1. INTRODUCTION TO CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY, THIRD CANADIAN EDITION by John Hunsley and Catherine M. Lee
Chapter 5

2. Overview Questions Introduction to psychological assessment
Psychological testing
Evidence-based assessment
Ethical considerations
Group exercise on referrals for psychological assessment
For next class

3. Core Competencies in Assessment
From Krishnamurthy et al. (2004)
Knowledge of:
psychometric theory
the scientific, theoretical, empirical, and contextual bases of psychological assessment
Knowledge, skills, and techniques to assess cognitive, affective, behavioural, and personality dimensions of human experience

4. Core Competencies in Assessment
Ability to:
assess intervention outcomes
evaluate critically the multiple roles, contexts, and relationships in which clients and psychologists function and the reciprocal impact of these on the assessment activity
establish, maintain, and understand the collaborative professional relationship involved in the assessment activity

5. Core Competencies in Assessment
Understanding of the relation between assessment and intervention, assessment as an intervention, and intervention planning
Technical assessment skills:
problem/goal identification and case conceptualization
understanding and selection of appropriate assessment methods
effective use of the assessment methods
systematic data gathering
integration and analysis of information
understandable, useful, and responsive communication of findings
development of recommendations

6. Psychological assessment: Purposes
Stand-alone
Integrated
Screening
Diagnosis
Prognosis
Treatment recommendations
Diagnosis & case formulation
Prognosis
Treatment planning
Treatment monitoring
Treatment evaluation
In referrals exercise at the end of the class students are asked to work in groups to generate possible purposes of assessment for a child, adolescent, adult or older adult referred for psychological assessment.

7. Accuracy and Errors in Clinical Prediction
True Positives
False Positives
True Negatives
False Negatives

8. Psychological Testing
Assessment versus testing
Psychometric considerations
Testing practices in clinical psychology

9. What is a psychological test?
An evaluative device or procedure in which a sample of an examinee’s behavior in a specified domain is obtained and subsequently evaluated and scored using a standardized process
Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (APA, 1999)

10. Qualities of a psychological test
Standardization
Reliability
Validity
Norms

11. Some differences between
Testing
Assessment
Yields scores on a measure
What is this person’s IQ?
Requires standard administration and scoring
Can be conducted by a trained technician
Addresses a specific question
Does he have a learning disability and if so how can we help him deal with it
Usually has multiple sources of data including standardized testing, but also interview
Requires integration, and interpretation

12. Testing practices in clinical psychology
Children
Adults
Intelligence
Symptom checklists
Personality
Usually multi-informant
Symptom checklists
Personality
Cognitive functioning
Usually single informant

13. Evidence-based psychological assessment
Integrating data
Gathering data using adequate tools
Generating hypotheses
Noticing

14. Ethical considerations in assessment
Informed consent
What will assessment involve
Who will get a copy of report
Awareness of limits of confidentiality
Responsible caring—selecting tools that are suitable to address the question
Interpreting data in an even-handed way

15. Referrals: Children and Adolescents
Aden is 7 years old. He is having difficulty concentrating in school. He is having a hard time learning to read. His teacher thinks he should see a psychologist.
Kayla is 14. Her parents separated a year ago and she alternates between living with her mother and step-father and with her father. In recent months she has been cranky and unwilling to do her homework. She seems to get upset at the slightest provocation. Her father would like her to be seen by a psychologist.

16. Referrals: Adults
Since he received a potentially lethal electric shock at work, Boris (age 48) has had difficulty managing his temper. He is moody and unpredictable. He seems to be having some memory problems. His family physician thinks he should see a psychologist
Clara (age 84) has lived on her own since she was widowed two years ago. She seems to be withdrawing from activities. She had a minor car accident recently when she turned left across the path of an oncoming vehicle. Her son is encouraging her to see a psychologist.

17. Referrals for psychological assessment
In groups of 5-6 review the information on referral for psychological assessment
Identify areas of psychological research that could be relevant in assessing this person
Generate ideas about:
The question that a psychological assessment could address
Hypotheses that a psychologist might explore
The types of assessment strategies that might be useful
The ethical issues that would need to be considered

18. Developing a plan for an assessment
Determining the 1 or 2 questions (purpose)
Diagnosis; treatment; eligibility for services; life decision (education, job, parenting plan)
Generating multiple hypotheses that need to be examined to address the question
Gathering data to test the hypotheses using a biopsychosocial approach
Keeping ethical issues in mind
Consent
Confidentiality (to be covered in next chapters)

19. For next class….

20. Copyright Notice
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