Chapter 3 - Definitions

Question 1

Clinical Assessment

Answer 1

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

Question 2

Diagnosis

Answer 2

Process of determining whether a presenting problem meets the established criteria for a specific psychological disorder.

Question 3

Reliability

Answer 3

Degree to which a measurement is consistent, for example, over time or among different raters.

Question 4

Syndrome

Answer 4

Literally a ‘running together’, a syndrome implies the clustering of given symptoms, signs and results of special investigations that occurs with sufficient regularity and predictability so as to constitute a putative disease entity. A syndrome is a set of clinical and supporting information that co-occur at a frequency greater than change.

Question 5

Disorder

Answer 5

A disorder comprises a syndrome conjoined with its clinical course. In other words, in addition to its presenting phenomenology, we understand the behaviour of the condition over time. At this level, something is known about its pathogenesis, or how the abnormality develops. However, nothing is known about the cause.

Question 6

Disease

Answer 6

A disease consists of a combination of clinical phenomenology, course behaviour, pathogenesis and aetiology, or initial cause.

Question 7

Validity

Answer 7

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

Question 8

Standardisation

Answer 8

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 them to data for large numbers of people.

Question 9

Metal State Examintion

Answer 9

Brief, but systematic overview of global mental functioning across the domains of consciousness, cognitive functions, emotions, reality testing and behaviour.

Question 10

Behavioural Assessment

Answer 10

Measuring, observing and systematically evaluating (rather than inferring) the client’s thoughts, feelings and behaviour in the actual problem situation or context.

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

Projective Tests

Answer 12

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 13

Personality Inventories

Answer 13

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

Question 14

Intelligence Quotient (IQ)

Answer 14

Score on an intelligence test estimating a person’s deviation from average test performance.

Question 15

Neuropsychological Test

Answer 15

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

Question 16

False Positive

Answer 16

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

Question 17

False Negative

Answer 17

Assessment error in which no pathology is noted (that is, test results are negative) when one is actually present.

Question 18

Neuroimaging

Answer 18

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

Question 19

Psychophysiological Assessment

Answer 19

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

Question 20

Electroencephalogram (EEG)

Answer 20

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

Question 21

Idiographic Strategy

Answer 21

Close and detailed investigation of an individual emphasising what makes that person unique (compare with nomothetic strategy).

Question 22

Nomothetic Strategy

Answer 22

Identification and examination of large groups of people with the same disorder to note similarities and develop general laws (compare with idiographic strategy).

Question 23

Classification

Answer 23

Assignment of objects or people to categories on the basis of shared characteristics.

Question 24

Taxonomy

Answer 24

System of naming and classifification (for example, of specimens) in science.

Question 25

Nosology

Answer 25

Classifification and naming system of disease, medical and psychological phenomena.

Question 26

Nomenclature

Answer 26

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

Question 27

Classical (pure) Categorical Approach

Answer 27

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

Question 28

Dimensional Approach

Answer 28

Method of categorising characteristics on a continuum rather than on a binary either-or, or all-or-none, basis.

Question 29

Prototypical Approach

Answer 29

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

Question 30

Familial Aggregation

Answer 30

The extent to which a disorder is found among a patient’s relatives.

Question 31

Comorbidity

Answer 31

Presence of two or more disorders in an individual at the same time.

Question 32

Labelling

Answer 32

Applying a name to a phenomenon or a pattern of behaviour. The label may acquire negative connotations or be applied erroneously to the person rather than that person’s behaviours.