LSP Neuropsychological Assessment 5

Question 1

Which neuropsychological profile pattern is most characteristic of semantic dementia (temporal variant frontotemporal dementia)?

Accepted Answer

Severely impaired naming and single-word comprehension with spared episodic memory and visuospatial skills

Answer

Semantic dementia is characterized by progressive loss of conceptual knowledge, causing profound anomia and impaired single-word comprehension, while day-to-day episodic memory and visuospatial functions are relatively preserved early on.

Question 2

A TBI patient completes the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT) with markedly reduced accuracy. This test most directly assesses:

Accepted Answer

Divided attention and rapid information processing

Answer

The PASAT requires adding serially presented numbers while continuously tracking the running sum, heavily demanding divided attention, working memory, and processing speed simultaneously.

Question 3

In evaluating effort and symptom validity, the 'floor effect' concern refers to:

Accepted Answer

Legitimate impairment can produce low scores indistinguishable from invalid performance on very easy tests

Answer

When tests are too easy for healthy people but a truly impaired patient also scores very low, it becomes difficult to determine whether low performance reflects genuine deficit or feigned failure.

Question 4

The Rey 15-Item Test is classified as a measure of:

Accepted Answer

Symptom validity / effort assessment

Answer

The Rey 15-Item Test is a symptom validity test; its items are deceptively easy for cognitively intact individuals, so very low recall suggests poor effort rather than genuine memory impairment.

Question 5

A neuropsychologist performing serial assessments on a patient with multiple sclerosis observes score improvements at re-evaluation. The most important statistical concept to apply before attributing improvement to treatment is:

Accepted Answer

Reliable Change Index (RCI)

Answer

The Reliable Change Index quantifies whether score change exceeds what is expected from measurement error and practice effects, allowing the clinician to determine whether change is statistically meaningful.

(LSP) Licensed Specialist in Psychology Certification Practice Test

(LSP) Licensed Specialist in Psychology Certification Practice Test

LSP Neuropsychological Assessment 5