Exam 1 Study Guide Chapter 1 Describe key contributions of Witmer to Clinical Psychology Defined clinical psychology as a disciplined concerned with the study of individuals by observation or experimentation with the goal of facilitating change in those individuals First defined the field as focused on problems of intellectual functioning and learning problems of the mind helping people The idea that scientific psychology in its rigorous experimental sense can be useful in A commitment that clinical psychology should be highly research oriented and closely allied with basic psychology The conception that this help can be best provided by a specific profession clinical psychology that is independent of both medicine and education Describe the Manifesto for a Science of Clinical Psychology 1 The main principle of the Manifesto for a Science of Clinical Psychology is scientific clinical psychology is the only legitimate and acceptable form of clinical psychology 2 Psychological services should not be delivered to the public except under strict experimental control until they meet four criteria 1 The exact service is described clearly 2 The claimed benefits of the service are stated explicitly 3 The claimed benefits are validated scientifically 4 The positive effects of the service are shown to outweigh its possible negative effects 3 The primary and overriding objective of doctoral training programs in clinical psychology must be to produce the most competent clinical scientists possible Unscientific clinical psychology is untenable in its reliance on intuition and subjective judgment Psychological science provides the most objective basis for the practice of clinical psychology since it offers a knowledge basis that accumulates across many studies that have been held to standards of scientific rigor and which offer clear evidence for the practice of clinical psychology Describe some of the Challenges for Clinical Psychology in the Future Maintaining the Link Between Science and Practice Should Psychologists Prescribe Psychoactive Medication Functioning in a Diverse Society How Many Clinical Psychologists Do We Need Managed Care and the Health Care Industry Describe some of the basic differences between a psychologist and psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician a doctor of medicine They obtain four years of medical school and a medical internship Psychiatry training is a four year residency training in psychiatry and begins after receiving a M D Training is grounded in the basic physical and biological science and does not necessarily include training in the research in the behavioral sciences as for clinical psychologists In practice psychiatrists are involved in prescribing psychotropic medication for psychopathology treatment and sometimes conducting psychotherapy and managing medical care of psychiatric patients Both may be involved in conducting psychotherapy but psychiatrists are trained to prescribe medication while clinical psychologists are trained in methods of psychological assessment and in behavioral science research Describe the following tasks of a clinical psychologist Four tasks a Description a What is the problem b Description of the person and the context in which he she lives c Attention to the nature of person s current functioning and careful documentation d of prior development In individual cases should be guided by a theory of human behavior and by research that pertains to the problem of the individual client e As researchers accurate description is dependent on tools to reliably measure behaviors thoughts and feelings on individuals f Must discern patterns of behavior across individuals or within the behavior of a single individual over time is it a consistent pattern of behaviors emotions Does one individual represent a larger group who display similar patterns b Explanation a Why did it happen b The development and testing of models of etiology or cause c Involves the generation of hypotheses about an individual or a problem that can be carefully or rigorously tested In order to explain the nature and cause of the problem one mustn t latch onto easy explanations Must consider all competing explanations d c Prediction a What will be the course of the problem if left untreated b Predictions should be supported by empirical evidence c Only possible through repeated observations in which conditions are either controlled or well understood d Must predict the course of the symptoms current problems in individual cases e In research prediction is tested in longitudinal studies of the course of problems as they occur in real life and with experimental studies that test specific predictions or hypotheses under controlled circumstances i Longitudinal studies are valuable but limited to inferences drawn about role of events since the study fails to take into account individual functioning before experiencing certain events ii Experimental studies may be unethical in research involving people iii Both try to identify cause and effect relationships regarding important clinical problems d Change a How can the course and outcome be changed b Must be concerned with producing change in people s lives c Have to develop and carry out planned and controlled interventions for the e d treatment and prevention of psychopathology for coping and preventing physical illnesses and the promotion of psychological and physical health Must be based on research evidence that allows reasonable predictions about the effects of specific interventions to be made Is more than a set of techniques for helping people change it s a commitment to develop a broad set of principles to understand how and why people change f Requires more than following a set of procedures designed to help a person deal with a problem or change an aspect of behavior must understand whether certain techniques work with some people or some problems and not with others and understand the reasons that these techniques work Chapter 2 Describe the importance of the following individual s ideas a Meehl slide 43 a Published Statistical Versus Clinical Prediction in 1954 which had a significant impact on psychological testing and assessment b Challenged the assumptions of clinical judgment or prediction by demonstrating that judgment based on statistical data that represents a pattern of behavior in large sample of people provides a more accurate basis for making judgments and predictions about specific individuals than
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