Psychology Chapter 5: Assessment

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Questions and Answers

What is the primary purpose of Psychological Assessment?

To formulate clinical diagnoses

To provide recommendations for treatment plans

To conduct interventions

To collect data for classification purposes (correct)

What does evidence-based assessment involve?

Evidence-based assessment involves using research and theory to guide the variable assessed, the methods and measures, and the assessment process.

Errors in clinical prediction can occur during screening, diagnosis, and case formulation.

True

_________ involves the probability of a problem or diagnosis occurring in the population.

Base rate Signup and view all the answers

What are the three most commonly used personality inventories?

<ol> <li>Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2 and MMPI-A), 2. Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-IV, 3. Personality Assessment Inventory</li> </ol> Signup and view all the answers

What does the Lie scale of the MMPI-2 measure?

Unrealistically positive self-presentation Signup and view all the answers

The Rorschach inkblot test has normative data available for interpretation.

True Signup and view all the answers

What is the Comprehensive System (CS) in relation to the Rorschach inkblot test?

The Comprehensive System (CS) is considered the principal scoring system for the Rorschach inkblot test. Signup and view all the answers

The Symptom Checklist-90-Revised is used as a general measure of distress over the past two weeks. Interpersonal sensitivity, phobic anxiety, and ________ are also assessed.

hostility Signup and view all the answers

What is the formula for calculating specificity?

Specificity = true negatives / (true negatives + false positives) Signup and view all the answers

What is the purpose of treatment planning?

To develop a proposed course of action that addresses the client's needs and circumstances. Signup and view all the answers

What areas must a useful treatment plan cover?

Problem identification, treatment goals, treatment strategies Signup and view all the answers

Treatment monitoring involves closely monitoring the impact of treatment and adjusting the treatment plan accordingly.

True Signup and view all the answers

Match the following psychometric considerations with their definitions:

Standardization = Consistency across clinicians and testing occasions in test administration and scoring Reliability = Consistency of the test and whether similar results can be obtained upon retesting Validity = Degree to which the test truly measures what it purports to measure and how results are interpreted Norms = Reference information that allows meaningful interpretation of test results Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Psychological Assessment

Definition: An iterative decision-making process involving the collection of data on a person, their history, and their physical, social, and cultural environments.
Involves gathering and integrating multiple types of data from multiple sources and perspectives.
Undertaken to address specific goals, with the psychologist formulating questions to be addressed and selecting appropriate assessment methods and instruments.

Evidence-Based Assessment (EBA)

Use of research and theory to guide the assessment process.
Involves recognition of the assessment process as a decision-making task, with the clinician formulating and testing hypotheses by integrating data.
Identification of psychological instruments with solid psychometric properties.
Development of rating systems for instruments used for specific assessment purposes.

Assessment-Focused Services

Conducted primarily to provide information to address a person's current or anticipated psychosocial deficits.
Psychologist must use EBA tools and follow ethical standards in providing these services.
Influence of referral factors on the assessment process.

Intervention-Focused Assessment Services

Psychological assessment is not a stand-alone service but is conducted as a first step in providing an effective intervention.
Assessment data is used to support the intervention.

Screening

Procedure to identify individuals who may have problems of a clinical magnitude or who may be at risk for developing such problems.
Goal: to identify those who may require services, with the expectation that steps will be taken to facilitate the provision of services.

Diagnosis and Case Formulation

Assessment data used to formulate a clinical diagnosis.
Information on symptoms is compared with diagnostic criteria to determine whether the symptom profile matches criteria for DSM diagnoses.
Case formulation: a description of the patient that provides information on their life situation, current problems, and hypotheses linking psychosocial factors with the patient's clinical condition.

Prognosis and Prediction

Prognosis: predictions made about the future course of a patient's psychological functioning.
Prediction errors can occur, including false positives and false negatives.
Importance of considering sensitivity, specificity, and base rate in prediction.

Treatment Planning

Process of developing a proposed course of action that addresses the client's needs and circumstances.
Involves considering the client's context, diagnoses, and life circumstances, as well as the scientific literature on psychotherapy.

Treatment Monitoring and Evaluation

Treatment monitoring: closely tracking the impact of treatment to alter the treatment plan based on the patient's response.
Treatment evaluation: collecting data to determine the extent to which psychological services are effective in achieving stated goals.
Importance of routine treatment monitoring in enhancing treatment outcome.

Psychological Testing

Definition: 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.
Importance of meeting scientific standards, including reliability, validity, and norms.

Assessment vs. Testing

Assessment: a complex and multifaceted process involving the integration of life history information, clinical observation, and test results.
Testing: a specific device used to gather a sample of behavior, with a score assigned to the resulting sample and comparisons made with the scores of other people.

Psychometric Considerations

Standardization: consistency across clinicians and testing occasions in the procedure used to administer and score a test.### Reliability
Refers to the consistency of a test, including internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and inter-rater reliability
Internal consistency: whether all aspects of the test contribute in a meaningful way to the data obtained
Test-retest reliability: whether similar results would be obtained if the person was retested at some point after the initial test
Inter-rater reliability: whether similar results would be obtained if the test was conducted and/or scored by another evaluator
Reliable results are necessary to generalize test results and their psychological implications beyond the immediate assessment situation

Validity

Refers to whether a test truly measures what it purports to measure and how the test results are interpreted
Different types of validity evidence:
- Content validity: the extent to which the test samples the type of behavior that is relevant to the underlying psychological construct
- Concurrent validity: the extent to which scores on the test are correlated with scores on measures of similar constructs
- Predictive validity: the extent to which the test predicts a relevant outcome
- Discriminant validity: the extent to which the test provides a pure measure of the construct that is minimally contaminated by other psychological constructs
- Incremental validity: the extent to which a measure adds to the prediction of a criterion above what can be predicted by other sources of data

Norms

Refers to the standards or criteria against which individual test scores are compared
Types of norms:
- Percentile ranks: indicate the percentage of those in the normative group whose scores fell below a given test score
- Standard scores: calculated using a z-score formula
- Developmental norms: used when the psychological construct being assessed develops systematically over time
Importance of norms: necessary to meaningfully interpret test results and determine the precise meaning of any test score

Clinical Assessment Interviews

Structured, semi-structured, and unstructured interviews
Clinical utility: the extent to which assessment measures are useful in clinical practice
Self-presentation biases: the tendency for individuals to present themselves in a more favorable light

Intellectual and Cognitive Measures

Defining intelligence: various theories and definitions
Theories of intelligence: factor models, hierarchical models, and information processing theories
Assessing intelligence: the clinical context, Wechsler Intelligence Scales, and other intelligence scales

Self-Report and Projective Measures

Self-report personality measures: MMPI-2, Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-IV, and Personality Assessment Inventory
Projective measures of personality: Rorschach Inkblot Test, Thematic Apperception Test, and projective drawings
Limitations of projective measures: lacking standardization, administration errors, and overpathologizing normal individuals

Integration and Clinical Decision-Making

Integrating assessment data: combining information from multiple sources to form a comprehensive picture
Case formulation: a hypothesis about the underlying causes and mechanisms of an individual's presenting problems
Threats to validity: various sources of error and bias in assessment and case formulation
Psychological assessment reports and treatment plans: written documents that summarize assessment findings and outline treatment goals and strategies

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Description

This quiz covers the basics of assessment and classification in psychology, including strategies and tools used for educational and employment purposes.