Week 1- Introduction to Assessment
An umbrella term for evaluation methods used to understand characteristics of people, places, and things
Assessment
These can include intelligence tests, ability tests, personality inventories, interest inventories, and values inventories.
Standardized tests
How consistently a test measures a variable (hint: the consistency of the results).
Reliability
-Assesses client level of functioning
-Based on current observations
Mental Status Examination
13.5% of young adults aged 18 to 25 had both a substance use disorder and any mental illness in the past year. This is known as?
Co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders
OR
Comobordity
Construct or concept that can take on more than one value
Variable
The tendency to rate all people as “average” or near the middle of the rating scale
Error of central tendency
Possesses magnitude, equal intervals, absolute zero
Ratio Scale
A common error of judgment: placing too much emphasis on information obtained early in the interview
Anchoring
The ability to problem solve and make decisions based on prior knowledge and experiences.
Crystalized Intelligence
Description of the degree in which a client possesses characteristic(s)
Measurement
Refers to decreased reliability in how well an event is observed—usually as a function of an increased observation period.
Decay
The degree to which two sets of measures are related
Correlation
Provide a preliminary overview of the client’s concerns (hint: initial measure of the nature and intensity of symptoms).
Screening Inventories / Screeners
The ability to be flexible and adapt to solve problems without prior knowledge (instinctual)
Fluid Intelligence
Study of measurement technique and theory
Psychometrics
score differences or differences in findings that lead to differential ways of using data
Bias
The degree of agreement between two or more independent judges
Interrater reliability
Ignoring or minimizing problems because they are less noticeable or are of less interest to the counselor
Diagnostic Overshadowing
Useful for determining academic, athletic, and financial aid eligibility; placing students in courses; and counseling and advising
Aptitude Tests
The first intelligence test
Binet-Simon Scale - led to development of IQ – revised to Stanford Binet scale in 1916.
Efforts to create equitable experiences for test takers, free from bias
Fairness
X = T + e
observed score (X) = true score (T) + error score (e)
Measurement Error
Ignoring or minimizing problems because they are less noticeable or are of less interest to the counselor
Diagnostic overshadowing
An evidence-based treatment that is useful with clients who may be less ready for change
Motivational Interviewing