Sample Exams

A clinical psychologist is conducting research on the effectiveness of a new cognitive intervention for depression. After obtaining IRB approval, several participants express concerns about their data privacy. According to ethical guidelines, what is the psychologist's primary obligation regarding informed consent and participant rights?

• Ensure participants understand their right to withdraw at any time without penalty and that their data will be kept confidential within legal limits
• Reassure participants that all data is completely anonymous
• Explain that IRB approval guarantees complete confidentiality
• Inform participants they cannot withdraw once they have begun the study

A 45-year-old patient with a history of temporal lobe epilepsy exhibits difficulty recognizing familiar faces, including close family members, despite intact visual acuity and object recognition. This condition most likely represents damage to which specific brain region?

• Fusiform gyrus
• Primary visual cortex
• Superior temporal sulcus
• Occipital pole

A researcher is studying memory consolidation and wants to examine which brain structure is critical for converting short-term memories into long-term storage. Lesion studies and neuroimaging research consistently implicate which structure as essential for this memory consolidation process?

• Hippocampus
• Amygdala
• Caudate nucleus
• Thalamus

During a family therapy session, a 14-year-old adolescent discloses ongoing suicidal ideation with a specific plan. The parents request that this information remain confidential from school officials. What is the psychologist's most appropriate course of action regarding confidentiality and duty to protect?

• Break confidentiality to ensure the adolescent's safety, involving appropriate parties including parents and potentially school personnel
• Maintain confidentiality as requested by the parents who have legal authority
• Continue therapy without disclosure since the adolescent is in treatment
• Only inform the parents and document their refusal to notify the school

A school psychologist is asked to evaluate a 7-year-old child who is struggling academically. The child's parents speak limited English and request assessment materials in their native language. What is the most ethically appropriate approach to ensure valid assessment?

• Use assessment instruments that have been validated for the child's cultural and linguistic background, or note limitations in the report
• Proceed with standard English assessments since the child attends an English-speaking school
• Have a family member translate the assessment materials during administration
• Use nonverbal tests exclusively to avoid language barriers

A 3-year-old child consistently demonstrates the ability to understand that others may have beliefs different from their own, even when those beliefs are false. This ability represents the development of which cognitive concept?

• Theory of mind
• Object permanence
• Conservation
• Centration

The reuptake of neurotransmitters into the presynaptic neuron is primarily blocked by which class of antidepressant medications?

• Monoamine oxidase inhibitors
• Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors
• Tricyclic antidepressants
• Atypical antipsychotics in clinical populations

Which brain structure is most critical for consolidating declarative memories from short-term into long-term storage?

• Cerebellum
• Amygdala
• Hippocampus
• Thalamus

Long-term potentiation (LTP) is induced by high-frequency stimulation that activates which type of glutamate receptor?

• AMPA receptors alone in clinical populations
• NMDA receptors allowing calcium influx
• Kainate receptors in the postsynaptic membrane
• Metabotropic glutamate receptors

A key distinction between sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems is the neurotransmitter used at postganglionic terminals. The sympathetic system uses:

• Acetylcholine at all postganglionic terminals throughout the peripheral nervous system
• Norepinephrine at most terminals with acetylcholine at sweat glands
• Dopamine at all postganglionic terminals as the primary sympathetic neurotransmitter
• GABA at inhibitory terminals and acetylcholine at all excitatory postganglionic sites

The pineal gland secretes melatonin in response to darkness. This hormone's primary function is to:

• Regulate glucose metabolism and maintain metabolic homeostasis
• Regulate the sleep-wake cycle and circadian rhythms
• Control thyroid hormone synthesis and metabolic rate regulation
• Regulate cortisol secretion from the adrenal cortex during stress

The amygdala's role in fear conditioning involves encoding the emotional significance of conditioned stimuli. This occurs through connections with which structure?

• Medial prefrontal cortex for emotional regulation
• Sensory thalamus and cortex for stimulus representation
• Hippocampus for contextual memory
• All of the above contribute to fear learning