Week 1: Introduction to Psychological Assessment Flashcards
Why is psychological assessment important to modern psychology?
It’s central to the practice of psychology. Assessment is a foundational skill in all areas of psychology.
What is a psychological assessment?
Formal process which uses valid and reliable measures to evaluate certain skills across a range of different contexts.
What are examples of assessment measures?
Questionnaires, surveys, tests, structured/unstructured interviews, Behavioural observation, Puzzle-like activities
What is a key limitation of how psychological assessments are administered and used?
They often lack reliability and validity across diverse populations. e.g. they are made for white, hetero, individual, capitalistic societies.
What is a psychological assessment?
A formal process which uses valid and reliable measures to evaluate certain skills across a range of different contexts.
Why is it important to clarify and refine referral questions?
They are often vague
What are the different contexts that a person may be referred for a psychological assessment?
Psychiatric, General Medical, Legal, Academic/Educational, Private/Psychological practice
What are some of the common issues surround intelligence testing?
There are major limitations around how well tests can adequately measure ‘intelligence’ in meaningful ways across diverse populations.
Who can administer a psychological assessment?
A trained psychologist or someone with relevant training who is directly supervised by a psychologist
Should a psychologist administer all sorts of different assessments?
No, they should only practice within their area of competence
Why is understanding the underlying motive for a referral important in terms of test administration?
They might administer the wrong tests or provide useless information to themselves and the client.
What can a thorough investigation of the underlying motive for a referral sometimes lead to?
That an assessment is not even necessary.
Why do issues frequently occur during test interpretation?
Because clinicians do not respond to the referral question correctly (in its broadest context).
Why should referrals involve a clear question or decision which needs to be made?
Vague or broad referral requests can lead to errors
What’s a helpful question when dealing with issues around referrals?
What decision needs to be made regarding this patient?
Who’s responsibility is it to clarify and understand the referral requirements
The psychologist
What should the psychologist be able to communicate regarding psychology testing when handling a referral?
The advantages and limitations of psychological testing, along with usefulness in terms of decisionmaking in terms of options and outcomes
What should the psychologist identify in terms of the referral source in order to provide a useful assessment?
The decisions that the referral source needs to make, what the alternatives are and the implications.
What would a psychiatrist in psychiatric settings need to make decisions around if they are acting as an administrator?
Matters include suicide risk, admission/discharge, choice of medical procedures, custody, and freedom of client vs. society.
What must a psychologist pay attention to in terms of a administrator’s relationship with a patient in a psychiatric setting?
The legal and custodial responsibilities that the administrator has for the patient.
What would a psychiatrist in psychiatric settings need to make decisions around if they are acting as a therapist?
Types of therapies, which strategies are likely to be most effective, and the potential outcomes.
What issues can arise if a referral is made by someone who is acting as an administrator and therapist at the same time?
Can lead to client resistance and the referral could be a result of the psychiatrists own anxiety/discomfort (would then need to consider therapist bias)
What are possible issues when psychologists and psychiatrists have different conceptual models and conducting an assessment?
Psychologists may consider social impacts, psychiatrists may come from the disease/medical model.
Psychologists should aim to solve practical issues and deliver assessments in a manner that psychiatrists will understand.
In general medical settings, what is a common occurrence for doctors when seeing patients
Up to 2/3 of patients have issues which are largely psychosocial.
1/4 - 1/2 of this group also have psychological and medical issues
Why is it important to deal with psychological factors in terms of illness
They have been shown to be cost effective in managing a range of physical issues (e.g. smoking, heart disease, obesity).
Why should psychologists view patients holistically
Because social, physical and psychological factors are interrelated
What should psychologists working in General Medical settings have an awareness of?
Medical terminology
What is a common referral reason in a General Medical setting?
Assessing neuropsychological status for a patient - accounts for 1/3 of all referrals
Why would an assessment be required to consider different types of surgery in a medical setting?
To assess the likelihood of serious reactions to certain types of surgery
What can an assessment help to identify in terms of certain behavioural difficulties?
May suggest certain diagnoses, such as, malingering, hypochondriasis, conversion disorder, organic brain disorder, forms of depression
Which stage of the legal process may a psychologist be asked to be involved?
At any stage
Why would a psychologist be asked to assess witness information?
To assess reliability and quality
What aspects might a psychologist be involved in in terms of a criminal trial?
Determine specifics of a crime, support an insanity plea, assist in jury selection, assess if brain damage has occured
What is a judge likely to use a psychologist’s report for in a criminal case?
May use the report to assist with sentencing
What is a penal office likely to use a psychologist’s report for?
