Week one Flashcards
What are psychometrics?
A measurement estimate of psychological constructs.
e.g. Rorshach inkblot
What is a psychological measurement?
A computerised or scored test.
What is a psychological test?
A tool for psychological measurement that meets two criteria:
It measures aspects of the human mind or behaviour.
It is standardised - there are strict protocols in place that help ensure that the test is given in the way it was intended to the population it was developed for.
What is a psychological assessment?
Making sense of the results in combination with other other factors that are gathered in the process of working with an individual, such as case history gathered from interviews etc.
Endpoint is to come to informed assessment about the psychological concept being examined.
What characterises a psychological test?
Standardised.
Measures an aspect of mind or behaviour.
Use of manual.
Access to information about the population that allow interpretation of the results in relation to the population.
Accepted reliability and validity.
Some limitations around psychological tests?
Many of them can only be administered by someone with a masters degree, for example, which means they are not readily accessible.
Some psychological tests can have lifelong impacts on people’s lives, therefore they require a lot of training so that they are administered correctly.
What are the three key steps in using psychological tests?
- Gathering information about a client from a clinical interview.
- Arriving at some hypotheses of what may be going on.
- Selecting a, or multiple, tests that will help provide evidence for the hypotheses.
- Communication of results to client.
Blood tests can be a good option to offer people as well as psychological assessment.
Tip from lecturer.
What are the three core pillars that the APS code of ethics are based on?
- Respect for rights and dignity. e.g. informed consent. people are inherently valuable.
- Propriety. e.g. competent and beneficial delivery of services.
- Integrity. e.g non-exploitation.
Management of conflicts of interest. Genuine desire to help others and awareness that this will involve continual self-growth and work.
It is important that we understand the APS guidelines for psychological assessment.
We went through the guidelines in class, so may be relevant in exam.
One of the guidelines from APS for psychological assessment states that psychologists make adjustments to tests to account for cultural differences. Psychological assessments are standardised and validated based on the specific questions asked and the number of questions asked. Adjusting these questions and/or omitting them will hamper the test validity and reliability, no?
I don’t yet know the answer to this, but am interested.
What are some guidelines for whether a psychological test should be used?
- Is the information you trying to get available elsewhere?
- Is there another way to get the information you are seeking from another non-test means?
- How much of the information you are seeking is available from other sources?
- What are the benefits of using the test? What are the disadvantages of using the test? (e.g. harm or cost or time or cultural impact) Do the benefits outweigh the risk/disadvantage.
What are some situations where psychological tests are NOT recommended?
- The reasons for the test are unknown or insubstantial.
- The administrator is not sufficiently trained or adept at administering or interpreting the test and its results.
- The administrator cannot safeguard against potential misuse of the test results. What is an example of this? Maybe the result being used by insurance companies to negatively affect the client.
- The information being sought by the test is available in other sources.
- The client is unwilling or unable to consent to taking part in the test.
- The test-taker may be harmed by taking the test.
- The test is not appropriate for the demographic of the client, e.g. culturally or age or gender.
- The test is outdated and contains norms and assumptions that have changed or been updated with subsequent research and understanding.
- There is insufficient data/research to validate the test.
- The testing environment or equipment is not reliable or up to standard and may result in unreliable test results.
When it comes to the APS guidelines for working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, they are very vague.
Lecturer says that if you do not understand what the guidelines are saying, then it is the psychologists responsibility to go out and get trained and engage in continual learning so that they are able to practice in a culturally sensitive way.
