Psychology Questions, Answer, and Rationale

1. Which one of the following is true about self-monitoring as a clinical observation form?

• Asking the clients to measure their galvanic skin response
• Asking the clients to observe and record their behavior
• Asking the clients to measure their heart rate
• Asking the clients to record their dream

The question tests the nurses’ understanding of clinical observation as a skill to glean information from their clients. Self-monitoring is a mode of clinical observation, where the therapist asks the client to observe and record their behavior, noting when particular behaviors and thoughts happen and in what contexts to establish a diagnosis and treatment plan (Bruhn, McDaniel & Kreigh, 2015).

2. The psychometric methodology is used to measure which of the following?

• Psychopathology symptoms
• Neurological/cognitive deficits
• Intelligence
• All of the above

The psychometric approach is the philosophy that a psychological test assumes stable underlying traits or characteristics such as anxiety, compulsiveness, depression, or worry existing at different levels of every person. It is a psychological measurement that quantifies abilities, knowledge, attitudes, and personality traits; hence measures both neurological/cognitive deficit, psychopathology symptoms, and intelligence (Lockwood et al. 2015).

3. Which of the following causes dementia?

• Cannabis
• Schizophrenia
• Head injury
• All of the above

Dementia is a general deterioration in memory and other thinking skills, which can be severe enough to reduce an individual’s ability to perform routine activities. It is occasioned by persistent and progressive deterioration of cognitive function. Researchers have established a high likelihood of developing dementia for people with dementia. Researchers have established a close connection between late onsets of schizophrenia and the development of dementia. Individuals with late-onset schizophrenia were found to have a threefold upsurge in dementia rates (Cohen 2018). Cannabis/marijuana use has been found to increase the susceptibility to Alzheimer’s disease by severely reducing blood flow to brain areas impacted by the illness. Alzheimer’s disease is the primary cause of dementia (Shanmugam, Duraisamy, Simon, & Bhaskaran, 2022). Head injury is considered the most common cause of injury after infection and drugs for persons below 50 years. Older adults with head injuries are also susceptible to dementia complications, while children can develop even more severe complications (Fann et al. 2018).

4. Impaired consciousness, hyperactivity, visual hallucination, and fragmentary delusions are:

• Dementia
• Schizophrenia
• Delirium
• Paranoids psychosis

Delirium is an abrupt alteration in the brain, causing emotional disruption and mental confusion. Delirium makes it a challenge to sleep, remember, and pay attention. Common symptoms include hallucination, impaired consciousness, hyperactivity, and delusion (Wilson et al. 2020).

5. Which of the following denotes face validity?

• The scale/degree of emotional responding
• Facial expression is applied in making a diagnosis
• The idea is that the evaluation approach may seem to be valid because it contains questions that intuitively appear relevant to the trait being assessed.
• A construct is inferred attribute or hypothetical that is may not be directly measurable or directly observable.

Face validity is the extent to which a test appears to assess/measure what it is purposed to measure. Any test that many people would approve that the test items measure what the test is designed to assess is considered to have a strong validity. The psychiatric researcher may take the test’s validity at face value by just observing whether it seems to measure the intended variables. An example could be in the case of happiness. A test is considered a pace validity if it seems to truly assess the level of happiness (Allen, Iliescu & Greiff, 2022).

6. A 36-year-old Caucasian woman is presented to the emergency section by an ambulance after one of the neighbors who witnessed robbery and rape by two intruders informed the police. The patient is oriented to person, time, place and fully alert. However, patients seem not to remember anything concerning the incident. What could be the most likely cause of this finding?

• Dissociative amnesia
• Traumatic brain injury
• depersonalization disorder
• Fatigue

This question tests the nurse trainee’s ability to identify the characteristics of a behavior disorder. The correct answer is dissociative amnesia. The patient’s incapability characterizes the condition to recall important information, particularly stressful or traumatic in nature, and too extensive to be regarded as usual forgetfulness (Staniloiu & Markowitsch, 2014). Depersonalization disorder and fatigue are not correct for this case. After all, the patient is fully alert during traumatic brain injury because the patient has not sustained any head injury.

