Clinical Assessment, Diagnosis, and Treatment

Assessment- the process of collecting and interpreting relevant information about a client or
research participant
Diagnosis-
Standardization- The process in which a test is administered to a larger population and their
performance on the test is used as a standard or norm against which an individual’s score can be
measured

Validity:
1. Predictive validity- predict future behavior or characteristics
2. Concurrent validity- degree of agreement between measures gathered from two different tool

Clinical assessment tools:

1. Clinical interview- unstructured vs structured ( mental status exam- set of interview questions
designed to reveal client's level of abnormal functioning)

2. Clinical Tests:
-projective tests: test that consists of ambiguous material that people interpret or respond to
Roschah’s test, Thematic Apperception Test
-personality inventories: measure broader personality characteristics, consisting of statements about
behavior, beliefs, and feelings people evaluate as characteristic or uncharacteristic for them
-psychophysiological tests- tests that measure physical responses as possible indicators of
psychological problem
-neuroimaging- tests that provide images of brain structure or activity
-neuropsychology tests- tests that detect brain impairment by measuring a person’s perceptual,
cognitive, and motor performances
-intelligence tests

Clinical observations: naturalistic, analog, and self-monitoring

Diagnosis- a determination that a person’s problem reflects a particular disorder

Syndrome- a cluster of symptoms that occur together usually

Classification systems- a list of disorders along with a description of symptoms and guidelines for
making appropriate diagnosis

DSM-5 (categorical information-name to the distinct category; dimensional-how severe it is;

additional info-info that might be useful)
has good reliability (different clinicians agree on the same diagnosis) and validity (accuracy of infor
for diagnosis /especially predictable)
problem in labeling- STIGMA
ICD
Questions:

1. What is assessment?
2. What is diagnosis?
3. Define standardization.
4. Which types of tool validity do we have?
5. What are some of the clinical assessment tools?
6. Explain projective tests.
7. What are personality inventories?
8. What are physiological inventories?
9. Define neuroimaging and neuropsychology tests!
10. Which types of clinical observations are made?
11. What is diganosis?
12. What is syndrome?
13. What are classification systems? Most popular ones?
14. Which information does DSM-5 provide, what are the good sides of it and possible negative
ones?