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ABPP Clinical Psychology study materials
ABPP Clinical Psychology study resources

ABPP Clinical Psychology practice questions

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Question 1Clinical Psychology Specialty Practice

A clinician wants to screen a patient for cognitive impairment in a busy primary care setting where administration time must be under five minutes. Which instrument is most appropriate for this purpose?

  1. Montreal Cognitive Assessment
  2. Mini-Cog Correct answer.
  3. Mini-Mental State Examination
  4. Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status

Explanation

Brief screening instruments are chosen for speed, ease of scoring, and minimal training burden. The Mini-Cog combines a three-item recall with a clock-drawing task and takes roughly three minutes, making it well suited to fast triage. Longer instruments trade brevity for greater breadth.

Question 2Clinical Psychology Specialty Practice

In Beck's cognitive model, a client who immediately interprets a neutral comment from a coworker as proof of personal failure is demonstrating which phenomenon?

  1. Negative reinforcement
  2. Dissociation
  3. Automatic thought Correct answer.
  4. Compulsion

Explanation

Automatic thoughts are rapid, involuntary appraisals that arise in response to situations and drive emotional reactions. Beck's model targets these cognitions as a primary point of intervention. The other options describe behavioral or dissociative phenomena rather than cognitive appraisal.

Question 3Clinical Psychology Specialty Practice

A patient presents with two weeks of depressed mood, anhedonia, insomnia, fatigue, and recurrent thoughts of death. According to DSM-5-TR, which diagnosis is most consistent with this presentation?

  1. Adjustment disorder with depressed mood
  2. Persistent depressive disorder
  3. Major depressive disorder Correct answer.
  4. Bipolar I disorder, current episode depressed

Explanation

Major depressive disorder requires five or more depressive symptoms for at least two weeks, including depressed mood or anhedonia, with associated functional impairment. This presentation meets that threshold. The other diagnoses differ in duration, polarity history, or stressor relationship.

Question 4Clinical Psychology Specialty Practice

Which term describes the tendency of a rater to evaluate a client more favorably because of a general positive impression formed early in the assessment?

  1. Central tendency error
  2. Fundamental attribution error
  3. Halo effect Correct answer.
  4. Contrast effect

Explanation

The halo effect occurs when a global positive impression of a person spills over into ratings of specific, unrelated attributes. Awareness of this bias improves the reliability of clinical ratings. The other options describe different judgment biases.

Question 5Clinical Psychology Specialty Practice

A psychologist in independent practice receives a subpoena for a client's full psychotherapy record in a custody dispute. What is the most appropriate first step?

  1. Seek the client's authorization or a court order and consult on the limits of privilege Correct answer.
  2. Refuse to respond and ignore the subpoena
  3. Provide only a summary of treatment to protect the client
  4. Release the full record immediately because a subpoena is a court order

Explanation

A subpoena is a request for information, not automatically a waiver of privilege; the clinician should obtain client authorization or a protective court order before disclosing. Consultation helps clarify legal obligations and privilege limits. Unilateral disclosure or blanket refusal both misapply the standard.

Question 6Clinical Psychology Specialty Practice

A therapist's client expresses strong romantic attraction toward the therapist. Which response best reflects ethical management of this situation?

  1. Reduce session frequency to minimize contact
  2. Disclose reciprocal feelings to strengthen the alliance
  3. Terminate treatment immediately without referral
  4. Explore the transference and maintain clear therapeutic boundaries Correct answer.

Explanation

Sexual or romantic feelings toward a therapist are commonly understood as transference and are managed by maintaining boundaries and processing the material therapeutically. This protects the client and the treatment frame. Acting on feelings or abruptly ending care are both harmful.

Question 7Clinical Psychology Specialty Practice

In classical conditioning terms, a client who developed nausea after chemotherapy and now feels nauseated upon entering the clinic parking lot is exhibiting which response?

