Question 1

Which description is accurate concerning the mental status examination?

Accepted Answer

The mental status examination is a comprehensive assessment of a person's psychological functioning, including their attitude, mood, emotion, motor function, and cognition. It is not the same as diagnosing a mental disorder, nor is it solely based on a client's self-report or used to determine recovery from psychotherapy.

Question 2

In clinical settings, the Barnum effect is likely to be a problem when a clinician:

Accepted Answer

The Barnum effect refers to the tendency of people to accept vague, general descriptions as accurate and specifically applicable to them. Clinicians who write case descriptions that are very general are more likely to elicit this response from clients, which can lead to inaccurate assessments and diagnoses. Therefore, option A is the correct choice. The other options may also pose challenges for clinicians, but they do not specifically relate to the Barnum effect.

Question 3

To make a good diagnosis of a client, a clinician should:

Accepted Answer

A clinician should gather ample, valid information from a range of sources (including the client, collateral sources, and objective measures) and use this information to make a differential diagnosis. This involves considering all possible diagnoses that explain the client's symptoms and ruling out those that do not fit the available evidence. The process should be systematic, transparent, and based on the best available evidence. The clinician's experience is important but should be used alongside other sources of information, not as the sole basis for making a diagnosis. Projective techniques may be useful in some cases, but they should not be the sole basis for making a diagnosis. Finally, the clinician should consider the research evidence when selecting a treatment, but this should not be the sole basis for choosing a diagnosis.

Question 4

Which statement is TRUE about comorbidity?

Accepted Answer

Comorbidity refers to the presence of two or more disorders in an individual at the same time. Substance abuse disorder is frequently comorbid with other mental health disorders such as anxiety or mood disorders. The other options are either incorrect or do not provide a relevant answer to the question.

Question 5

Preconceptions, stereotypes, and expectations are MOST closely associated with:

Accepted Answer

Preconceptions, stereotypes, and expectations are all forms of cognitive biases which involve thinking errors made when relying too much on knowledge and experience, and not considering other information or perspectives.

Question 6

When trying to diagnose Tanika's problem, her psychologist observed that she was showing delusions and other serious thought disturbances. Her psychologist then used the DSM-5 to check whether Tanika had a history of a communication disorder and signs of depression as a way to:

Accepted Answer

The psychologist used the DSM-5 to conduct a differential diagnosis, which involves ruling out various potential diagnoses to narrow down to the most likely one. This is a common method in diagnosing mental disorders. Checking for a history of a communication disorder and signs of depression are part of this process. A is not the best choice because simply checking for a communication disorder and depression using the DSM-5 is not enough to determine whether Tanika has a mental disorder. C is not the best choice because there is no indication that Tanika was at risk for suicide in this scenario. D is not the best choice because there is no indication that the psychologist used excessive backward reasoning.

Question 7

When a clinician makes a differential diagnosis, the clinician has:

Accepted Answer

A differential diagnosis is a process of considering and evaluating multiple possible diagnoses based on the client's symptoms, history, and other information. The clinician is not necessarily looking for one correct diagnosis, but rather attempting to discern which diagnosis best fits the presenting symptoms and clinical picture. This may involve ruling out other possible diagnoses that could also explain the client's symptoms. Therefore, the clinician is attempting to show that the client's signs, symptoms, and behaviors best fit the criteria for a certain diagnostic label and not some other label.

Question 8

Andrea Yates, who murdered her children, was diagnosed with postpartum depression, had flat affect (showed little emotional response), experienced social withdrawal, and had delusions and other psychotic symptoms associated with schizophrenia. Taken together, these facts and symptoms suggest that she:

Accepted Answer

Yates was showing symptoms that are characteristic of both postpartum depression and schizophrenia, indicating that she may have been experiencing comorbidity of mental disorders. This would have made the diagnosis and treatment more complex and possibly contributed to the severity of her actions.

Question 9

Both psychosis and delusions:

Accepted Answer

Psychosis and delusions may occur in some cases of depression.

Question 10

As the text explains, it was difficult to diagnose Andrea Yates, who murdered her children, because she:

Accepted Answer

Andrea Yates showed signs and symptoms of more than one disorder, including postpartum depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and psychotic features. This made her difficult to diagnosis and treat effectively.

