chapter 3

Question 1

What is a clinical assessment?

Answer 1

Systematic evaluation and measurement of psychological, biological, and social factors in an individual presenting with a possible psychological disorder

Question 2

Validity

Answer 2

Degree to which a technique actually measures what it purports to measure.

Question 3

Standardization

Answer 3

Process of establishing specific norms and requirements for a measurement technique to ensure it is used consistently across measurement occasions. This includes instructions for administering the measure, evaluating its findings, and comparing these to data for large numbers of people.

Question 4

mental status exam

Answer 4

Relatively coarse preliminary test of a client’s judgment, orientation to time and place, and emotional and mental state; typically conducted during an initial interview.

Question 5

Dr. Swan listened carefully to Joyce’s speech pattern, noting its speed, content, and continuity. She noticed no looseness of association but did hear indications of delusional thoughts and visual hallucinations.

Answer 5

thought processes

Question 6

Anwar arrived at the clinic accompanied by police, who had found him dressed only in shorts although the temperature was 5 degree celecuis . He was reported to the police by someone who saw him walking very slowly down the street making strange faces and talking to himself.

Answer 6

appearance and behaviour

Question 7

When Lisa was brought to Dr. Miller’s office, he asked if she knew the date and time, her identity, and where she was.

Answer 7

sensorium

Question 8

Dr. Jones viewed Tarik’s laughter after discussing his near-fatal incident as inappropriate and noted that Tarik appeared to be elated.

Answer 8

mood and affect

Question 9

Mark’s vocabulary and memory seemed adequate, leading Dr. Epstein to estimate that Mark was of average intelligence

Answer 9

intellectual functioning

Question 10

projective tests

Answer 10

Psychoanalytically based measures that present ambiguous stimuli to clients on the assumption that their responses will reveal their unconscious conflicts. Such tests are inferential and lack high reliability and validity

Question 11

self-monitoring

Answer 11

Action by which clients observe and record their own behaviours as either an assessment of a problem and its change or a treatment procedure that makes them more aware of their responses. Also called self-observation.

Question 12

personality inventories

Answer 12

Self-report questionnaires that assess personal traits by asking respondents to identify descriptions that apply to them.

Question 13

Neuropsychological testing

Answer 13

Assessment of brain and nervous system functioning by testing an individual’s performance on behavioural tasks.

Question 14

false positives

Answer 14

Assessment error in which pathology is reported (i.e., test results are positive) when none is actually present.

Question 15

false negatives

Answer 15

Assessment error in which no pathology is noted (i.e., test results are negative) when it is actually present

Question 16

neuroimaging

Answer 16

Sophisticated computer-aided procedures that allow nonintrusive examination of nervous system structure and function.

Question 17

psychophysiological assessment

Answer 17

Measurement of changes in the nervous system reflecting psychological or emotional events, such as anxiety, stress, and sexual arousal.

Question 18

classification

Answer 18

Assignment of objects or people to categories based on shared characteristics.

Question 19

electroencephalogram (EEG)

Answer 19

Measure of electrical activity patterns in the brain taken through electrodes placed on the scalp.

Question 20

taxonomy

Answer 20

System of naming and classification (e.g., of specimens) in science.

Question 21

nomenclature

Answer 21

In a naming system or nosology, the actual labels or names that are applied. In psychopathology these include, for example, mood disorders and eating disorders.

Question 22

nosology

Answer 22

Classification and naming system for medical and psychological phenomena.

Question 23

classical categorical approach

Answer 23

Classification method founded on the assumption of clear-cut differences among disorders, each with a different known cause.

Question 24

dimensional approach

Answer 24

Method of categorizing characteristics on a continuum rather than on a binary, either-or, or all-ornone basis.

Question 25

prototypical approach

Answer 25

System for categorizing disorders using both essential, defining characteristics and a range of variation on other characteristics.

Question 26

The classical categorical approach to classification assumes there is only one set of causative factors per disorder with no overlap between disorders, and the prototypical approach uses essential, defining features, as well as a range of other characteristics.

Answer 26

true

Question 27

As in earlier versions, the DSM-IV and DSM-5-TR retain a distinction between organically and psychologically based disorders.

Answer 27

false

Question 28

The DSM-IV and DSM-5-TR eradicated the problem of comorbidity, the identification of two or more disorders in an individual at one time, which was previously caused by imprecise categories.

Answer 28

false

Question 29

If two or more clinicians agree on a patient’s classification, the assessments are said to be valid.

Answer 29

F

Question 30

A danger in psychological classification is that a diagnostic label might be used to characterize personally the total individual.

Answer 30

true

Question 31

What are the five categories of the mental status exam?

Answer 31

1. Appearance and behavior:
   Over behavior
   Attire
   Appearance, posture, expressions
2. Thought processes:
   Rate of speech
   Continuity of speech
   Content of speech
3. Mood and affect:
   Predominant feeling state of the individual
   Feeing state accompanying what individual says
4. Intellectual functioning:
   Type of vocabulary
   Use of abstractions and metaphors
5. Sensorium:
   Awareness of surroundings in terms of person (self and clinician), time, and place - “Oriented three times”