  1. Operant extinction
  2. Habituation
  3. Positive reinforcement
  4. Conditioned response Correct answer.

Explanation

A neutral stimulus repeatedly paired with an unconditioned stimulus can come to elicit a conditioned response. The parking lot has become associated with chemotherapy and now triggers nausea. The other options describe reinforcement or weakening of responses.

Question 8Clinical Psychology Specialty Practice

In cognitive-behavioral therapy, which technique is most directly designed to test the validity of a client's maladaptive belief?

  1. Behavioral activation
  2. Systematic desensitization
  3. Relaxation training
  4. Behavioral experiment Correct answer.

Explanation

A behavioral experiment is a structured activity designed to gather evidence that tests the accuracy of a specific belief. Its purpose is hypothesis testing rather than symptom reduction alone. The other techniques target activity, anxiety reduction, or arousal rather than belief validation.

Question 9Clinical Psychology Specialty Practice

A client with panic disorder fears that a racing heart signals an impending heart attack. Which cognitive model best explains the maintenance of this fear?

  1. Catastrophic misinterpretation of bodily sensations Correct answer.
  2. Deficient social problem-solving
  3. Operant avoidance of feared stimuli
  4. Learned helplessness

Explanation

Cognitive models of panic disorder emphasize catastrophic misinterpretation of benign bodily sensations as evidence of imminent harm, which escalates anxiety in a vicious cycle. This distinguishes panic from other anxiety presentations. The other models describe different mechanisms.

Question 10Clinical Psychology Specialty Practice

A child repeatedly argues with adults, defies rules, and deliberately annoys others over the past eight months. Which diagnosis is most consistent with DSM-5-TR criteria?

  1. Intermittent explosive disorder
  2. Oppositional defiant disorder Correct answer.
  3. Conduct disorder
  4. Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder

Explanation

Oppositional defiant disorder involves a persistent pattern of angry/irritable mood, argumentative/defiant behavior, or vindictiveness lasting at least six months. The described behaviors fit this pattern without the more severe rights violations of conduct disorder. The other diagnoses involve different core features.

Question 11Clinical Psychology Specialty Practice

A researcher wants to measure the internal consistency of a new symptom inventory. Which statistic is most appropriate?

  1. Pearson correlation with an established scale
  2. Cohen's kappa
  3. Independent-samples t test
  4. Cronbach's alpha Correct answer.

Explanation

Internal consistency reflects the degree to which items on a scale measure the same construct, and Cronbach's alpha is the standard index. It differs from inter-rater reliability and from validity coefficients. The other statistics address different questions.

Question 12Clinical Psychology Specialty Practice

A client reports that a medication has helped, but the clinician suspects the improvement is due to expectation rather than the drug's active properties. Which concept is being described?

  1. Placebo response Correct answer.
  2. Selection bias
  3. Demand characteristic
  4. Regression to the mean

Explanation

A placebo response is improvement attributable to expectation or the treatment context rather than active ingredients. Distinguishing it from true pharmacologic effect is central to clinical trials and to interpreting anecdotal reports. The other terms describe statistical or social phenomena.

Question 13Clinical Psychology Specialty Practice

A client with alcohol use disorder has been abstinent for several weeks and now reports tremor, sweating, and a seizure. Which condition must be considered?

  1. Alcohol intoxication
  2. Wernicke encephalopathy
  3. Delirium tremens unrelated to withdrawal
  4. Alcohol withdrawal Correct answer.

Explanation

Tremor, autonomic hyperactivity, and seizures after cessation of heavy alcohol use are hallmarks of alcohol withdrawal, which can progress to delirium tremens and is medically dangerous. Prompt medical evaluation is required. The other options describe different alcohol-related conditions.

Question 14Clinical Psychology Specialty Practice

Which defense mechanism involves attributing one's own unacceptable impulses to another person?

  1. Displacement
  2. Projection Correct answer.
  3. Sublimation
  4. Reaction formation

Explanation

Projection involves disowning an unacceptable impulse and perceiving it in others. It differs from mechanisms that redirect, transform, or act opposite to the impulse. Recognizing these distinctions supports psychodynamic formulation.

