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ABPP Rehabilitation Psychology study materials
ABPP Rehabilitation Psychology study resources

ABPP Rehabilitation Psychology practice questions

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Question 1Foundations of Rehabilitation Psychology

The foundational model of disability that locates the problem primarily within the individual's impairment and treats the goal as normalization is known as which model?

  1. The minority model
  2. The biopsychosocial model
  3. The medical model Correct answer.
  4. The social model

Explanation

The medical model frames disability as a defect or deficit residing in the person, with treatment aimed at cure or normalization. The social and minority models relocate the problem to environmental and attitudinal barriers. The biopsychosocial model integrates biological, psychological, and social factors.

Question 2Foundations of Rehabilitation Psychology

The World Health Organization's International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) organizes functioning into which two core list components?

  1. Acute care needs and chronic care needs
  2. Body functions and structures, and activities and participation Correct answer.
  3. Impairment severity and rehabilitation prognosis
  4. Diagnosis codes and procedural codes

Explanation

The ICF has two parts: functioning and disability (body functions, body structures, activities and participation) and contextual factors (environmental and personal). The two core list components are body functions/structures and activities/participation.

Question 3Foundations of Rehabilitation Psychology

In the ICF framework, a wheelchair ramp at a building entrance is best classified as which type of factor?

  1. An environmental factor Correct answer.
  2. An activity limitation
  3. A personal factor
  4. A body function

Explanation

The ICF treats the physical and social world surrounding a person as environmental factors, which can be facilitators or barriers. A ramp is an external facilitator that improves participation. Body functions and activities are attributes of the person, not the setting.

Question 4Foundations of Rehabilitation Psychology

Which legislation first established a broad federal prohibition on discrimination against people with disabilities in employment, public services, and public accommodations in the United States?

  1. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
  2. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 Correct answer.
  3. The Fair Housing Act of 1968
  4. The Rehabilitation Act of 1973

Explanation

The ADA (1990) was the first comprehensive federal civil rights law covering employment, public services, and public accommodations for people with disabilities. The Rehabilitation Act preceded it but applied mainly to federally funded programs. IDEA addresses education specifically.

Question 5Foundations of Rehabilitation Psychology

The principle of independent living, central to the disability rights movement, emphasizes which of the following?

  1. Institutional placement with professional oversight
  2. Consumer control and self-determination over services Correct answer.
  3. Segregation of people with disabilities in sheltered settings
  4. Medical cure as the primary rehabilitation goal

Explanation

Independent living philosophy asserts that people with disabilities should control the services and decisions affecting their lives. It arose as a rejection of professionally dominated, institution-based models. Cure and segregation are contrary to its core tenets.

Question 6Foundations of Rehabilitation Psychology

Which term describes the process by which a person with a newly acquired disability learns to incorporate the condition into their self-concept and daily life?

  1. Habituation
  2. Malingering
  3. Regression
  4. Adjustment Correct answer.

Explanation

Adjustment refers to the psychological and behavioral process of adapting to a disability and integrating it into one's identity and routines. It is a central construct in rehabilitation psychology. The other terms describe unrelated clinical or learning phenomena.

Question 7Foundations of Rehabilitation Psychology

Which of the following best describes the role of a rehabilitation psychologist on an interdisciplinary team?

  1. Primarily providing physical therapy exercises
  2. Primarily coordinating insurance authorization for services
  3. Primarily managing medication regimens for mood disorders
  4. Addressing cognitive, emotional, and behavioral factors that affect rehabilitation outcomes Correct answer.

Explanation

Rehabilitation psychologists assess and treat psychological, cognitive, and behavioral factors that influence recovery and participation. Medication management is the role of psychiatry, authorization is typically case management, and exercise prescription is physical therapy.

Question 8Foundations of Rehabilitation Psychology

The concept of 'functional independence' in rehabilitation is best defined as which of the following?

  1. The ability to perform daily tasks with minimal assistance from others Correct answer.
  2. The ability to return to the same job held before injury
  3. The absence of any psychological distress
  4. The complete absence of any physical impairment

Explanation

Functional independence refers to a person's capacity to carry out activities of daily living with little or no help from others. It is distinct from impairment absence, vocational return, and emotional status. Independence is about real-world task performance.

Question 9Foundations of Rehabilitation Psychology

A patient who has just sustained a spinal cord injury tells the psychologist, 'If I work hard enough, I will walk again.' The psychologist recognizes this as an example of which adjustment-related phenomenon?

