Psychological Assessments

Tyrah Urie

Psychological assessment is most useful in the understanding and evaluation of

personality and especially of problems in living. These issues involve a particular problem
situation having to do with a specific individual. At the same time, assessments is also about the
very human side of understanding, helping and making decisions about people.
The central role of the clinician performing psychological assessment is that of an expert
in human behavior who must deal with complex processes and understand test scores in the
context of a person’s life. The clinician must have knowledge, form a general idea regarding
behaviors to observe and areas in which to collect relevant data. An assessment is individually
oriented but it always considers social existence; the objective is usually to help the person
solve problems.
In addition to an awareness of the role suggested by psychological assessment, clinicians
should be familiar with core knowledge related to measurement and clinical practice. Gary
Marnat, in his book titled Psychological assessment, suggests clinicians possess knowledge
about descriptive statistics, reliability and validity, selection of appropriate tests, administration
procedures, variables related to diversity, testing people with disabilities, and normative
interpretation of results (2003, p.5-8). An ability to collect, interview, organize, formulate
questions and hypotheses to identify which direction to go in are also necessary qualities of a
clinician. For each assessment device, clinicians must understand what they are trying to test.
Unless clinicians are familiar with these areas, they are not prepared to complete assessments.
There are generally phases in conducting clinical assessments. A psychological
assessment typically starts with evaluating a referral question or clarification of the problem.
To address these questions contact with the referring agency is needed. In a school setting the
process starts by the team formulating questions to be answered in the evaluation. The second
step involves acquiring knowledge relating to the problem. After clarifying the question and
obtaining knowledge relating to the problem, clinicians can then proceed with the actual
collection of information. This may come from a variety of sources, the most frequent of which
are test scores, personal history, behavioral observations, records, interviews, and discussions
with the client, parents or members of a support team.
The end product of an assessment should be a description of the client’s present level of
functioning, factors relating to current functioning, prognosis, and treatment
recommendations. This description of a client should not be a merge labeling or classification,
suggests Marnat, but should provide a deeper and more accurate understanding of the person
(2003, p.33). This new understanding of the client should allow the examiner to perceive new
facets of the person in terms of both internal experience and relationships with others.
Psychologists are frequently called on to assess children who are having difficulty in, or
may need special placement in, the school system. The most important areas are evaluating the
nature and extent of a child’s learning difficulties, measuring intellectual strengths and
weaknesses, assessing behavioral difficulties, creating an educational plan, estimating a child’s
responsiveness to intervention, and recommending changes in a child’s program or placement
(Marnat, 2003, p44). Any educational plan should be sensitive to the child’s abilities and
personality, the characteristics of the teacher, and the needs and expectations of the parents.
 Most assessments of children in a school context include behavioral observations, a test
of intellectual ability such as the WISC III, Woodcock Johnson, and projective testing (drawing
measurements). The uses of behavioral rating instruments are most commonly used. These
include the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist and the Conner’s Parent and Teacher Rating
Scale. Concentrating on the most widely used assessments in a school setting behavioral
assessment distinguishes itself as a way of thinking about behavior disorders and how these
disorders can be changed. Assessment methods can include interviewing, observation, and self-
report inventories. Behavioral assessment goes beyond the attempt to understand the
behavior; it concerns itself with ways to change the behavior. Thus, “behavioral assessment is
more direct, utilitarian, and functional” (Marnat, 2003, p.103). This method of assessment relies
heavily on the act of observing behavior and how the client interacts themselves and with the
world that surrounds them.
The Wechsler Intelligence Scales (WISC) is individually administered. It assesses different
areas of intellectual abilities and creates a situation in which aspects of personality can be
observed. The WISC scores measure three different IQ scores: overall or full scale, verbal, and
performance. This scale is considered to be among the best of all psychological tests because
they have produced information relevant to clinicians. As a result, they are widely used. Even
though these test have bene proven useful, Marnat warns that the intelligence tests are
measures of a person’s present level of functioning and are best for making short-term
predictions (2003, p.29).
They are standardized tests whereby a person’s performance in various areas can be
compared with that of age related peers and are most useful in distinguishing patters of
strengths and weaknesses. Through providing the client with various unique cognitive tasks the
clinician can observe interactions with both the examiner and the tasks. An initial impression
can be made of self-esteem, anxiety, social skills, and motivation, while also obtaining a specific
picture of intellectual functioning.
The use of projective drawing tasks in assessment situation has been surrounded by
controversy. The controversy includes questions of validity and reliability. There have been
many reports that these types of tasks are too subjective and cannot be reliably interpreted.
There are others who feel the use of draw a story, drawing from imagination, and predictive
drawing can be an avenue to help children express themselves when using word’s isn’t possible.
The assessment are based on the premise that drawings can bypass verbal deficiencies and
serve as a language parallel to the spoken or written words. “That cognitive and affective
information can be evident in visual, as well as verbal conventions, and that even though
traditionally identified through words, they can also be identified through images” (Silver, 2002,
p.5). Responses to these drawings tasks often reflect wishes, fears, frustrations, and conflicts, as
well as inner resources such as resilience and self-disparaging humor. This form of testing
allows those clients with creative abilities an opportunity to express themselves even though
their IQ scores may be low.
“There seems to be a need for both subjective and objective knowledge and they seem
to converge in art therapy” (Silver, 2002, p260). Without both it seems that information that
can be gained from the client to explore pathology would not be possible if that client was not
able to express themselves verbally. To use and rely on one type of test would not be prudent
for a clinician who wishes to gain accurate insights into the world of a child, especially children
who are suffering from emotional difficulty or who have language disorders.
The Achenbach behavior rating scale and The Conners’ Checklist are both forms
filled out by parents and schools to briefly screen and assess behavior.  These particular
instruments are used frequently in the evaluation process as they provide teachers and parents
an opportunity to share their concerns.  The majority of brief instruments are self-report
measures; these have advantages of reducing clinician time.  However, they also have the
potential for bias by the client’s perceptions and are subject to under or over-reporting.  These
instruments abilities to assist in planning and outcome assessment are particularly relevant. 
First, they should not take longer than 15-30 minutes to complete and second, they should
typically be directly relevant to treatment planning.  The Auchenbach and Conners’ charts are
effective to address behavior in children.  In addition, they are useable and understandable by
not only the teacher, but also the client and significant others in the client’s life.
When the data collection phase of the assessment is complete it is then the clinician’s
responsibility to organize and formulate a written report.  Any written report for an educational
setting should focus not only on a child’s weaknesses, but also on strengths.  Understanding the
child’s strengths can potentially be used to increase a child’s self-esteem as well as to create
change in a number of contexts, explains Marnat (2003, p.45).  Recommendations should be
realistic and practical.  This can most effectively be developed when the clinician has a thorough
understanding of relevant resources in the community, the school system, and the classroom
environment.  This understanding is important because the quality and kind of resources
available to clients between one school and another can vary tremendously.
Recommendations typically specify which skills need to be learned, how these can be
learned, a hierarchy of needs and objectives, and possible techniques for reducing behaviors
that make learning difficult.  Recommendations for special education should only be made
when a regular class would clearly not be beneficial, suggests Marnat (2003, p.52).  Intervention
strategies that are suggested in the evaluation are often outlined and provide support team
members, including the parents, a place to begin.  The recommendations serve two purposes;
one is to confirm interventions that have already been implemented are appropriate, and two
to implement strategies that have not been tried.  In both cases having an unbiased opinion
and a fresh outlook on a student and their situation provides needed guidance.
Providing feedback to students, parents, and team involves knowing your audience.  In
this last phase of assessment the clinician possibly serves the most important role.  Being able
to take into account the sensitivity of the material, the dynamics of the student and family, and
the goals of the people involved can create difficulty for some clinicians.  If properly given,
feedback is not merely informative but can actually serve to reduce symptomatic distress and
enhance self-esteem (Marnat, 2003, p.55).  Because psychological assessment is often
requested as an aid in making important life decisions, the potential impact of the information
should not be underestimated.

References
Marnat, G. (2003). Handbook of psychological assessment. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Silver, R. (2002). Three art assessments. New York: Brunner-Routledge.