Question 15Clinical Psychology Specialty Practice

A patient with schizophrenia experiences the belief that the television is broadcasting messages specifically intended for them. This is best described as which type of symptom?

  1. Cognitive symptom
  2. Mood symptom
  3. Positive symptom Correct answer.
  4. Negative symptom

Explanation

Delusions and hallucinations are positive symptoms because they represent an addition to normal experience. Negative symptoms reflect deficits such as flat affect or avolition. Correct classification guides treatment planning and prognosis discussion.

Question 16Clinical Psychology Specialty Practice

Which of the following is the most appropriate initial response when a client discloses current suicidal ideation with a specific plan?

  1. Discharge the client to avoid liability
  2. Change the topic to reduce distress
  3. Document the disclosure and schedule a routine follow-up
  4. Conduct a structured risk assessment and initiate safety planning Correct answer.

Explanation

Suicidal ideation with a plan requires systematic risk assessment, safety planning, and consideration of level of care. These steps address imminent risk and document clinical reasoning. The other responses either delay necessary action or abandon the client.

Question 17Clinical Psychology Specialty Practice

A client in the contemplative stage of the transtheoretical model is most likely to display which characteristic?

  1. Awareness of a problem but ambivalence about acting Correct answer.
  2. No intention to change within six months
  3. Active behavior change for less than six months
  4. Maintenance of change for more than six months

Explanation

The contemplative stage is marked by awareness of a problem and ambivalence, with intention to change but no commitment to action yet. Matching interventions to stage improves engagement. The other options correspond to precontemplation, action, and maintenance.

Question 18Clinical Psychology Specialty Practice

A neuropsychologist administers a test and finds that the client's score is at the 16th percentile. Approximately how many standard deviations below the mean is this score on a normal distribution?

  1. Three standard deviations below the mean
  2. Two standard deviations below the mean
  3. One standard deviation below the mean Correct answer.
  4. Half a standard deviation below the mean

Explanation

On a normal distribution, the 16th percentile corresponds to roughly one standard deviation below the mean because about 68% of scores fall within one standard deviation of the mean. This mapping supports interpretation of standard scores. The other values correspond to different percentiles.

Question 19Clinical Psychology Specialty Practice

Which instrument is specifically designed to assess the severity of depressive symptoms and includes a somatic symptom subscale?

  1. Young Mania Rating Scale
  2. Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression Correct answer.
  3. Beck Depression Inventory-II
  4. Patient Health Questionnaire-9

Explanation

The Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression is a clinician-rated measure that includes somatic symptoms such as weight loss, insomnia, and fatigue among its items. The other scales differ in format or target construct. Knowing instrument properties supports measurement-based care.

Question 20Clinical Psychology Specialty Practice

A therapist uses exposure and response prevention as the primary intervention. For which condition is this most strongly indicated?

  1. Bipolar II disorder
  2. Generalized anxiety disorder
  3. Obsessive-compulsive disorder Correct answer.
  4. Posttraumatic stress disorder

Explanation

Exposure and response prevention is the best-established psychological treatment for OCD, combining exposure to obsessional triggers with prevention of rituals. It directly targets the maintenance cycle of obsessions and compulsions. The other conditions have different first-line psychological treatments.

Question 21Clinical Psychology Specialty Practice

A client's MMPI-2 validity scales suggest an attempt to present in an overly favorable light. Which scale is most relevant to this interpretation?

  1. L scale Correct answer.
  2. F scale
  3. Hypochondriasis scale
  4. Social Introversion scale

Explanation

The L scale detects deliberate, unsophisticated attempts to present oneself favorably by denying common minor faults. It is one of several validity indicators. The other scales assess infrequent responding or clinical content.

Question 22Clinical Psychology Specialty Practice

A clinician suspects malingering in a personal injury evaluation. Which approach best supports this determination?

