Week 2 - Assessment of Psychopathology, Personality, and Neurocognitive Disorders

Question 1

What are objective tests?

Answer 1

Administration of a standard set of questions or statements to which the examinee responds using a fixed set of options

• Dichotomous response format
  o Yes/no
  o True/false
• Dimensional scale
  o 0=strongly disagree thru to 4 = strongly agree

Question 2

Advantages to objective tests?

Answer 2

• very economical

- appearance of objectivity and reliability

Question 3

disadvantages of objective tests?

Answer 3

• often provide single overall score
• transparency of some inventory questions
• depend heavily on clients self knowledge
• forced choice prevents individuals from qualifying and elaborating on responses

Question 4

What is a trait approach?

Answer 4

Identifies personality characteristics that can be represented along a continuum

• Trait:
  o Categorises people according to degree to which they manifest a particular characteristic
• Assumptions – personality characteristics are relatively stable over time and across situations

Question 5

strengths of the trait approach

Answer 5

• Usage of objective measures to examine constructs
• Reduced level of bias and subjectivity
• Numerous practical applications
• Educational psychologists and employers use trait measures in their work
• Generated a large amount of research

Question 6

weaknesses of the trait approach

Answer 6

• No explanation on how traits develop or how to help people who have extreme scores
• No schools of psychotherapy have originated from the trait approach
• Lack of agreed-upon framework

Question 7

what are the methods of test construction?

Answer 7

• content validation (most straightforward, clinician decides and asks client for that info)
• ensuring content validity
  (carefully defining all aspects of the variable attempted to measure, consulting experts before generating items, using psychometric analysis to evaluate each time before included in measure)

Question 8

what are some potential problems of test construction?

Answer 8

• Can clinicians assume that every client interprets a given item in
  exactly the same way?
• Will clients accurately report their own behaviour or emotions?
• Will clients be honest, or will they attempt to present themselves in a good light?
• Can clinicians assume that the experts can be counted on to define the essence of the concept they are trying to measure?

Question 9

what is empirical criterion keying?

Answer 9

• No assumptions are made as to whether a client is telling the truth or whether the response corresponds to their behavioural feelings
• Assumption in this approach is that members of a particular diagnostic group will tend to respond in the same way (Not necessary to select test items in a rational, theoretical way) (Only required to show an empirical basis that members of a
  diagnostic group respond in a similar way)
• Utility of an item is determined by extent to which it can discriminate groups

Question 10

what is the construct validity approach?

Answer 10

• Combines aspects of content validity, empirical criterion keying, and factor analytic techniques
  o Scales are developed to measure specific concepts from a given theory
  o Selection of items is based on extent to which they reflect the theoretical construct under study
  o Item analysis, factor analysis, and other procedures are used to ensure that a homogenous scale is developed
• The constructed validity approach to test constructions is both the most desirable and labour intensive

Question 11

What is the MMPI/MMPI-2/MMPI-FR

Answer 11

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory

• MMPI best example to empirical keying approach to test construction
• Published by Hathaway and McKinley in 1943, and still considered the pre-eminent self report inventory
• Has been used in virtually every predictive purpose imaginable, ranging from likelihood of psychosis episodes to marriage suitability
• Identical approach was employed in the development of the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI)

Question 12

what are the three classification systems in psychopathology?

Answer 12

• Categorical approach
  o Distinctions among members of different categories are
  qualitative (taxonomy)
  o “all or none”
• Dimensional approach
  o Focus on level of the characteristics
  o Place a specific characteristic along an ordered sequence
• State versus trait approaches
  o State: how I am at the moment
  o Trait: how I am by disposition

Question 13

What are the different classes of symptoms?

Answer 13

• Physical symptoms:
  o Appetite and sleep
  o Respond best to antidepressant medication
• Cognitive and behavioural symptoms:
  o Low mood, lack of motivation
  o Respond best to psychological strategies
• Recovery process:
  1. Physical
  2. Behaviour
  3. Thoughts/feelings

Question 14

what are self-report measures?

Answer 14

• Screening tools to detect the potential presence of a mental disorder
• Adjunct to the interview and more formal assessment measures
• Gain an informant/corroborative report as well
  o Self-report measures often have informant versions
  E.g. Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment (ASEBA)
   CBCL – parent report
   YSR – self report (11-18 yrs)
   TRF – teacher report

Question 15

what is the BDI-II?

