Assessment and Diagnosis Flashcards
(46 cards)
purposes of clinical assessment
understand individual, predict behavior, plan interventions, evaluate treatment outcome
patient stays in hospital for extended, constant care
outpatient care
in-home care;residential facilities
psychiatric setting for assessment
briefly screen someone for early intervention purposes
general medical setting for assessment
child custody cases, court system, seeing if someone should be allowed to be released from prison
legal context setting for assessment
the value of a clinical assessment depends on three things
reliability, validity and standardization
the degree to which a measurement is consisten
reliability
the degree to which a technique measures what it is designed to measure
validity
application of certain standards to ensure consistency across different measures
standardization
consistency on how a person “scores”
across time (test-retest) across raters (interrater)
reliability in psychometrics
against a standard / distinguish a group
concurrent validity
what will happen in the future
predictive validity
standards/norms that allow consistency
administration of the test, scoring of the test an interpretation of the test
standardization in psychometrics
common psychological assessments
mental status exam clinical interviews behavioral observation projective tests objective tests neuropsychological tests psychophysiological test
key question: are basic aspects of functioning within normal limits or is there gross impairment?
appearance, attitude, behavior, mood (reported) and affect (observed), thought processes and content, insight, judgement, awareness of surroundings (person, place, time)
can be brief or thorough
happens all the time in daily life
mental status exam
most common assessment method
used in first session when people start receiving treatment
what background/history of the problem
used to establish a diagnoses
the clinical interview
series of questions that are asked to an individual in the exact same way every time
structured clinical interview
series of questions but training is required
can ask follow-up questions to get an answer you need
less chance for confusion because elaboration is allowed
semi-structured clinical interview
no series of questions, simply ask questions based on responses
could take various forms; can hone in on something specific but could also miss something important
free-flowing structure
unstructured clinical interview
systematically evaluate behaviors in its natural situation/context
direct observation of behavior - environment relations
good for non-verbal patients
behavioral observations
identify antecedents that led up to a behavior and the consequences of that behavior
uses chain analysis; assists in figuring out where to intervene
behavioral assessments
functional assessment / chain analysis
antecedents: events that occur prior to the behavior and can increase the probability of the behavior
behaviors: observable events performed by organism
consequences: events that follow behaviors that can increase or decrease the probability of behaviors
issue with behavioral observations where patients will act differently knowing that they are being observed
reactivity
assess unconscious aspects of personality onto ambiguous stimuli, rooted in psychoanalytic perspective
Rorschach Ink Blots, Thematic Apperception Test, Sentence Completion Tests
projective tests
benefits of projective tests
patient may be reluctant to say how they feel but there is a lot of space for interpretation
won’t be thought of as a typical test therefore will give valid answer
can be useful with kids because it gives them a safe space to talk