  1. Assuming exaggeration whenever symptoms are severe
  2. Relying on the client's self-report of effort
  3. Relying on a single symptom validity test
  4. Using multiple performance validity measures and collateral data Correct answer.

Explanation

Determinations of feigning require converging evidence from multiple performance validity measures, collateral information, and consistency of presentation. No single indicator is sufficient. Relying on self-report or severity alone is unreliable.

Question 23Clinical Psychology Specialty Practice

A client with borderline personality disorder engages in recurrent self-harm. Which psychotherapy has the strongest evidence base for reducing self-harm in this population?

  1. Client-centered therapy
  2. Systematic desensitization
  3. Dialectical behavior therapy Correct answer.
  4. Psychoanalysis

Explanation

Dialectical behavior therapy combines skills training, mindfulness, and validation strategies and has strong evidence for reducing self-harm and suicidal behavior in borderline personality disorder. Its structured, skills-focused design targets emotion dysregulation. The other therapies lack comparable evidence for this specific outcome.

Question 24Clinical Psychology Specialty Practice

In a study, a screening test correctly identifies 90% of people who have a disorder but also flags many people who do not. Which property is high, and which is the primary concern?

  1. High specificity with risk of false negatives
  2. High negative predictive value with low false positives
  3. High sensitivity with risk of false positives Correct answer.
  4. High positive predictive value with no trade-offs

Explanation

Sensitivity is the proportion of true cases correctly identified; a highly sensitive test rarely misses cases but often produces false positives. This trade-off is central to screening decisions. Specificity concerns true negatives rather than case detection.

Question 25Clinical Psychology Specialty Practice

A client reports memory problems, but testing shows intact performance on objective measures while the client exaggerates deficits during interview. This pattern is most consistent with which concept?

  1. True amnesia
  2. Anterograde amnesia
  3. Retrograde amnesia
  4. Symptom exaggeration Correct answer.

Explanation

Discrepancy between objective performance and reported or displayed deficits suggests symptom exaggeration rather than genuine amnesia. Objective testing provides the benchmark against which self-report is compared. The other options describe genuine memory conditions.

Question 26Clinical Psychology Specialty Practice

A clinical psychologist is asked to evaluate a 7-year-old for ADHD. Which combination of informants and methods best reflects standard of care for this assessment?

  1. Parent and teacher rating scales plus a clinical interview and review of records Correct answer.
  2. Teacher ratings only, since school is the primary setting for symptoms
  3. One continuous performance test interpreted in isolation
  4. A single parent-completed rating scale administered in the waiting room

Explanation

Best practice for pediatric ADHD assessment integrates information across settings and informants, typically combining standardized parent and teacher ratings with a diagnostic interview and developmental/medical history. Multi-method, multi-informant data reduce the error inherent in any single source.

Question 27Clinical Psychology Specialty Practice

According to the DSM-5-TR criteria for a major depressive episode, which symptom must be present for at least two weeks?

  1. Recurrent thoughts of death
  2. Depressed mood or loss of interest/pleasure Correct answer.
  3. Hypersomnia or fatigue
  4. Feelings of worthlessness

Explanation

A major depressive episode requires either depressed mood or anhedonia (loss of interest or pleasure) as a core symptom, accompanied by at least four additional symptoms. The other listed symptoms are supportive criteria but cannot alone define the episode.

Question 28Clinical Psychology Specialty Practice

A psychologist working in an integrated primary care setting is asked to conduct a brief screening for cognitive impairment in an older adult. Which instrument is most appropriate for a rapid global cognitive screen?

  1. Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-IV
  2. Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2
  3. Beck Depression Inventory-II
  4. Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) Correct answer.

Explanation

The MMSE is a brief, widely used global cognitive screening measure sensitive to orientation, memory, and attention deficits. The other instruments assess mood, full-scale intelligence, or personality, not rapid cognitive screening.

