Behavioral Science Flashcards
7 cards from real NBME practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Behavioral Science flashcards as text
A competent adult patient refuses a blood transfusion on religious grounds despite life-threatening hemorrhage. The physician's ethical obligation is to:
Answer: Respect the patient's refusal and document it
Competent adults have the right to refuse any treatment; autonomy overrides beneficence in this scenario.
A psychiatrist's patient discloses a specific, credible plan to kill a named neighbor. Under the Tarasoff ruling, the psychiatrist is legally obligated to:
Answer: Warn the identifiable potential victim
The Tarasoff duty-to-warn doctrine requires clinicians to protect identifiable third parties from credible threats.
A 4-year-old child engages in parallel play, uses sentences of 4–5 words, and can draw a person with 4 parts. According to Erikson, this child is working through which psychosocial stage?
Answer: Initiative vs. Guilt
Initiative vs. Guilt is Erikson's stage for children aged approximately 3–5 years old.
A 7-year-old understands that a tall, thin glass and a short, wide glass hold the same amount of water if the same amount was poured. According to Piaget, this child has achieved:
Answer: Conservation
Conservation — the understanding that quantity remains the same despite changes in shape — is a hallmark of the concrete operational stage.
An uninsured 68-year-old retired teacher with end-stage renal disease requires hemodialysis. Which program most likely covers this cost?
Answer: Medicare
Medicare covers ESRD regardless of age, as well as most Americans aged 65 and older.
A physician learns that a patient has active tuberculosis but refuses to notify public health authorities. Which ethical principle most directly justifies mandatory reporting?
Answer: Justice
Justice supports mandatory reporting because protecting public health overrides individual confidentiality in communicable disease.
A 70-year-old woman with advanced dementia cannot make medical decisions. Her daughter presents a document the patient signed years ago designating the daughter as decision-maker. This document is best described as a:
Answer: Durable power of attorney for healthcare
A durable power of attorney for healthcare designates a specific surrogate decision-maker and remains valid during incapacity.