Measures of Personality, Clinical Assessment Flashcards
Question ID #10278: All of the following are clinical scales on the MMPI-2 EXCEPT:
Select one:
A.
social extroversion.
B.
hypochondriasis.
C.
paranoia.
D.
hypomania.
The correct answer is A.
Scale 0 (social introversion) assesses the social introversion-extroversion dimension of the MMPI-2, with high scores reflecting social withdrawal.
Answer B: Scale 1 (hypochondriasis) assesses a wide variety of vague and nonspecific concerns about bodily functioning. This scale is designed to measure neurotic concern regarding bodily functions.
Answer C: Scale 6 (paranoia) measures interpersonal sensitivity, moral self-righteousness, and suspiciousness.
Answer D: Scale 9 (hypomania) assesses the milder degrees of manic excitement, characterized by an elated but unstable mood, psychomotor excitement, and flight of ideas.
Question ID #11963: Tests requiring the learning and recall of word lists are sensitive to episodic memory impairment in early Alzheimer’s disease and include all of the following EXCEPT:
Select one:
A.
California Verbal Learning Test-Second Edition (CVLT-II).
B.
Mini-Mental Status Examination (MMSE).
C.
Hopkins Verbal Learning Test (HVLT).
D.
Buschke Selective Reminding Test (SRT).
The correct answer is B.
The MMSE is a test of cognitive function among older adults that includes tests of orientation, attention, memory, and language.
Answer A: The CVLT-II is a neuropsychological assessment of verbal learning and memory deficits. It measures episodic verbal learning and memory.
Answer C: The HVLT is a word-learning test measuring episodic verbal memory.
Answer D: The Buschke Selective Reminding Test (SRT) measures verbal learning and memory during a multiple-trial list learning task, which allows for analysis of encoding, storage, and retrieval data.
Question ID #12318: Which of the following is a youth inventory (self-report) designed for fourth through twelfth graders that assesses emotional and behavioral adjustment, family interaction, neurocognition, and attention-related academic functioning?
Select one:
A.
Student Behavior Survey (SBS)
B.
Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI)
C.
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent (MMPI-A)
D.
Personality Inventory for Youth (PIY)
The correct answer is D.
The PIY is a self-report measure for individuals aged 9–19 years that assesses emotional and behavioral adjustment, family interaction, and neurocognitive and attention-related academic functioning.
Answer A: The SBS is a comprehensive evaluation of student behavior given to teachers, reflecting academic achievement, adjustment problems, and behavioral assets for those in kindergarten through grade twelve.
Answer B: The PAI is an adult personality self-report inventory that provides information relevant for clinical diagnosis, treatment planning, and screening for psychopathology.
Answer C: The MMPI-A is designed to measure the characteristics of personality and psychopathology among adolescents.
Question ID #12322: ____________ refers to how intact an individual’s physical sensory processes are to receiving and integrating information.
Select one:
A.
Orientation
B.
Sensorium
C.
Perception
D.
Language
The correct answer is B.
Sensorium might refer to hearing, smell, vision, and touch and might range from being clouded to clear. It can also refer to the individual’s level of consciousness, which may vary from hyperarousal and excitement to drowsiness and confusion.
Answer A: Orientation is the ability of individuals to be oriented to person, place, and time (current and past events). Disorientation is most consistent with organic conditions.
Answer C: Perception is diagnostically important to note, specifically with regard to delusions or hallucinations. The presence of auditory hallucinations is most characteristic of those with schizophrenia, whereas vivid visual hallucinations are more characteristic of persons with organic brain syndromes.
Answer D: Language relates to the words used, including having difficulty with word-finding, using complex and appropriate vocabulary, or misusing words often.
Question ID #12323: Computer-assisted administration and interpretation in neuropsychology have developed mainly in large organizational contexts and focuses on specialized problems. Specifically, ____________ has been used in the selection of airline pilots to quickly assess deficits or changes in attention, immediate- and short-term memory, visual perceptual functions, sequencing functions, logical problem-solving, calculation skills, reaction time, simultaneous information processing abilities, and executive functions.
Select one:
A.
Unified Tri-service Cognitive Performance Assessment Battery (UTC-PAB)
B.
Neurobehavioral Evaluation System (NES)
C.
CogScreen
D.
Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Batteries (CANTAB)
The correct answer is C.
CogScreen was designed to meet the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) need for an instrument that could detect subtle changes in cognitive functioning. This neurocognitive test battery is used for medical recertification evaluation of pilots with known or suspected neurological and/or psychiatric conditions.
Answer A: The UTC-PAB is an evaluation of cognitive performance in the chemical defense biomedical drug screening program. Information processing, decision making, perception, and mental workload capacity are among the processes and abilities assessed with the battery.
Answer B: The NES includes over a dozen neurobehavioral tests of psychomotor speed and control, perpetual speed, learning, attention, and affect. This battery is sensitive to the impact of environmental toxins.
Answer D: The CANTAB includes sensitive, precise, and objective measures of cognitive function, correlated to neural networks. This battery of tests detects and locates brain damage, including early signs of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s diseases.
