Assessments in Psychology

• Assessments refer to the systematic and structured processes used to gather information and evaluate various aspects of an individual's knowledge, skills, abilities, or characteristics.
• The purpose of assessment in psychology is multifaceted. It aims to understand, measure, and analyze individuals' cognitive, emotional, and behavioural attributes.
• Psychological assessments help in diagnosing mental health conditions, planning interventions, monitoring progress, and making informed decisions about treatment and support.
• Assessment in psychology serves several purposes, including:

  1. diagnosis
  2. treatment planning
  3. monitoring progress
  4. research
• Diagnosis: Identifying and understanding psychological conditions or disorders.
• Treatment Planning: Tailoring interventions to address specific needs and challenges.
• • Monitoring Progress: Evaluating the effectiveness of interventions over time.
• Research: Contributing data for scientific study and advancing psychological knowledge.
• Various professionals in the field of psychology use assessments, including:

  Clinical Psychologists, Educational Psychologists, Counsellors and Industrial-Organisational Psychologists
• Clinical Psychologists: Assess mental health conditions and develop treatment plans.
• Educational Psychologists: Evaluate learning difficulties and recommend educational strategies
• Counsellors: Assess emotional well-being and guide individuals through personal challenges.
• Industrial-Organizational Psychologists: Evaluate workplace dynamics and employee well-being.
• Types of Assessments:

  1. clinical interviews
  2. psychological tests
  3. observational assessments
  4. self-report measures
• Clinical Interviews: Conversational assessments to gather information about an individual's history and current concerns.
• Psychological Tests: Standardized tools measuring specific attributes like intelligence or personality.
• Observational Assessments: Systematic observation of behaviour in natural or controlled settings.
• Self-Report Measures: Individuals provide information about their thoughts, feelings, and behaviours through questionnaires or surveys.
• The assessment process involves planning, data collection, analysis, interpretation, and feedback. It often includes collaboration between the assessor and the individual being assessed.
• Challenges of Assessment:

  1. subjectivity
  2. reliability and validity
  3. cultural sensitivity
  4. ethical concerns
• Subjectivity: Assessments may be influenced by the assessor's biases.
• Reliability and Validity: Ensuring that assessments are consistent and measure what they intend to measure.
• Cultural Sensitivity: Considering cultural factors to ensure assessments are fair and unbiased.
• Ethical Concerns: Respecting individuals' rights and privacy during the assessment process.
• The difference between reliability and validity is that Reliability is an examination of how consistent and stable the results of an assessment are. Validity refers to how well a test measures what it was created to measure. (Reliability = consistency/stability. Validity = accuracy)
• Early ‘mental assessments’ in China assess proficiency
• Universities in Europe – examinations were introduced in the 13th century, it became paper-based by the 16th century
• University of Oxford – competitive exams introduced in the 1800s
• In the Early 1900s – Galton (Darwin’s cousin) suggested that psychological characteristics show a similar distribution to physical characteristics (e.g. height)

  How individuals differ and by how much lead to consideration of innate ability
• Hereditary is the transmission of genes from parents to offspring, which can be influenced by the environment
• Charles Darwin in the year 1859 published his book "On the Origin of Species. In his book, he proposed that species evolved over time through natural selection.
• The theory of evolution is a shortened form of the term “theory of evolution by natural selection,” which was proposed by Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace in the nineteenth century.
• Charles Darwin is commonly cited as the 'father of evolution'.
• In 1905, France. Binet developed ‘mental’ testing – a formal assessment for children to rank their abilities in a meaningful way – the foundation for intelligence tests
• Binet's test consisted of questions designed to assess different aspects of cognitive functioning such as memory, attention, language skills, reasoning, problem-solving, and spatial awareness.
• Binet's test aimed to identify areas where children were struggling so they could receive targeted support and intervention.
• Alfred Binet (1905) created an individualized scale based on age norms to determine if a child had intellectual disability or not.
• During the WW1 intelligence testing was introduced in military and industrial settings
• 91% of all psychologists engage in assessment (Watkins et al, 1995)
• 64% of job adverts listed assessment as a core requirement (Kinder, 1994)