GRE Subject Test: Psychology : Clinical Assessment
Study concepts, example questions & explanations for GRE Subject Test: Psychology
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Example Questions
Example Question #1 : Clinical Assessment
Which of the following terms is best defined as the inability to recognize faces?
Aphasia
Somatoform disorder
Prosopagnosia
Individual processing disorder
Prosopagnosia
Prosopagnosia is also known as face blindness. It results from head trauma or degenerative diseases. One symptom indicative of this disorder is the patient’s reliance on non-facial cues, such as hair, clothing, or accessories, to distinguish between individuals' faces.
Example Question #2 : Clinical Assessment
An Adlerian psychotherapist would be uninterested in which of the following?
Early medical history
Spitting in the client's soup
Inferiority complex
Birth order
Psychosexual development
Psychosexual development
All of the listed answer choices are Adlerian counseling pillars except psychosexual development. Adler developed the technique of "spitting in a client's soup" in order to provide a prospective of reality to the client. Adler focused strongly on birth order as well as early medical trauma that may cause difficulty with self-actualization later in life. This led to Adler’s understanding of an inferiority complex.
Example Question #3 : Clinical Assessment
Prosopagnosia is a disorder which involves the loss of which of the following?
Voice recognition
Color vision
Meaningful speech production
Face recognition
Ability to detect emotions
Face recognition
Prosopagnosia is a condition distinguished by a loss in the ability to recognize faces. The condition is also known as "face blindness," and is typically the result of brain damage. This damage usually occurs in the fusiform gyrus, a region of the brain which is associated with facial recognition.
A lack of color vision is more often genetic in origin. Achromatopsia is a condition involving a lack of color vision. Other conditions may describe an inability to describe emotion or to distinguish between voice or produce speech, but none of these are classified under prosopagnosia.
Example Question #4 : Clinical Assessment
Erika, a 16 year old girl, is struggling with her mood regulation. She often swings from upbeat and happy to sad and in tears within hours. She pleads with her boyfriend not to go home at the end of a date, and often fears that he will leave her. She feels she is not sure what her true personality is, and often acts impulsively, in self-destructive fashion. Erika is most likely to be diagnosed with which of the following?
Schizophrenia
Bipolar disorder, type II
Depression
Alcohol addiction
Borderline personality disorder
Borderline personality disorder
Erika is displaying several of the classic signs of borderline personality disorder. She is experiencing mood swings, paranoia, and a lack of self identity. She is also displaying pleading and impulsive behaviors. While elements of her feelings and actions could be symptoms of the other disorders listed, no alternate answer encompasses all these symptoms like borderline personality disorder.
Example Question #5 : Clinical Assessment
Gambling addiction and drug addiction have many similar diagnostic criteria. Which of the following is a difference in diagnosing these disorders?
A gambling addict will lie about or attempt to conceal their usage.
A gambling addict is often preoccupied with gambling.
A gambler feels restless or irritable when attempting to cut back.
A drug addict has a persistent desire or unsuccessful effort to cut down or control use of the substance.
A drug addict's recurrent use of the substance resulting in a failure to fulfill major role obligations at work, school, or home.
A gambling addict will lie about or attempt to conceal their usage.
Concealment or lying is not a part of the diagnostic criteria in the DSM-5 for drug addiction, only gambling addiction. The rest of these options apply to both drug and gambling addicts.
All GRE Subject Test: Psychology Resources
