Please note that the following vignettes represent samples of the types of questions you will be asked to respond to on the comprehensive exam. You will NOT receive these questions on the comprehensive exam; they are for study purposes only.  Vignette   Please compose a well-written and organized essay in response to each of the following questions. When writing your essays, please 1.Use APA (6th edition) Style, with 1-inch margins, double-spaced, 12 font, with a reference list at the end. 2.Write clearly and concisely. 3.Cite appropriate, and especially current, literature (empirical and/or theoretical). 4.Avoid all sexist idioms and allusions. 5.Remember to demonstrate your multicultural competence where appropriate.  Vignette: Utilize this scenario for all of your responses  A 42-year-old African American woman was brought to the emergency room by police officers for evaluation prior to going to jail to await disposition. She reported that she had been shopping when "something happened." She said that she had no recollection of events between the time she entered the store and an hour later, when she was arrested for shoplifting in a nearby department store with a considerable amount of stolen property on her person. She protested her innocence and became so agitated, belligerent, and profane that the arresting officers took her to the hospital for evaluation. At the hospital she reported that two years previously she had been arrested for shoplifting and had had amnesia for the act. The charges against her were then dropped because she explained that both the shoplifting and the amnesia resulted from her forgetting to eat after taking her insulin. Of note, her blood-sugar level on testing in the emergency room was elevated.  The patient calmed down appearing asymptomatic after the evaluation and was transferred to jail pending a preliminary hearing. When she learned that her release was planned for the next day and that the charges against her would not be dropped, she became extremely agitated, angry, and abusive to the officers. Shortly thereafter, she complained of a headache and said she had no recollection of her abusive behavior. Later that evening she accosted an officer angrily. When the officer responded and addressed the patient by name, "Naomi," the patient said that her name was "Oprah" and that she would not allow herself to be called "Naomi," whom she described as a "wimp and a loser."  "Oprah’s" voice and movement were somewhat different from those of "Naomi." She claimed that she had done the shoplifting and stepped back so that "Naomi" could be caught and humiliated, and that if she had wanted to, she could have evaded detection easily. She was returned to the ER and subsequently admitted to the inpatient psychiatric unit for observation. For the next two days, the patient had many apparent switches of personality, accompanied by conspicuous changes in dress, makeup, and demeanor. On several occasions "Oprah" was disrupti.

1. Please note that the following vignettes represent samples of the
types of questions you will be asked to respond to on the
comprehensive exam. You will NOT receive these questions on
the comprehensive exam; they are for study purposes only.
Vignette Please compose a well-written and organized essay
in response to each of the following questions. When writing
your essays, please 1.Use APA (6th edition) Style, with 1-inch
margins, double-spaced, 12 font, with a reference list at the end.
2.Write clearly and concisely. 3.Cite appropriate, and especially
current, literature (empirical and/or theoretical). 4.Avoid all
sexist idioms and allusions. 5.Remember to demonstrate your
multicultural competence where appropriate. Vignette: Utilize
this scenario for all of your responses A 42-year-old African
American woman was brought to the emergency room by police
officers for evaluation prior to going to jail to await disposition.
She reported that she had been shopping when "something
happened." She said that she had no recollection of events
between the time she entered the store and an hour later, when
she was arrested for shoplifting in a nearby department store
with a considerable amount of stolen property on her person.
She protested her innocence and became so agitated,
belligerent, and profane that the arresting officers took her to
the hospital for evaluation. At the hospital she reported that two
years previously she had been arrested for shoplifting and had
had amnesia for the act. The charges against her were then
dropped because she explained that both the shoplifting and the
amnesia resulted from her forgetting to eat after taking her
insulin. Of note, her blood-sugar level on testing in the
emergency room was elevated. The patient calmed down
appearing asymptomatic after the evaluation and was transferred
to jail pending a preliminary hearing. When she learned that her
release was planned for the next day and that the charges
against her would not be dropped, she became extremely
agitated, angry, and abusive to the officers. Shortly thereafter,
she complained of a headache and said she had no recollection