  1. Deliberate deception about capabilities
  2. Unrealistic optimism that may require sensitive reality testing Correct answer.
  3. Evidence of cognitive impairment
  4. A sign of intact insight into prognosis

Explanation

Unrealistic optimism is common early in adjustment and can support motivation but may later cause distress if unaddressed. The clinician's task is to gently align expectations with prognosis while preserving hope. It is not deception or evidence of cognitive deficit.

Question 10Foundations of Rehabilitation Psychology

Which model of disability most directly supports the rehabilitation psychologist's attention to both neurobiological injury and social-environmental barriers in treatment planning?

  1. The biopsychosocial model Correct answer.
  2. The moral model
  3. The purely medical model
  4. The purely social model

Explanation

The biopsychosocial model integrates biological, psychological, and social determinants, making it the natural framework for holistic rehabilitation planning. The medical and social models each privilege one domain, and the moral model attributes disability to character or sin.

Question 11Foundations of Rehabilitation Psychology

A clinician documents a patient's ability to transfer from bed to wheelchair and to dress independently. Under the ICF, these observations are best classified as which component?

  1. Activities and participation Correct answer.
  2. Health condition
  3. Body structures
  4. Environmental factors

Explanation

Transfers and dressing are tasks and actions executed by the person, which the ICF classifies under activities and participation. Body structures refer to anatomical parts, environmental factors to external context, and health condition to the underlying disorder.

Question 12Foundations of Rehabilitation Psychology

Which of the following is the best example of a personal factor in the ICF framework that could affect rehabilitation outcome?

  1. The availability of accessible public transportation
  2. The patient's coping style and motivation Correct answer.
  3. The presence of family caregivers
  4. The layout of the rehabilitation unit

Explanation

Personal factors are internal attributes of the individual, such as coping style, motivation, and beliefs. Transportation, unit layout, and family caregivers are all environmental factors external to the person.

Question 13Foundations of Rehabilitation Psychology

A rehabilitation psychologist uses motivational interviewing with a patient resistant to using a mobility aid. The primary rationale is that this approach does which of the following?

  1. Assesses cognitive capacity for decision-making
  2. Confronts denial to force behavior change
  3. Provides direct expert advice on the correct choice
  4. Builds internal motivation by exploring and resolving ambivalence Correct answer.

Explanation

Motivational interviewing is a collaborative, person-centered method that elicits and strengthens the person's own reasons for change by exploring ambivalence. It avoids confrontation and prescriptive advice-giving. It is not a capacity-assessment tool.

Question 14Foundations of Rehabilitation Psychology

The concept of 'learned helplessness' is most relevant to which rehabilitation concern?

  1. Reduced initiative and passivity after repeated failure experiences Correct answer.
  2. Heightened aggression toward staff
  3. Improved adherence after success experiences
  4. Impaired language comprehension

Explanation

Learned helplessness describes passivity and reduced effort that follow repeated experiences of uncontrollable failure. In rehabilitation it can undermine engagement when patients perceive outcomes as beyond their control. It is not about aggression, adherence gains, or language deficits.

Question 15Foundations of Rehabilitation Psychology

Which statement best reflects the principle of 'dignity of risk' in rehabilitation practice?

  1. Clinicians should eliminate all risk from a patient's environment
  2. Patients should defer all decisions to the treatment team
  3. Risk-taking should be prohibited until full recovery
  4. People with disabilities should be allowed to make informed choices, including ones that carry some risk Correct answer.

Explanation

Dignity of risk holds that autonomy includes the right to make informed choices that involve some personal risk, a cornerstone of disability rights. It opposes overprotection and paternalism. Eliminating all risk or prohibiting choice would violate the principle.

Question 16Foundations of Rehabilitation Psychology

A rehabilitation psychologist is asked to evaluate decisional capacity for a patient considering a high-risk surgery. The core elements of capacity assessment include which set of abilities?

  1. Understanding, appreciation, reasoning, and expressing a choice Correct answer.
  2. Diagnosis, prognosis, treatment, and consent
  3. Motivation, insight, coping, and adherence
  4. Intelligence, memory, attention, and language

Explanation

Decisional capacity is assessed through the abilities to understand relevant information, appreciate its significance for oneself, reason about options, and communicate a choice. Intelligence and memory are not the defining elements, and diagnosis/prognosis are content areas rather than capacities.

Question 17Foundations of Rehabilitation Psychology

Which historical event is widely credited with catalyzing the modern disability rights movement in the United States?

