SPEX SPEX Exam 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A psychologist conducting a neuropsychological evaluation suspects a client has frontal lobe damage. Which test is MOST sensitive to executive function deficits?
- Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (Correct answer)
- Beck Depression Inventory
- Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory
- Rorschach Inkblot Test
Correct answer: Wisconsin Card Sorting Test
The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test is specifically designed to measure executive functions including set-shifting, cognitive flexibility, and working memory, which are mediated by the prefrontal cortex.
Question 2: Under HIPAA, a covered entity may disclose protected health information without patient authorization in which of the following situations?
- To report imminent danger to an identified third party (Correct answer)
- To share records with the patient's employer upon request
- To provide records to the patient's insurance company for marketing
- To discuss treatment with a patient's adult sibling
Correct answer: To report imminent danger to an identified third party
HIPAA permits disclosure without authorization when necessary to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to the health or safety of an identified person.
Question 3: Which therapeutic modality is most strongly evidence-based for treating panic disorder with agoraphobia?
- Cognitive-behavioral therapy with interoceptive exposure (Correct answer)
- Psychodynamic therapy focused on early attachments
- Supportive therapy with relaxation training only
- Motivational interviewing
Correct answer: Cognitive-behavioral therapy with interoceptive exposure
CBT incorporating interoceptive exposure (deliberate induction of feared bodily sensations) is the gold-standard, empirically supported treatment for panic disorder with agoraphobia.
Question 4: A researcher uses a repeated-measures ANOVA and finds a significant main effect. What assumption must be checked that is unique to this design?
- Sphericity (Correct answer)
- Homogeneity of variance
- Multicollinearity
- Normality of residuals
Correct answer: Sphericity
Sphericity (equal variances of differences between all pairs of repeated measures) is the unique assumption for repeated-measures ANOVA, often tested with Mauchly's test.
Question 5: Which of the following best describes the concept of 'countertransference' in psychotherapy?
- The therapist's emotional reactions to the client influenced by the therapist's own unresolved issues (Correct answer)
- The client's displaced feelings toward the therapist from past relationships
- A conscious strategy the therapist uses to build rapport
- The therapeutic frame established at the start of treatment
Correct answer: The therapist's emotional reactions to the client influenced by the therapist's own unresolved issues
Countertransference refers to the therapist's conscious and unconscious emotional reactions to the client, often rooted in the therapist's own history and psychological material.
Question 6: In the context of supervision, which ethical obligation does a supervisor have when a supervisee engages in a boundary violation with a client?
- Report the violation to the appropriate licensing board if client harm occurred (Correct answer)
- Keep the information confidential to protect the supervisory relationship
- Terminate supervision immediately without documentation
- Allow the supervisee to handle the situation independently
Correct answer: Report the violation to the appropriate licensing board if client harm occurred
Supervisors are ethically and legally obligated to report boundary violations that result in client harm to protect the public and uphold professional standards.
Question 7: A psychologist working in a correctional facility is asked by the warden to participate in designing interrogation procedures. According to APA ethics, the psychologist should:
- Refuse participation if the procedures could cause harm or constitute torture (Correct answer)
- Participate since it falls within a legitimate institutional role
- Consult with colleagues before deciding whether to participate
- Request additional training before agreeing to participate
Correct answer: Refuse participation if the procedures could cause harm or constitute torture
APA ethics and position statements prohibit psychologists from participating in interrogations that involve torture, cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, regardless of institutional context.
SPEX SPEX Exam 2
A psychologist conducting a neuropsychological evaluation suspects a client has frontal lobe damage.
Which test is MOST sensitive to executive function deficits?