PSYCH317 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Clinical Formulation, Nomothetic, Psychological Testing

• School: University of Waterloo
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYCH317
• Professor: Elizabeth Nilsen

Document Summary

Idiographic case formulation involves a detailed understanding of the child and family as a unique entity, whereas nomothetic case formulation emphasized more general inferences that apply to broad groups of individuals. The main purpose of assessment is creating some type of description and diagnosis. A prognosis involves generating predictions regarding future behaviour under specified condition, whereas treatment planning involves making use of assessment information to generate a treatment plan and evaluating its effectiveness. Information is power: assessment goes beyond description and into interpretation, the psychologist, without apology is projected into the report, the accumulation of data is not an assessment, the integration and interpretation is. Clinical interviews are the most universally used assessment procedure. Potential interview biases include the halo effect, the confirmatory bias, and the focus on explanations of behaviour that emphasize traits rather than situational determinants. Behavioural assessment has an emphasis on observing the child"s behaviour directly. We look at antecedents, the behaviour resulting and the consequences.