Chapter 5-7 Flashcards
describe main assumptions of self-report tests
assumes that people have sufficient ability to make judgements about themselves
what is the main limitation of self-report tests?
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
what are informant based tests?
psychological tests that are completed by other people for the patient (ex. doctor, parent, etc.)
what are the advantages of informant based tests?
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
what are the concerns related to informant based tests?
how accurate/valid the opinions of the various informants are
how do projective tests work
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
what is the main goal of projective tests?
to measure impulses, emotions, and difficulties of which a person is likely to be unaware through the presentation and interpretation of ambiguous stimuli
what are objective tests and how are they objective
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
what was the original use of aptitude tests?
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
what was the original version of an aptitude test, and what did it get reduced to? # personalities and creators
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)
what is the overall theory with 2 types of aptitude tests?
that every person can be described by a small number of personality types
what is the general purpose/theory of the True Colour Test?
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
what are the four colours on the True Colours Test + their meanings?
green = analytical thinkers
gold = detail oriented planners
orange = action oriented creators
blue = people oriented
who is the True Colours Test administrated?
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
what are the three main assumptions related to True Colours test?
- 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)
how is information controlled on the True Colours Test?
- questions are chosen specifically so that only the 4 personality types are assessed
- participants are forced to pick one of 4 response options only
what are limitations associated with True Colours Test
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?
how is decision making simplified in the True Colours Test?
manner of scoring allows for simple decision making = scale that has the highest score is your dominant personality type
what is the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression
focuses more on the somatic symptoms of depression
performed by trained clinician
assess severity of depression in severely depressed patients
general features of the Beck Depression SCale
focuses more on the cognitive symptoms of depression
self-report
what are cut-off scores
mark the point at which a person can be designated as a construct (ex. depressed)
what is the cut-off score for the Beck Depression Index?
scored from 0-63
16 = cutoff score (the point at which people are considered to be depressed)
what are the three assumptions related to the Beck Depression Index?
- 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
how is information controlled in the Beck Depression Index?
through the use of distinct response categories
allows peoples responses to questions to be somewhat controlled
what are the limitations of the Beck Depression Index?
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
what are the main goals of structured and semi-structured interviews?
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
what is the Interview Manual for Structured Clinical Interview for DSM?
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
what types of variance do both semi-structured and structured interviews control?
information variance and criterion variance
how do semi-structured and structured interviews control information variance?
- 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
how do semi-structured and structured interviews control criterion variance
- 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
what is the main difference between semi-structured and structured interviews? what is the reason for this?
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
describe the scoring of semi-structured and structured interviews
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
what is the main assumption with semi-structured and structured interviews
both assume that disorders are discrete - meaning you either have it or you don’t
how is information controlled in semi-structured and structured interviews?
determining specific questions clinician asks in interview
shows how to decide if information provided by patient warrants diagnosis
how are decisions streamlined in semi-structured and structured interviews
by making diagnoses discrete - either you have it or you don’t
describe the discovery process of the Neo Personality inventory
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
what are cardinal, central, and secondary traits?
cardinal = those that strongly determine behaviour
central = those that strongly influence behaviour
secondary = those that influence behaviour in some situations
what is the NEO personality inventory?
demonstrates that most/all personality characteristics can be related to 5 distinct factors
gold standard for personality assessment
what are the “big five”
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.
what is the general format of the NEO personality inventory?
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
how is the NEO personality inventory scored?
people are provided with profile of how high they score in individual facets, and on the big 5 categories
what are the assumptions associated with NEO personality inventory?
- 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
what are the concerns associated with NEO personality inventory
some demand concerns
dealt with by providing an informant rated questionnaire and a self reported version
how is information controlled with the NEO personality inventory
by nesting each of 6 facets within the 5 domains (30 facets total)
how are decisions streamlined NEO personality inventory?
done by adopting view that there are only 5 categories of personality that describe people
why was the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory created? (MMPI)
to address concerns that questions on existing self-report measures were too transparent/easily manipulated and too narrow in scope and content
what are the main features to the MMPI (4)
- 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
describe the validity scales/measures association with ensuring criterion validity on the MMPI
- 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
describe scoring with standardized scales on MMPI’s + its importance
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
how were z-scores used on MMPIs
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
why is the MMPI a norm-reference test
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
what was the AFA?
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
what was the main criticism of AFA
being too positivistic
because defined personality traits only on the basis of observable behaviour which was too limiting
what is the behavioural acts inventory?
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
what is the main limitation of the behavioural acts inventory?
relies on the memory of participants performing various behaviours
what is the Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale
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
describe the organization of the original WISC
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)
describe the alterations made to the 3rd addition of the Weschler Intelligence SCale
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)
what are the three main assumptions of the WAIS and the WISC
- 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
what is the Flynn effect?
shows that IQ scores are increasing, although originally observed to be innate
likely due to better pre/post natal nutrition
what is the GRE?
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
describe the scoring methods for the GREs
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
how is information controlled on the GREs
through the procedure of equating scores so both verbal and quantitative scores are comparable (both with each other, and from one year to next)
how are decisions streamlined in the GREEs
use of scaled scores and corresponding percentiles streamlines decisions
