Assessment Procedures for Counselors and Helping Professionals, 7e © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Chapter 2 Fundamentals of Assessment

Assessment Procedures for Counselors and Helping Professionals, 7e Drummond/Jones © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 2-2 Best practice dictates that assessments use multiple methods and multiple sources of information. It is often difficult to anticipate all of the methods and sources of assessment as the results of one assessment may direct the course of future assessments. Practices in Data Collection

Assessment Procedures for Counselors and Helping Professionals, 7e Drummond/Jones © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 2-3 Interviews Observations Testing Collateral Sources Assessment Methods and Sources

Assessment Procedures for Counselors and Helping Professionals, 7e Drummond/Jones © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 2-4 Formal: standardized; having structured materials, uniform administration procedures, consistent scoring and interpretation methods; strong psychometrics (proven reliability and validity) Informal: instruments and strategies that are developed without proven reliability and validity; no standardized administration, scoring procedures or interpretation. Formal and Informal Assessment Instruments and Strategies

Assessment Procedures for Counselors and Helping Professionals, 7e Drummond/Jones © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 2-5 Examples of Formal and Informal Instruments and Strategies MethodFormalInformal InterviewsStructured interviews Semi-structured interviews Unstructured interviews Semi-structured interviews TestsStandardized tests and inventories Teacher- or Counselor-made tests Checklists Questionnaires Projective drawings Work samples ObservationsRating scales Event recording Duration recording Raw notes Anecdotal records

Assessment Procedures for Counselors and Helping Professionals, 7e Drummond/Jones © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 2-6 The Initial Interview Initial Interview: the single most important means of collecting information in the assessment process. Purpose: to gather relevant background information Degree of Structure: unstructured, semi- structured, structured

Assessment Procedures for Counselors and Helping Professionals, 7e Drummond/Jones © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 2-7 Interview TypeProperties Unstructured interviewsVery flexible Informal Interviewer may follow a general format Widely-used Semi-structured interviewsSomewhat flexible Not completely standardized Interviewers may prove and expand interviewee responses Structured interviewsLess flexible Formal No deviation in procedure Often used in research settings Types of Interviews

Assessment Procedures for Counselors and Helping Professionals, 7e Drummond/Jones © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 2-8 There are several benefits to structured interviews: they ensure that specific information will be collected from all interviewees. they do not require as much training because all interviewers have a list of questions in a prescribed order. because of the standardization, they substantially improve reliability of the assessment process. Structured Interviews

Assessment Procedures for Counselors and Helping Professionals, 7e Drummond/Jones © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 2-9 Semi-structured interviews have guidelines to follow, but allow for flexibility in responding to interviewee responses. Greater reliability and validity than unstructured interviews. Semi-Structured Interviews

Assessment Procedures for Counselors and Helping Professionals, 7e Drummond/Jones © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Most commonly used in mental health settings Great flexibility Questions regarding reliability and validity Unstructured Interviews

Assessment Procedures for Counselors and Helping Professionals, 7e Drummond/Jones © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Unstructured interviews have similarities with counseling: Building rapport Establishing safety and trust Use of effective listening skills Unstructured interviews differ from counseling: Primary goal is to obtain relevant client information Therapeutic experience secondary to gathering client information Unstructured Interviews cont.

Assessment Procedures for Counselors and Helping Professionals, 7e Drummond/Jones © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Identifying Information Presenting Problem Family History Relationship History Developmental History Educational History Employment History Medical History Previous Psychiatric or Counseling Experiences Common Domains of Unstructured Interviews

Assessment Procedures for Counselors and Helping Professionals, 7e Drummond/Jones © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Have a clear idea of why the individual is being interviewed. The kinds of questions asked depend on the types of decisions to be made after the interview. 2. Be concerned about the physical setting or environment for the interview. 3. Begin the interview by introducing yourself and indicating the seating arrangement you prefer. 4. Explain the purpose of the interview and how the session will proceed. Explain how the interview information will be used. Guidelines for Interviews

