Chapter 8: The Clinical Interview

Test Bank

Multiple Choice

1. ______ validity is the extent to which an assessment technique has content appropriate for what is being measured.

A. Content

B. Convergent

C. Discriminant

D. None of these

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Table 8.1: Defining Validity, Reliability, and Clinical Utility for Assessment Methods

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. ______ reliability is the extent to which an assessment technique yields similar results across different administrators.

A. Test–retest

B. Interrater

C. Internal

D. Clinical

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Table 8.1: Defining Validity, Reliability, and Clinical Utility for Assessment Methods

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. Dr. Brox creates a new assessment technique, the Superior Clinical Interval for Therapists (SCIT). We can say the SCIT has ______ if it measures what it claims to measure. We can say the SCIT has ______ if it yields consistent, repeatable results.

A. reliability; validity

B. validity; reliability

C. clinical utility; statistical utility

D. statistical utility; clinical utility

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: The Clinical Interview

Difficulty Level: Easy

4. Of all the available assessment procedures, clinical psychologists rely most frequently on the ______.

A. Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale

B. Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children

C. clinical interview

D. Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: The Clinical Interview

Difficulty Level: Easy

5. An element common to all kinds of psychological assessment is ______, which may take the form of a face-to-face meeting or written report.

A. coaching

B. feedback

C. clinical utility

D. validity

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: The Clinical Interview

Difficulty Level: Easy

6. ______ of clinical psychologists use clinical interviews as part of their assessment processes.

A. About half

B. The vast majority

C. About 25%

D. Less than 5%

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: The Clinical Interview

Difficulty Level: Easy

7. In the context of the clinical interview, the term quieting yourself is best described as the ______.

A. client’s efforts to remain quiet in order to fully attend to the interviewer’s questions

B. interviewer’s efforts to control the volume of his speaking voice to match that of the client

C. interviewer’s efforts to control his own internal, self-directed thinking pattern in order to enhance listening

D. interviewer’s policy of remaining entirely silent during the interview in order to facilitate transference

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: General Skills

Difficulty Level: Medium

8. An important skill for a clinical interviewer is ______, which is best described as the ability to know how he tends to affect others interpersonally and how others tend to relate to him.

A. being self-aware

B. developing positive working relationships

C. establishing rapport

D. quieting yourself

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: General Skills

Difficulty Level: Medium

9. Positive working relationships with clients ______.

A. can be developed using attentive listening, appropriate empathy, and genuine respect

B. are not dependent on the interviewer’s attitude and actions

C. should be established immediately for assessments but over time for therapy

D. are required for clients who self-pay but only recommended for those who use insurance

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: General Skills

Difficulty Level: Medium

10. Loraine is a clinical psychology graduate student conducting her first clinical interview with a client. While her client describes reasons for seeking treatment, Loraine finds herself distracted by internal thoughts such as, “What questions should I ask next?” and “When is the project due for my linear regression class?” In this instance, Loraine has the opportunity to improve which general skill of clinical interviewing?

A. being self-aware

B. developing positive working relationships

C. eye contact

D. quieting yourself

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: General Skills

Difficulty Level: Medium

11. Effective interviewers are skilled at ______, or repeating key words and phrases back to their clients to ensure the clients that they have been accurately heard.

A. verbal tracking

B. eye contact

C. developing positive relationships

D. quieting themselves

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Verbal Tracking

Difficulty Level: Easy

12. Eye contact, body language, vocal qualities, and verbal tracking are specific types of ______.

A. behavioral psychotherapy techniques

B. attending behaviors

C. rapport enhancers

D. nonverbal interviewing

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Specific Behaviors

Difficulty Level: Medium

13. Cultural variables are important in the context of a clinical interview. For example, compared to traditional Western culture, Asian cultures tend to feature ______.

A. more eye contact

B. more eye contact between members of the opposite sex

C. less physical touch

D. more physical touch

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Referring to the Client by the Proper Name

Difficulty Level: Medium

14. Cultural variables are important in the context of a clinical interview. For example, compared to people from North America or Britain, people of Middle Eastern or Latino/Latina cultures tend to ______.

A. prefer a greater amount of personal space

B. prefer a smaller amount of personal space

C. expect the clinical interviewer to offer food or drink during the interviewer

D. view the clinical interviewer as an expert

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Referring to the Client by the Proper Name

Difficulty Level: Medium

15. Referring to a client by the proper name ______.

A. isn’t particularly relevant when developing rapport

B. includes making assumptions about nicknames that a psychologist uses for the client across treatment

C. can be accomplished by asking the client how he would like to be addressed early in treatment

D. is always achieved by addressing the client by his first name

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Referring to the Client by the Proper Name

Difficulty Level: Medium

16. ______ refers to a positive, comfortable relationship between interviewer and client, or an interpersonal “connection” as perceived by the client.

