EPPP Assessment and Diagnosis Principles 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A clinician interprets Rorschach data using an empirically validated coding system with normative databases. Which system is this most likely referring to?
- Exner's Comprehensive System (Correct answer)
- Beck's System
- Klopfer's System
- Rapaport's System
Correct answer: Exner's Comprehensive System
Exner's Comprehensive System standardized Rorschach administration and scoring with extensive normative data, making it the dominant empirically based approach.
Question 2: Which term describes the tendency for test scores to move toward the population mean upon retesting, independent of any true change in the construct?
- Practice effect
- Halo effect
- Regression to the mean (Correct answer)
- Floor effect
Correct answer: Regression to the mean
Regression to the mean occurs because extreme scores on initial testing contain error variance, and retest scores drift closer to the average.
Question 3: In DSM-5, which specifier for schizophrenia spectrum disorders notes that criteria are met simultaneously with a major mood episode?
- With catatonia
- Schizoaffective disorder (Correct answer)
- With prominent negative symptoms
- With first-episode onset
Correct answer: Schizoaffective disorder
Schizoaffective disorder is diagnosed when psychotic symptoms co-occur with a major mood episode for a significant portion of the total illness duration.
Question 4: A culturally adapted assessment protocol for a Spanish-speaking client should primarily include:
- Direct translation of English norms
- Use of a professional interpreter for all tests
- Instruments with norms from the client's cultural group and administration in the client's primary language (Correct answer)
- Avoidance of standardized tests in favor of projective techniques
Correct answer: Instruments with norms from the client's cultural group and administration in the client's primary language
Best practice requires culturally appropriate norms and administration in the client's primary language to obtain valid results.
Question 5: The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM Disorders (SCID) is best characterized as:
- A self-report personality inventory
- A semi-structured diagnostic interview (Correct answer)
- A fully unstructured clinical interview
- A projective assessment tool
Correct answer: A semi-structured diagnostic interview
The SCID is a semi-structured interview that uses standardized questions with clinician judgment to reach DSM diagnoses.
Question 6: Which statistical concept describes the proportion of true-positive results among all individuals who actually have the condition (hit rate for true positives)?
- Specificity
- Positive predictive value
- Sensitivity (Correct answer)
- Negative predictive value
Correct answer: Sensitivity
Sensitivity is the proportion of individuals with the condition who are correctly identified as positive (true positive rate).
Question 7: A psychologist obtains identical results whether using Form A or Form B of the same test. This reflects which type of reliability?
- Test-retest reliability
- Internal consistency
- Interrater reliability
- Alternate-forms reliability (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Alternate-forms reliability
Alternate-forms (parallel-forms) reliability measures consistency between two equivalent versions of the same test.
EPPP Assessment and Diagnosis Principles 4
A clinician interprets Rorschach data using an empirically validated coding system with normative databases.
Which system is this most likely referring to?