Discuss four common types of tests professionals use in clinical and counseling settings. Provide an example of each.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

• Structured and semi-structured interviews
o Clinicians frequently interview clients, as a part of the assessment process, to gather information they will use to help diagnose problems and plan treatment programs.
o The typical clinical interview does not ordinarily qualify as a psychological test.
o The clinical interview is not intended to measure samples of behavior in order to make inferences. The clinician merely asks questions to gather information.
o However, some kinds of interviews do qualify as psychological tests.
o Structured interviews require clinicians to ask specific questions, include a representative sample of one or more behaviors, and provide, at a minimum, , guidelines for interpreting results
o Examples are SCID-I (Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders), the Brown Attention-Deficit Disorder Scales, and the Yale–Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS-II)
• Behavior rating scales
o Clinicians who treat children frequently use behavior rating scales. Clinicians can use the scales early in treatment, to develop a treatment plan, or any time in treatment to clarify a diagnosis and revise a treatment plan.
o Behavior rating scales typically require an informant, usually a parent or teacher, to rate a client with regard to very specific behaviors.
o There are also self-report versions of behavior rating scales for which clients rate their own behaviors.
o One example is The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL)
• Symptom checklists and symptom-based self-report tests
o Clinicians also use symptom checklists and self-report tests, which clients complete themselves.
o These kinds of tests list feelings, thoughts, and behaviors that are related to psychiatric disorders, such as depression.
o Examples include the Symptom Checklist 90–Revised (SCL-90-R) and the Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II).
• Comprehensive, clinically oriented self-report tests
o Comprehensive, clinically oriented self-report tests are widely used in clinical settings as they are powerful tools for gathering information about personality and emotional functioning, as well as about symptoms and diagnostic concerns.
o They are most typically used for planning treatment and for consultation and less likely to be used for monitoring progress or outcome.
o Examples include The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory–2 (MMPI-2), the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI), and the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory–III (MCMI-III).
• Performance-based or projective, clinically oriented personality tests
o Performance-based or projective, clinically oriented personality tests are the most controversial of the psychological tests commonly used in clinical and counseling settings.
o There is controversy for tests in this category due to the lack of research supporting the reliability/precision of measurement and validity for intended use.
o Examples include the Rorschach psychodiagnostic technique and the Thematic Apperception Test.
• Cognitive and memory testing
o Cognitive testing refers to the use of tests that measure global and narrow intellectual abilities.
o This information can be important for a subset of clients in clinical settings but is not routine in such settings.
o Rather, cognitive testing is used when there are specific questions about a client’s cognitive strengths and weaknesses that have relevance to diagnostic considerations or treatment planning.
o Examples include the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Fifth Edition (WISC-V) and the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales.