CSP Exam Content

Study Guide (this link takes you to the page where you can download the Study Guide).

***NOTE: This material is provided by the Board of Certified Psychometrists (BCP) as a general guide for your test preparation.  The exam may consist of but is not limited to the specific topics mentioned below.  Percentages refer to approximate amount of the exam that is devoted to that domain.

The CSP exam consists of 120 multiple-choice items. Each examinee has 150-minutes (2.5 hrs) to complete the exam. The minimum passing cutoff is 71.6%. 

updated 3/31/2022 

I. PRE-TEST ISSUES (DOMAIN I…18%)

A. Review of records: Questions to ask

1)      Demographics (e.g. age, gender, ethnicity and primary language, handedness, education)

2)      Nature of pathology (e.g. site of injury, date of onset, severity, reported symptoms and difficulties)

3)      Premorbid physical or psychological issues (e.g. disabilities, mental illness, alcohol or substance abuse)

4)      Has the examinee been tested previously? How recently? What tests were used? (Consider whether valid to re-
        test; what alternative tests to use if necessary.)

5)      Stressors, acute and chronic (e.g. fire, flood, death of loved one, divorce) that could call score-validity into
        question)

B. Testing environment

1)      What are the general standards for the testing environment?

2)      What accommodations/modifications may be needed: What tests cannot be used? What changes need to be
        made to the testing environment and/or procedures? Consider the following as some of the modifying variables
        you might encounter.

Ÿ   Agitated	Ÿ   Impaired mobility (use of wheelchair, hemiplegia, casts and slings, neck brace, etc.)
Ÿ   Aphasic / dysphasic (receptive or expressive)	Ÿ   Impulsive
Ÿ   Aggressive	Ÿ   Incarcerated or on a locked psychiatric unit
Ÿ   Color blindness / color deficiency	Ÿ   Pain
Ÿ   Compromised activities of daily living (ADLs)	Ÿ   Presence of interpreter or third-party observer
Ÿ   Cross cultural issues	Ÿ   Resistant to testing
Ÿ   Easily fatigued	Ÿ   Seizures/epilepsy
Ÿ   Hemiparetic	Ÿ   Sensory impairment: vision, hearing, touch
Ÿ   Sensory sensitivity

3)      Are there considerations that can effect your or the examinee’s safety?

C. Neurocognitive / Neuropsychological concepts. Working in the field of brain behavior relationships requires us to
       understand some basic concepts. Knowing these can be important to your test administration, your observations, as well
       as your safety and that of your examinee. As examples, consider the following:

• Anhedonia	Micrographia
  Aneurysm	Neologism
  Apraxia / dyspraxia	Perseveration
  Arteriovenous malformation (AVM)	Practice effect
  Aura	Premorbid
  Basal and ceiling	Prosody
  Bilateral / unilateral	Recency / primacy effect
  Bradykinesia	Response latency
  Circumlocution	Semantic / serial clustering
  Confabulation	Seizures: grand mal / generalized tonic-clonic (GTC), partial, partial complex, petit mal absence)
  Coup-contracoup	Set maintenance / set loss
  Embolism	Short-term memory
  Executive functions	Telegraphic speech
  Halo effect	Testing the limits
  Ideational praxis	Traumatic brain injury (TBI)
  Intrusion	Tremor (resting and intention)
  Lateralized	Thrombosis
  Long-term memory (LTM)	Universal precautions
  Malingering

D. The presentation of examinees with a history of various illnesses / injuries / impairments (i.e. the ecological validity of presenting symptoms). Consider the following as examples:

E. Explanation of testing / evaluation to examinee (In the event that the examinee raises questions or concerns; you should have some awareness of the following

     issues and the extent to which you can address them.)Purpose of testing

1)     Informed consent

2)     How information will be used

3)     Confidentiality

4)     If / how feedback will be provided

5)     Explanation of testing procedures

6)     Discussion of effort

7)     Release of information to family, companions, third-party payers, court and attorneys, etc.

8)     Effect of third party observers

9)     Working with interpreters and 3rd party observers

II. TEST ADMINISTRATION (DOMAIN II…52%)

• A.    List of tests to know (i.e. quantitative data) - see Study Guide for a list of tests. We recommend some familiarity with all versions of the previously listed tests as the basic prerequisites for taking the CSPe. Special emphasis will be on currently used versions.
• Review test materials: Be familiar with protocols and manuals (especially the Wechsler scales). 
• Which tests can interfere with one another?

B. Commonly used abbreviations

(DK, NR, Q, WNL, Sx, Tx, Pt, etc.)

C. Categories of tests

Attention / concentration	Abstracting
Memory	Intelligence
Perception	Academic achievement
Motor	Personality
Integration (visuomotor, oral-motor, sensory-motor)	Aptitude
Language	Effort
Executive functions

D. Neuroanatomy (specific to brain-damage effects upon testing)

E. Behavioral Observations (i.e. qualitative data)

1)     Descriptive vs. interpretive

2)     Structured vs. narrative

3)     Formal use will require some form of Likert scale or rating system

4)     Accurate informal notations will assist the Neuropsychologist to analyze and support quantitative data. Providing an example can be helpful especially if you’re unfamiliar with the terminology. You should, however, familiarize yourself with terms and categories such as the following:

III. POST TEST (DOMAIN III…25%)

A. Common standardized scoring: You will need to be familiar with standardized methods of reporting scores, with understanding how the normative scores relate to one another, with their individual means, standard deviations and ranges. Consider the following terms as possibilities:

1)     Z-score

2)     Percentile

3)     T-score

4)     Stanine / sten

5)     Deviation IQ

6)     Mean, mode, median

7)     Normal distribution

B. Terminology (Consider these as examples.)

 

IV. ETHICAL / PROFESSIONAL / LEGAL ISSUES (DOMAIN IV … 5%)

Consider the following as examples of the areas of information that the CSPe might cover:

A. Decisions regarding ethical standards

1)     Ethical vs. legal

2)     Standards vs. restrictions

3)     Procedures and process

B. Ethical standards

1)     CSP, NAP, APA, NAN, ACA, NBCC

2)     Purpose of licensure and certification

3)     Dual relationships

4)     Answering examinee’s questions

5)     Release of Information (ROI) / Disclosures

6)     Psychometrist supervision

7)     Professional limitations

C. Patient confidentiality

1)     Informed consent

a)     Duration and purpose of testing

b)     Right to decline or withdraw and possible consequences thereof

c)     Potential risks and benefits

d)     Disclosure to third parties

e)     Right to access results and data

f)       Time constraints for release of information

g)     Record retention

2)     Regulations can vary by setting

a)     Clinical

b)     Research

c)     Forensic

d)     Rehabilitation (acute, long-term and community)

e)     Child assessment (e.g. age of consent, custodial parent, guardianship, school assessment)

f)      Older Adults

g)     Psychiatric units

h)     Private practice

i)       Military

j)       Educational Vocational

3)     Confidentiality can sometimes be breached without signed consent of the examinee:

a)     Court order / forensic evaluations / workman’s compensation

b)     To the parent or legal guardian of a minor

c)     Suspected abuse of child or vulnerable adult

d)     Peer review, accreditation, quality assurance

e)     Clear and imminent danger to self or others

f)      Third-party payers

D. Terminology that could appear on the CSPe

1)     Protected Health Information (PHI)

2)     Institutional Review Board (IRB)

3)     Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

E. Test security

1)     Standards for administering, scoring, and interpreting

2)     Copyright standards

3)     Third-party observers

4)     Use of computerized testing and scoring programs

5)     Storing and archiving of data