Question 29Clinical Psychology Specialty Practice

A client describes hearing voices commenting on their behavior when no one else is present. This experience is best classified as which type of symptom?

  1. Negative symptom
  2. Auditory hallucination Correct answer.
  3. Thought broadcasting
  4. Delusion of reference

Explanation

Hearing voices in the absence of an external source is a hallmark auditory hallucination, a positive psychotic symptom. Delusions involve fixed false beliefs, thought broadcasting involves the sense that thoughts escape, and negative symptoms reflect deficits in normal function.

Question 30Clinical Psychology Specialty Practice

A therapist is establishing a treatment plan for a client with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Which medication class is considered first-line pharmacotherapy?

  1. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors Correct answer.
  2. Antipsychotics
  3. Benzodiazepines
  4. Tricyclic antidepressants

Explanation

SSRIs are first-line pharmacotherapy for OCD and typically require higher doses and longer trials than in depression. The other classes are not first-line monotherapy for OCD.

Question 31Clinical Psychology Specialty Practice

In a family therapy session, a therapist notices that the parents repeatedly speak for their adolescent and the adolescent defers every decision to them. Which concept best describes this pattern?

  1. Parentification
  2. Triangulation
  3. Scapegoating
  4. Enmeshment Correct answer.

Explanation

Enmeshment refers to diffuse boundaries in which family members are overly involved and individual autonomy is limited. Triangulation involves pulling a third person into a dyadic conflict, scapegoating blames one member, and parentification reverses caregiving roles.

Question 32Clinical Psychology Specialty Practice

A psychologist is asked to obtain informed consent for psychotherapy. Which element is essential to include?

  1. A waiver of the client's right to withdraw from treatment
  2. The nature of treatment, risks, benefits, and limits of confidentiality Correct answer.
  3. The clinician's personal opinions about the client's diagnosis
  4. A guarantee that symptoms will remit within a specified number of sessions

Explanation

Informed consent requires disclosure of the nature of treatment, its risks and benefits, alternatives, and the limits of confidentiality, along with the client's voluntary agreement. Guarantees and waivers of withdrawal rights are inappropriate.

Question 33Clinical Psychology Specialty Practice

A client's score on a depression measure falls one standard deviation above the mean of the normative sample. Assuming a normal distribution, approximately what percentile does this represent?

  1. 84th percentile Correct answer.
  2. 16th percentile
  3. 50th percentile
  4. 68th percentile

Explanation

In a normal distribution, a score one standard deviation above the mean corresponds to approximately the 84th percentile because about 34% of scores fall between the mean and one SD above it.

Question 34Clinical Psychology Specialty Practice

A client with social anxiety disorder reports intense fear of negative evaluation. Which cognitive distortion is most characteristic of this presentation?

  1. Magical thinking
  2. Mind reading Correct answer.
  3. Personalization of external events
  4. Catastrophizing about physical health

Explanation

Individuals with social anxiety often assume others are judging them negatively, a form of mind reading. The other distortions are more characteristic of other presentations such as health anxiety or magical ideation.

Question 35Clinical Psychology Specialty Practice

A researcher is evaluating whether a new therapy reduces symptoms relative to a waitlist. Which statistical test is most appropriate for comparing post-treatment means between two independent groups?

  1. Pearson correlation
  2. Chi-square test of independence
  3. Independent-samples t-test Correct answer.
  4. Paired-samples t-test

Explanation

An independent-samples t-test compares means between two separate groups on a continuous outcome. Paired tests are for within-subject comparisons, chi-square is for categorical associations, and correlation quantifies linear association.

Question 36Clinical Psychology Specialty Practice

A therapist is working with a client who has experienced a traumatic event and reports intrusive memories and avoidance. Which psychotherapy has the strongest evidence base for PTSD?

  1. Prolonged exposure therapy Correct answer.
  2. Supportive counseling
  3. Relaxation training alone
  4. Psychodynamic psychotherapy

Explanation

Trauma-focused therapies such as prolonged exposure and cognitive processing therapy have the strongest evidence for PTSD. Supportive and relaxation-only approaches are less effective for core symptoms.

