CP: Diagnosis and assessment

Question 1

What is meant by an intelligence test?

Answer 1

a way of assessing a person’s current cognitive ability.

Question 2

What assumption are IQ tests based on?

Answer 2

a detailed sample of a person’s current intellectual functioning can predict how well he or she will perform in school

Question 3

Name four of the most commonly administered IQ tests

Answer 3

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, 4th edition (WAIS-IV, 2008); the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, 5th edition (WISC-V, 2014); the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence, 4th edition (WPPSI-IV, 2012); and the Stanford–Binet, 5th edition (SB5, 2003)

Question 4

Give two other functions of IQ tests

Answer 4

diagnose learning disorders or intellectual ability (discussed in Chapter 13) and as part of neuro- psychological evaluations

Question 5

Does a higher IQ lead to a higher level of education?

Answer 5

It is not clear whether more education causes an increase in IQ or whether IQ causes one to attain more education

Question 6

Name four other aspects which other types of assessments may focus on for behavioural and cognitive characteristics

Answer 6

1. Environment
2. Characteristics of a person (fatigue may be caused in part by self deprecation)
3. Frequency and form of problematic behaviour (e.g., procrastination taking the form of missing important deadlines)
4. Consequences of problematic behaviour (e.g., when a person avoids a feared situation, his or her partner offers sympathy and excuses)

Question 7

Name three ways this may be assessed

Answer 7

direct observation of behavior in real life as well as in laboratory or office settings, interviews and self-report measures

Question 8

What is involved in formal behavioral observation?

Answer 8

the observer divides the sequence of behavior into various parts that make sense within a learning framework, including such things as the antecedents and consequences of particular behaviors.

Question 9

Describe one version of self monitoring

Answer 9

ecological momentary assessment, or EMA. EMA involves the collection of data in real time as opposed to the more usual methods of having people reflect back over some time period and report on recently experienced thoughts, moods, or stressors. With EMA, a person is signaled (via text message or smart- phone alert most typically) several times a day and asked to enter responses directly into the device

Question 10

What does cognitive assessment focus on?

Answer 10

the person’s perception of a situa- tion, realizing that the same event can be perceived differently.

Question 11

What can cognitive-style questionnaires be used for?

Answer 11

to help plan targets for treatment as well as to determine whether clinical interven- tions are helping to change overly negative thought patterns as well as negative and positive emotions.

Question 12

How has the description for mania changed from 1968 to 2013?

Answer 12

Mania was described in DSM-II in just a short paragraph. The paragraph described mania with five symptoms (elevated mood, irritable mood, racing thoughts, rapid talking, and rapid movement). There was no mention of how many symptoms were needed to meet the criteria for a manic episode. DSM-5 provides a list of symptoms with descriptive detail for each symptom.

Question 13

Briefly describe the four symptoms described for mania

Answer 13

1. A person must show an elevated or irritable mood as well as a great deal of goal-directed behavior and energy. These mood and energy symptoms must last for at least 1 week or be severe enough to require hospitalisation.
2. a person must also have three or more symptoms, including racing thoughts, rapid talking, very little need for sleep, very high self-esteem or grandiose ideas about the self, difficulty maintaining focused attention, participation in behaviours that cause trouble (e.g., excessive spending or sexual encounters), and excessive activity.
3. These symptoms interfere with work or social interactions.
4. The last part of the diagnosis is a “rule out” section (drugs etc)

Question 14

What kind of features does the DSM 5 describe as well as diagnostic features?

Answer 14

diagnostic features as well as associated features, such as laboratory findings (e.g., enlarged ventricles in schizophrenia) and results from physical exams (e.g., electrolyte imbalances in people who have eating disorders).

Question 15

What other information does the DSM provide?

Answer 15

information about age of onset, course, prevalence, risk, prognosis, cultural factors, gender ratios, and differential diagnosis (i.e., how to distinguish similar diagnoses from each other).