10 exam-style questions with answers and explanations, straight from our 1,030-question bank. Tap an answer to check yourself. When you're ready, take the scored version in the free practice test.
The CBIST exam has 70 questions and runs 2 hours.
These 10 free CBIST questions are organized by exam domain, so you can see how each part of the Certified Brain Injury Specialist Trainer blueprint is tested. Reveal the answer and explanation under each question.
An injury review documents eight minutes of unconsciousness, an initial post-resuscitation Glasgow Coma Scale score of 14, and four days of posttraumatic amnesia confirmed by serial assessment after a motor-vehicle crash. All findings are reliable, with sedation and intoxication excluded as explanations. Applying the VA/DoD injury-severity framework, the classification is:
Correct answer: B - Moderate TBI, based on the duration of posttraumatic amnesia
After TBI, a patient leaves food on the left side of the plate and shaves only the right side of his face. He detects visual targets on either side when they are presented separately, but reports only the right target when both appear together. Which neural system is most strongly implicated by this pattern?
Correct answer: B - The right frontoparietal network for spatial attention
A 76-year-old taking apixaban arrives for outpatient rehabilitation 12 days after a fall with a head impact. His family reports a worsening headache over the past two days. Today he is unusually drowsy and has new left-arm weakness. What takes priority?
Correct answer: D - Activate emergency medical transfer for suspected intracranial bleeding.
A behavior specialist compares the consequences of shouting during reading sessions after TBI. Shouting increases when it ends the task, but not when it produces staff attention while the task continues. Pain and other medical contributors have been addressed. Alongside making the reading task easier, what should staff teach and reinforce?
Correct answer: C - Request a brief break using the agreed communication signal.
An inpatient recovering from TBI is calm and consistently follows simple one-step commands. When handed a toothbrush, he uses it, but without continual direction he drifts into unrelated activities. He cannot retain what he practiced a few minutes earlier and requires maximal assistance to complete basic routines. These findings best fit which Rancho Los Amigos Revised level?
Correct answer: B - Level V: Confused/inappropriate, nonagitated
A Spanish-dominant adult undergoes an English-language cognitive test after TBI. During administration, her bilingual daughter translates several items and explains unfamiliar words. The clinician calculates a low standardized score using the published English-language norms; no validated translated version was used. How should that score be handled?
Correct answer: D - Interpret the responses descriptively rather than treating the standardized score as valid.
A woman with severe new-learning impairment after TBI can read short directions and operate her phone with guidance. When asked to work out how to open her appointment calendar, she repeatedly guesses the same incorrect sequence and later repeats those errors. The therapist wants to teach one dependable routine. Which training approach fits her learning profile?
Correct answer: D - Model the correct sequence, prevent guessing, and gradually fade cues.
Four days after a sports-related concussion, a college student is following a clinician-directed aerobic exercise plan. Low-intensity stationary cycling raises her headache from 2/10 to 3/10; it returns to baseline within 15 minutes. No new symptoms develop. How should this response affect her rehabilitation?
Correct answer: A - Continue tolerable low-risk exercise, progressing gradually within her treatment plan.
Six weeks after severe TBI, a patient opens her eyes spontaneously. Across repeated Coma Recovery Scale-Revised examinations, she smoothly follows a mirror moved horizontally and vertically without losing fixation on her reflection. No command-following, intelligible speech, functional communication, or functional object use is observed. What can be concluded from the demonstrated behavior?
Correct answer: A - Minimally conscious state is supported, but emergence from that state has not been demonstrated.
In a vocational assessment six months after TBI, a bookkeeper completes familiar work accurately for 45 minutes in a quiet room. Errors increase during longer sessions and frequent interruptions. She wants to return, and her employer can modify her hours and workspace. Which initial arrangement best matches the demonstrated limitations?
Correct answer: A - Begin short shifts in a quiet workspace, with planned breaks and scheduled review.
The CBIST exam also covers these domains. Drill them in the full free practice test:
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