Questions: MCQs
For each question, select one answer option.
1. When assessing an angry and agitated patient, which of the following measures is advised?
A Avoid panic alarms because this irritates the patient
B Consider taking notes after the assessment has been completed C Let the patient sit between interviewer and the door
D See the patient alone to allow disclosures of sensitive information E Stay as close as possible to the patient so that he or she feels secure
2. When are closed questions most useful during a clinical assessment?
A At the start of an interview
B During the middle of unstructured interviews
C To control an overtalkative patient during the assessment D When a chaperone presents during the assessment
E When the patient accepts the situation and starts crying during the assessment
3. If the psychiatrist asked a patient, ‘Have you been feeling low in your mood recently?’, what type of questioning style was used during the psychiatric interview?
A Closed question B Compound question C Directive question D Leading question E Open question
4. If the psychiatrist said to a patient ‘You were not happy at that time?’ what type of questioning style was used during the psychiatric interview?
A Closed question B Compound question C Directive question D Leading question E Open question
5. If the psychiatrist asked a patient ‘tell me more about it?’ What type of questioning style did he use during the psychiatric interview?
A Closed question B Compound question C Directive question D Leading question E Open question
6. Which lobe function is tested when the patient is asked to copy interlocking pentagons?
A Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex B Frontal lobe
C Occipital lobe D Parietal lobe E Temporal lobe
7. In the mini-mental state examination (MMSE), what does the task of naming three objects test?
A Attention B Concentration C Orientation D Recall E Registration
8. A 45-year-old man had been drinking almost 35 units of alcohol a week for the last 7 years. He had numerous physical health and social difficulties. He understood that alcohol had become a problem in his life and was motivated to take help from alcohol services to stop it. What is the level of insight that he currently has?
A Action
B Intellectual insight C Contemplation D Ready for action E True insight
9. Which of the following tests uses ambiguous stimuli to evaluate a person’s patterns of thought, attitudes and observational capacity, and emotional responses?
A Cattell’s personality factor questionnaire B Minnesota multiphasic personality inventory 2 C Rey–Osterrieth complex figure test
D Rorschach’s inkblot test E Stanford–Binet test
10. A 72-year-old man was unable to draw interlocking polygons. Which of the following cerebral lobes is most likely to be affected?
A Frontal lobe B Occipital lobe C Parietal lobe D Prefrontal lobe E Temporal lobe
11. Which cognitive function is assessed by verbal frequency?
A Executive functions
B Language
C Memory
D Rate of speech E Recall
12. A 35-year-old man was diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder. Which classification system is used for this diagnosis?
A Chinese Classification of Mental Disorders II, revised
B DSM-IV
C ICD-10
D ICD-9
E Research diagnostic criteria
13. A 29-year-old man was found wandering on the street with some memory loss after his 5-year- old son died suddenly. Which type of memory is most likely to be affected?
A Episodic memory B Implicit memory C Procedural memory D Semantic memory E Working memory
14. Which of the following is a diagnostic criterion for borderline personality disorder in the DSM-IV but not in the ICD-10?
A Chronic feeling of emptiness
B Involvement in intense and unstable relationships C Recurrent threats or acts of self-harm
D Transient, stress-related, paranoid ideation E Uncertainty about self-image
15. You are seeing a 42-year-old man after a road traffic accident. He was confused and used inappropriate words during the assessment. On the Glasgow coma scale (GCS), what will be the grade of his verbal response?
A 1 B 2 C 3 D 4 E 5
16. An 18-year-old woman presented after a road traffic accident. She was confused but cooperated during the assessment. She responded to painful stimulus by withdrawing. On the GCS, what will be the grade of her motor response?
A 1 B 2 C 3 D 4 E 5
17. A 45-year-old man with stroke presented with an inability to name the right or left side of his body. In addition, he had writing difficulty, calculation difficulty and speech abnormalities. When he was asked to name his fingers, he could not. Where is the lesion likely to be located in the brain?
A Frontal lobe B Left parietal lobe C Left temporal lobe D Right parietal lobe E Right temporal lobe
18. Which of the following statements about working memory is correct?
A For the new, long-term, memory process to happen one should have intact working memory B It has an unlimited capacity
C It is analogous to recall after a few minutes D It is best tested with the digit-span task
E Working memory is dependent on long-term memory
19. Which of the following is an example of priming?
A Episodic memory B Implicit memory C Semantic memory D Spatial memory E Visual memory
20. A 39-year-old woman presented with symptoms and signs suggestive of generalised anxiety disorder. What should be the minimum duration of these symptoms according to the ICD-10 diagnostic category of generalised anxiety disorder?
A 1 month
B 2 months
C 6 months
D 1 year E 2 years
21. A 55-year-old man presented with foot drop after recently having a plaster cast removed from the same lower limb. There was wasting of the lateral muscles of the lower leg, weakness of dorsiflexion and eversion of the ankle. What would you expect to find to confirm the most likely diagnosis?
A Absent ankle reflex B Absent knee reflex C Extensor plantar response D Intact ankle reflex E Intact knee reflex
22. You examined a patient’s lower limbs and wanted to grade the muscle weakness. On examination you noted that there was some active movement. What grade does this correspond to according to a Medical Research Council grade?
A Grade 0
B Grade 1
C Grade 2
D Grade 3
E Grade 4
23. A 75-year-old woman with a history of depression presented with urinary infection and cardiac failure. Which of the following would help to assess her semantic memory?
A Correct awareness of passage of time B Giving correct address
C Giving correct date of birth D Giving correct place of birth E Naming the correct Prime Minister
24. A 45-year-old woman with a history of depression presented with short-term memory problems.
Which of the following bedside tests would best assess the patient’s short-term verbal memory?
A Copying pentagons
B Naming date and place of birth C Orientation in time, place and person D Serial sevens test
E Three-word recall