PSYCH 333 1nd Edition Lecture 5 Outline of Previous Lecture I Quiz 2 on Chapter 2 Outline of Current Lecture I II III IV V Assessing Psychological Disorders The Clinical Interview Mental Status Exam Physical Exam Behavioral Assessment Current Lecture Assessing Psychological Disorders A clinical assessment is the systematic evaluation and measurement of the psychological biological and social factors in an individual Diagnosis the process of determining if the symptoms of a person fit the diagnostic criteria for a psychological disorder Purpose to understand the individual predict behavior treatment and evaluate outcomes Reliability the degree to which the assessment is consistent if the same study is done by multiple people it should have the same result for both raters the physicians doing the assessing inter rater reliability when raters design assessment in a which so that multiple raters can conduct assessment and get the same result determines if assessment techniques are stable Validity whether something successfully measures what it is designed to measure construct descriptive validity compares results of an assessment measure with the results of other assessments to better determine validity Predictive criterion validity how well your assessment predicts the future Standardization process by which certain set of norms is determined for a technique to make its use consistent across multiple measurements The Clinical Interview These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute Clinical interview gathers info on current and past behaviors attitudes and emotions from individuals life in general and about present problem Involves 1 determining start day and cause of problem 2 gathering info on patients current and past interpersonal and social history 3 gather info on sexual development religious attitudes etc Most clinicians use a mental status exam to obtain the info but they also use physical exams behavioral assessments and psychological testing Mental Status Exam Involves the systematic observation of individuals behavior occurs when individual is interacting with any other person exam analyzes five categories 1 appearance and behavior posture dress expressions 2 thought process rate and flow and content of speech 3 mood the predominant feeling state of the individual and affect the feeling state that accompanies what we say at a given time 4 intellectual functioning range of vocabulary quickness of memory 5 Sensorium general awareness of surroundings Physical Exam most clinicians require patients to get a physical done in order to diagnose or rule out any physical etiologies toxicities something that causes a behavior cognition or mood disorder i e bad food side effects or incorrect medication or onset of medical condition if medical condition or substance abuse occurs clinician must figure out if disorder is caused by it or is a coincidence Behavioral Assessment uses direct observation to assess an individuals thoughts feelings or behavior relating to a specific context Clinicians will either enter home or workplace of patient in order to observe them in their normal life setting or they will simulate the situation within the clinical setting used when trying to observe and identify cause or influence of a specific behavior ABC S of observation Antecedent Behavior Consequence what happens before behavior occurs while behavior is occurring and after the behavior has occurred although this relies on the observers interpretation of the events so its validity is often questioned Informal observation relies on observers interpretation of events formal observation involves identifying specific behaviors that are observable and measurable Self Monitoring clinicians tell their patient to self observe their behavior make notes whenever it occurs on where they are how they are feeling and what instigated it reactivity a phenomenon in which people modify their behaviors when being observed without realizing they are doing it studies show that when people are self monitoring they act of the behavior under observation less if they are trying to fix it and more if they are trying to improve it