To assess the requirements of a person’s danger levels and requirements in terms of confinement
How often is a psychologists likely to be asked to appear in court?
1 out of every 10 cases. Instead likely to be involved in reporting.
What are some of the issues with getting accustomed to working in legal settings?
May be undermined by attorneys, need to be highly skillful at evaluating for malingering and deception.
What do psychologists require to work in legal settings?
Approved qualifications, clinical expertise, and relevant publication credits.
What does evaluation within a legal setting demonstrate?
That a psychologist is generally viewed favourably and has reached equal status to psychiatrists.
What sorts of cases are psychologists likely to be involved in?
Custody cases, comprehension of legal rights, false confessions, personal injury cases, competency of a person to dispose and juvenile commitment.
What issues does a psychologist need to consider in terms of communication in legal settings?
Must be aware of differences and impact of terminology.
Must be able to explain conclusions and how they were reached.
Have awareness of knowledge levels of jury and attorneys and their functions in court.
What is involved in evaluating a person’s competence in a legal setting?
Measuring whether the accused is able to cooperate within the legal system and understand proceedings and outcomes.
What sorts of tools may be used to measure Competency in a legal settings?
MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool, Evaluation of Competency to Stand Trial - Revised, Rogers Criminal Responsibility Assessment Scales
Why is it difficult to evaluate Insanity in a Legal Settings?
Very rarely used or granted.
Very difficult to evaluate due to malingering and ambiguity of the term - some settings include temporary insanity as a reasonable argument.
Some legal settings add clauses around the definition of insanity - including ‘irresistible impulse’
What is the McNaughton Rule in terms of a Legal Setting?
A person is considered insane if they did not know the nature and extent of their actions and they cannot understand that an act was wrong in accordance with social norms.
What is dangerousness and why is it difficult to assess in a legal setting?
Actual violent or self destructive behaviour.
Is quite rare so cutoff criteria can lead to high number of false positives = people are detained for the wrong reasons.
However, erring on side of caution is considered appropriate.
What has been unhelpful in terms of assessing dangerousness?
Scales.
Have not been found to be sufficiently accurate to help with decision making.
What has been helpful in terms of assessing dangerousness?
Assessing antisocial behaviour, using certain ratings and actuarial strategies along with arrest records and situational triggers
What is involved in assessment for child custody cases?
Conducting an evaluation on both sides of the family.
Main decision is what arrangement is in the best interests of the child.
What assessment tools may be used for child custody decisions?
Bricklin Perceptual Scales
When classifying inmates, what should the psychologist differentiate?
Whether the referral requirements are for management or rehabilitation requirements?
What is involved in an assessment for managing an inmate?
Dangerousness levels, suicide risk, room setup, harassment from others
What is involved in an assessment for rehabilitating an inmate?
Assessing educational level, skills, abilities, interests and other characteristics related to employment
What sorts of aspects is a psychologist likely to evaluate in an educational setting?
Learning difficulties, intellectual strengths + weaknesses, recommendations for a current plan or placement, responsiveness to an intervention
What does a psychologist need to be aware of when assessing a child and their teacher?
The teaching style can sometimes cause as much of the problem as the child.
Sensitivity needs to be considered when observing a teacher.
Why must a psychologist avoid limiting themselves to a technician?
In order to deliver an appropriate assessment, the psychologist must integrate data from a variety of sources.
What are the difficulties with assessing children?
Children are not reliable self reporters.
What are difficulties with assessing children and involving teachers and parents?
Teachers and parents are likely to be biased, so observations involving a wider context is important.
What are sorts of external factors are important to consider when assessing a child in an Educational settings?
Problematic teachers, marital issues, communication breakdown between parents and school, vested interest from some parties to view the child as wholly the problem
What sorts of tests are involved in assessing a child in an Educational settings?
Weschler Intelligence Scale for Children - V, Stanford Binet-V, Woodcock-Johnson Psychoeducational Battery-IV, Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children-II
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Are projective tests effective in assessing emotional functioning for children?
No.
Have been replaced with behavioural rating instruments instead: Achenbach Child Behaviour Checklist, Conners-3 Parent and Teacher Rating Scales
What is considered a sound instrument for assessing behaviour in children?
Personality Inventory for Children - 2
Similar to the MMPI but is completed by the parent
What should a report focus on in terms of assessing a child in an Educational setting?
Strengths and weaknesses, recommendations which are realistic and practical.
Should be followed up with continuous monitoring and adjustment.
What should recommendations include in an assessment for a child?
Highlight skills to acquire, how to learn them, hierarchy or objectives and ways to reduce behaviours which may act as barriers to learning
What are the two stages involved in psychoeducational assessment?
