You want to test a patient for catalepsy during a motor examination. Before revealing the answer, decide how you would go about it.

First tell the patient that they are not obliged to hold whatever position their body is placed in, since otherwise they may believe this is expected of them as part of the test, which would confound the finding. Then use a simple test such as lifting the patient's arm as if taking their pulse and releasing it, observing whether it naturally lowers or instead stays passively where it was placed. If catalepsy is not immediately evident, some patients require it to be specifically evoked by moving a limb through a series of progressively more uncomfortable positions. Record how long the posture is maintained before it slowly sinks back toward a resting position, since this timing is itself part of the characteristic pattern.