Chapter 5-7

Question 1

describe main assumptions of self-report tests

Answer 1

assumes that people have sufficient ability to make judgements about themselves

Question 2

what is the main limitation of self-report tests?

Answer 2

people may over/under report their skills/abilities/conditions (knowingly or unknowingly)

you may not know enough about self or be aware enough to accurately answer

Question 3

what are informant based tests?

Answer 3

psychological tests that are completed by other people for the patient (ex. doctor, parent, etc.)

Question 4

what are the advantages of informant based tests?

Answer 4

other people may have better insight into how the patient is doing

other people may not be affected by the same concerns that patients experience that may lead to over/under reporting on tests

Question 5

what are the concerns related to informant based tests?

Answer 5

how accurate/valid the opinions of the various informants are

Question 6

how do projective tests work

Answer 6

person is presented with an ambiguous stimulus and are then asked to interpret it

people believed to project their own meaning onto the stimulus

trained clinician interprets

no correct/incorrect answer

Question 7

what is the main goal of projective tests?

Answer 7

to measure impulses, emotions, and difficulties of which a person is likely to be unaware through the presentation and interpretation of ambiguous stimuli

Question 8

what are objective tests and how are they objective

Answer 8

designed to address the limitations of projective tests

ask people directly about symptoms/difficulties, instead of relying on interpretation

includes sets of items designed to detect when people were over/under reporting their difficulties

Question 9

what was the original use of aptitude tests?

Answer 9

to see what jobs people were suited for, to help employers choose suitable employees, to see if people were succeeding at job, etc.

better match between individual and job = better satisfaction/productivity/commitment

Question 10

what was the original version of an aptitude test, and what did it get reduced to? # personalities and creators

Answer 10

original = Myers Brigg Type Indicator Assessment (consisted of 16 personality types + created by Carl Jung)

shortened = True Colours Test (4 personality types + created by Donn Lowry)

Question 11

what is the overall theory with 2 types of aptitude tests?

Answer 11

that every person can be described by a small number of personality types

Question 12

what is the general purpose/theory of the True Colour Test?

Answer 12

everyone’s personality consists of either a single or combination of 4 personality types, represented by different colours

dominant 1-2 colours represents the core of a person’s personality of temperament

some may be best described by one personality type, while other mays be described by a blend of 2

Question 13

what are the four colours on the True Colours Test + their meanings?

Answer 13

green = analytical thinkers
gold = detail oriented planners
orange = action oriented creators
blue = people oriented

Question 14

who is the True Colours Test administrated?

Answer 14

for each question, individuals choose which of 4 boxes best describes them (each box contains a series of words)

responses totalled, and highest score determines dominant personality type

Question 15

what are the three main assumptions related to True Colours test?

Answer 15

• is a test of aptitude = meaning that it shows your innate abilities (however, that doesn’t mean you will actually enjoy what you are inherently good at)
• personality types are discrete, not continuous (meaning there are only a very small number of personality types)
• there are only 4 personality types, not more/less
• assumes that participants can make a judgement about themselves (extra)

Question 16

how is information controlled on the True Colours Test?

Answer 16

• questions are chosen specifically so that only the 4 personality types are assessed
• participants are forced to pick one of 4 response options only

Question 17

what are limitations associated with True Colours Test

Answer 17

do the four personality tests actually accurately represent a full range of people’s personalities?

people may be forced to pick options that don’t necessarily accurately represent them

if you are short amount off in score from another personality type - is your dominant personality actually accurate?

Question 18

how is decision making simplified in the True Colours Test?

Answer 18

manner of scoring allows for simple decision making = scale that has the highest score is your dominant personality type

Question 19

what is the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression

Answer 19

focuses more on the somatic symptoms of depression

performed by trained clinician

assess severity of depression in severely depressed patients

Question 20

general features of the Beck Depression SCale

Answer 20

focuses more on the cognitive symptoms of depression

self-report

Question 21

what are cut-off scores

Answer 21

mark the point at which a person can be designated as a construct (ex. depressed)

Question 22

what is the cut-off score for the Beck Depression Index?

Answer 22

scored from 0-63

16 = cutoff score (the point at which people are considered to be depressed)

Question 23

what are the three assumptions related to the Beck Depression Index?

