Group 8

• Clinical assessment


  The systematic evaluation and measurement of psychological, biological, and social factors in an individual presenting with a possible psychological disorder
• Diagnosis


  The process of determining whether the particular problem afflicting the individual meets all criteria for a psychological disorder, as set forth in the latest edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5)

  
• Frank is a 24 year old man who was married to a 17 year old lady for 9 months. He had worked steadily in an auto body repair shop for the past 4 years. Frank was referred to one of our clinics for evaluation and possible treatment of severe distress and anxiety centering on his marriage.
• Reliability


  The degree to which a measurement is consistent
• Interrater Reliability


  One way psychologists improve their reliability is by carefully designing their assessment devices and then conducting research on them to ensure that two or more raters will get the same answers
• Validity


  Whether something measures what it is designed to measure, whether a technique assesses what it is supposed to
• Concurrent or descriptive validity


  Comparing the results of an assessment measure under consideration with the results of others that are better known allows you to begin to determine the validity of the first measure
• Predictive validity


  How well your assessment tells you what will happen in the future
• Standardization


  The process by which a certain set of standards or norms is determined for a technique to make its use consistent across different measurements
• The Clinical Interview


  1. Gathers information on current and past behavior, attitudes, and emotions, as well as a detailed history of the individual's life in general and of the presenting problem

  2. Clinicians determine when the specific problem started and identify other events (for example, life stress, trauma, or physical illness) that might have occurred about the same time
• Mental Status Exam


  Involves the systematic observation of an individual's behavior. It is a type of observation that occurs when any one person interacts with another
• Mental Status Exam components

  • Appearance and behavior
  • Thought processes
  • Mood and affect
  • Intellectual functioning
  • Sensorium
• Semi Structured Clinical Interviews

  Are made up of questions that have been carefully phrased and tested to elicit useful information in a consistent manner so that clinicians can be sure they have inquired about the most important aspects of particular disorders. Clinicians may also depart from set questions to follow up on specific issues
• If the patient presenting with psychological problems has not had a physical exam in the past year, a clinician might recommend one, with particular attention to the medical conditions sometimes associated with the specific psychological problem.
• Behavioral Assessment


  Using direct observation to formally assess an individual's thoughts, feelings, and behavior in specific situations or contexts

  
• The ABCs of Observation


  Observational assessment is usually focused on the immediate behavior, its antecedents (what happened just before the behavior), and its consequences (what happened afterward)

  
• Informal Observation


  Relies on the observer's recollection, as well as interpretation, of the events
• Formal/Operational Observation


  Involves identifying specific behaviors that are observable and measurable

  
• Self-Monitoring


  People can observe their own behavior to find patterns, especially for behaviors that occur only in private
• Reactivity


  The phenomenon that can distort the observational data once the person is aware that he/she is being observed
• Psychological Testing


  Specialized instruments for identifying behavioral, emotional, or cognitive responses that may be linked to a particular disorder and broader instruments that evaluate enduring personality traits
• Projective Testing


  Individuals are asked to describe what they see after being shown ambiguous stimuli, such as images of people or objects. Under the Psychoanalytic theory, individuals project their unconscious fears and personalities onto the ambiguous stimuli
• Projective Tests


  • Rorschach inkblot test
  • Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
  • Sentence-completion test
• Personality Inventories


  Self-report questionnaires that assess personal traits. The most widely used is the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

  
• MMPI


  One of the most extensively researched assessment instruments in psychology. It is based on an empirical approach, where individual responses are not examined; instead, the pattern of responses is reviewed to see whether it resembles patterns from groups of people who have specific disorders

  
• The MMPI includes additional scales that determine the validity of each administration, such as the Lie scale, Infrequency scale, and Subtle Defensiveness scale
• The MMPI-2 has been standardized with a sample that reflects the 1980 U.S. Census figures, including African Americans and Native Americans for the first time, and new items have been added that deal with contemporary issues such as type A personality, low self-esteem, and family problems
• The individual undergoing assessment, James S., was a young man with a criminal history that dates back to his early years. He invented several contradicting tales during his trial to make himself look innocent. The first three data points in his MMPI test result correspond to validity scale scores, and the high scores show that James S. tried to fake an appearance of having no problems. Furthermore, the propensity to act in an antisocial manner is measured by the extremely high score on the psychopathic deviation scale.
• The MMPI's reliability is very good; however, caution is required in this regard
• Despite being informative, some research indicates that the MMPI's data may not always improve client outcomes or alter how they are treated
• MMPI test


  • The image below
• James S.


  The individual undergoing assessment was a young man with a criminal history that dates back to his early years
• James S. invented several contradicting tales during his trial to make himself look innocent
• The first three data points in James S.'s MMPI test result correspond to validity scale scores, and the high scores show that he tried to fake an appearance of having no problems
• The propensity to act in an antisocial manner is measured by the extremely high score on the psychopathic deviation scale
• James S.'s scores mean that he is "aggressive, unreliable, irresponsible; unable to learn from experience; may initially make a good impression but then the psychopathic feature will surface in longer interactions or under stress"
• Intelligence tests


  Developed for one specific purpose: to predict who would do well in school
• Stanford Binet Test


  The French government hired psychologists Alfred Binet and Théodore Simon to create a test that would identify "slow learners" who would benefit from remedial instruction
• Stanford Binet Test development

  1. Identified several tasks, such as verbal comprehension, attention, perception, memory, and reasoning tests, that presumably measured the skills kids need to succeed in school

  2. Many children were given the initial set of tasks by Binet and Simon

  3. They then eliminated tasks that did not separate the slow learners from the children who did well in school
• Intelligence Quotient (IQ)


  Determined by the Stanford Binet test, calculated as Mental Age/Physical Age x 100