Clinical Psych- Overall
Definition of Clinical Psychology
Clinical Psychology is a specialised area of psychology that deals with the prevention, assessment, diagnosis and treatment of psychological problems and mental disorders
Definition of clinical interviews
A clinical interview is a focused conversation between a client and a psychologist.
What do Psychological Tests measure (3 things)
-General and specific mental abilities, such as reasoning, comprehension and abstract thinking
-The capacity a person has to learn material in a particular area, such as being able to fix cars
-How much a person knows about a certain topic such as spelling or maths
When do behavioural observations occur?
-> Behavioural observations occur during a clinical interview or psychological testing
Define Quantitative and Qualitative data
Quantitative data- The information that is in numerical form and is said to increase the objectivity of an experiment
Qualitative data- The information that is collected in psychological research that is in non-numerical form, such as how patients feel about something
Define a mental disorder and give x1 example
A Mental Disorder is a significant impairment of a person’s thoughts, emotions or behaviour which causes distress to themselves or other people, and also affects their day-to-day functioning.
Examples- Anxiety disorder, Schizophrenia, Personality disorder, Mood disorder, Bipolar disorder
The specific aim of clinical interviews, and how does one effectively conduct a successful interview
The specific aim is a clinical interview is to gain detailed information from a client about the problem that is causing difficulty.
How to effectively conduct a successful clinical interview:
1)Developing and maintaining a rapport
2)Questioning Style
3)Reflective Listening
Define Personality Tests
Personality tests are instruments or techniques used to assess or evaluate personality.
What are the two types of behavioural observations
Verbal and Non-Verbal behaviour
What are the four ways a psychologist will collect data?
1. Psychological tests/readings
2. Direct Observation
3. Surveys
4. Interviews
What would a clinical psychologist specialise in? (MINIMUM 3 examples)
Potential correct answers-
- Adults who misuse drugs or alcohol
- Children or adults who suffer from extreme nervousness/anxiety
- Children who have nightmares
- Adults who are addicted the gambling
- Adults or children who have trouble falling or staying asleep
Define Rapport and explain why development of rapport is important
-> Rapport: a sympathetic relationship or understanding between two or more people.
-> Developing and maintaining rapport is very important in a clinical interview as it relaxes the client, and lets the client know the clinical psychologist is supportive of them
What are intelligence tests?
How does a psychologist decipher what their clients IQ is?
-> Intelligence tests typically measure whatever skills and abilities the author(s) of the test thinks constitutes intelligence
IQ= Mental Age x100
Chronological Age
What does Non-Verbal Behaviour refer to?
-> Non-verbal behaviour refers to all of the ‘wordless’ messages the client communicates. Body language/posture, eye contact, facial expression.
What is IV, DV and EV? Define each
IV- Independent Variable- The variable that is systematically manipulated or varied in some way by the experimenter
DV- Dependent Variable- The aspect of the participant’s behaviour that is observed or measured
EV- Extraneous Variable- Any variable other than the IV that could potentially cause changes in the DV and therefore affect the results in an unwanted way
What are the 3 main roles of a Clinical Psychologist?
1) Psychological Assessment and Diagnosis
2) Psychological Treatment
3)Research, teaching and evaluation
What is Questioning Style, what are the two most common types of questions and give an example of both
-> Questioning style refers to the style or type of questions in a clinical interview to obtain information about a client’s problems.
-> Most common types of questions: open-ended and closed-ended questions
-> Open-ended questions require more than a single-word response.
-> Closed-ended questions usually require a brief and simple answer, often involving one word, such as ‘yes’ or ‘no’
EXAMPLES-
OPEN- "What happened next after you got out of the car?"
CLOSED- "Are you okay with seeing me today?"
Define what is a questionnaire, and an advantage and disadvantage of them
-> A questionnaire is a set of prepared questions of statements on a topic and is designed to be answered by someone else.
-> Advantage of being quick to administer, compared to other methods of assessment.
-> Disadvantage of being obvious to the client of what they’re trying to assess.
What does Verbal Behaviour refer to? Provide an example of verbal behaviour
-> Verbal behaviour refers to all aspects of the client’s words, speech and language, such as the speed, volume, amount, tone and content (what they actually say). Quiet short answers will give different information about the client as opposed to if the client was speaking extremely fast and switching topics rapidly.
Identify the 7 steps of the scientific method
Step 1: Identify the research topic of interest
Step 2: Formulate the hypothesis
Step 3: Select the research method and design the study
Step 4: Collect the data
Step 5: Analyse the data
Step 6: Draw conclusions
Step 7: Report the findings
Identify and define the 3 main roles of a clinical psychologist
1) Psychological Assessment and Diagnosis
- Have specialist training in the assessment & diagnosis of mental disorders & common psychological problems
2) Psychological Treatment
- Not qualified to prescribe medication, but they are trained to provide psychological treatments such as therapies. EG- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), psychotherapy, group therapy, psychoanalysis, behavioural therapy
3)Research, teaching and evaluation
- Undertake research on prevention, diagnosis, assessment and treatment methods
Define Reflective Listening and Paraphrasing.
Give an example of a clinical psychologist conducting paraphrasing AND reflection to this client"
Client- “everything is dull and boring. There’s nothing new going on, nothing exciting. All my friends are away. I wish I had some money to do something different.”
-> Reflective listening is when a clinical psychologist demonstrates to the client that they have heard what they said and understand their point of view.
-> Paraphrasing is the act of repeating back or restating what the client has said to check for understanding.
Clinical Psychologist (reflection)- “With your friends gone and no money around, there’s nothing for you to do right now.”
Clinical Psychologist (paraphrasing)- “It sounds like you feel bored with the way things are for you right now”
Who created the InkBlot Test?
Swiss psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach
Likely has depression; the client just doesn't want to discuss their feelings
RESEARCH QUESTION- Does sleep deprivation cause headaches?
Identify IV, DV and EV
Does sleep deprivation cause headaches?
IV – sleep deprivation
DV- number of headaches
EV:
foods eaten
sleeping pills
level of stress in participants’ lives
activity before sleep
Amount of alcohol consumed before sleep
Medications?