Answer 15

• beck depression inventory
• A 21-item self-report depression screening measure
  o 4-point Likert scale
  o Higher scores indicate higher
• Feeling over the past 2 weeks, including today

Question 16

What are the clinical ranges for the BDI?

Answer 16

• Scores 0 to 13 -> minimal depression
• Scores 14 to 19 -> mild depression
• Scores 20 to 28 -> moderate depression
• Scores 29 to 63 -> severe depression

Question 17

what is the reliability of the BDI?

Answer 17

• mean internal consistency (α) of 0.86
  (ranges from 0.73 to 0.92 beck et al, 1988)
• test-retest reliability ranged from 0.48 to 0.86

Question 18

what is the validity of the BDI?

Answer 18

• high to moderate correlations with clinical ratings for psychiatric patients
• moderate correlations with similar scales that also measure depression, such was Hamilton, Sung and MMPI depression scale
• discriminates psychiatric from non-psychiatric populations

Question 19

what are some sources of error in measuring depression

Answer 19

• Hard to choose one number on 0-3 response scale
• Unwilling to tell interviewer, poor memory of feelings
• Measure misses culturally bound symptoms

Question 20

how do you measure depressive symptoms in the BDI?

Answer 20

BDI 12 = 16 + 1 - 2 - 1 - 2
observed depression score (12)
=
"true depression score (16)
\+
hard to choose number Ron the 0-3 response scale (+1)
\+
unwilling to tell interviewer (-2)
\+ 
poor memory of feelings (-1)
\+
measure misses 2 culturally-bound symptoms (-2)

Question 21

when is anxiety most likely to develop?

Answer 21

• Faces performance demanded that are both testing, and critical significance for their self-esteem
• Has relatively low self-esteem or high self-imposed performance demands that are both testing and of clinical significance to their self-esteem
• Perceives the probability of failure to be high, but not impossibly high
• Has a low threshold of activation of the fear system

Question 22

what is the BAI

Answer 22

beck anxiety inventory

• In 1988, Beck, Epstein, Brown, and Steer described the development and initial psychometric properties of the 21-item self-report BAI
• Initial psychiatric outpatient sample (n=160) identified two factors:
  o Somatic
  o Subjective anxiety/panic
• Factors showed good internal consistency, test-retest
  reliability, and convergent/divergent validity (Beck et al., 1988)

Question 23

what is the DASS

Answer 23

depression, anxiety, stress scales

• A set of 3 self-report scales: o Depression
  o Anxiety
  o Stress
• Designed to emphasise states, rather than traits
• Developed with nonclinical samples
  o Screening in the general population
• Lower age limit is 17 years

Question 24

what is the NEO PI-R

Answer 24

- Self report measure of personality that comprise the 5-factor model of personality
o Neuroticism
o Extraversion
o Openness to experience 
o Agreeableness
o Conscientiousness

• Consists of 240 items, and each domain has 6 subscales
  o Each item is rated on a 5-point Likert scale (strongly disagree to strongly agree)
• developed using rational empirical test construction strategy that emphasises construct validity

Question 25

what is the neo-pi-r and Big 5?

Answer 25

• Trait theory: people differ based on stable attributes o Characteristics lie on a continuum (e.g., the Big Five)
• Based on factor analytic research of traits rather than a theoretical model
• Focus is on normative personality traits and variations
• Evidence for 5 factors comes from three sources:
  o Analysis of trait items used in language
  o Cross-cultural research
  o Correlations of different trait questionnaires

Question 26

what are the Big 5 personality factors?

Answer 26

• Neuroticism
  o Worried vs. calm
  o Insecure vs. secure
  o Self-pitying vs. self-satisfied
• Extraversion
  o Sociable vs. retiring
  o Fun-loving vs. sober
  o Affectional vs. reserved
• Openness
  o Imaginative vs. down-to-earth
  o Preference for variety vs. preference for routine
  o Independent vs. conforming
• Agreeableness
  o Soft-hearted vs. ruthless
  o Trusting vs. suspicious
  o Helpful vs. uncooperative
• Conscientiousness
  o Well organised vs. disorganised
  o Careful vs. careless
  o Self-disciplined vs. weak willed