PSYCH 230 Lecture Notes - Lecture 30: Content Validity, Internal Consistency, Barnum Effect
Document Summary
The process of collecting and interpreting information to understand another person. Necessary for diagnosis (must collect evidence to support diagnosis) Relies on specific samples of behavior to represent all behavior. Use samples to make inferences about the rest of. Good assessment requires multiple sources of information. More likely to generalize well, or be representative. Helps paint an integrated, broad picture of a person. For adhd, get child and parent (other) report, as well as observed behavior in the classroom. Validity: meaning or importance of a measure. Making statements about a specific person that are actually true of most people are thought to be meaningful. Or statements so vague anyone could apply them to themselves. Such statements then seem accurate and impressive, but really tell us nothing specific or useful about a person. 3 factors increase the power of the barnum effect. Ask clients about their problems by speaking with them. Allow for some observation of client as they speak.