A. Rapport

B. Verbal tracking

C. Nondirective interviewing

D. Directive interviewing

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Rapport

Difficulty Level: Easy

17. Which of the following is UNLIKELY to enhance rapport in a clinical interview?

A. efforts by the interviewer to put the client at ease, especially at the beginning of the interview

B. acknowledgment by the interviewer that the clinical interview is a unique, unusual situation

C. efforts by the interviewer to notice how the client uses language, and then following the client’s lead

D. excessive small talk used to distract the client from the awkwardness of the interview

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Rapport

Difficulty Level: Medium

18. It is important for clinical interviewers to appreciate how communication styles tend to differ across cultures. For example, ______.

A. Asian Americans tend to speak more loudly than European Americans

B. European Americans tend to speak more quickly than Native Americans

C. Hispanic Americans tend to speak more loudly than European Americans

D. Asian Americans are more inclined to hold eye contact than European Americans

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Box 8.1: Considering Culture: Communication Across Cultures

Difficulty Level: Medium

19. To develop rapport during a clinical interview, an interviewer should do all of the following EXCEPT ______.

A. make an effort to put the client at ease

B. acknowledge the unique, unusual situation of the interview

C. notice how the client uses language and follow the client’s lead

D. gently correct the client when he uses metaphors incorrectly

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Rapport

Difficulty Level: Medium

20. Communication styles often differ between men and women. For example, ______.

A. women tend to use talk to assert themselves and achieve goals, whereas men tend to use talk to build relationships

B. women tend to avoid self-disclosure because it brings vulnerability, whereas men tend to engage in self-disclosure because it brings closeness

C. men tend to use talk to build relationships, whereas women tend to use talk to demean their competitors

D. men tend to avoid self-disclosure because it brings vulnerability, whereas women tend to engage in self-disclosure because it brings closeness

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Box 8.1: Considering Culture: Communication Across Cultures

Difficulty Level: Medium

21. ______ is how an interviewer is with clients, while ______ is what an interviewer does with clients.

A. Technique; rapport

B. Rapport; technique

C. Internal preparation; external preparation

D. External preparation; internal preparation

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Technique

Difficulty Level: Easy

22. A clinical psychologist ______.

A. should always take written notes during an interview

B. must obtain written permission to videotape an interview

C. should position himself behind a stately desk while conducting an interview

D. should use an iPad for note-taking, since research supports it is accepted better by clients than a laptop

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Pragmatics of the Interview

Difficulty Level: Medium

23. Devlin and Nasar (2012) found that therapists and nonprofessionals asked to rate pictures of offices preferred clinicians’ offices that ______.

A. were orderly, spacious, and contained comfortable seats

B. featured bright lightening and personal photos

C. were smaller in size, creating an intimate atmosphere

D. arranged the furniture so the therapist could sit behind the client

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Interview Room

Difficulty Level: Medium

24. Interviewers who use a(n) ______ style of interviewing get exactly the information they need by asking clients specifically for it.

A. directive

B. nondirective

C. rapport-building

D. evidence-based

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Directive Versus Nondirective Styles

Difficulty Level: Easy

25. Interviewers who use a(n) ______ style of interviewing allow the client to determine the course of the interview.

A. directive

B. nondirective

C. rapport-building

D. evidence-based

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Directive Versus Nondirective Styles

Difficulty Level: Easy

26. Interviewers use ______ questions when they notice discrepancies or inconsistencies in a client’s comments.

A. open-ended

B. closed-ended

C. clarification

D. confrontation

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Clarification

Difficulty Level: Easy

27. Whereas a ______ echoes the client’s words, a ______ echoes the client’s emotions.

A. paraphrase; confrontation

B. paraphrase; reflection of feeling

C. clarification; reflection of feeling

D. conclusion; reflection of feeling

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Paraphrasing | Reflection of Feeling

Difficulty Level: Medium

28. Dr. Huckabee is conducting a clinical interview with Megan. At the end of the interview, he ties together various topics that Megan discussed, connecting statements she made at various points, and identifies themes in the information she has provided. Which of the following techniques is Dr. Huckabee using?

A. paraphrasing

B. reflection of feeling

C. clarification

D. summarizing

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Summarizing

Difficulty Level: Medium

29. Dr. Harris, a clinical psychologist, is interviewing a client with the primary purpose of determining whether the agency where Dr. Harris works can provide the services required by this client. In other words, Dr. Harris is conducting a(n) ______.

