LSP Neuropsychological Assessment 2

Question 1

Which neuropsychological test is specifically designed to assess frontal lobe executive functions through card sorting based on color, shape, and number?

Accepted Answer

Wisconsin Card Sorting Test

Answer

The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) requires flexible thinking and set-shifting, making it a classic measure of prefrontal executive function.

Question 2

A patient scores in the impaired range on the Digit Span Backward but within normal limits on Digit Span Forward. This pattern most likely indicates a deficit in:

Accepted Answer

Working memory

Answer

Backward digit span requires active manipulation of information in working memory, whereas forward span primarily reflects passive auditory attention and registration.

Question 3

In base rate interpretation, a clinician calculates how common a low score is in the normative population before diagnosing impairment. This practice primarily addresses which threat to validity?

Accepted Answer

Overcalling deficits due to chance variability

Answer

Base rate analysis guards against false-positive diagnoses by accounting for the statistical likelihood that any given low score occurs in healthy individuals.

Question 4

The Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Battery includes the Category Test primarily to measure:

Accepted Answer

Abstract reasoning and hypothesis testing

Answer

The Category Test presents visual stimuli requiring the examinee to identify an underlying principle, tapping abstract concept formation and adaptive learning.

Question 5

A 55-year-old patient with suspected early Alzheimer's disease performs poorly on delayed recall but benefits significantly from semantic category cues. This profile is most consistent with:

Accepted Answer

Frontal-subcortical retrieval failure rather than hippocampal encoding deficit

Answer

Robust cued recall suggests the information was encoded but is poorly retrieved, pointing to executive-retrieval dysfunction rather than the encoding failure typical of hippocampal Alzheimer's pathology.

(LSP) Licensed Specialist in Psychology Certification Practice Test

(LSP) Licensed Specialist in Psychology Certification Practice Test

LSP Neuropsychological Assessment 2