LSP Psychological Assessment & Evaluation 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A school psychologist wants to assess a bilingual student's cognitive abilities without being confounded by language proficiency. Which instrument is MOST appropriate?
- WISC-V Full Scale
- Leiter International Performance Scale (Correct answer)
- Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test
- Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement
Correct answer: Leiter International Performance Scale
The Leiter International Performance Scale is a nonverbal IQ test designed for individuals with language barriers, hearing impairments, or limited English proficiency.
Question 2: On the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), a score of 29 falls into which severity category?
- Minimal depression
- Mild depression
- Moderate depression
- Severe depression (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Severe depression
BDI-II scores of 29–63 indicate severe depression; scores 14–19 = mild, 20–28 = moderate, 0–13 = minimal.
Question 3: Which statistical concept describes the degree to which an assessment measures what it purports to measure?
- Reliability
- Standardization
- Validity (Correct answer)
- Norm-referencing
Correct answer: Validity
Validity refers to the extent to which a test accurately measures the construct it is intended to measure.
Question 4: A psychologist administers the MMPI-2 and finds a client's K scale is significantly elevated. What does this suggest?
- The client is exaggerating symptoms
- The client may be defensively denying psychological difficulties (Correct answer)
- The client's protocol is invalid due to random responding
- The client shows genuine but subtle psychopathology
Correct answer: The client may be defensively denying psychological difficulties
Elevated K scale scores on the MMPI-2 indicate psychological defensiveness and a tendency to present oneself in an unrealistically positive light.
Question 5: Which Rorschach scoring variable in the Exner Comprehensive System reflects an individual's reality-testing ability?
- Lambda
- Experience Balance (EB)
- X+% (extended form quality) (Correct answer)
- Affective Ratio (Afr)
Correct answer: X+% (extended form quality)
X+% (conventional form quality percentage) measures how often a respondent's percepts match commonly seen responses, directly indexing reality testing.
Question 6: During a neuropsychological evaluation, the Trail Making Test Part B primarily assesses which cognitive domain?
- Verbal memory consolidation
- Psychomotor speed only
- Set-shifting and cognitive flexibility (Correct answer)
- Visual-spatial construction
Correct answer: Set-shifting and cognitive flexibility
Trail Making Test Part B requires alternating between numbers and letters, making it a sensitive measure of cognitive flexibility and executive set-shifting.
Question 7: A client produces a protocol on a projective sentence completion task that is highly guarded with minimal responses. This is BEST described as a threat to which type of validity?
- Predictive validity
- Internal consistency
- Protocol validity (Correct answer)
- Divergent validity
Correct answer: Protocol validity
Protocol validity concerns whether the test data accurately reflect the client's true psychological functioning, which is compromised when the client is guarded or minimally responsive.
LSP Psychological Assessment & Evaluation 2
A school psychologist wants to assess a bilingual student's cognitive abilities without being confounded by language proficiency.
Which instrument is MOST appropriate?