A. mental status exam

B. structured interview

C. diagnostic interview

D. intake interview

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Intake Interviews

Difficulty Level: Medium

30. Dr. Murphy, a clinical neuropsychologist, is conducting a clinical interview in which the primary purpose is to assign a label from the current DSM to the patient. In other words, Dr. Murphy is conducting a(n) ______.

A. diagnostic interview

B. mental status exam

C. intake interview

D. crisis interview

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Diagnostic Interviews

Difficulty Level: Medium

31. A(n) ______ interview is a predetermined, planned sequences of questions that an interviewer asks a client. By contrast, a(n) ______ interview is improvised and involves no predetermined questions.

A. primary; secondary

B. secondary; primary

C. structured; unstructured

D. unstructured; structured

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Structured Interviews Versus Unstructured Interviews

Difficulty Level: Easy

32. In recent years, the most prominent structured interview has been the ______.

A. Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 Disorders

B. Acute Stress Disorder Interview

C. Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule--Revised

D. Bipolar Disorder Structured Clinical Interview

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Structured Interviews Versus Unstructured Interviews

Difficulty Level: Medium

33. Dr. Rosen, a clinical psychologist in private practice, likes to combine elements of a structured interview and an unstructured interview with his patients. By blending these two approaches, Dr. Rosen is using what is known as a(n) ______ interview.

A. semistructured

B. bi-dimensional

C. eclectic

D. two-point

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Structured Interviews Versus Unstructured Interviews

Difficulty Level: Medium

34. The type of clinical interview that is most often conducted in medical settings for the primary purpose of quickly assessing a client’s current level of functioning is the ______.

A. mental status exam

B. crisis interview

C. diagnostic interview

D. intake interview

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Mental Status Exam

Difficulty Level: Easy

35. ______ is the extent to which an assessment technique measures what it claims to measure.

A. Validity

B. Test–retest reliability

C. Clinical utility

D. Interrater reliability

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Table 8.1: Defining Validity, Reliability, and Clinical Utility for Assessment Methods

Difficulty Level: Easy

36. ______ is the extent to which an assessment technique correlates with other techniques that measure the same thing.

A. Reliability

B. Clinical utility

C. Convergent validity

D. Discriminant validity

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Table 8.1: Defining Validity, Reliability, and Clinical Utility for Assessment Methods

Difficulty Level: Medium

37. ______ is the extent to which an assessment technique yields consistent, repeatable results.

A. Discriminant validity

B. Clinical utility

C. Reliability

D. Content validity

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Table 8.1: Defining Validity, Reliability, and Clinical Utility for Assessment Methods

Difficulty Level: Easy

38. A(n) ______ interview is a special type of clinical interview designed not only to assess a problem demanding urgent attention but also to provide immediate intervention for the problem.

A. diagnostic

B. informal

C. crisis

D. abbreviated

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Crisis Interviews

Difficulty Level: Easy

Short Answer

1. Describe the difference between validity and reliability in relation to assessment techniques.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Table 8.1: Defining Validity, Reliability, and Clinical Utility for Assessment Methods

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. List three attending behaviors.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: The Interviewer

Difficulty Level: Easy

3. The ______ style of interviewing gets exactly the information needed by the interviewer by asking the client-specific questions.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: The Interviewer

Difficulty Level: Easy

4. A question such as “Do you consume alcohol?” is an example of a ______ question.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Components of the Interview

Difficulty Level: Easy

5. A ______ interview is used to diagnose. The interview should facilitate assignment of an accurate DSM disorder to the client.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Types of Interviews

Difficulty Level: Easy

6. What is the primary purpose of the mental status exam?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Types of Interviews

Difficulty Level: Easy

7. ______ describes how an interviewer is with clients; ______ is what an interviewer does with clients.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Components of the Interview

Difficulty Level: Easy

8. What technique is used to make sure the interviewer accurately understands a patient’s comments and to communicate that the interviewer is actively listening to the patient?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Components of the Interview

Difficulty Level: Easy

Essay

1. Describe the difference between paraphrasing and reflection of feeling.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Components of the Interview

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. Briefly explain some gender-based differences in communication styles that are important for a clinical interviewer to appreciate.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Cultural Components

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. Based on research and recommendations presented in the textbook, describe an ideal design for a clinician’s interview room or office.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Pragmatics of the Interview

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. What are the advantages and disadvantages of note-taking during the clinical interview?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Pragmatics of the Interview

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. What are three of the five specific questions that Sommers-Flanagan and Sommers-Flanagan (2009) recommend be asked of a client who is actively suicidal?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Types of Interviews

Difficulty Level: Medium

6. Describe at least one advantage and one disadvantage of using a structured interview.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Types of Interviews

Difficulty Level: Medium