1. Assessment
AN OVERVIEW

2. Defining Assessment
Process of solving problems, in which tests are frequently used as a method of collecting important information (Maloney and Ward, 1976).
Process of understanding and helping people cope with problems (Walsh and Betz, 2001).
Testing and assessment are not synonymous.

3. The Process of Assessment
Defining the problem
Gathering information
Understanding the information collected
Generating hypotheses (diagnostic impression)
Developing a plan of action
Testing out or implementing solutions

4. History of Assessment
Individual differences and intelligence * Origins late 19th and early 20th centuries * focus was to quantify psychological events, particularly intelligence (Stanford-Binet)
Aptitude and achievement * Aptitude measures learning ability * Achievement measures what has been learned

5. History continued
Personality and psychological inventories to ascertain the nonintellectual aspects of behavior (MMPI)
Interest assessments to compare how likes and dislikes match with various occupations
Environmental assessments in attempting to understand how other systems influence behavior i.e. culture, family, community, etc and person’s perception of those influences (the ecomap)

6. Approaches to Assessment
Judgmental- all available information, both subjective or objective data is used. (clinical judgment)
Objective- Information that can be quantified or coded for statistical analysis. (test scores)

7. Diagnosis versus Assessment
Diagnosis asks, “what’s wrong and why?” where assessment asks, “what is?”
Assessment ultimately leads to diagnosis