1: assessing quality and nature of learning environment.
2: comprehensive assessment battery to measure skills, abilities and behaviours, and screen out biomedical disorders which disrupt learning.
What is important to measure in psychoeducational assessments?
Values and attitudes towards learning, along with personal efficacy are important
Who is the decision maker in terms of assessments in a psychological clinic
The psychologist
Where do most referrals come from in a psychology clinic setting?
Self referrals for psychological issues
What sorts of instruments are helpful during early stages of assessment in a psychology clinic setting?
Brief instruments are helpful to assess certain individual characteristics and develop treatment plans, whilst monitoring responses to therapy and informing any alterations
When is psychological testing useful in a psychology clinic setting?
If the client has issues which involve treatments which are not available at the clinic. e.g. extensive medical issues, legal complications.
The tests would help with decision making in terms of where to refer the client to. Not as a means of directly helping the client.
Also may be helpful if treatment has stalled or has an unclear diagnoses.
What should a psychologist be aware of if a child is referred in a psychology clinic settings?
Must establish a clear understanding of child’s social network and basis for the referral.
E.g. previous treatment attempts, summary of relationship with teachers, friends, parents
Events which led to the referral
May require meetings with a range of different people
What are the key values associated with assessments?
Client safety
Confidentiality
Reduction of suffering
Fairness
Advancing science
Key criticisms about assessment procedures?
Testing in inappropriate contexts
Cultural bias
Confidentiality breaches
Release of test data
Invalidated tests being used
Criticisms of assessment tests have resulted in…
Restrictions around the use of certain tests
Lack of trust from public
Greater clarification in ethical standards within the profession
Why is it important to establish and maintain rapport with the client?
It can impact test scores
What impact can verbal reinforcements (friendly chit-chat) have in terms of test results?
Can increase average test scores
E.g WISC-R scores go up by 13 IQ points, on average, when compare with more neutral interactions
What impact can negative (even mild) comments have on test results?
Can lead to lower performance and subsequent test results when compare with neutral or positive comments
Different reinforcers can have more favourable results for different groups.
True
Money or sweets for Black students. Verbal for white students.
What has been shown to be the most powerful in terms of reinforcers?
When the reinforcers are culturally relevant.
e.g. Black examiner using culturally relevant reinforcers with a Black student.
Why should psychologists be aware of the expectancy effect?
Because they may be unconsciously communicating expectations to their client and impacting their results.
Why is it important to assess a client’s emotional state before and during an assessment?
Because certain states can impact performance and should be considered when assessing results
Clinicians who like their clients are shown to be more likely to show ambiguous responses which are favourable to their clients
True.
What key issues are related in terms of invasion of privacy in assessments?
The public believes tests are capable of uncovering more information than is possible.
Private information can be gleaned without prior consent or knowledge.
In reality, the public has limited knowledge around their rights to privacy and how test data is used.
What is Inviolacy?
When clients encounter questions which cover information they would rather not think about.
What are key issues around labels of psychiatric diagnoses?
Can lead to self-fulfilling prophecies as well as excuses and denial of one’s own behaviour due to accepting a label.
What is the medical model’s view on a person’s relationship with illness
That they are a victim of the illness
What is the behavioural models view on a person’s relationship with their illness
People are responsible for their own actions and behaviours
How can labels stifle creativity and diversity?
A company may invest in researching the best employee and then only hire employees with those qualities, leading to a lack of diversity.
Instead, the organisation could look at future trends and and develop selection criteria based on that, instead of looking to the past
What should students inform subjects when running assessments for training purposes?
That the assessment is for training purposes only and will have questionable validity.
It is not uncommon for there to be contradictions among different data sources
True
When does test material turn into test data?
When the psychologist puts the clients name on the test material.
Can psychologists release the test data and test materials?
No, only test data.
Unless subpoenaed in court settings.
When are symptoms of depression likely to be difficult to detect?
When certain cultural behaviours (lack of eye contact, low voice) are present in testing environments
When is it important to consider different tests options with diverse populations?
When the client identifies closely with their cultural identity.
How can you assess cultural identity?
Informally, during interviews
Why should clinicians be cautious when using instruments which measure cultural identity?
Because individuals will differ in terms of identity within the groups the instruments is trying to measure.
E.g. Hispanics from Mexico and Argentina vary greatly.
What does test equivalence mean?
Linguistic - wording can be translated and adapted across languages
Conceptual - construct validity results in similar predictions, correlations and factor analysis
Metric - scores, ranges, stability, reliability mean the same things
What is a favoured means of determining equivalence?
Factor analysis
