definitions, and Double Meanings) measure an individual’s vocabulary, factual knowledge, listening comprehension, and ability to solve word problems.
A GP has referred a 40-year-old female client under a Mental Health Care Plan. Her first language is Italian, and she has resided in Australia for 20 years. The client completed the K10 (Kessler Psychological Distress Scale) in English and obtained a score of 41. According to the Mental Health Care Plan, the GP has diagnosed an anxiety disorder.
What is an appropriate interpretation of the K10 score?
A. The client is likely to have a substance use disorder.
B. The K10 score is not valid because English is not the client’s first language.
C. The client is likely to have a mental disorder.
D. The client probably has an affective disorder because this is more likely than an anxiety disorder in this score range.
E. The test score suggests that the client is not experiencing psychological distress.
C. is the most appropriate response. The prevalence of affective and anxiety disorders for this score band in an Australian sample was high, so it is likely that the client could be diagnosed with a mental disorder. A follow-up clinical interview should be used to confirm or disconfirm diagnosis.
Charlie is 12 years old and his parents bring him to see the psychologist because they are unable to cope with his serious violations of home rules. He sneaks out at night without parental permission, and he has run away from home at least twice in the past 6 months. He doesn’t want to go to school and feels no guilt or remorse for his actions. What would be the most appropriate diagnosis?
A. Adjustment Disorder.
B. Antisocial Personality Disorder.
C. Attention-deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.
D. Autism Spectrum Disorder.
E. Conduct Disorder.
E. is the most appropriate response. Conduct disorder is a repeated pattern of persistent behaviour that is characterised by a disregard for the rights of others or major violation of age-appropriate social rules and norms. At least three symptoms must have been present in the past 12 months, with at least one occurring in the past 6 months. Charlie’s behaviour shows a serious violation of rules, including staying out at night against his parents’ rules before age 13, running away from home at least twice, and often skipping school prior to age 13.
Simone had her first panic attack 1 year ago. She was at a dress rehearsal and about to perform on stage when, suddenly, she felt an intense wave of fear. The stage started spinning and she felt like she was going to throw up. Her whole body started shaking, she found it difficult to breathe, and her heart was thumping out of her chest. She sat down on the stage until the episode passed, but ut left her feeling number and deeply shaken. Simone has been unable to perform on stage since this first episode. Simone had another panick attack 1 month later, and since then, they’ve been occuring reguarly, almost monthly. She’s afraid to go out in public becasue she doesn’t know when she’ll next suffer a panic attack. She refuses to perform again, and her friends and family are concerned for her well-being. The psychologist has diagnosed Simone with panic disorder. Which of the following statements does not support this diagnosis?
A. Simone experiences frequently, unexpected panic attacks.
B. Simone has had at least one attack followed by at least 1 month of worry about additional panic attacks.
C. Simone does not go out in public to avoid future panic attacks.
D. Simone is unsure why she experienced stage fright and began taking medication to help control the intense fear she experiences when on stage.
E. None of the above.
D. does not support the diagnosis of a panic disorder. It is important to determine the history of her medication and whether or not the panic can be attributed to the effects of drugs and/or another medical condition.
Diagnosing an individual with a mental disorder involves identifying the presenting symptoms and/or characteristics of behaviour in the client and ruling out other mental health disorders and determining that symptoms aren’t due to another explanation. The diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia do not include which of the following?
A. Presenting with one or more positive symptoms (delusions, hallucinations, or disorganised speech) along with disorganised or catatonic behaviour and/or negative symptoms (e.g., reduced emotional expression) that have been present a significant amount of time during a 1-month period (unless successfully treated).
B. Showing lower-than-previous levels of functioning in one or more areas for a significant portion of the time since onset of the behaviour.
C. Presenting with signs the disturbance has persisted for at least 6 months.
D. Showing a significant decrease in the ability to work, attend school, or perform normal daily tasks most of the time.
E. Ruling out that the disturbance was not due to substances, medication or a medical condition.
D. is correct. Although people with schizophrenia might show significant decrease in the ability to work, attend school, or perform normal daily tasks, most of the time, this is not the central feature of the clinical diagnosis.
In order to assist you in diagnosing and deciding what the most suitable treatment for your client is, you have administered the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2).
Which of the following statements regarding your administration of the MMPI-2 is the most correct?
A. Administering the MMPI-2 to assist in diagnosing and selecting appropriate treatments is appropriate.
B. Administering the MMPI-2 to assist in diagnosing and selecting appropriate treatments is appropriate for personality disorder.
C. It was inappropriate to administer the MMPI-2 for these reasons as the MMPI-2 should only be utilised to assist in making the diagnosis, not for informing the appropriate treatment method.
D. It is inappropriate to administer the MMPI-2 for these reasons as the MMPI-2 should only be utilised to assist in informing the appropriate treatment method, not making the diagnosis.
E. inappropriate to administer the MMPI-2 for these reasons as the MMPI-2 does not measure psychopathology.
A. is the most appropriate answer. The MMPI-2 is typically used to assist with the diagnosis and the selection of treatments.
Your client John has recently completed the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R) and has received average scores for each of the domains, excluding Neuroticism. For this domain, John received a score which was classified as very high. As a result, which of the following statements would be most accurate?
A. John’s very high classification on the Neuroticism domain indicates the presence of a diagnosable psychopathology.
B. John’s very high classification on the Neuroticism scale indicates the presence of an anxiety and/or depressive disorder; however, a diagnosis cannot be made unless each facet score is examined.
C. The NEO PI-R is not a measure of psychopathology or a diagnostic tool, and therefore it would not be used in a clinical setting.
D. The NEO PI-R is not a measure of psychopathology or a diagnostic tool, and therefore it would be inappropriate to conclude the presence of psychopathology based on his score.
E. Results on the NEO PI-R cannot be interpreted unless a person who is well acquainted with John completes the Rater (R) Form.
D. This statement is the most accurate as the NEO PI-R is not a measure of psychopathology or a diagnostic tool and therefore it would be inappropriate to conclude the presence on psychopathology based on his score.