Question ID #12330: The ____________ is sometimes used as a diagnostic tool for dementia and as a quantitative measure of cognitive impairment useful in monitoring change.
Select one:
A.
Mini-Cog
B.
Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination (ACE)
C.
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale - Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV)
D.
Mini-Mental Status Exam 2 (MMSE-2)
The correct answer is D.
The MMSE-2 expanded version is a useful test of cognitive function among older adults that includes tests of orientation, attention, memory, and language. It is the most commonly used measure for complaints of problems with memory and other mental abilities.
Answer A: The Mini-Cog is a 3-minute test that is used to detect cognitive impairment in older adults. It consists of a 3-item recall test for memory and a scored clock drawing test.
Answer B: The ACE was developed to differentiate Alzheimer’s disease from frontotemporal dementia and to detect the early stages of these dementias.
Answer C: The WAIS-IV is a measure of intelligence and cognitive ability in adults and older adolescents.
Question ID #12331: A large number of tests are available for the early detection and diagnosis of dementia. Which of the following is widely used to measure behavioral disturbances experienced in those with dementia?
Select one:
A.
Mini-Cog
B.
Severe Impairment Battery (SIB)
C.
Brief Cognitive Status Exam (BCSE)
D.
The Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI)
The correct answer is D.
The Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) was developed to assess dementia-related behavioral symptoms, which other assessments did not sufficiently address. Domains addressed include delusions, hallucinations, agitation/aggression, dysphoria, anxiety, euphoria, apathy, disinhibition, irritability/lability, aberrant motor activity, nighttime behavioral disturbances, and appetite/eating abnormalities.
Answer A: The Mini-Cog is a brief test of cognition used to determine if an individual may be in the early stage of Alzheimer’s disease or related dementia. It includes a three-word recall and the Clock Drawing Test.
Answer B: The SIB was developed for individuals who are too impaired to complete standard neuropsychological tests and is appropriate for adults age 51 to 91 years old.
Answer C: The BCSE helps evaluate global cognitive functioning in patients with dementia, mild mental retardation, traumatic brain injuries, or suspected Alzheimer’s disease.
Question ID #12332: The Stroop Color-Word Association Test is sensitive to damage in which area of the brain?
Select one:
A.
Temporal lobe
B.
Parietal lobe
C.
Frontal lobe
D.
Cerebellum
The correct answer is C.
The Stroop measures cognitive flexibility, selective attention, and response inhibition. This test is, therefore, sensitive to frontal lobe damage, and poor performance has been associated with ADHD, mania, depression, and schizophrenia.
Answer A: The temporal lobe is responsible for creating and preserving both conscious and long-term memory. Therefore, it is not sensitive to this test.
Answer B: The parietal lobe processes sensory information it receives from the outside world, mainly relating to touch, taste, and temperature. This area of the brain would not be sensitive to the Stroop.
Answer D: The cerebellum is responsible for coordinating voluntary movements, balance, coordination, and posture. This area of the brain would not be tested using the Stroop test.
Question ID #12333: Which type of responses on the Rorschach Inkblot Test suggests brain damage, emotional disturbance, or intellectual disability?
Select one:
A.
White space responses
B.
Color responses
C.
Whole responses
D.
Confabulation
The correct answer is D.
Confabulation on the Rorschach Inkblot Test is overgeneralizing a part of the inkblot to the whole. When individuals do this, it suggests brain damage, emotional disturbance, or an intellectual disability.
Answer A: The use of white spaces suggests oppositional tendencies.
Answer B: When an individual gives many color responses, it indicates emotionality and impulsivity.
Answer C: A large number of whole responses suggests integrated, organized thinking.
Question ID #12334: ____________ tests are applied to assess the failure of inhibitory responses, or stimulus-boundedness—for example, asking a patient to tap twice in response to a single tap given by the examiner.
Select one:
A.
Clock drawing
B.
Go-No-Go
C.
Western Aphasia Battery
D.
Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination
The correct answer is B.
Go-No-Go tests measure response inhibition. For these tests, individuals respond to certain stimuli (“go” stimuli) and make no response for others (“no-go” stimuli). The dependent measure in Go-No-Go tests is the commission error rate (making a “go” response on “no-go” trials); fewer errors signify better response inhibition.
Answer A: The clock drawing test is a tool used to screen for signs of neurological problems, such as cognitive impairment and dementia. Placement of the numbers around the circle requires visual-spatial, numerical sequencing, and planning abilities.
Answer C: The Western Aphasia Battery assesses linguistic skills most frequently affected by aphasia as well as nonlinguistic skills, and provides differential diagnosis information for individuals ages 18 to 89 years.
Answer D: Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination is a screening test composed of tests of attention, orientation, memory, and language, as well as visual perceptual and visuospatial skills. It is useful in the detection of cognitive impairment, particularly Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal dementia.
Question ID #12335: Which of the following scales on the MMPI-2 is a measure of consistency in responding and consists of paired items that would be expected to be answered in the same direction?
Select one:
A.
True Response Inconsistency (TRIN)
B.
Variable Response Inconsistency (VRIN)
C.
F Back (Fb)
D.
Infrequency-Pathology (Fp)
The correct answer is B.
