10 exam-style questions with answers and explanations, straight from our 1,039-question bank. Tap an answer to check yourself. When you're ready, take the scored version in the free practice test.
The COT exam has 200 questions and runs 3 hours.
These 10 free COT questions are organized by exam domain, so you can see how each part of the Certified Ophthalmic Technician blueprint is tested. Reveal the answer and explanation under each question.
A patient's distance visual acuity improves from 20/60 to 20/25 when tested through a pinhole occluder. This result MOST strongly suggests that the reduced acuity is due to:
Correct answer: B - An uncorrected or under-corrected refractive error
While performing streak retinoscopy at a 67 cm working distance, the technician observes 'with' motion of the reflex in the pupil. To move toward neutrality, the technician should:
Correct answer: D - Add plus (convex) sphere power
On alternate cover testing at distance, each eye is seen to move outward back to fixation (from a temporal position toward the nose) as the cover is switched between the two eyes. To neutralize this deviation with a prism, the base should be oriented:
Correct answer: C - Base-in
During a swinging flashlight test, when the light is moved from the right eye to the left eye, the left pupil dilates. When moved back to the right eye, the right pupil constricts. This finding indicates:
Correct answer: A - A relative afferent pupillary defect in the left eye
An automated visual field printout shows a markedly elevated false-positive rate. This reliability index MOST likely indicates that:
Correct answer: D - The patient pressed the button when no stimulus appeared, so the field may look better than true
During Goldmann applanation tonometry, the two fluorescein semicircles (mires) appear excessively wide or thick. The MOST likely cause is:
Correct answer: C - Too much fluorescein was instilled in the tear film
During contact (applanation) A-scan biometry, excessive pressure by the probe indents the cornea. This error produces an axial length measurement that is falsely short, which in turn causes the calculated intraocular lens power to be:
Correct answer: C - Too high, tending toward a postoperative myopic result
A patient has a central corneal thickness well below average. Compared with the patient's true intraocular pressure, Goldmann applanation tonometry in this eye will tend to:
Correct answer: C - Underestimate the true intraocular pressure
Which sequence correctly represents the normal phases of a fluorescein angiogram, from earliest to latest?
Correct answer: B - Choroidal → arterial → arteriovenous → venous → late
A patient with a painful corneal abrasion asks to take home a bottle of topical anesthetic drops for comfort. This should NOT be done primarily because repeated topical anesthetic use:
Correct answer: D - Impairs corneal healing and can cause breakdown while masking a worsening injury
The COT exam also covers these domains. Drill them in the full free practice test:
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