Chapter 9 Flashcards
Why are discrepancies apparent in descriptions from mothers and teachers on child behaviour?
Mostly because children change their behaviour depending on situation context and what symptom type is more appropriate
How do psychologists decided which tests should be considered when integrating multiple tests into a diagnosis?
based on validity scales and global tests to narrow down what is more important
Why is it dangerous to only rely on one source of data?
decrease confidence in diagnosis due to possible misrepresentation
A description of the patient’s life contest and a set of hypothesis on clinical data to make decisions about treatment options
case formulation
Does theoretical orientation play a role in the assessment process?
yes, depending on theoretical orientation, the psychologist will use different premises to guide the process
A case formulation process by Jacqueline Persons that focuses on the identification of overt problems, interpersonal conflicts and longstanding beliefs as cause of clinical distress.
cognitive-behavioural case formulation
Using data that relies on people to remember events that happened in the past
retrospective recall
What is the main bias found in recall style self-reports or interviews?
people’s memory is often distorted or inaccurate and is more influenced by negative events and underestimating problems
the tendency to take more personal credit for successes and attributing failures to external causes
self-serving attributional bias
judgments that are different then what a person using logic would conclude
biases
mental shortcuts that make decision making easier
heuristics
tendency to overestimate the influence of personality traits and underestimate context when thinking of other’s behaviour
fundamental attribution error
When a psychologist makes a diagnosis without full knowledge of the base rate of pattern of test responses, and the diagnosis
inattention to base rates
direct experience with a small number of patients may feel more relevant and compelling then samples in studies with large numbers
belief in the law of small numbers
A person who gets an extreme score on one test is more likely to get a more average score on the next test
regression to the mean
when two things happen together we assume that the first is the cause of the second
inferring causation from correlation
when we believe that we will make the better decision after knowing the consequences of the decision
hindsight bias
when a person looks for information to support their hypothesis and ignores information that refutes it
confirmatory bias
When we cannot see error in ourself but can see the same error clearly in others
bias blind spot
relying on biases to draw conclusions and the degree to which a symptom or behaviour represents the underlying condition
representativeness heuristic
making a decision based on easily recalled information
availability heuristic
when the affective qualities of cognitive representation is most rapidly considered
affect heuristic
when we start at a number and adjust accordingly
adjustment heuristic
What are the best ways to improve personal clinical judgement?
learning practical strategies to minimize bias