Assessment Procedures for Counselors and Helping Professionals, 7e Drummond/Jones © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Describe the confidential nature of interview and the limits of confidentiality. In addition, explain that the client has the right not to discuss any information he or she does not wish to disclose. 6. Begin with open-ended questions and use more direct (closed) questions to fill in gaps. Avoid “why” questions because they may increase interviewee defensiveness. 7. Be alert to the nonverbal as well as verbal behavior of the interviewee. How a person says something may be as important as what is said. 8. Observe and follow time restraints. Alert the interviewee when 5 or 10 minutes remain until the end of the interview. Provide interviewee’s an opportunity to as any questions or make comments. Guidelines for Interviews, Cont.

Assessment Procedures for Counselors and Helping Professionals, 7e Drummond/Jones © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Testing refers to a way of measuring various individual attributes, such as cognitive functioning, knowledge, skills, abilities, or personality traits. Testing is only one of many different methods of assessment clients. Tests

Assessment Procedures for Counselors and Helping Professionals, 7e Drummond/Jones © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Screening Classifying or diagnosing Selecting or placing Assisting in intervention or treatment planning Progress and outcome evaluation Hypothesis testing for research Purposes of Tests

Assessment Procedures for Counselors and Helping Professionals, 7e Drummond/Jones © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Area of Assessment: Intelligence Tests Aptitude Tests Achievement Tests Career or Employment Inventories Personality Tests Categories of Tests

Assessment Procedures for Counselors and Helping Professionals, 7e Drummond/Jones © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Categories of Testing cont. Standardized and Nonstandardized Tests Individual and Group Tests Verbal and Nonverbal Tests Objective and Subjective Tests

Assessment Procedures for Counselors and Helping Professionals, 7e Drummond/Jones © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Test – formally defined as instruments where responses are evaluated and scored based on correctness. Instruments with no evaluative component – inventories, questionnaires, surveys, checklists, schedules, projective techniques Other Test Terminology

Assessment Procedures for Counselors and Helping Professionals, 7e Drummond/Jones © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Scale – multiple meanings including: reference to a specific test with multiple parts a test focusing on one characteristic a subset of a larger test an array of subtests measuring a common characteristic a numerical system used to rate some measured dimension. Battery – a group of several tests that are administered at one time to one person. Other Test Terminology, Cont.

Assessment Procedures for Counselors and Helping Professionals, 7e Drummond/Jones © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Test Developers Test Publishers Test Users Test Takers Test Reviewers Participants in the Testing Process

Assessment Procedures for Counselors and Helping Professionals, 7e Drummond/Jones © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Computer-based testing has many benefits: Reduced costs Immediate scoring Reduction of scoring errors Greater security Ability to include multimedia in testing Computer-Based Testing

Assessment Procedures for Counselors and Helping Professionals, 7e Drummond/Jones © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Research exploring potential differences in outcomes between paper-and-pencil and computer-based tests is inconclusive. Computer-adaptive testing allows a test to adapt the questions generated based on previous responses by a test taker. Computer-Based Testing, Cont.

Assessment Procedures for Counselors and Helping Professionals, 7e Drummond/Jones © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Observation is the process of viewing and recording what an individual does. Observation is often used in counseling, education, career and employment settings. Observation

Assessment Procedures for Counselors and Helping Professionals, 7e Drummond/Jones © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Formal and Informal Natural and Contrived Settings Types of Observation

Assessment Procedures for Counselors and Helping Professionals, 7e Drummond/Jones © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Event Recording Duration Recording Time Sampling Rating Scales Anecdotal Record Methods of Recording Observations

Assessment Procedures for Counselors and Helping Professionals, 7e Drummond/Jones © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Systematic self-observation and recording, often used in counseling. Self-monitoring may involve the use of: Autobiographies Diaries Journals Letters Stories Poems Self-Monitoring

Assessment Procedures for Counselors and Helping Professionals, 7e Drummond/Jones © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Collateral sources of information include any third party individual who provides information about an individual being assessed. Collateral information is often gathered through interviews and records. Collateral information my offset the bias of self-reports. Collateral Sources