Psychological and neuropsychological testing Flashcards
Clinical psychologists in mental health are:
Scientists: dev now measuring tools, add to knowledge on normal and pathologic mental health and testing of efficacy of interventions
Psychotherapists
Consultants: contribution to measuring and diagnosing mental dysfunction and tracking it’s evolution over time
Psychology training and expertise
Laws and theories governing how people perceive, think, feel and behave
Personality
traits/ characteristics that influence feelings, thoughts, behavior
Social psychology
How these are modified in the presence of others
Abnormal psychology
extreme or pathological variations
Neuropsychology
seeks to apply knowledge of human brain-behaviour relationships to clinical problems
Neuropsychology training
neuroanatomy and pathology
functional specialization of brain regions
develop, administer, score and interpret tests that measure ability in particular cognitive domains
infer causal attributions to various patterns of cognitive test scores.
dx
classification of qualities ex: are you depressed
measurement
quantification of severity ex: how depressed are you
prerequisites for accurate, precise, useful measurement
well defined construct based on strong theoretical and empirical grounds
internal validity
external validity
precision: how many lines on a ruler, how big of a change do we want to see
equal interval spacing of possible scores
invariant across users and across clinically meaningless time intervals ex: gender, age, culture, education
Avoid making conclusions too quickly
test 2nd hypothesis
try to disconfirm 1st hypothesis
Scales depression
Beck depression inventory
Hamilton depression rating scale
montgomery -asperg DRS: same issues as young mania rating scale
hospital anxiety and depression scale
geriatric depression scale
clinically useful depression scale: self report, 16 questions
What to consider practically when using scales
language, simplicity, precision
Scales anxiety
clinically useful anxiety scale
geriatric anxiety inventory (20, 5)
how many questions
less than 20
short versions of scales
sx get thrown out the window
but can help to get an overall view
mania
young mania rating scale
young mania scale issues
non contributing content
redundant content
limited in bread of construct covered
differential item functioning for most items: variable responses across users depending on age, sex, education
OCD
Yale-Brown OCD scale (YBOCS)
Psychosis
positive and negative symptoms scale
positive and negative symptoms scale issue
long, training
Cognitive ability
Mini mental exam
Clock drawing test
MOCA
Mini mental exam
screening fo classification of dementia
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psychometric issues: sensitivity to mild cognitive impairment, content, dimensionality (doesn’t measure one single thing)
Clock drawing test
screening for possible problem
MOCA
classification: sever to mild impairment
measurement: good in validated contexts
multiple languages
free, conditional to training
Neuropsychological assessment
bringing meaning to a test score
multidimensionality
what we don’t want
measure many things that don’t have to do with subject
areas of expertise as consultants
assessment of psychopathology personnalité assessment diagnosis of developmental disorders diagnosis of learning disabilities neuropsychological assessment
personality
Minnesota multiphasic personality inventory
What neuropsychologists do
Interview focused on neurodevelopment, academic and occupational history
clarify pattern of objective strengths and weaknesses across domains: verbal, visual, memory, attention, executive functions
clarify association between objective cognitive performance and presenting complaints
specify possible dx
Recommend appropriateness of specific healthcare interventions, probable areas of functional impairment, strategies for managing/ reducing functional impairment
Executive functions in psychiatric populations
Lack of flexibility: OCD, SUD, eating disorders, gambling disorders
Decision making difficulties: depression, anx, SUD
Difficulty initiating and completing projects: ADHD, dep
Affective dysregulation: BPD, anxiety, BAD
