Chapter 5, Assessment: Overview Flashcards
Psychological Assessment
An iterative decision-making process in which data are systematically collected on the person (or persons), the person’s history, and the person’s physical, social, and cultural environments.
Goals that psychological assessments are meant to address…
a. evaluating a child’s cognitive abilities to determine whether the child is eligible for remedial services;
b. identifying the characteristics and behaviours associated with an adolescent’s repeated social rejection, so that a treatment plan can be devised to help improve the youth’s social functioning; or,
c. determining the extent of emotional impairment experienced by an adult who was in a car accident.
The Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards (n.d.) …
has enumerated all the competencies in psychological assessment required of psychologists when they become registered
Competencies in Psychological Assessment Expected at the Point of Licensure
- Apply knowledge of individual and cultural characteristics in assessment and diagnosis
- Demonstrate effective interviewing
- Select instruments based on available normed data and/or criterion-referenced standards, and address any limitations in that selection
- Administer and score instruments following current guidelines and psychometric research
- Interpret and synthesize results from multiple sources following current guidelines and psychometric research
- Formulate a diagnosis, recommendations, and/or professional opinions by using relevant criteria and considering all assessment data
- Communicate assessment results in an integrative manner
- Evaluate the effectiveness of psychological services
Adapted from Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards
Evidence-Based assessment (EBA)
An approach to psychological evaluation that uses research and theory to guide:
a. the variables assessed
b. the methods and measures used
c. the manner in which the assessment process unfolds
- This assessment involves the recognition that the process is a decision-making task in which the clinician must repeatedly formulate and test hypotheses by integrating data obtained throughout the assessment.
The Steps in the development of EBA
- The identification of psychological instruments
- Using statistical procedures to integrate assessment data for individual clients and to develop scientifically sound procedures for client data to directly inform important clinical decisions
Types of Psychological Assessment Instruments
- interviews
- self-report measures
- observational coding systems
- self-monitoring measures
Youngstrom, Choukas-Bradley, Calhoun, and Jensen-Doss (2015) developed a set of equations to assist the psychologist in determining diagnoses for a client and the potential treatment impact of a number of client risk factors
a. The development of a data set that includes the diagnosis and clinical problems commonly experienced by clients in the clinic,
b. Literature searches to determine factors associated with these diagnoses/problems that have been demonstrated to impact treatment outcomes,
c. the compilation of a library of psychological instruments designed to contribute to the diagnostic formulation and the assessment of risk factors
The Purpose of Psychological Assessment
Assessment focused-services are services conducted primarily to provide information on a person’s psychosocial functioning.
Intervention-focused services: assessments conducted in the context of intervention services.
Examples of Assessment-Focused Services
such as child custody evaluations, psychoeducational assessments (learning disorders), neuropsychological assessments (following a concussion), psychosocial assessments (following motor vehicle accidents)
What are the goals of cognitive impairment assessments?
The assessment is initiated to answer basic questions about the person’s current functioning or suitability for services and to provide recommendations for remedies for problems.
These remedies include referral to another specialist.
Or it could be a way to understand the difference in a person’s level of functioning before and after experiencing a trauma.
Why do we assess?
- Classification
- Facilitate decision-making
- Evaluation
- Data collection
How is Psychological Assessment Different?
▫ Systematic
▫ Driven by assessment questions/goals
▫ Develop and evaluate iterative hypotheses
▫ Consider multiple sources of information
▫ Integrate ↑ information in drawing conclusions
Typically consult client regarding the accuracy of conclusions
Necessary competencies
- Knowledge of psychometric theory
- Knowledge of scientific, theoretical, empirical, and contextual bases of assessment
- Ability to assess intervention outcomes
- Ability to evaluate how multiple factors affect the assessment
- Ability to establish and maintain a collaborative relationship
- Understand links between assessment and intervention
- Possess technical assessment skills
- possess knowledge, skills, and techniques to assess cognition, affect, behaviour, and personality