2. of her abusive behavior. Later that evening she accosted an
officer angrily. When the officer responded and addressed the
patient by name, "Naomi," the patient said that her name was
"Oprah" and that she would not allow herself to be called
"Naomi," whom she described as a "wimp and a loser."
"Oprah’s" voice and movement were somewhat different from
those of "Naomi." She claimed that she had done the shoplifting
and stepped back so that "Naomi" could be caught and
humiliated, and that if she had wanted to, she could have evaded
detection easily. She was returned to the ER and subsequently
admitted to the inpatient psychiatric unit for observation. For
the next two days, the patient had many apparent switches of
personality, accompanied by conspicuous changes in dress,
makeup, and demeanor. On several occasions "Oprah" was
disruptive, and twice "Naomi" reported to nurses that she had
found things belonging to other patients in her possession.
There were no consistent differences in blood-sugar levels in
the different personalities or changes at the time of the shifts. A
neurological workup with extensive electroencephalographic
studies proved unremarkable. The patient began to complain
that her behavior was out of her control and that she could not
be held accountable for it. Each day's progress notes revealed
further details of the differences between "Oprah" and "Naomi."
A counselor was asked to see the patient. He observed the
presence of both "Oprah" and "Naomi" and documented their
polarized and clear-cut differences. The personalities were
detailed and elaborate as they discussed issues relating to the
patient's current legal difficulties. He learned that the patient
had an extensive history of discrepant behaviors that she had
"forgotten," to which many witnesses would attest, and that her
family often remarked that she was "like two different people."
He found that these episodes had usually occurred when the
patient had engaged in behavior that brought adverse personal
consequences upon her. He noted that the patient was on a unit
that, by coincidence, had three other patients with similar
symptomology and that, beginning the day the patient learned

3. that the charges against her would not be dropped, she had
begun to associate more frequently with those patients. An
extensive history, taken over several days, and ancillary sources
failed to reveal any history of childhood abuse and there was no
indication that the patient had experienced any other
overwhelming traumatic events. Furthermore, the history
indicated that the patient, despite the apparently classic nature
of her two personalities, had never shown or complained of any
other significant psychological symptomology. Her history
includes having been raised as an only child in a middle-class
urban environment by her mother and grandmother. She reports
that she has a good relationship with all members of her family
although she has a more distant relationship with her father,
who works long hours as an engineer. His mother and
grandmother work as teachers in nearby private schools. Both
her parents are of Haitian descent though the patient was born
and has lived her entire life in the United States. The patient’s
developmental history includes having met all physical and
cognitive developmental milestones on time, with mild
difficulties in reading and peer relationships. In early
elementary school she was reported to have had some ‘acting
out’ problems including hitting another child, and talking back
to adults, however, these behaviors were not severe or long-
term enough to warrant suspension or ongoing concern. In high
school, no behavior problems were noted, and she was described
as socially somewhat reclusive, having only one or two close
friends. Prior hospital records were found for “Naomi”
indicating a long history of alcohol, heroin, and cocaine use,
but upon confrontation about this history she claimed to have
been clean for three weeks prior to her arrest. Her initial blood
work was positive for both opiods and cannabis. The counselor
also noted that the "Naomi" he was interviewing was somewhat
different from the "Naomi" with whom her family and friends
were familiar. The usual "Naomi" was pleasant and mild-
mannered unless "crossed," at which times she became angry
and belligerent. He also found that the patient was not very

