CPCE Assessment and Testing 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A counselor uses the Beck Depression Inventory alongside a structured clinical interview to confirm a depression diagnosis. This approach demonstrates:
- Multimodal assessment (Correct answer)
- Single-source validity
- Criterion contamination
- Norm referencing
Correct answer: Multimodal assessment
Multimodal assessment involves gathering data from multiple sources and methods to increase the accuracy of clinical conclusions.
Question 2: Which scale of measurement allows for ranking but does not assume equal intervals between values?
- Nominal
- Ordinal (Correct answer)
- Interval
- Ratio
Correct answer: Ordinal
Ordinal scales rank data in order but do not guarantee equal spacing between consecutive ranks.
Question 3: A test that yields consistent results but does not measure what it was intended to measure is:
- Valid but not reliable
- Reliable but not valid (Correct answer)
- Both reliable and valid
- Neither reliable nor valid
Correct answer: Reliable but not valid
Reliability is a necessary but not sufficient condition for validity; a test can be consistent yet measure the wrong construct.
Question 4: The Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing are jointly published by which organizations?
- ACA, APA, and NBCC
- APA, AERA, and NCME (Correct answer)
- CACREP, NBCC, and APA
- NASP, ACA, and AERA
Correct answer: APA, AERA, and NCME
The Standards are a collaborative publication of the American Psychological Association (APA), American Educational Research Association (AERA), and National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME).
Question 5: When a counselor selects an assessment, which ethical responsibility is MOST critical regarding the client population?
- Choosing the longest and most comprehensive instrument available
- Ensuring the test is normed on a representative sample of the population being assessed (Correct answer)
- Using tests published by the counselor's own licensing board
- Administering the assessment without client consent to avoid bias
Correct answer: Ensuring the test is normed on a representative sample of the population being assessed
Ethical assessment practice requires that the normative sample be representative of the population to which the client belongs to ensure valid score interpretation.
Question 6: A counselor administers a group intelligence test to determine educational placement for a student with limited English proficiency. The MAIN concern is:
- The test may be too long for a group format
- The student's scores may reflect language barriers rather than cognitive ability (Correct answer)
- The test is not appropriate for any group administration
- Intelligence tests are never valid for educational decisions
Correct answer: The student's scores may reflect language barriers rather than cognitive ability
Language barriers can confound performance on intelligence tests, making it difficult to differentiate cognitive ability from linguistic limitations.
Question 7: In Item Response Theory (IRT), which parameter reflects how sharply a test item distinguishes between high and low ability examinees?
- Difficulty parameter (b)
- Discrimination parameter (a) (Correct answer)
- Guessing parameter (c)
- Standard error of measurement
Correct answer: Discrimination parameter (a)
The discrimination parameter (a) in IRT indicates how well an item differentiates between examinees of differing ability levels.
CPCE Assessment and Testing 3
A counselor uses the Beck Depression Inventory alongside a structured clinical interview to confirm a depression diagnosis.
This approach demonstrates: