PSYC 361 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Sensorium, Mental Status Examination, Psychological Testing
9 Oct 2016
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CHAPTER 3
1. CLINICAL ASSESSMENT
A. Systematic evaluation and measurement of biological, social and
psychological factors
B. Evaluate bio-psycho-social model
C. Diagnosis: Process of determining if problem meets criteria for a disorder
D. How to know if assessment has value
i. Reliability- Degree to which measurements are consistent overtime and
across raters
1. Whether these assessments are stable across time (test-retest
reliability)
ii. Validity- Whether something measures what it is supposed to
1. Concurrent-extent to which the results of your test correspond to
those of previously established measures
2. Predictive- how well your assessment tells you what will happen in
the future
iii. Standardization- certain set of standards or norms are determined for a
technique to make it use consistent across different measurements
E. Assessment
i. Clinical interviews
1. Gathers info on current/ past behavior, attitudes, and emotions and
detailed history of the individual’s life in general and of the
presenting problem
2. Mental status exam
a. Systematic observation of an individual’s behavior
b. To determine which areas of behavior should be assessed in
more details
c. Five categories
i. Appearance and behavior
ii. Thought processes
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iii. Mood and effect
iv. Intellectual functioning
v. Sensorium
3. Unstructured
a. Client leads discussion, Don’t ask clients same questions
4. Structured
a. Clinician asks same question to all clients, no skipping questions
(DISC)
5. Semistructured
a. Greater variability
b. Most are carefully phrased and tested to obtain most important
aspects of particular disorders
ii. Physical exam
1. If patient is presenting with psychological problems goes to physical
exam first
2. May have a clear relationship to a temporary toxic state
iii. Behavioral assessment
1. Uses direct observation to assess an individual’s thoughts, feelings
and behavior
2. When person isn’t old enough/skilled enough to report problems
and experiences
3. Target behaviors are identified/observed with the goal of
determining the factors that seem to influence them
4. ABC’s
a. Antecendents (what happened before the behavior)
b. Behavior
c. Consequences (what happened afterwards)
iv. Psychological testing (cognitive, emotional and behavioral)
1. Projective Testing- ambiguous stimuli are presented to people who
are asked to describe what they see
a. theory is that people project their own personality and unconscious
fears onto other people
b. Controversial
2. Personality inventories
a. Self reporting questionnaires that assess personal traits; MMPI
3. IQ
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Document Summary
Validity- whether something measures what it is supposed to: concurrent-extent to which the results of your test correspond to those of previously established measures, predictive- how well your assessment tells you what will happen in the future. Standardization- certain set of standards or norms are determined for a technique to make it use consistent across different measurements: assessment. To diagnose means to identify a specific psychological disorder. Classification is controversial: categorical approach, pure approach: clear underlying pathophysiological cause, each disorder is different from another, each disorder has its own cause (cid:523)this isn"t true(cid:524) Points research in right direction: used to study effects of stress on psychological disorders, diagnosis before 1980. Early diagnosis manuals lacked precision: basic components of a research study. 4: hypothesis, research design- includes what you want to measure and the influences on their behaviors. Internal validity= how confident you are that the iv cause dv. External validity= how well results relate to things outside study.
