Types of assessment

1

• Types of assessment
• DSM-IV Classification
• Criticisms
• Multi-axial diagnosis

2
Psychological Assessment

• Process of gathering information, interpreting
  it, and drawing conclusions to aid in diagnosis
  of an individual

3
Types of Assessment

• Clinical interviews
• Intelligence assessment
• Personality (projective, objective)
• Neuropsychological functioning
• Behavioral assessment
• Psychophysiological assessment

4
Clinical Interviews

• Gathering information about history, life
  situation, relationships, and future outlook to
  assess clients level of functioning
• Conducted using structured and unstructured
  questions

5
Intelligence Assessment

• IQ score on test
• mean score for age group x 100
• Wechsler scales (children adults)
• Stanford-Binet scales (children adults)
• Value of Intelligence Assessment?

6
Psychometrics

• Science of psychological measurement
• Key concepts
• validity
• reliability
• standardization

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Psychometrics

• Validity
• A test measures what it is designed to measure
• Reliability
• A test yields consistent results when
  re-administered
• Standardization
• A test has a normative comparison group to which
  an individuals performance may be compared

8
Personality Assessment

• Projective personality tests
• test presents ambiguous stimulus
• client tells story based on stimulus
• based on belief that ambiguity allows individuals
  to project innermost feelings, desires, and needs

9
Personality Assessment

• Self-report (objective) tests
• test has specific answers to questions
• scored by comparing results to normal population
• considered objective
• can be scored by computer
• Examples MMPI, CPI

10
Neuropsychological Assessment

• Assessment of the functioning and structure of
  the brain
• Used to make diagnosis and assess effects of
  treatment
• Examples Bender-Gestalt, Wechsler Memory
  scales, Test of Nonverbal language

11
Behavioral Assessment

• Describes environmental conditions that elicit
  and maintain problem behaviors
• Methods
• SORC analysis
• behavioral interviewing
• self-report measures
• direct observation

12
Psychophysiological Assessment

• Use of physiological instruments to record and
  make inferences about behavior
• Examples include biofeedback and polygraph

13
What Is the DSM-IV?

• Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
  Disorders, Fourth Edition (1994)
• Developed by American Psychiatric Association
• Multiaxial classification system for abnormal
  psychology

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Criticisms of the DSM-IV

• Diagnoses are social constructs
• Diagnoses lack reliability
• Diagnoses lack validity
• Diagnostic labels may become self-fulfilling
  prophecies

15
DSM-IV Multiaxial System

• Axis I primary clinical diagnosis
• Axis II longstanding personality disorders
• Axis III nonpsychiatric medical conditions
• Axis IV psychosocial environmental
  problems
• Axis V global assessment functioning

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Clinical Judgment and Decision Making

• Judgment heuristics
• Availability heuristics
• Representative heuristics
• Framing
• Overconfidence