HSP Patient Assessment & Clinical Evaluation 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A psychologist administers the MMPI-2 to a patient but notices an unusually high L (Lie) scale score. What is the most clinically appropriate next step?
- Invalidate the entire protocol and reschedule testing
- Interpret the profile with caution, noting possible impression management or limited self-awareness (Correct answer)
- Assume the patient is malingering and document accordingly
- Administer the PAI instead to get a valid result
Correct answer: Interpret the profile with caution, noting possible impression management or limited self-awareness
Elevated L scale scores suggest defensiveness or impression management, warranting cautious interpretation rather than automatic invalidation.
Question 2: Which standardized tool is specifically designed to assess functional impairment in activities of daily living for patients with neurological conditions?
- Beck Depression Inventory-II
- Functional Independence Measure (FIM) (Correct answer)
- SCL-90-R
- Adult Attachment Interview
Correct answer: Functional Independence Measure (FIM)
The FIM measures functional status and degree of disability, rating independence in motor and cognitive tasks.
Question 3: During a clinical interview, a patient exhibits tangential thinking and loosening of associations. These symptoms are most consistent with which diagnostic category?
- Major Depressive Disorder with psychotic features
- Psychotic spectrum disorder (Correct answer)
- Dissociative Identity Disorder
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Correct answer: Psychotic spectrum disorder
Tangentiality and loose associations are hallmark formal thought disorder symptoms associated with psychotic spectrum conditions.
Question 4: A health psychologist is assessing a patient's readiness to change unhealthy eating behaviors. Which model provides a stage-based framework for this evaluation?
- Biopsychosocial Model
- Transtheoretical Model (TTM) (Correct answer)
- Cognitive-Behavioral Model
- Health Belief Model
Correct answer: Transtheoretical Model (TTM)
The TTM describes stages of change (precontemplation through maintenance) and is widely used to assess behavioral readiness.
Question 5: When assessing for somatization in a medical patient, which instrument is best validated for identifying functional somatic symptoms?
- Patient Health Questionnaire-15 (PHQ-15) (Correct answer)
- Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A)
- Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS)
- Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS-5)
Correct answer: Patient Health Questionnaire-15 (PHQ-15)
The PHQ-15 is specifically designed to screen for somatic symptom severity and is validated in primary care and medical populations.
Question 6: A psychologist evaluating chronic pain patients wants to assess pain catastrophizing. Which scale is the gold standard for this construct?
- McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ)
- Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS) (Correct answer)
- Brief Pain Inventory (BPI)
- Numerical Rating Scale (NRS)
Correct answer: Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS)
The PCS directly measures rumination, magnification, and helplessness related to pain and is the most widely validated catastrophizing instrument.
Question 7: In a neuropsychological evaluation, a patient scores in the impaired range on the Trail Making Test Part B but performs adequately on Part A. What does this pattern suggest?
- Pure motor speed deficits
- Impaired executive function and cognitive flexibility (Correct answer)
- Severe memory impairment
- Visual acuity problems
Correct answer: Impaired executive function and cognitive flexibility
Part B requires set-shifting and cognitive flexibility; impairment relative to Part A isolates executive dysfunction from basic processing speed.
HSP Patient Assessment & Clinical Evaluation 2
A psychologist administers the MMPI-2 to a patient but notices an unusually high L (Lie) scale score.
What is the most clinically appropriate next step?