Psychological Assessment Spring 2014Psycholgical AssessmentPowerPoint PresentationQuantitative ReasoningHuman BehaviorSlide 6PsychologySlide 8Welcome to AssessmentWhat personal experiences have you had with generalities?GeneralizeSlide 12Slide 13What constitutes psychological assessment?Slide 15ScienceClinical JudgmentPerception vs. SensationSlide 19Slide 20Slide 21Slide 22Is assessment useful?Importance of assessmentWhat constitutes psychological assessment?Role of the clinicianAssessment best practicesFeedback and assessmentComputer aspects of classThree textsHandbook of Psychological AssessmentDSM-5Slide 33Slide 34MMPI-2 Assessing Personality and PsychopathologyEvaluating Psychological TestsSlide 37ReliabilitySlide 39ValidityValidity and Learning StylesSlide 42Validity in Clinical PracticeImproving clinical accuracyPhases in Clinical AssessmentSlide 46DSM-5 introductionmental disorderSlide 49Classify disorders not peopleEnforcement pushType I and Type II errorsType I errorType II ErrorEmployee Polygraph Protection Act of 1988Slide 561Psychological AssessmentSpring 2014William P. Wattles, Ph. D.Francis Marion UniversityPsycholgical Assessment2•"When I die, I want to die like my grandfather who died peacefully in his sleep. •Not screaming like all the passengers in his car."3Quantitative Reasoning•Number Thinking–scale45Human Behavior•Individual differences–Predict–Understand–Change“The single most critical piece of equipment is still the researcher's own brain. All the equipment in the world will not help us if we do not know how to use it properly, which requires more than just knowing how to operate it. Aristotle would not necessarily have been more profound had he owned a laptop and known how to program. What is badly needed now, with all these scanners whirring away, is an understanding of exactly what we are observing, and seeing, and measuring, and wondering about.”- Endel Tulving, 20027Psychology•The science that deals with mental processes and behavior.89Welcome to Assessment•Valuable skill•Lots of work•Three texts•Quizzes•4-6 reports10What personal experiences have you had with generalities?•Profiling•Stereotypes11Generalize•The Academy of Behavioral Profiling is a professional association dedicated to the application of evidence based criminal profiling techniques within investigative and legal venues.•http://www.profiling.org/•The American Civil Liberties Union today called on lawmakers to investigate the actions of air marshals who handcuffed and detained a 54-year-old Florida doctor of Indian descent because they “didn’t like the way he looked.”12Generalize•a. To reduce to a general form, class, or law.•To form a concept inductively.1314What constitutes psychological assessment? How are we different from palm readers?Tea leaf readers?15What constitutes psychological assessment?Science•Dr. Michael Shermer will give the Hunter Lecture on 20 March 2012 (a Tuesday), at 7:30PM in the Lowrimore Auditorium. •Everyone is also welcome to attend a colloquium on 21 March at 11:30AM in the Lowrimore Auditorium. Dr. Shermer will discuss Why People Believe Weird Things with students reading it for their classes.1617Clinical Judgment•What are the implications of relying on clinical judgment vs. actuarial data?18Perception vs. Sensation•Sensation one to one relationship with stimulus•Perception interprets sensation with historic and other information.1920212223Is assessment useful?•Pay for nothing. Shouldn’t we just treat? •May not be useful unless it relates to the problem and is presented in a timely and useful manner.24Importance of assessment•The theory and instruments of assessment are the foundation of clinical investigation, applied research and program evaluation.•In the early 1700’s Linneaus described a case of aphasia so well that it could easily be diagnosed today.What constitutes psychological assessment?• Careful Observation–trained to observe–inference based on experience and training•Interview•Testing•History and other sources2526Role of the clinician•Clinicians must integrate a wide range of data and bring into focus diverse areas of knowledge. •Reports should be:•accurate•effective •concise•highly valued by the recipientAssessment best practices•Assessment is good only if:–Competence–Privacy–Informed consent–Appropriateness –Feedback2728Feedback and assessment•What happens if we give feedback to patients?•Do they give us feedback?29Computer aspects of class•First assignment send me an e-mail•Psy631 on subject line•Sign the e-mail•Submit reports as Word files attached to e-mail30Three texts•Assessment important and the texts are all references31Handbook of Psychological Assessment•Reference book•Instructional text•Organized along the sequence followed when performing an evaluation--practical in nature. •Goal: a realistic appreciation of the assets and limitations of assessment.32DSM-5•Official nomenclature•Designed first to be a helpful guide to clinical practice.–Brief–clear–explicit•Also designed to further research and support teaching.33DSM-5•Used by different practitioners: psychiatrists, other physicians, psychologists, social workers, nurses, OT and RT, counselors•Used by clinicians and researchers with different orientations: behavioral, biological, psychodynamic, cognitive and family systems.34DSM-5•The work of a hierarchical committee.•Input from 60 organizations •13 work groups reported to 33 members of the task force.35MMPI-2 Assessing Personality and Psychopathology•Textbook for graduate courses and also a reference guide for professionals. •The guiding principle in the book is presenting the material in a way that enhances learning and clinical use of the most widely used personality inventory.36Evaluating Psychological Tests•Mental Measurements yearbook•Theoretical orientation–the construct being tested•Practical considerations–cost–reading level, time to administer–training needed37Evaluating Psychological Tests•Standardization–adequate norms–administration•Reliability•Validity•If you choose the test it is unethical not to evaluate it.38Reliability•Measurement error is always present•Goal of test instruction is to minimize measurement error•Reliability is the extent to which the test measures consistently•If the test is not reliable it cannot be valid or