Answer 23

• use of a single total scores assumes that all measure of the scale measure a single construct (implying unidimensionality, but not guaranteed) and that all items are equally good at measuring the construct
• use of cut off score assumes there is a threshold for the point at which a person is depressed
• use of cut off assumes that any combination of individual items can be used to designate presence of condition, so long at cut-off score is reached

Question 24

how is information controlled in the Beck Depression Index?

Answer 24

through the use of distinct response categories

allows peoples responses to questions to be somewhat controlled

Question 25

what are the limitations of the Beck Depression Index?

Answer 25

scales claim to be unidimensional (however, there has been some evidence of subgroups proving this wrong)

the set of response options may not represent all of what is important to measure, meaning you may miss an important aspect of construct/subgroup of individuals

Question 26

what are the main goals of structured and semi-structured interviews?

Answer 26

to help assess the presence/absence of psychiatric symptoms

to facilitate decisions about whether there is enough of these symptoms to render a formal diagnosis

Question 27

what is the Interview Manual for Structured Clinical Interview for DSM?

Answer 27

aka SCID

semi-structured interview

consists of series of modules with corresponding Q’s for symptoms of various disorders

some questions are exclusionary = must be answered and exclude people from certain disorder categories

provide direction on if symptoms are serious enough to be classified as disorder

Question 28

what types of variance do both semi-structured and structured interviews control?

Answer 28

information variance and criterion variance

Question 29

how do semi-structured and structured interviews control information variance?

Answer 29

• what questions get asked/what information is collected to decide if disorder is present
• controlled by the questions that are required to be asked + clinician skipping the questions that are not required by not meeting exclusionary criteria

Question 30

how do semi-structured and structured interviews control criterion variance

Answer 30

• how information/symptoms from different questions get combined to reach diagnosis

-controlled by clinician knowing how many symptoms need to be observed to render a diagnosis

Question 31

what is the main difference between semi-structured and structured interviews? what is the reason for this?

Answer 31

semi-structured allows follow up questions, whereas structured does not/requires clinicians to stick to the script

allows less trained individuals to diagnose + introduces another level of control

Question 32

describe the scoring of semi-structured and structured interviews

Answer 32

both produce a series of dichotomous scores that indicate presence/absence of disorder

overlooks differences between mild/severe/etc. - just focused on presence of disorder itself

Question 33

what is the main assumption with semi-structured and structured interviews

Answer 33

both assume that disorders are discrete - meaning you either have it or you don’t

Question 34

how is information controlled in semi-structured and structured interviews?

Answer 34

determining specific questions clinician asks in interview

shows how to decide if information provided by patient warrants diagnosis

Question 35

how are decisions streamlined in semi-structured and structured interviews

Answer 35

by making diagnoses discrete - either you have it or you don’t

Question 36

describe the discovery process of the Neo Personality inventory

Answer 36

Allport and Obert examined words in dictionary and identified 4500 that could be viewed as personality traits

groups words into cardinal, central, and secondary traits

eventually narrowed down to 5 traits which became NEO

Question 37

what are cardinal, central, and secondary traits?

Answer 37

cardinal = those that strongly determine behaviour
central = those that strongly influence behaviour
secondary = those that influence behaviour in some situations

Question 38

what is the NEO personality inventory?

Answer 38

demonstrates that most/all personality characteristics can be related to 5 distinct factors

gold standard for personality assessment

Question 39

what are the “big five”

Answer 39

neuroticism = negative moods, sadness, anxiety, etc.

extraversion = outgoing, seek socialization, etc.

openness to experience = trying new things, broad interests, eager to learn, etc.

agreeableness = pleasant, cooperative, willing to compromise, etc.

conscientiousness = organized, attention to detail, planning ahead, etc.

Question 40

what is the general format of the NEO personality inventory?

Answer 40

assesses five major domains of personality through 240 questions on Likert scale

each of broad personality domains is comprised of individual facets of that domain

Question 41

how is the NEO personality inventory scored?

Answer 41

people are provided with profile of how high they score in individual facets, and on the big 5 categories

Question 42

what are the assumptions associated with NEO personality inventory?

Answer 42

• assumed that personality is comprised of 5 independent domains
• assumed that personality is continuous (meaning people can express more/less of traits)
• assumed that people can make judgements about their personalities

Question 43

what are the concerns associated with NEO personality inventory

Answer 43

some demand concerns

dealt with by providing an informant rated questionnaire and a self reported version

Question 44

how is information controlled with the NEO personality inventory

Answer 44

by nesting each of 6 facets within the 5 domains (30 facets total)

Question 45

how are decisions streamlined NEO personality inventory?

