Chapter 5 Flashcards
The process of the collection of data to be applied to a classification system
assessment
Information collected from testing techniques
assessment data
Systematically collected data based in a person’s history, physical condition, social and cultural environment, and context that is used in a decision making process
clinical assessment
What is the minimum tools and data needed in a clinical assessment?
client interviews and psychologist observation
What are the two types of knowledge needed in according to the APA when performing an assessment?
Conceptual and applied
An approach to assessment that is guided by theory and research
Evidence-based assessment
What is the 3 components of evidence-based assessment?
all parts: variables assessed, methods and measures used, and the manner in which it unfolds is informed using research
What are the steps in determining diagnoses and treatment for a client?
- developing a data set that includes diagnosis and clinical problems that are commonly seen
- searching the literature for the factors associated with diagnosis options and possible treatment outcomes
- compilation of psychological instruments designed to help with the diagnostic formulation and risk factors
When assessment is limited to basic questions on functioning or suitability for services. General information on a person’s psychological functioning. This is a stand-alone assessment
assessment-focused services
When an assessment is conducted to see if a client is suited for intervention services and is typically used as a first step in intervention
Intervention-focused assessment services
a procedure to identify individuals who may have clinical level problems with the goal of identifying those who need services
screening
Who is screening for depression useful for? who is it not useful for?
Good: adults (pregnant people)
Bad: children and adolescents
What the Canadian task force contradict the US task force on screening for depression?
Argued that regular screening was not useful
A description of the patient’s life situation, current problems and a set of hypotheses for explanation of clinical condition
case formulation
The predictions about the future of a patient’s psychological functioning based in assessment data and literature
prognosis
What are the primary influences on a prognosis prediction?
time and cost of treatment, consequence of errors, and base rate in population
When the psychologist predicts that an event will occur, but it does not
false positive
When event that was not predicted occurs
false negative
The number of times an event is predicted across cases and the number of times it actually occurs
sensitivity
the number of times a non-event is predicted across cases compared with the total number of times no event occurred
specificity
What are the steps in developing a treatment plan?
- determine which treatments will be the most effective
- Identify target problems
- set treatment goals
- set strategies to target goals
Why is treatment monitoring important?
allows for changes in plan if necessary, keeping clinent on task, and monitoring progression
a researcher who demonstrated that treatment monitoring can change treatment outcome
Micheal Lambert
indicators for how well the treatment is progressing
outcome data
What can outcome data be used for?
indicator for how well a system or care centre is functioning, if any changes occur from the intervention, evidence for usefulness in other clients, and comparison with other clients on progress
an evaluative device or procedure that can take a snap shot of behaviour in a specific domain and be evaluated in a standardized process
test
What is required of all tests?
generate statements about behaviour and psychological functioning, and is accurate and valid. the test should not rely on clinical judgement only
Why is it important that a psychological test be defined?
frequently used in legal and quasi-legal procedures like disability pension or removing a child from a home
What is the difference between assessment and testing
assessment is the integration of life story with clinical information, while testing is finding a score in a domain
Who is most trained in testing and most likely to use them?
clinical psychologists at a doctoral level
Why is children difficult to assess?
In the process of rapid change and development, rarely refer themselves, can’t always be the primary informant and they are very integrated with their contexts.
Author of some of the most commonly used resources for assessment
Gary Groth-Marnat
consistency across clinicians and testing occasions in the procedure used to administer and score a test
standardization
all aspects of the test related to each other and the concept it’s trying to measure
internal consistency
if the same person took the test twice it will produce the same results
test-retest reliability
if the same results would be obtained if two people saw the same thing
inter-rater reliability
other factors that effect reliability
standardization of stimuli, administration, and scoring
the extent to which the test samples the type of behaviour that is relevant to the underlying psychological construct
evidence of content validity
scores on the test are correlated with scores on tests that measure similar constructs
evidence of concurrent validity
If the test predicts a relevant outcome
evidence of predictive validity
the extent to which the test provides a pure measure of the construct that is minimally contaminated by other psychological constructs
evidence of discriminant validity
the extent to which a measure adds to the prediction of a criterion above what can be predicted by other sources of data
evidence of incremental validity
Why do psychological tests reference norms?
use standardized norms to reference scores of a test to the general population
Why can test norms be inaccurate?
norm data is commonly gathered from research participants like undergraduate students, hospital inpatients and outpatients in a psychologic clinic might not represent the tested group
What is one of the general issues that Groth-Marnat cites with psychological tests?
many fail to take into account the psychometric properties of tests or strength of research on tests
