EPPP Practice Questions: Psychological Assessment Flashcards
When administering a measure of cognitive ability, “testing the limits” is done:
a. prior to administering the test.
b. prior to administering each subtest.
c. after using standardized procedures to administer the entire test.
d. whenever it seems appropriate to do so.
c. after using standardized procedures to administer the entire test.
Testing the limits is done to obtain additional qualitative information about an examinee (e.g.,
how the examinee derived his/her responses). It is done after the test has been administered
using standardized procedures.
The results of the Seattle Longitudinal Study suggested that:
a. many of the negative effects of increasing age on intelligence found in previous
research were actually due to confounding factors.
b. many of the negative effects of increasing age on intelligence found in previous
research were the result of age-related biases in IQ tests.
c. longitudinal studies are more likely to find age-related declines in intelligence than are
cross-sectional studies.
d. longitudinal studies are not useful for studying age-related declines in intelligence test
scores.
a. many of the negative effects of increasing age on intelligence found in previous research
were actually due to confounding factors
The Seattle Longitudinal Study utilized a cross-sequential design, which allowed researchers
to determine that the age-related declines found in cross-sectional studies were due more to
the methodology than to the actual effects of aging – i.e., many of the apparent age-related
effects were due to the confounding effects of educational and other factors.
Scores on the WAIS-IV ____________ Index remain fairly consistent throughout adulthood,
with scores on this Index continuing to increase into the early 50s before they begin to
decline.
a. Processing Speed
b. Perceptual Reasoning
c. Working Memory
d. Verbal Comprehension
d. Verbal Comprehension
Research indicates that the Verbal Comprehension Index score is least negatively affected by
increasing age, while the Processing Speed Index score is most negatively affected (see, e.g., E.
O. Lichtenberger & A. S. Kaufman, Essentials of WAIS-IV assessment, Hoboken, N. J., John
Wiley & Sons, 2009).
A child with ADHD is likely to get the lowest scores on which of the following WISC-IV
subtests?
a. Block Design, Matrix Reasoning, and Picture Concepts
b. Picture Concepts, Picture Completion, and Similarities
c. Comprehension, Symbol Search, and Coding
d. Cancellation, Arithmetic, and Coding
d. Cancellation, Arithmetic, and Coding
The WISC-IV Technical Manual provides score patterns that are characteristic of examinees
belonging to several specific groups. The Manual reports that children with ADHD generally
obtain the highest scores on the Picture Concepts, Picture Completion, Word Reasoning, and
Similarities subtests and the lowest scores on the Cancellation, Arithmetic, and Coding
subtests.
Research on Raven’s Progressive Matrices has confirmed that it is a measure of:
a. nonverbal memory.
b. Spearman’s “g.”
c. psychomotor ability.
d. sequential processing.
b. Spearman’s “g”
The Raven Progressive Matrices test is a nonverbal measure of intelligence, and validity
studies have confirmed that it assesses Spearman’s “g” (general intelligence) factor.
Development of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, Second Edition (K-ABC-II)
was based on which of the following models of intelligence?
a. Spearman’s
b. Luria’s
c. Binet’s
d. Sternberg’s
b. Luria’s
Development of the K-ABC-II was based on two models of intelligence– Luria’s
neuropsychological model and the Cattell-Horn-Carroll model of cognitive abilities.
Which of the following approaches was used to derive the “Big Five” personality factors?
a. cognitive
b. psychodynamic
c. lexical
d. content validity
c. lexical
The lexical approach is atheoretical and is based on the assumption that all socially-relevant
personality traits have been incorporated into language (e.g., are included in the dictionary).
Advocates of this approach note that it is objective since it does not rely on any single theory
of personality. The Big Five personality traits – conscientiousness, extroversion/introversion,
openness to experience, emotional stability, and agreeableness – were originally identified
through factor analyses of personality traits that are included in the dictionary.
On the MMPI, “faking bad” is suggested by:
a. a very high F or K scale score.
b. a very high F scale score or a very low K scale score.
c. a very low F scale score or a very high K scale score.
d. a very low F or K scale score.
b. a very high F scale score or a very low K scale score
The F scale measures the extent to which the examinee answers in a deviant manner, and a
high score on this scale suggests random responding, significant pathology, or faking bad.
The K scale measures the degree to which an examinee describes him/herself in an overly
favorable way, and a low score suggests lack of insight, disorientation, or faking bad.
A “conversion V” pattern on the MMPI-2 occurs when an examinee’s scale 2 score is
significantly lower than his/her scores on scales 1 and 3 and is associated with:
a. passive-aggressive behavior.
b. an attempt to present oneself in a favorable light.
c. the presence of psychotic symptoms.
d. a tendency to somaticize psychological problems.
d. a tendency to somaticize psychological problems
Scales 1, 2, and 3 are the hypochondriasis, depression, and hysteria scales, respectively. The
conversion V pattern (scale 2 score lower than scores on scales 1 and 3) is characteristic of
individuals with conversion disorder or other somatoform disorder and has also been found
among patients whose chronic pain has an organic etiology.
When scoring the Rorschach, form quality refers to the degree to which:
a. the examinee’s response conforms to the actual shape of the inkblot.
b. the examinee’s response incorporates all parts of the inkblot.
c. the examinee’s response integrates positive and negative spaces.
d. the determinants are fully integrated.
a. the examinee’s response conforms to the actual shape of the inkblot
As its name implies, form quality refers to the degree to which an examinee’s response
conforms to the form (shape) of the inkblot.
On the Stroop test, an examinee is likely to have trouble correctly naming the color of
ink that a word is printed in when:
a. the word is projected to the right visual field only.
b. the word is projected to the left visual field only.
c. the word names a color that is different than the color of the ink.
d. the word is a pronounceable “nonsense syllable.”
c. the word names a color that is different than the color of the ink
When administering the Stroop test, the examinee names the color of the ink of printed
words. Development of the Stroop test was based on the observation that people can read
words faster than they can identify and name colors. When words that name colors are
printed in a different color ink (e.g., when the word red is printed in blue), the prepotent
response is to say red.
The MMSE (Mini Mental State Exam) is most often administered to:
a. children as a measure of intelligence.
b. adolescents and adults as a measure of brain dysfunction.
c. older adults as a measure of cognitive functioning.
d. older adults as a measure of quality of life.
c. older adults as a measure of cognitive functioning
The MMSE measures several aspects of cognitive functioning and it often used as a screening
tool for dementia in older adults. The score is derived by considering both age and level of
education; and a score of 24 or less (out of 30) is considered indicative of cognitive
impairment.