  1. The founding of the American Psychological Association
  2. The development of the polio vaccine
  3. The sit-in protests by people with disabilities at federal buildings in the 1970s Correct answer.
  4. The passage of Medicare legislation in 1965

Explanation

The 1970s sit-ins, notably the 1977 occupation of federal buildings to demand enforcement of Section 504, are widely credited with energizing the disability rights movement. The other events are unrelated to disability rights advocacy.

Question 18Foundations of Rehabilitation Psychology

A person with a chronic illness reports that their disability has led to personal growth and a reordering of life priorities. This outcome is best described as which of the following?

  1. Somatization
  2. Secondary gain
  3. Catastrophizing
  4. Posttraumatic growth Correct answer.

Explanation

Posttraumatic growth refers to positive psychological change following adversity, including revised priorities and greater appreciation of life. Secondary gain involves external benefits from illness, somatization is psychological distress expressed physically, and catastrophizing is anticipating the worst.

Question 19Foundations of Rehabilitation Psychology

In the context of rehabilitation, 'secondary conditions' refers to which of the following?

  1. Complications caused by clinician error
  2. Health problems that arise as a consequence of a primary disability Correct answer.
  3. The initial traumatic event causing injury
  4. Psychological denial immediately after injury

Explanation

Secondary conditions are preventable health problems that occur more frequently in people with disabilities as a consequence of the primary condition, such as pressure injuries or depression. They are distinct from the primary cause, from acute denial, and from iatrogenic error.

Question 20Foundations of Rehabilitation Psychology

A rehabilitation psychologist advocates for a patient's return to competitive employment despite the family's preference for disability benefits. This advocacy best reflects which professional value?

  1. Maintaining family authority over treatment
  2. Avoiding conflict with caregivers
  3. Promoting autonomy and community participation Correct answer.
  4. Maximizing institutional revenue

Explanation

Rehabilitation psychology values autonomy and full community participation, including competitive employment when the person desires it. Advocacy centers the patient's own goals rather than family preference, revenue, or conflict avoidance.

Question 21Foundations of Rehabilitation Psychology

Which of the following best characterizes the 'social model' critique of traditional rehabilitation practice?

  1. It argues that rehabilitation can inadvertently reinforce dependency by locating problems only in the individual Correct answer.
  2. It argues that social services should replace all clinical care
  3. It argues that disability is best treated through institutionalization
  4. It argues that rehabilitation should focus exclusively on medical cure

Explanation

The social model critiques individual-focused rehabilitation for potentially reinforcing dependency and overlooking environmental barriers. It does not advocate exclusive medical cure, replacement of all clinical care, or institutionalization.

Question 22Foundations of Rehabilitation Psychology

A patient with a traumatic brain injury shows intact ability to describe treatment risks but cannot apply that information to their own situation. In a capacity assessment, which element is most clearly impaired?

  1. Understanding
  2. Expressing a choice
  3. Attention
  4. Appreciation Correct answer.

Explanation

Appreciation is the ability to recognize how information applies to one's own circumstances. Intact factual understanding with impaired personal application points to an appreciation deficit. Expressing a choice and attention are separate elements.

Question 23Foundations of Rehabilitation Psychology

An interdisciplinary team disagrees about discharge placement for a patient with limited insight. The psychologist's most appropriate contribution is to do which of the following?

  1. Assess the patient's decision-making capacities and preferences and integrate them into team recommendations Correct answer.
  2. Defer entirely to the physician's authority
  3. Recommend the least restrictive option regardless of safety data
  4. Withhold psychological findings to avoid influencing the team

Explanation

The psychologist contributes by formally assessing capacities, values, and preferences and integrating these with safety considerations in team deliberation. Deferring automatically, ignoring safety data, or withholding findings all undermine the team's decision quality.

Question 24Foundations of Rehabilitation Psychology

Which statement best captures the distinction between impairment, activity limitation, and participation restriction in the ICF?

  1. Impairment concerns body function or structure, activity limitation concerns task execution, and participation restriction concerns involvement in life situations Correct answer.
  2. They are interchangeable terms describing the same phenomenon
  3. All three refer exclusively to environmental barriers
  4. Impairment concerns social roles, activity limitation concerns anatomy, and participation restriction concerns symptoms

Explanation

The ICF distinguishes problems at the level of body function/structure (impairment), person-level task execution (activity limitation), and life-situation involvement (participation restriction). They are distinct levels, not synonyms, and not exclusively environmental.

