LSP Neuropsychological Assessment 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which performance validity test (PVT) uses a 'reliable digit span' cutoff calculated from the WAIS Digit Span subtest?
- Reliable Digit Span (RDS) (Correct answer)
- Victoria Symptom Validity Test
- Word Memory Test
- Portland Digit Recognition Test
Correct answer: Reliable Digit Span (RDS)
Reliable Digit Span is computed by summing the longest Digit Span Forward and Backward sequences passed on both trials; cutoff scores below empirically derived thresholds indicate invalid performance.
Question 2: Transcortical motor aphasia is distinguished from Broca's aphasia by the preservation of:
- Repetition (Correct answer)
- Fluency
- Comprehension
- Reading aloud
Correct answer: Repetition
Transcortical motor aphasia spares the perisylvian language core, so repetition is intact, whereas spontaneous speech is non-fluent and sparse, similar to Broca's aphasia.
Question 3: A neuropsychologist evaluating a child for ADHD finds elevated scores on continuous performance tests (CPT) for both omission and commission errors. Omission errors primarily reflect deficits in:
- Sustained attention and vigilance (Correct answer)
- Behavioral inhibition
- Processing speed
- Working memory updating
Correct answer: Sustained attention and vigilance
Omission errors on CPTs occur when the child fails to respond to targets, indicating lapses in sustained attention, while commission errors reflect impulsive responses to non-targets.
Question 4: The Wechsler Memory Scale-IV (WMS-IV) Auditory Memory Index primarily includes which subtests?
- Logical Memory and Verbal Paired Associates (Correct answer)
- Spatial Addition and Symbol Span
- Designs and Visual Reproduction
- Brief Cognitive Status Exam and Logical Memory
Correct answer: Logical Memory and Verbal Paired Associates
The WMS-IV Auditory Memory Index is composed of Logical Memory (story recall) and Verbal Paired Associates (word-pair learning), both verbal memory tasks.
Question 5: In interpreting the significance of a single low test score in a neuropsychological battery, the concept of 'abnormality versus rarity' is important because:
- A statistically rare score may still be within the base rate of chance lows in a healthy person taking many tests (Correct answer)
- Any score below the 16th percentile is always clinically abnormal
- Rare scores always indicate neurological damage
- Only scores below the 5th percentile require follow-up evaluation
Correct answer: A statistically rare score may still be within the base rate of chance lows in a healthy person taking many tests
As the number of tests administered increases, the probability of obtaining at least one low score by chance also increases, necessitating base-rate correction before concluding impairment.
Question 6: Prosopagnosia — the inability to recognize familiar faces — results most consistently from lesions in which brain region?
- Right fusiform gyrus (fusiform face area) (Correct answer)
- Left inferior frontal gyrus
- Bilateral medial temporal lobes
- Right parietal lobe
Correct answer: Right fusiform gyrus (fusiform face area)
The fusiform face area in the right fusiform gyrus is critical for holistic face processing, and lesions here produce prosopagnosia while other object recognition may remain relatively spared.
Question 7: Which of the following is a key difference between the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery and the Halstead-Reitan Battery?
- Luria-Nebraska is shorter and allows examiner flexibility in probing; Halstead-Reitan is more strictly standardized (Correct answer)
- Halstead-Reitan includes motor tests; Luria-Nebraska does not
- Luria-Nebraska was validated exclusively in pediatric populations
- Halstead-Reitan emphasizes qualitative process analysis; Luria-Nebraska uses fixed scoring
Correct answer: Luria-Nebraska is shorter and allows examiner flexibility in probing; Halstead-Reitan is more strictly standardized
The Luria-Nebraska Battery is derived from Luria's flexible clinical method and is shorter, while the Halstead-Reitan uses rigidly standardized procedures with fixed administration and scoring.
LSP Neuropsychological Assessment 4
Which performance validity test (PVT) uses a 'reliable digit span' cutoff calculated from the WAIS Digit Span subtest?