7. What question should a psychiatric and mental health nurse begin with during an interview with the patient?

• Ask the client to describe his or her current situation
• Asking the patient to describe their overall feeling concerning their present situation
• Ask the patients about their personal history
• Ask the patient their thoughts concerning the present situation.

Asking the patients their current situation is vital to obtain the most up-to-date details from the patient to help improve the quality of care delivery

8. Which of the following indicates that older adults reached Erikson’s developmental phase of ego integrity?

• When they begin acknowledging that you cannot get everything you desire in life
• When they have evaluated their lives and established actions with purpose and value
• When they begin expressing a wish that life could be recreated differently
• When they begin to feel a sense of being punished for whatever they did not accomplish

Erikson’s developmental phase of ego integrity is a stage that starts roughly at the age of 65 until death. The contemplation of our achievements characterizes the stage, and we are likely to develop integrity when there is a sense or perception of leading a successful life. That is when we have cross-examined our lives and established actions with purpose and value (McLeod, 2013).

9. A 25-old-man presented to the clinic complaining of pain in the right hand. However, the nurse reported that the patient was short-tempered and unwilling to answer vital intake questions. He also declined to wear the examination gown. Upon questioning, the patient appears glib and charming, and after being assured that any information shared with the physician cannot be reported to the probation officer, the patient admitted that he engaged in a fistfight. The patient proudly tells the physician that “the other guy is in bad shape.” This patient exhibits which of the following psychiatric disorders?

• Conduct disorder
• Paranoid personality disorder
• Bipolar disorder, episode hypomanic most recent
• Antisocial personality disorder

This question primarily tests the learner’s ability to differentiate between behavior disorders according to salient points raised during the interview with the patient. The correct answer is antisocial personality disorder (Glenn, Johnson & Raine, 2013). Even though the patient appears ingratiated and charming, he is aggressive and exhibits disregard rights of others and social norms, finding which are attributes of personality disorder.

10. A young man aged 24 years presents to the office with severe anxiety, restlessness, and generalized myalgia, which he has been experiencing for the past three days. The patient complains of having not slept for the past three days. Physical examination indicates pupil dilation, diaphoresis, excessive lacrimation, and piloerection.

The patient’s condition is most likely caused by the withdrawal of?

• Opioids
• Inhalants
• Cocaine
• Methamphetamines

The question tests the learner’s ability to establish patient history, physical examination findings, and symptoms associated with withdrawal. The correct answer is opioids. Diaphoresis, dilation of the pupils, myalgia, lacrimation or rhinorrhea, and insomnia are symptoms of opioid withdrawal (Kosten & Baxter, 2019). Withdrawal of cocaine is occasioned mostly by fatigue, psychomotor retardation, or agitation (Gasparyan et al. 2021). Inhalant withdrawal is characterized by delusion, hallucination, disturbed sleep (Hassan, Bhatia, & Bhatia, 2017), while methamphetamines are mainly occasioned by the occurrence of either two of the following, insomnia or hypersomnia, fatigue, agitation,  lethargy, stimulant craving, or increased appetite (Liang, Wang, & Yuan, T2018); hence not correct.

References

Allen, M. S., Iliescu, D., & Greiff, S. (2022). Single Item Measures in Psychological Science. European Journal of Psychological Assessment.

Bruhn, A., McDaniel, S., & Kreigh, C. (2015). Self-monitoring interventions for students with behavior problems: A systematic review of current research. Behavioral Disorders, 40(2), 102-121.

Cohen, C. I. (2018). Very late-onset schizophrenia-like psychosis: positive findings but questions remain unanswered. The Lancet Psychiatry, 5(7), 528-529.

Fann, J. R., Ribe, A. R., Pedersen, H. S., Fenger-Grøn, M., Christensen, J., Benros, M. E., & Vestergaard, M. (2018). Long-term risk of dementia among people with traumatic brain injury in Denmark: a population-based observational cohort study. The Lancet Psychiatry, 5(5), 424-431.