Question 25Foundations of Rehabilitation Psychology

A rehabilitation psychologist notes that a patient's family consistently completes tasks for the patient 'to keep things moving.' Applying a disability-rights and rehabilitation lens, the best interpretation is which of the following?

  1. The patient should be immediately discharged to a nursing home
  2. Well-intentioned overprotection may inadvertently reduce the patient's functional independence and self-efficacy Correct answer.
  3. Task substitution by family is unrelated to rehabilitation outcomes
  4. The family's behavior guarantees faster recovery of independence

Explanation

Overprotection and task substitution can foster dependency, erode self-efficacy, and limit practice opportunities needed for functional gains. The behavior does not guarantee faster recovery and is clearly relevant to outcomes. Immediate institutional placement is not a warranted inference.

Question 26Foundations of Rehabilitation Psychology

Which legislation first established federal civil rights protections for individuals with disabilities in the United States?

  1. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
  2. The Fair Labor Standards Act
  3. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
  4. The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 Correct answer.

Explanation

The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, particularly Section 504, was the first federal law to prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability in programs receiving federal funds. It set the stage for later disability rights legislation.

Question 27Foundations of Rehabilitation Psychology

The ICF model classifies 'impairment' as a problem in which area?

  1. Body function or structure Correct answer.
  2. Environmental barriers
  3. Participation in life situations
  4. Activity performance

Explanation

In the ICF, impairment refers to a loss or abnormality in body function or structure. Activity limitations and participation restrictions are separate constructs.

Question 28Foundations of Rehabilitation Psychology

Which core competency is most essential for a rehabilitation psychologist working on an interdisciplinary team?

  1. Collaborative communication and team coordination Correct answer.
  2. Independent diagnostic decision-making without consultation
  3. Avoiding involvement in team meetings to maintain confidentiality
  4. Primarily focusing on individual psychotherapy sessions

Explanation

Effective interdisciplinary teamwork requires clear communication, coordination, and collaboration among team members to ensure integrated care. This competency is foundational for rehabilitation psychologists.

Question 29Foundations of Rehabilitation Psychology

The concept of 'functional independence' in rehabilitation is best defined as:

  1. The ability to work competitively
  2. The complete absence of any disability
  3. The ability to perform daily tasks without assistance Correct answer.
  4. The reliance on others for all activities

Explanation

Functional independence refers to a person's capacity to carry out activities of daily living and other tasks without help from others. It is a key goal in rehabilitation.

Question 30Foundations of Rehabilitation Psychology

A patient with a new spinal cord injury states, 'I will walk again if I just try hard enough.' According to the transtheoretical model, this statement most likely indicates the patient is in which stage of change?

  1. Contemplation
  2. Action
  3. Preparation
  4. Precontemplation Correct answer.

Explanation

The patient is not yet acknowledging the need to adapt to the injury and is not considering behavior change, which is characteristic of precontemplation. The statement reflects denial or lack of awareness rather than active planning.

Question 31Foundations of Rehabilitation Psychology

Which model of disability emphasizes that societal barriers, rather than individual impairments, are the primary cause of disability?

  1. Medical model
  2. Social model Correct answer.
  3. Moral model
  4. Biopsychosocial model

Explanation

The social model of disability posits that disability is created by environmental and social barriers that restrict participation of people with impairments. It contrasts with models that locate disability within the individual.

Question 32Foundations of Rehabilitation Psychology

A rehabilitation psychologist is assessing a patient's capacity to make treatment decisions. The patient can understand the risks and benefits but is unable to express a consistent choice. Which component of decision-making capacity is most likely impaired?

  1. Understanding
  2. Reasoning
  3. Expressing a choice Correct answer.
  4. Appreciation

Explanation

Decision-making capacity typically includes understanding, appreciation, reasoning, and expressing a choice. The patient demonstrates understanding but cannot communicate a consistent choice, indicating impairment in the expression of choice.

Question 33Foundations of Rehabilitation Psychology

Which historical event is most closely associated with the emergence of the independent living movement in the United States?

  1. The establishment of the Center for Independent Living in Berkeley Correct answer.
  2. The deinstitutionalization movement of the 1950s
  3. The founding of the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research
  4. The passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act

Explanation

The Center for Independent Living in Berkeley, founded in the early 1970s, is widely regarded as a catalyst for the independent living movement, emphasizing consumer control and community-based services.