Question 37Clinical Psychology Specialty Practice

A client with bipolar I disorder is currently in a manic episode with severe agitation and poor insight. Which intervention is most appropriate initially?

  1. Recommending sleep hygiene alone
  2. Starting an SSRI alone to address mood
  3. Beginning long-term insight-oriented psychotherapy without medication
  4. Acute stabilization with mood stabilizers and antipsychotics, considering safety needs Correct answer.

Explanation

Acute mania with severe agitation and impaired insight requires stabilization with mood stabilizers and/or antipsychotics, with attention to safety. Antidepressant monotherapy can worsen mania.

Question 38Clinical Psychology Specialty Practice

A clinician is assessing a child for autism spectrum disorder. Which feature is most characteristic of the diagnosis?

  1. Episodes of elevated mood and decreased need for sleep
  2. Recurrent physical aggression toward peers only
  3. Selective mutism in all settings
  4. Persistent deficits in social communication and restricted, repetitive behaviors Correct answer.

Explanation

ASD is defined by persistent deficits in social communication and interaction along with restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior or interests. Mood episodes, isolated aggression, or selective mutism alone do not define ASD.

Question 39Clinical Psychology Specialty Practice

A therapist notices that a client consistently arrives late and misses payments after the therapist announced an upcoming vacation. Which psychodynamic concept best explains this behavior?

  1. Resistance through intellectualization
  2. Countertransference
  3. Acting out transference Correct answer.
  4. Sublimation

Explanation

Acting out transference occurs when unconscious feelings toward the therapist are expressed behaviorally rather than verbally. Countertransference refers to the clinician's reactions, intellectualization is a defense, and sublimation channels impulses constructively.

Question 40Clinical Psychology Specialty Practice

A client with borderline personality disorder reports intense fear of abandonment and shifting self-image. Which therapeutic approach has the strongest evidence for reducing self-harm and improving functioning?

  1. Electroconvulsive therapy
  2. Systematic desensitization
  3. Dialectical behavior therapy Correct answer.
  4. Psychoanalysis

Explanation

DBT is the most extensively studied psychosocial treatment for borderline personality disorder, targeting emotion dysregulation, distress tolerance, and self-harm. The other approaches lack comparable evidence for these outcomes.

Question 41Clinical Psychology Specialty Practice

A psychologist is asked to assess decision-making capacity in an older adult with mild cognitive impairment. Which element is central to the capacity determination?

  1. The presence of a family member to make decisions
  2. The ability to understand relevant information and appreciate consequences Correct answer.
  3. The client's measured IQ score
  4. The client's chronological age

Explanation

Decision-making capacity hinges on understanding relevant information, appreciating consequences, reasoning about options, and communicating a choice. IQ, age, or family involvement do not by themselves establish capacity.

Question 42Clinical Psychology Specialty Practice

In treating a specific phobia, a therapist gradually exposes the client to feared stimuli while preventing escape. This intervention is based primarily on which principle?

  1. Punishment
  2. Observational learning
  3. Positive reinforcement
  4. Habituation through repeated exposure Correct answer.

Explanation

Graded exposure reduces fear through habituation and extinction of the conditioned fear response when escape is prevented. Reinforcement, modeling, and punishment describe different learning mechanisms.

Question 43Clinical Psychology Specialty Practice

A clinician is conducting a forensic evaluation for a personal injury case. Which practice best supports the validity of the assessment?

  1. Administering symptom validity tests and corroborating self-report with collateral data Correct answer.
  2. Relying solely on the client's self-report
  3. Avoiding standardized instruments to reduce stress
  4. Using only projective measures

Explanation

Forensic evaluations benefit from symptom validity testing and collateral data to assess response bias and corroborate claims. Relying on self-report alone or avoiding standardized measures undermines validity.

