© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Davison and Neale: Abnormal Psychology, 8e Abnormal Psychology, Eighth Edition by Gerald C. Davison and John M. Neale Lecture notes created by Paul J. Wellman, Texas A&M University PowerPoint  Lecture Notes Presentation Chapter 4 Clinical Assessment Procedures Ch 4

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Davison and Neale: Abnormal Psychology, 8e Reliability Reliability refers to consistency of measurement Types of reliability: –Interrater reliability refers to the degree of agreement between 2 observers –Test-retest reliability refers to the extent to which scores are similar for a person being observed twice or taking the same test twice –Internal consistency reliability examines whether the items on a test are related Ch 4.1

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Davison and Neale: Abnormal Psychology, 8e Validity Validity assesses the extent to which a test or instrument fulfills its intended purpose –Some tests are designed to assess an inferred dimension referred to as a construct “Anxiety” is an inferred construct –The validity of an instrument is constrained by the reliability of the instrument Unreliable measures will not have good validity Ch 4.2

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Davison and Neale: Abnormal Psychology, 8e Forms of Validity Content validity refers to whether a measure adequately samples the domain of interest Criterion validity refers to whether a measure is associated in an expected way with another measure (the criterion) Construct validity refers to whether a measure of a construct is supported by other measures of that construct Ch 4.3

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Davison and Neale: Abnormal Psychology, 8e Psychological Assessment The goal of psychological assessment is to determine cognitive, emotional, personality and behavioral factors in psychopathology Techniques of assessment include –Clinical interviews –Psychological tests –Behavioral assessment procedures –Cognitive assessment procedures Ch 4.4

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Davison and Neale: Abnormal Psychology, 8e Clinical Interviews An interview is any interpersonal encounter in which language is used to gather information about a client –A clinical interviewer pays attention to how the client answers questions posed by the interviewer –Clinical interviews involve a degree of empathy for the problems of the client –Clinical interviews can be highly structured or very informal Ch 4.5

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Davison and Neale: Abnormal Psychology, 8e Psychological Tests Psychological tests are standardized procedures designed to measure a person’s performance on a task or to assess his or her personality Psychological tests include: –Personality inventories Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory –Projective personality tests Rorschach Inkblot test –Intelligence tests Ch 4.6

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Davison and Neale: Abnormal Psychology, 8e Projective Tests Projective tests provide ambiguous stimuli that are interpreted by the test subject according to unconscious needs/impulses –Rorschach Inkblot Test: person is asked to explain each of 10 ink blots (half of the blots are in color while half are black and white) –Thematic Apperception Test: person is shown a series of pictures and asked to explain the story behind each Ch 4.7

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Davison and Neale: Abnormal Psychology, 8e Intelligence Tests Intelligence (IQ) tests can be used to – provide a standardized assessment of a person’s current mental abilities –diagnose learning disabilities –determine whether a person is mentally retarded –identify intellectually gifted children IQ tests typically have good reliability and criterion validity Ch 4.8

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Davison and Neale: Abnormal Psychology, 8e Behavioral Assessment Behavioral and cognitive assessments are made using the SORC system: –S (Stimuli): refers to the environmental situations that precede the problem –O (Organismic): refers to physiological and psychological factors operating “under the skin” –R (Overt Responses): what are the responses and are these a problem? –C (Consequent Variables): are there events that are punishing or reinforcing for the client? Ch 4.9

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Davison and Neale: Abnormal Psychology, 8e Behavioral Methods Direct observation of behavior Self-monitoring –Reactivity: behavior changes during monitoring Interviews Self-report inventories Other procedures –Thought listing Ch 4.10

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Davison and Neale: Abnormal Psychology, 8e Neurochemical Assessment The biological view is that neurotransmitters and receptors are key to understanding normal/abnormal behavior Postmortem studies: brain is removed and chemical analyses are performed to –Determine specific amounts of transmitter in specific brain regions –Determine amount of transmitter metabolites More metabolite suggests the presence of more transmitter in brain Ch 4.11

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Davison and Neale: Abnormal Psychology, 8e Human Brain Structure Figure 4.aFigure 4.b Ch 4.12

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Davison and Neale: Abnormal Psychology, 8e A Neuropsychologist is a psychologist who studies how brain damage alters the way we think, behave and feel A neurologist studies brain diseases Neuropsychological tests assess behavioral disturbances caused by brain dysfunction –Halstead-Reitan battery –Luria-Nebraska battery Neuropsychological Assessment Ch 4.13

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Davison and Neale: Abnormal Psychology, 8e Psychophysiological Measurement Psychophysiology is concerned with the bodily changes that accompany psychological events or a person’s psychological characteristics Measures includes: –Heart rate (EKG) –Skin conductance (GSR) –Brain electrical activity (EEG) Ch 4.14

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Davison and Neale: Abnormal Psychology, 8e The Autonomic Nervous System Figure 4.c Ch 4.15

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Davison and Neale: Abnormal Psychology, 8e Cultural Bias in Assessment Cultural bias can occur because of –language differences, differing views of competition, differing religious/spiritual views Clinicians can avoid cultural bias by –making efforts to learn about the culture of the client –determining the client’s preferred language –ensuring that the client understands the assessment task –establishing a rapport with the client Ch 4.16

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Davison and Neale: Abnormal Psychology, 8e Is Human Behavior Consistent? A key issue in clinical assessment is the extent to which human behavior is consistent/variable over time –Trait theory: people possess certain levels of characteristics that remain constant over time –Mischel: argued that traits are not important determinants of a person’s behavior People are inconsistent across situations Ch 4.17

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Davison and Neale: Abnormal Psychology, 8e Copyright Copyright 2000 by John Wiley & Sons, New York, NY. All rights reserved. No part of the material protected by this copyright may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission of the copyright owner.