Question 34Foundations of Rehabilitation Psychology

A patient reports that since acquiring a disability, they have developed a deeper sense of purpose and reordered their life priorities. This experience is best described as:

  1. Post-traumatic stress
  2. Post-traumatic growth Correct answer.
  3. Learned helplessness
  4. Secondary gain

Explanation

Post-traumatic growth refers to positive psychological change experienced as a result of adversity. The patient's report of deeper purpose and reordered priorities exemplifies this phenomenon.

Question 35Foundations of Rehabilitation Psychology

In rehabilitation, 'secondary conditions' refer to:

  1. Health problems that arise as a consequence of a primary disability Correct answer.
  2. Complications from surgical interventions
  3. Conditions that are less severe than the primary disability
  4. Psychological reactions to the primary disability

Explanation

Secondary conditions are medical or health issues that occur as a result of the primary disability, such as pressure ulcers in spinal cord injury. They are preventable and can affect rehabilitation outcomes.

Question 36Foundations of Rehabilitation Psychology

A psychologist advocates for a patient's return to competitive employment despite the family's preference for the patient to remain at home. This action best exemplifies which ethical principle?

  1. Justice
  2. Beneficence
  3. Autonomy Correct answer.
  4. Fidelity

Explanation

Respecting autonomy involves honoring the patient's right to make choices about their own life, including employment. The psychologist supports the patient's self-determination even when it conflicts with family wishes.

Question 37Foundations of Rehabilitation Psychology

Which statement best characterizes the social model's critique of traditional rehabilitation practice?

  1. Rehabilitation overemphasizes individual adjustment and fails to address environmental barriers. Correct answer.
  2. Rehabilitation should prioritize medical cure over functional independence.
  3. Rehabilitation ignores the role of personal motivation in recovery.
  4. Rehabilitation focuses too much on societal barriers and neglects medical needs.

Explanation

The social model critiques traditional rehabilitation for placing too much emphasis on changing the individual to fit society, rather than changing society to accommodate individuals with disabilities. It argues for removing environmental and attitudinal barriers.

Question 38Foundations of Rehabilitation Psychology

A patient with a traumatic brain injury can describe the risks of a proposed treatment but cannot apply that information to their own situation. Which aspect of decisional capacity is most likely impaired?

  1. Understanding
  2. Reasoning
  3. Expressing a choice
  4. Appreciation Correct answer.

Explanation

Appreciation involves recognizing how information applies to oneself. The patient demonstrates understanding of facts but fails to apply them personally, indicating impaired appreciation.

Question 39Foundations of Rehabilitation Psychology

An interdisciplinary team is divided about discharge placement for a patient with limited insight. What is the psychologist's most appropriate role?

  1. Recommend the option preferred by the patient's family
  2. Facilitate a team discussion to integrate diverse perspectives and reach consensus Correct answer.
  3. Defer to the physician's decision to maintain team hierarchy
  4. Conduct an independent evaluation and present findings without team input

Explanation

The psychologist can use group facilitation skills to help the team communicate, consider all perspectives, and reach a collaborative decision. This leverages psychological expertise in team dynamics and patient-centered care.

Question 40Foundations of Rehabilitation Psychology

Which statement best captures the distinction between impairment, activity limitation, and participation restriction in the ICF framework?

  1. Impairment refers to societal barriers, activity limitation to body function, and participation restriction to task performance.
  2. Impairment refers to life situations, activity limitation to body function, and participation restriction to task performance.
  3. Impairment refers to task performance, activity limitation to body function, and participation restriction to environmental barriers.
  4. Impairment refers to body function/structure, activity limitation to task performance, and participation restriction to involvement in life situations. Correct answer.

Explanation

The ICF defines impairment as a problem in body function or structure, activity limitation as difficulty in executing tasks, and participation restriction as problems in involvement in life situations. This three-level distinction is fundamental to the framework.

Question 41Psychological Assessment in Rehabilitation

Which WAIS-IV index score is most sensitive to the cognitive slowing and processing speed decrements frequently seen after acquired brain injury?

  1. Perceptual Reasoning Index
  2. Working Memory Index
  3. Verbal Comprehension Index
  4. Processing Speed Index Correct answer.

Explanation

Processing Speed Index is composed of timed tasks (Coding, Symbol Search) and is typically the most vulnerable index to diffuse or traumatic brain injury effects. Slowed information processing is a hallmark cognitive sequela of acquired brain injury.

Question 42Psychological Assessment in Rehabilitation

A neuropsychologist selects the Trail Making Test to screen for executive dysfunction. Part B primarily demands which cognitive operation?