Question 44Clinical Psychology Specialty Practice

A client reports episodes of binge eating followed by compensatory vomiting twice weekly for three months. Which diagnosis is most consistent with this presentation?

  1. Binge-eating disorder
  2. Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder
  3. Bulimia nervosa Correct answer.
  4. Anorexia nervosa, binge-purge type

Explanation

Bulimia nervosa involves recurrent binge eating with inappropriate compensatory behaviors such as vomiting, occurring at least weekly for three months. Binge-eating disorder lacks compensatory behaviors, and anorexia requires significantly low body weight.

Question 45Clinical Psychology Specialty Practice

Which ethical principle is most directly reflected in a psychologist's obligation to protect the welfare of research participants even when it limits scientific flexibility?

  1. Beneficence and nonmaleficence Correct answer.
  2. Justice
  3. Integrity
  4. Fidelity

Explanation

Beneficence and nonmaleficence concern promoting welfare and avoiding harm, which justifies safeguards for participants. Justice concerns fairness, fidelity concerns trustworthiness, and integrity concerns accuracy and honesty.

Question 46Clinical Psychology Specialty Practice

A therapist is treating a client with generalized anxiety disorder and wishes to implement a cognitive intervention targeting worry. Which technique is most consistent with this goal?

  1. Worry exposure and decatastrophizing Correct answer.
  2. Systematic desensitization to a single phobic object
  3. Dream analysis
  4. Free association

Explanation

Cognitive therapy for GAD targets worry through techniques such as worry exposure and decatastrophizing to test feared outcomes. Free association and dream analysis are psychodynamic, and single-phobia desensitization does not address generalized worry.

Question 47Clinical Psychology Specialty Practice

A researcher finds that a new screening test has high sensitivity but low specificity. Which consequence is most likely?

  1. The test will have perfect predictive value
  2. Many people with the disorder will be missed
  3. Many people without the disorder will screen positive Correct answer.
  4. The prevalence of the disorder will change

Explanation

High sensitivity means most true cases are detected, but low specificity means many non-cases also test positive, producing false positives. Prevalence is a population characteristic not altered by test performance.

Question 48Clinical Psychology Specialty Practice

A client in psychotherapy reports that their therapist frequently shares personal stories that shift attention away from the client's concerns. Which boundary issue is most relevant?

  1. Informed consent failure
  2. Confidentiality breach
  3. Dual relationship
  4. Self-disclosure that serves the therapist's needs Correct answer.

Explanation

Therapist self-disclosure should serve the client's therapeutic interests; excessive disclosure that meets the clinician's needs represents a boundary problem. It is not inherently a dual relationship, consent failure, or confidentiality breach.

Question 49Clinical Psychology Specialty Practice

A clinician is evaluating a client whose presentation includes both prominent depressive symptoms and subthreshold hypomanic symptoms that have never met full criteria for a hypomanic episode. Which diagnosis is most appropriate to consider?

  1. Bipolar I disorder
  2. Major depressive disorder, single episode
  3. Cyclothymic disorder
  4. Other specified bipolar and related disorder Correct answer.

Explanation

Subthreshold hypomanic symptoms that do not meet full criteria for a hypomanic episode, alongside depressive symptoms, are captured under other specified bipolar and related disorder. Bipolar I requires a full manic episode, and cyclothymia requires chronic subsyndromal mood cycling.

Question 50Clinical Psychology Specialty Practice

A psychologist is conducting a neuropsychological evaluation and finds that a client performs poorly on effort measures while scoring within normal limits on most cognitive domains. Which interpretation is most defensible?

  1. The effort measures should be disregarded
  2. The client definitely has dementia
  3. The client is definitely malingering
  4. The results raise concern for invalid performance and should be interpreted cautiously Correct answer.

Explanation

Poor performance on validated effort measures raises concern about test validity and warrants cautious interpretation and further evaluation. It does not by itself establish dementia or prove malingering, and effort measures should not be disregarded.