Answer 45

done by adopting view that there are only 5 categories of personality that describe people

Question 46

why was the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory created? (MMPI)

Answer 46

to address concerns that questions on existing self-report measures were too transparent/easily manipulated and too narrow in scope and content

Question 47

what are the main features to the MMPI (4)

Answer 47

• manner in which scale was developed (only includes items endorsed by patients to accurately differentiate individuals with and without disorder)
• emphases on the ability of items to differentiate clinical and nonclinical groups (different sets of items to identify both)
• criterion validity of items (what items accurately identify) is emphasized over face validity (what items look like they should measure)
• introduced standardized scales

Question 48

describe the validity scales/measures association with ensuring criterion validity on the MMPI

Answer 48

• one set of items to detect nonresponding/inconsistent responding
• one set of items to detect over reporting symptoms
• one set of times to detect underreporting symptoms

Question 49

describe scoring with standardized scales on MMPI’s + its importance

Answer 49

raw score was transformed into a standardized score (z-score) before deciding if score warranted a diagnosis

z score = expressed information about where you stand relative to everyone else in a group

Question 50

how were z-scores used on MMPIs

Answer 50

scale developers set z score from 0-50 to eliminate negative values

scores over 50 = top half of normative group

scores over 65 = severe diagnosis

Question 51

why is the MMPI a norm-reference test

Answer 51

because decisions about whether/not score is severe is determined on the basis of scores originally computed in normative groups

because standardized scores (z scores) are used rather than raw scores

Question 52

what was the AFA?

Answer 52

act frequency approach

sought to identify behavioural correlates of personality traits based on day-to-day behaviours

goal was obtain frequency ratings of behaviours across a given time period

Question 53

what was the main criticism of AFA

Answer 53

being too positivistic

because defined personality traits only on the basis of observable behaviour which was too limiting

Question 54

what is the behavioural acts inventory?

Answer 54

example of an AFA approach

consists of 400 behavioural acts covering a wide range of behaviours

participants are asked to report the frequency with which they performed each act using a scale

Question 55

what is the main limitation of the behavioural acts inventory?

Answer 55

relies on the memory of participants performing various behaviours

Question 56

what is the Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale

Answer 56

an IQ test designed to measure intelligence and cognitive ability in adults and adolescents

currently in the 4th edition

most widely used IQ test

intended for people 16-90

Question 57

describe the organization of the original WISC

Answer 57

made up of the Wechsler-Bellevue Intelligence Scale

composed of verbal scale (VIQ) and performance scale (PIQ) subtests that contributed to overall full scale IQ (FSIQ)

Question 58

describe the alterations made to the 3rd addition of the Weschler Intelligence SCale

Answer 58

included three traditional scales VIQ, PIQ, and FSIQ

also included verbal comprehension index (VCI), perceptual organization index (POI), freedom from distrability index (FDI) and processing speed index (PSI)

Question 59

what are the three main assumptions of the WAIS and the WISC

Answer 59

• intelligence is innate
• intelligence is composed of two primary components (verbal and nonverbal)
• broad components of intelligence can be measured through asks that objectively measure abilities (ex. memory, reasoning, etc.), therefore assumes that intelligence is multifactorial

Question 60

what is the Flynn effect?

Answer 60

shows that IQ scores are increasing, although originally observed to be innate

likely due to better pre/post natal nutrition

Question 61

what is the GRE?

Answer 61

Graduate Record Examinations

a multifactorial standardized achievement test

admission requirement for most grad schools

designed to measure verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, analytical writing, critical thinking, and knowledge in certain fields

Question 62

describe the scoring methods for the GREs

Answer 62

scored on a scale of 130-170 (where 130 = bottom percentile)

for each subsection, a raw score is computed

all questions contribute equally to final score (raw score is converted to scaled score though process of equating)

final scaled scored permit comparisons of people

Question 63

how is information controlled on the GREs

Answer 63

through the procedure of equating scores so both verbal and quantitative scores are comparable (both with each other, and from one year to next)

Question 64

how are decisions streamlined in the GREEs

Answer 64

use of scaled scores and corresponding percentiles streamlines decisions