  1. Verbal fluency under time pressure
  2. Alternating set-shifting between sequences Correct answer.
  3. Sustained attention to a single visual target
  4. Immediate auditory span recall

Explanation

Trail Making Part B requires alternating between numbers and letters, which taxes cognitive flexibility and set-shifting, both frontal-executive functions. Part A alone measures basic visual scanning and psychomotor speed.

Question 43Psychological Assessment in Rehabilitation

In rehabilitation assessment, the primary purpose of a functional capacity evaluation is to do which of the following?

  1. Assess personality structure for psychotherapy planning
  2. Measure intelligence quotient for educational placement
  3. Establish a psychiatric diagnosis for disability claims
  4. Document observable work-related physical abilities and tolerances Correct answer.

Explanation

Functional capacity evaluations systematically document a person's physical abilities and tolerances relative to work demands. They inform return-to-work and disability determinations rather than diagnostic classification.

Question 44Psychological Assessment in Rehabilitation

Which instrument is a widely used self-report measure of depressive symptom severity that has no somatic items, making it useful for separating depression from medical symptoms in rehabilitation patients?

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

Explanation

The CES-D was designed to avoid confounding somatic symptoms with depressive symptoms, which is valuable when medical illness can inflate somatic-item scores. The BDI-II and PHQ-9 include somatic items such as fatigue and appetite change.

Question 45Psychological Assessment in Rehabilitation

A clinician administers the Mini-Mental State Examination to a patient with a right-hemisphere stroke. What is the most important limitation of this instrument for this patient?

  1. It requires computer administration
  2. It is insensitive to right-hemisphere and executive deficits Correct answer.
  3. It overestimates visuospatial deficits
  4. It cannot be scored in under ten minutes

Explanation

The MMSE is heavily weighted toward language and memory and is relatively insensitive to right-hemisphere syndromes such as neglect and to executive dysfunction. Clinicians should supplement it with measures targeting those domains.

Question 46Psychological Assessment in Rehabilitation

The Glasgow Coma Scale total score is derived by summing which three components?

  1. Pupillary response, blood pressure, respiration
  2. Eye opening, verbal response, motor response Correct answer.
  3. Gait, balance, coordination
  4. Orientation, memory, attention

Explanation

The GCS sums eye opening, verbal response, and best motor response, yielding a total from 3 to 15. Lower scores indicate more severe impairment of consciousness.

Question 47Psychological Assessment in Rehabilitation

Which type of validity refers to the degree to which a test's content adequately samples the domain it is intended to measure?

  1. Content validity Correct answer.
  2. Construct validity
  3. Concurrent validity
  4. Criterion validity

Explanation

Content validity concerns how well test items represent the full domain of interest, often established through expert judgment. It is central when constructing measures of functional or cognitive domains.

Question 48Psychological Assessment in Rehabilitation

During assessment of a patient with aphasia, which approach best preserves the validity of cognitive testing?

  1. Omit cognitive testing entirely
  2. Rely solely on caregiver report
  3. Administer all standard verbal subtests unchanged
  4. Use non-verbal or modified administration formats Correct answer.

Explanation

Aphasia can depress scores on verbally mediated tests for reasons unrelated to the cognitive domain being measured. Using non-verbal formats or modified administration reduces this confound and improves validity.

Question 49Psychological Assessment in Rehabilitation

A test has a sensitivity of 0.90 and a specificity of 0.60 for detecting cognitive impairment. What does the specificity value indicate?

  1. 90% of impaired persons are correctly identified
  2. 60% of unimpaired persons are correctly identified Correct answer.
  3. 60% of impaired persons are correctly identified
  4. 40% of impaired persons are missed

Explanation

Specificity is the proportion of individuals without the condition who are correctly classified as unimpaired. A specificity of 0.60 means 60% of unimpaired persons are correctly identified, with 40% false positives.

Question 50Psychological Assessment in Rehabilitation

Which assessment finding most strongly suggests malingering in a compensation-seeking rehabilitation patient?

  1. Below-chance performance on a forced-choice symptom validity test Correct answer.
  2. Elevated depression scores on a self-report measure
  3. Reports of pain that fluctuate with activity
  4. Consistently poor performance on both easy and hard items

Explanation

Below-chance performance on a forced-choice validity measure is a strong indicator of deliberate underperformance, since genuine impairment rarely produces accuracy below random guessing. This pattern is a hallmark of feigned cognitive deficit.