Chapter 3 - Clinical Assessment, Diagnosis, and Research Flashcards
• Explain each of the concepts that determine the value of assessment and diagnosis: reliability
o Reliability – degree to which a measurement is consistent (over time or among different raters)
• Explain each of the concepts that determine the value of assessment and diagnosis: validity,
o Validity – degree to which a technique measures what it purports to measure.
• Explain each of the concepts that determine the value of assessment and diagnosis: standardization
o Standardization – process of establishing specific norms and requirements for a measurement technique to ensure it is used consistently across measurement occasions.
Describe the purpose of the clinical interview
o Clinical Interview – gathers information on current and past behavior, attitudes, and emotions as well as a detailed history of the individual’s life and of the presenting problem.
Describe the purpose of the physical exam
o Physical Exam – many problems presenting as disorders of behavior, cognition, or mood may, on careful physical examination, have a clear relationship to a temporary toxic state.
Describe the purpose of the formal behavioral assessment in the clinical assessment process.
o Formal Behavior Assessment – formally assess an individual’s thoughts, feelings, and behavior in a specific situation or context.
Compare/contrast projective tests, personality inventories (e.g., MMPI-2), and neuropsychological tests for the purposes of psychological evaluation.
o Projective tests – presents ambiguous stimuli to clients on the assumption that their responses can reveal their unconscious conflicts. Such tests are inferential and lack high reliability and validity.
o Personality inventories – self-report questionnaire that assesses personal traits by asking respondents to identify descriptions that apply to themselves.
o Neuropsychological tests – assessment of the brain and nervous system functioning by testing an individual’s performance on behavioral tasks.
Distinguish between neuropsychological testing and neuroimaging.
o Neuropsychological testing – measures abilities in areas such as receptive and expressive language, attention, and concentration, memory, motor skills perceptual abilities, and learning an abstraction in such a way that clinician can make educated guesses about the person’s performance and the possible existence of brain impairment.
o Neuroimaging – sophisticated computer-aided procedures that allow nonintrusive examination of nervous system structure and function.
What are the implications for “false positive” and “false negative” errors in diagnosis?
o False positive- tests are positive when there is no disorder
o False negative – tests are negative when there is a disorder
Why are reliability and validity important in psychological diagnosis?
o Reliability and validity are important so that different psychologists can give the same diagnosis in many different areas and that patients are treated according to their symptoms.
What are the principles of scientific method?
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• Explain the relationship between internal validity and external validity. How can research be designed to increase internal validity?
o Internal validity – extent to which the results of a study can be attributed to the independent variable after confounding alternative explanations have been ruled out.
o External validity – extent to which research findings generalize, or apply, to people and settings not involved in the study.
o To increase internal validity, research can use control groups, randomization, analog models.
Why should the “patient uniformity myth” be avoided?
o The patient uniformity myth leads researchers to make inaccurate generalizations about disorders and treatments. Because people differ in such ways as age, cognitive abilities, gender, and history of treatment, a simple group comparison may be misleading.
Why should the results of a single study be received cautiously?
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“______________is the cornerstone of science and programmatic research.”
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