Question 11

Imagine that a clinical psychologist tries to follow good practices in clinical assessment. Which is probably the BEST series of steps to follow if interviews with a client suggest that he may be experiencing depression?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Imagine that a clinical psychologist tries to...

Question 12

A reliable test or measure is one that:

Accepted Answer

A reliable test or measure is one that demonstrates consistency in scores obtained when the test is repeated under the same conditions. This means that if the same individuals take the test multiple times, their scores will be similar each time, indicating the reliability of the test.

Question 13

Similar to the general descriptions of traits found in horoscopes, clinicians sometimes write case descriptions that could apply to anyone. When people endorse these as good descriptions of a person, this is referred to as:

Accepted Answer

The Barnum effect refers to the tendency for people to accept vague descriptions that could apply to anyone as accurate and specific to them. This is commonly seen in horoscopes, personality tests, and sometimes in clinical case descriptions.

Question 14

Andrea Yates, who murdered her children, was diagnosed with postpartum depression, had attempted suicide, had shown symptoms of psychosis and delusions, and had been treated repeatedly by mental health professionals. Yet her defense of "not guilty by reason of insanity" failed. Why might this outcome surprise many people?

Accepted Answer

Many people may assume that someone with a documented history of mental illness and treatment would be a strong candidate for an insanity plea. However, the reality is that the insanity defense is rarely successful in court, with an average success rate of only 15%.

Question 15

Suppose a clinician has done a differential diagnosis of a mental disorder for a client. This means that the clinician has:

Accepted Answer

Differential diagnosis involves distinguishing a particular disease or condition from others that present similar clinical features. By excluding other possible labels or diagnoses, the clinician identifies the specific disorder affecting the client.

Question 16

Jerry believes that the terrorist group Al Qaeda is monitoring his every thought, seeking to divide his personality into units that it can control. Jerry further believes that God has ordered him to go on a secret mission to prevent the terrorists from listening to his or other people's thoughts. For a preliminary hypothesis of how Jerry should be diagnosed, which disorder description BEST fits his symptoms?

Accepted Answer

Jerry's symptoms are consistent with schizophrenia, particularly his delusions of being monitored and his belief in a secret mission. Dissociative identity disorder would involve distinct personalities, which is not mentioned in this scenario. Anxiety disorder and phobias may involve fear and paranoia, but not to the extent of delusional thinking.

Question 17

Matt, the creative writer described in this chapter, reported in a clinical interview that sometimes swarms of ideas came into his head and that his girlfriend was listening to him from behind the walls and making them ring by hitting them. Based on information provided in the text, the BEST preliminary diagnosis is that Matt has:

Accepted Answer

Matt's reported symptoms of swarms of ideas and a belief that his girlfriend is making the walls ring suggest disordered thought, which is a symptom of schizophrenia. The belief in a girlfriend behind the walls is also indicative of psychosis, which is common in schizophrenia. The other options of anxiety disorder and dissociative identity disorder do not fit the reported symptoms as well. The option of "a kind of schizophrenia" that involves a split personality is not a recognized diagnosis within the DSM-5.

Question 18

When clinicians pay too little attention to client data and too much attention to their theoretical conceptions and preconceptions of clients' problems, they are depending too much on:

Accepted Answer

Backward reasoning involves starting with a hypothesis or a theory and then looking for evidence to support it, which can lead to ignoring or discounting data that doesn't fit the preconceived notions.

Question 19

Some clinicians use the "Draw-a-Person" test, a projective test based on the assumption that the pictures people draw reveal something about their unconscious motives. For example, a clinician might assume that a respondent drawing a person with large eyes is showing signs of paranoia (when people are fearful their eyes are wide). The thinking of this clinician is influenced by the:

Accepted Answer

The representativeness heuristic involves making judgments based on how much something resembles a typical case. In this scenario, the clinician assumes that large eyes in a drawing represent paranoia, based on the resemblance to the typical appearance of fearful people.

Question 20

Validity in testing or measurement is demonstrated when a measure:

Accepted Answer

Validity in testing or measurement is demonstrated when a measure is shown to be measuring what it is intended to measure. Options A and C relate to reliability which is a different concept. Option D relates to logical validity which is not the same as validity in testing or measurement.

Quiz 13: Critical Thinking in Clinical Reasoning and Diagnosis