Chapter 3

Question 1

What are the purposes of clinical assessment?

Answer 1

To understand the individual, predict behavior, plan treatment, and evaluate treatment outcome

Question 2

What three concepts determine the value of assessment?

Answer 2

• Reliability
• Validity
• Standardization and norms

Question 3

Define reliability in the context of clinical assessment.

Answer 3

The consistency in measurement, including test-retest and inter-rater reliability

Question 4

What does validity refer to in clinical assessment?

Answer 4

What the test measures and how well it does so, including content, concurrent, discriminant, construct, and face validity

Question 5

What do standardization and norms provide in clinical assessment?

Answer 5

Consistent use of techniques and population benchmarks for comparison

Question 6

What is included in the domain of the clinical interview and physical exam?

Answer 6

• Clinical interview (structured or semi-structured)
• Mental status exam (appearance and behavior, thought processes, mood and affect, intellectual functioning, sensorium)
• Physical exam

Question 7

What is the focus of behavioral assessment and observation?

Answer 7

Identifies and observes target behaviors, focusing on antecedents, behaviors, and consequences

Question 8

What are projective tests?

Answer 8

Tests that project aspects of personality onto ambiguous stimuli, with mixed reliability and validity data

Question 9

Give an example of a projective test.

Answer 9

Rorschach Inkblot Test or Thematic Apperception Test

Question 10

What are objective tests?

Answer 10

Tests using minimally ambiguous stimuli, requiring minimal inference in scoring and interpretation

Question 11

What does the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) assess?

Answer 11

Objective personality

Question 12

What do neuropsychological tests evaluate?

Answer 12

A range of skills and abilities to understand brain-behavior relations

Question 13

What is neuroimaging used for?

Answer 13

Examining brain structure and function using techniques like CAT scans, MRI, PET, SPECT, and fMRI

Question 14

What methods are included in psychophysiological assessment?

Answer 14

• EEG
• Heart rate
• Respiration
• Electrodermal response
• EMG

Question 15

What approach does clinical assessment use?

Answer 15

An idiographic approach

Question 16

What approach does diagnosis use?

Answer 16

A nomothetic approach

Question 17

What is diagnostic classification?

Answer 17

Developing categories based on shared attributes

Question 18

Name two widely used classification systems.

Answer 18

• International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10)
• Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)

Question 19

What are the five axes of DSM-IV?

Answer 19

• 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

Question 20

What unresolved issues exist in the DSM-IV?

Answer 20

• Optimal thresholds for diagnosis
• Arbitrary time periods
• Inclusion of other axes
• Use for treatment or research
• Problem of comorbidity

Question 21

What is the goal of clinical assessment and diagnosis?

Answer 21

To provide a complete picture of the client and aid in understanding and ameliorating human suffering

Question 22

What are the dangers of diagnosis?

Answer 22

• Reification
• Stigmatization

Question 23

What is required for assessment and diagnosis in abnormal psychology?

Answer 23

Reliable, valid, and standardized information

Question 24

Fill in the blank: The approach of clinical assessment is analogous to a _______.

Answer 24

[funnel]