Abstract Thinking Flashcards
7 cards from real MOCA practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Abstract Thinking flashcards as text
In the MoCA similarity task, a patient says 'a train and a bicycle are both fast.' What score does this receive?
Answer: 0 points — concrete response
Describing an attribute (fast) rather than a category (vehicles/modes of transport) is a concrete response and earns 0 points.
Which cognitive domain does the MoCA abstract thinking subtest PRIMARILY assess?
Answer: Executive and conceptual reasoning
The abstraction subtest targets executive and conceptual reasoning by requiring the patient to identify categorical similarities.
A patient groups 'ruler and clock' as 'both have numbers.' How is this scored?
Answer: 0 points — concrete feature, not a category
Identifying a shared feature (numbers) rather than a superordinate category (measurement instruments) scores 0 points.
What does it indicate when a patient consistently gives concrete responses on the MoCA abstraction task?
Answer: Possible frontal lobe dysfunction
Consistent concrete thinking on abstraction tasks is a marker of frontal-executive dysfunction, which the MoCA is designed to detect.
If a patient answers 'orange and banana — both are yellow,' the examiner should:
Answer: Prompt once with 'how else are they alike?'
The MoCA administration guidelines allow one prompt if the first response is incorrect or concrete.
Which pair is NOT one of the two standard MoCA similarity pairs?
Answer: Table and chair
The two standard MoCA abstraction pairs are train/bicycle and watch/ruler; table and chair is not used.
The maximum score possible on the MoCA abstraction subtest is:
Answer: 2
The abstraction subtest contains two pairs worth 1 point each, for a maximum of 2 points.