Assessment Chapter 3

Characteristics of Psychological Assessments Psychological assessment: A broad range of measurement techniques, all of which involve having people provide scorable information about their psychological functioning. Clinicians use the assessment process to provide a diagnosis, or at least a tentative diagnosis, of an individual’s psychological disorder. Used to evaluate an individual’s appropriateness for a particular job. Useful when clinicians consult about an individual’s level of functioning in a specific area.

Psychological Testing What Makes a Good Psychological Test? Reliability - Consistency of the scores it produces. Validity - Extent to which a test measures what it is designed to measure. Standardization: Psychometric criterion that clearly specifies a test’s instructions for administration and scoring.

Clinical Interview Unstructured interview: Involves a series of open-ended questions Information sought through interviews Reasons for being in treatment Symptoms Health status Family background Life history Structured interview: Consists of a standardized series of questions with predetermined wording and order

Areas Covered in a Clinical Interview Age and sex Reason for referral Education and work history Current social situation Physical and mental health history Drug/alcohol use and current medication Family history Behavioral observations

Mental Status Examination Mental status examination: A method of objectively assessing a client’s behavior and functioning to the symptoms associated with psychological disturbance. Outcome of the mental status examination is a comprehensive description of how the client looks, thinks, feels, and behaves. Designed to assess: Appearance Attitudes Behavior Mood and affect Speech Thought processes Content of thought Perception Cognition Insight Judgment

Uses of Intelligence Testing Overall cognitive evaluation Diagnosis of learning disabilities Determination of giftedness Prediction of future academic achievement Diagnosis of neurological and psychiatric disorders Evaluation of the potential of employees Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

Intelligence Testing (IQ TEST) Stanford-Binet intelligence test Average deviation IQ score is set at 100 with a standard deviation of 15. Wechsler intelligence scales All Wechsler tests are divided into two categories, verbal and performance.

Scales on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-IV (WAIS-IV) Verbal comprehension Perceptual reasoning Working memory Processing speed

Personality Testing Main forms Self-report Projective

Self-Report Tests Self-report clinical inventory: Psychological test with standardized questions having fixed response categories The test-taker completes the test independently, self- reporting the extent to which the responses are accurate Advantage of self-report inventories Relatively easy to administer and score. The most popular self-report inventory is the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), revised (MMPI-2).

Personality Testing Clinicians use tests of personality to understand a person’s thoughts, behaviors, and emotions. Self-report clinical inventory contains standardized questions with fixed response categories that the test-taker completes independently either on paper or on the computer. Test-takers rate the appropriateness of the item to themselves on a fixed scale. Projective test: A technique in which the test-taker is presented with an ambiguous item or task and is asked to respond by providing his or her own meaning or perception. The most famous projective test is the Rorschach Inkblot test. Thematic Apperception test (TAT) These tests differ in the nature of their items and in the way they are scored.

Behavioral Assessment Unlike psychological tests, behavioral assessments record actions rather than responses to rating scales or questions. A form of measurement based on objective recording of the individual's behavior Include descriptions of the events that precede or follow the behaviors.

Behavioral Assessment Target behavior: A behavior of interest or concern in an assessment. In vivo observation: Process involving the recording of behavior in its natural context. Analog observations: Assessments that take place in a setting or context such as a clinician’s office or a laboratory specifically designed for observing the target behavior. Behavioral self-report: Individual provides information about the frequency of particular behaviors. Self-monitoring: Client keeps a record of the frequency of specified behaviors. Behavioral interviewing: Assessment process in which clinicians ask questions about the target behavior’s frequency, antecedents, and consequences.

Neuropsychological Assessment Gathering information about a client's brain functioning on the basis of performance on psychological tests Clinicians use neuropsychological assessment measures to: Determine the functional correlates of brain damage by comparing a client’s performance on a particular test with normative data from individuals who are known to have certain types of injuries or disorders. There is no one set procedure for conducting a neuropsychological assessment.