Chapter 3 Flashcards
What are the purposes of clinical assessment?
To understand the individual, predict behavior, plan treatment, and evaluate treatment outcome
What three concepts determine the value of assessment?
- Reliability
- Validity
- Standardization and norms
Define reliability in the context of clinical assessment.
The consistency in measurement, including test-retest and inter-rater reliability
What does validity refer to in clinical assessment?
What the test measures and how well it does so, including content, concurrent, discriminant, construct, and face validity
What do standardization and norms provide in clinical assessment?
Consistent use of techniques and population benchmarks for comparison
What is included in the domain of the clinical interview and physical exam?
- Clinical interview (structured or semi-structured)
- Mental status exam (appearance and behavior, thought processes, mood and affect, intellectual functioning, sensorium)
- Physical exam
What is the focus of behavioral assessment and observation?
Identifies and observes target behaviors, focusing on antecedents, behaviors, and consequences
What are projective tests?
Tests that project aspects of personality onto ambiguous stimuli, with mixed reliability and validity data
Give an example of a projective test.
Rorschach Inkblot Test or Thematic Apperception Test
What are objective tests?
Tests using minimally ambiguous stimuli, requiring minimal inference in scoring and interpretation
What does the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) assess?
Objective personality
What do neuropsychological tests evaluate?
A range of skills and abilities to understand brain-behavior relations
What is neuroimaging used for?
Examining brain structure and function using techniques like CAT scans, MRI, PET, SPECT, and fMRI
What methods are included in psychophysiological assessment?
- EEG
- Heart rate
- Respiration
- Electrodermal response
- EMG
What approach does clinical assessment use?
An idiographic approach
What approach does diagnosis use?
A nomothetic approach
What is diagnostic classification?
Developing categories based on shared attributes
Name two widely used classification systems.
- International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10)
- Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)
What are the five axes of DSM-IV?
- Axis I: Major disorders
- Axis II: Stable and enduring problems
- Axis III: Medical conditions
- Axis IV: Psychosocial problems
- Axis V: Global clinician rating of adaptive functioning
What unresolved issues exist in the DSM-IV?
- Optimal thresholds for diagnosis
- Arbitrary time periods
- Inclusion of other axes
- Use for treatment or research
- Problem of comorbidity
What is the goal of clinical assessment and diagnosis?
To provide a complete picture of the client and aid in understanding and ameliorating human suffering
What are the dangers of diagnosis?
- Reification
- Stigmatization
What is required for assessment and diagnosis in abnormal psychology?
Reliable, valid, and standardized information
Fill in the blank: The approach of clinical assessment is analogous to a _______.
[funnel]