4. hypnotizable. He undertook a prolonged interview in which he
covered a wide range of topics over several hours. As the
interview proceeded, "Oprah," who was completely consistent in
her presentation during her discussion of matters related to the
shoplifting and disruptive events on the ward, began to become
inconsistent in her voice and manner. She complained that the
consultant disbelieved her and was trying to "trick" her. As
"Oprah" seemed unable to maintain her presentation, "Namoi"
vehemently reproached the consultant for doubting the account
offered by "Oprah," for whose past behaviors and current
interactions with the consultant she had consistently maintained
she had amnesia. At these angry moments, her behavior was
indistinguishable from "Oprah's." After another hour's
interviewing, during which the patient made several efforts to
convince the consultant that she had amnesia during the shop
lifting episode, she ceased to display the amnesiac behaviors.
When she was introduced to her public defender who told her
she would be arraigned the following day, she flew into a rage
and threatened that she would slash her wrists with the first
sharp object she could find. She also claimed that she was
hearing voices in her head telling her to kill herself. Based on
the vignette provided, please compose a well-written and
organized response to each of the following questions. When
writing your responses, please: •Use APA (6th edition) Style,
with 1-inch margins, double-spaced, 12 font, with a reference
list at the end. •Write clearly and concisely. •Cite appropriate,
and especially current, literature (empirical and/or theoretical).
•Avoid all sexist idioms and allusions. •Remember to
demonstrate your multicultural competence where appropriate.
Psychological Theory and Practice A.What assessments would
you conduct to enhance your understanding of the problems of
the person in the vignette and how would your choice of
assessment(s) inform your diagnostic formation and treatment
planning? Assessments may include structured or unstructured
interviews, valid and reliable assessment measures, and/or
formalized assessment procedures that may be conducted by

5. yourself or by someone else referred by you. B.Provide your
diagnostic impressions (based on the DSM-5) for this
individual. In narrative form, please describe how the individual
meets the diagnostic criteria for the disorder(s) chosen in
addition to the differential diagnostic thought process that you
used to reach your hypotheses. Be sure to include any additional
(missing) information that is needed to either rule out or
confirm your differential diagnoses impressions. Legal Theory
and Application A. Explain the background, current
presentation, and behavior of the person in the vignette utilizing
biological, learning, and social theories on offenders to support
your position. Do not simply restate the background information
from the vignette. Instead, provide a theoretically-based
discussion to understand the criminal behaviors of the person in
the vignette. B.Consider the type of crime in the vignette and
discuss how that type of crime generally impacts a victim of it.
Do not limit yourself to discussing just the victim in this
vignette. Instead obtain scholarly sources for information on
how this type of crime can affect any victim, their family
members, and other members of society. C.Describe the
psycholegal standards and/or definitions for each of the
following: competence to stand trial, duty to warn, and insanity.
Identify and describe one or more landmark case(s) for each
standard (at least three cases total). Describe the elements or
issues that a mental health professional usually focuses on when
assessing a person’s adjudicative competence, risk and insanity,
and any additional items that might be especially important to
focus on in the provided vignette. Assessment, Research and
Evaluation A.Describe tests or assessment procedures you
would employ to address the psycholegal issues of (competence
to stand trial, risk of dangerousness, and insanity). You may
refer to these from the Psychological Theory and Assessment
Section "A" if you already covered them there. Discuss what
the anticipated conclusions would be based upon information
provided in the vignette. B.Develop a research question and a
testable research hypothesis regarding offenders or the type of

6. crime that is discussed in the vignette (such as, addiction,
recidivism, criminal behavior, etc.). Explain the variables in
your question and the type of research study that could answer
your question as well as why that research would make a
contribution to the field of forensic psychology. Leadership,
Consultation, and Ethics A.What are the ethical and legal
dilemmas this vignette introduced? What would be your
immediate steps and why? Please be specific and make sure that
you describe your process of ethical decision making and the
solutions/consequences to which this process might lead. Your
discussion should be informed by the American Psychological
Association’s Ethics Code as well as the Specialty Guidelines
for Forensic Psychologists. Interpersonal Effectiveness A.What
diversity factors, cultural considerations, or other demographic
variables pertaining to the person in the vignette would you take
into account in rendering diagnoses, choosing assessment
measures, forming case conceptualizations, and designing the
treatment plan? Be sure to discuss cultural/diversity factors
that could apply even if they are not explicitly mentioned in the
vignette. B.Your writing, use of citations, ability to form a
logical argument, and proper APA Style, including the use of
paraphrasing, will be evaluated as a measure of your
interpersonal effectiveness. No response is required for "B".