An elevated score on the VRIN scale suggests an invalid profile. This scale is a measure of consistency in responding and consists of paired items that would be expected to be answered in the same direction.
Answer A: The TRIN scale consists of paired items that are the opposite of each other. It provides an additional measure of consistency in responding and is interpreted in the same way as the TRIN scale.
Answer C: The Fb scale is used to identify an attempt to “fake bad” on the last 197 items of the test and is interpreted similarly to the F scale.
Answer D: The Fp scale consists of items that were infrequently endorsed by psychiatric patients, and a high score indicates an attempt to “fake bad” even if the examinee is a psychiatric patient.
Question ID #12336: The assumption that ambiguous and unstructured stimuli can elicit meaningful information about an examinee’s personality and underlying conflicts is termed:
Select one:
A.
projective hypothesis.
B.
free association.
C.
confabulation.
D.
logical content method.
The correct answer is A.
Projective hypothesis refers to the notion that when confronted with ambiguous and unstructured stimuli, the responses elicited by a person reflect one’s unconscious needs, feelings, anxieties, motives, thoughts, conflicts, and prior behavioral conditioning.
Answer B: Free association is the expression of consciousness without censorship as an aid in gaining access to unconscious processes.
Answer C: Confabulation is a type of memory error in which gaps in an individual’s memory are unconsciously filled with fabricated, misinterpreted, or distorted information.
Answer D: The logical content method refers to test items that are derived based on reason and deductive logic, which may or may not be guided by a theory of personality.
Question ID #12338: The ____________ assesses the ability to form abstract concepts and shift cognitive strategies in response to feedback.
Select one:
A.
Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM)
B.
Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Battery (HRNB)
C.
Wisconsin Card Sorting Test
D.
Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales - 3rd Edition (Vineland-3)
The correct answer is C.
The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) is for individuals ages 6:6 to 80:11 and is used to assess the ability to form abstract concepts and shift cognitive strategies in response to feedback. The WCST is sensitive to frontal lobe damage, and impaired performance has been linked to alcoholism, autism, schizophrenia, depression, and malingering.
Answer A: The TOMM is a visual recognition test designed to help distinguish malingering from genuine memory impairments in individuals age 16 to 84.
Answer B: The HRNB is a battery of neuropsychological tests designed to evaluate the functioning of the brain and nervous system in individuals aged 15 years and older.
Answer D: The Vineland-3 is a standardized assessment tool that utilizes a semi-structured interview to measure adaptive behavior and support the diagnosis of intellectual and developmental disabilities, autism, and developmental delays.
Question ID #12339: The ____________ describes psychopathy as a constellation of interpersonal, affective, and behavioral characteristics.
Select one:
A.
Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI)
B.
Psychopathy Checklist-Revised
C.
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2)
D.
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
The correct answer is B.
The PCL-R is a diagnostic tool that measures psychopathic and antisocial behaviors. It is used for legal, clinical, and research purposes as an indicator of potential risks posed by subjects or prisoners.
Answer A: The PAI is an objective personality assessment that provides information relevant for clinical diagnosis, treatment planning, and screening for psychopathology.
Answer C: The MMPI-2 is a personality inventory that has broad applications across a range of mental health, medical, substance abuse, forensic, and personnel screening settings as a measure of psychological maladjustment.
Answer D: The TAT is a projective measure for the assessment of children and adults. It is designed to reveal an individual’s perception of interpersonal relationships.
Question ID #12340: Common validity scale configurations on the MMPI-2 seen in clinical settings are determined using the L, F, and K scales. Which of the following configurations is characteristic of clients that admit to personal and emotional difficulties, request assistance with their problems, and are unsure of their own capabilities for dealing with their problems?
Select one:
A.
The L scale and the K scale are elevated above a T score of at least 60, and the F scale is below a T score of 50.
B.
The L scale is less than the F scale, and the F scale is less than the K scale.
C.
The L scale is greater than the F scale, which is greater than the K scale.
D.
The L scale and the K scale are below a T score of 50, and the F scale is at or above a T score of 65.
The correct answer is D.
The validity scale configuration where the L scale and the K scale are below a T score of 50 and the F scale is at or above a T score of 65 is the most frequently encountered array in clinical settings. Clients with this configuration are admitting to personal and emotional difficulties, are requesting assistance, and are unsure of their resources to deal with these problems. Under most conditions, this configuration is most desirable for any form of psychological intervention or treatment.
Answer A: For the validity scale configuration where the L scale and the K scale are elevated above a T score of at least 60 and the F scale is below a T score of 50, clients are attempting to avoid or deny unacceptable feelings, impulses, and problems. That is, they are trying to present themself in the best possible light. These clients may tend to be simplistic and view the world in terms of extreme goods or bad.
Answer B: The configuration where the L scale is less than the F scale and the F scale is less than the K scale is typical of an individual who has the appropriate resources for dealing with problems and who is not experiencing any stress or conflict at present.
Answer C: In this configuration, the L scale is greater than the F scale, which is greater than the K scale. The clients who produce this type of validity configuration are likely to be naive and unsophisticated but answer questions in an attempt to “look good.”
