Clinical Science Flashcards
What does contemporary clinical psychology focus on?
Psychological phenomena encountered in a clinical context
What are the clinical psychologist activities?
Research, teaching, training administration, public policy, supervision, & service provision
What are the impressive advances in contemporary clinical psychology?
Understanding psychopathology, methods of assessment, & treatment strategies
Pseudoscience
Strong claims with weak empirical evidence
What are the characteristics of scientific clinical psychology?
- Claims can be tested empirically
- Measurement strategies are objective, reliable, valid, & useful
- Findings can be replicated; re-researched
- Alternative explanations can be examined empirically
- Steps are taken to decrease influence of personal beliefs & biases on research
- Strength of claims reflects strength of evidence
Out of the characteristics what are the 2 key characteristic of scientific clinical psychology?
Claims can be tested empirically and measurements strategies are objective, reliable, valid, & useful
Falsifiable
Able to be proven wrong
Objective
Minimize human bias, make everything the same
Reliable
Consistent & precise
Valid
Accurate
Useful
Told something new
What are the challenges facing scientific clinical psychology?
- Clinical pseudoscience is more prevalent than clinical science
- Empirical/scientific evidence frequently dismissed as irrelevant
- Overstatement of understanding of clinical phenomena, precision of assessments, accuracy of predictions, and treatment effectiveness
What is a huge problem in scientific clinical psychology?
Science-Practice Gap
