Running head: ASSESSMENT TOOLS FOR PSYCHOLOGY Assessment Tools for Psychology Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Date 1 ASSESSMENT TOOLS FOR PSYCHOLOGY 2 Assessment Tools for Psychology Psychological assessment is vital for clinical psychologists in various ways. Clinical psychologists use various assessment tools to help them understand an individual and especially their behavior. Individuals with problems especially those that affect their behavior are often subjected to a number of tests aimed at determining the cause of behavioral and mental problems. Clinical psychologists use assessment tools to determine the core competencies of an individual’s psychological issues including one’s personality and IQ. The tests aim at identifying various aspects in an individual including their strengths and weaknesses. The paper discusses into details, various assessment tools that can be used by a clinical psychologist in evaluating a child’s problems and the role of the tools in diagnosis and treatment. Clinical interviews is one of the assessment tools employed. Research indicates that clinical interview is a core component of psychological testing and assessment. Clinical interviews usually last for short duration of time like one to two hours and is mostly carried out in the office of the clinical psychologist. Clinical interviews offer an excellent opportunity for the clinical psychologist to obtain information from the individual including his or her background and data that pertains to the family (Samuel, 2015). With such information, the professional is able to deduce some of the causes of the problems of the individual. Additionally, clinical interviews helps the individual to share more personal information about his life, as the questions asked are aimed at gathering data in all the stages of life of the individual. We should acknowledge that clinical interviews may be computerized and this enables the individual to express himself fully as there is no direct communication with the clinical psychologist. In regards to the importance of clinical interview in guiding diagnosis and treatment, we should acknowledge that clinical interviews often includes structured diagnostic questions which helps ASSESSMENT TOOLS FOR PSYCHOLOGY 3 the clinical psychologist to come up with an initial diagnostic impression. Additionally, clinical interviews enables a clinical psychologist to have a better understanding of the individual and as a result, the professional is able predict the best treatment with regards to the assessment. Assessment of Intellectual Functioning is also an important assessment tool employed by psychologists and psychiatrists to help them understand individuals and their behaviors. It is important to note that IQ test is not necessarily a measure of intelligence but a measure of beliefs of what an individual deems as an important composition of intelligence. Primarily, the measure of a person’s intelligence is divided into two sub divisions namely intelligence tests and neuropsychological assessment (Negut, 2016). The most common type employed is intelligence tests which use two scales, that is, Stanford-Binet and the Wechsler scales. Of the two scales, the commonly used one is Wechsler Adult Intelligence scale- Fourth Edition which takes about one hour or an hour and a half and is recommended for individuals of age 16 years and above. For children, the best IQ test scale to use is a special Wechsler Intelligence Scale for children-Fourth Edition. Wechsler scale has four subdivisions whereby each subdivision has some elective tests and also compulsory tests. From the tests, the psychologist will be in a position to gauge whether the child has mental or behavioral challenges. One of the importance of the assessment of intellectual functioning, is that the tests administered to the child will help the psychologist to get more vital information about the emotional and logical abilities of the child. The acquisition of such information helps the psychologist to get the correct diagnosis of the child’s disease and also helps in the prescription of the best drug to be administered to the child. Psychologists have used Personality Assessment as another tool of psychological testing. Personality assessment involves evaluation of many aspects of an individual including a person's thoughts, behavior, and emotions. Researchers have come up with different ways of measuring ASSESSMENT TOOLS FOR PSYCHOLOGY 4 personality traits of different individuals. Objective tests can be used by psychologists to assess personality. Objective tests involves giving of questionnaires to the individual for completion and thereafter, the scores are used to gauge the individual’s mental strength or challenges (Gardner, 2015). There are two types of objective tests. The first one is Self-report measures whereby an individual is asked to describe himself. The method is advantageous as it deals directly with the person of interest and therefore more information is amassed from the individual and as a result diagnosis and prescription is made easier. Additionally, the method is cost effective. The second type of objective test is informant ratings. Informant ratings involves the use of a third-party close to the child for instance, a teacher or a parent to report about the child’s personality and behavior and academic performance. The method is also easier to administer, less time consuming and also simple to understand thus aids the psychologist in quick diagnosis of the mental problems of the child. Lastly, the psychologists also use behavioral assessment as a tool in psychological testing. Behavioral assessment involves monitoring of an individual’s behavior toward different stimuli. For instance, the child can be subjected to different environments of the school and his or her behavior observed in each environment. The child may also be exposed to different artworks and literary products and his mood swings and changes in behavior observed keenly in each case. Behavioral assessment as a method of psychological testing is important as it helps the psychologist identify patterns in behavior change the child has toward different subjects. In return, the psychologist is able to do a correct diagnosis of the mental state of the child and give an appropriate diagnosis. ASSESSMENT TOOLS FOR PSYCHOLOGY 5 References Gardner, B. O., Boccaccini, M. T., Bitting, B. S., & Edens, J. F. (2015). Personality Assessment Inventory scores as predictors of misconduct, recidivism, and violence: A meta-analytic review. Psychological Assessment, 27(2), 534. Neguț, A., Matu, S. A., Sava, F. A., & David, D. (2016). Virtual reality measures in neuropsychological assessment: a meta-analytic review. The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 30(2), 165-184. Samuel, D. B. (2015). A review of the agreement between clinicians’ personality disorder diagnoses and those from other methods and sources. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 22(1), 1-19. Outline Topic: Assessment Tools for Psychology Thesis Statement: The paper discusses into details, various assessment tools that can be used by a clinical psychologist in evaluating a child’s problems and the role of the tools in diagnosis and treatment. I. II. Clinical interviews Personality assessment III. Assessment of intellectual functioning IV. Behavioral assessment
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