Description of Course:
This course will survey both the traditional and more recent approaches to assessment in clinical psychology. Although lectures and readings will be used to provide part of this overview, your acquisition of testing experience will represent an important component of this course. During this class, there will also be a number of opportunities to write psychological reports. The primary objectives of this course include the following: (a) to facilitate the development of your skills in test administration and in the communication of test results; (b) to provide you with a knowledge of the psychometric properties of commonly used tests; and (c) to encourage you to critically evaluate the utility of several assessment techniques for both clinical practice and research.

Texts:
(Required)

• Groth-Marnat, G. (2003). Handbook of psychological assessment (4th ed.). New York: Wiley.
• A packet of readings is on reserve in the Psychological Services Clinic workroom.

(Recommended)

• Graham, J. R. (2000). MMPI-2: Assessing personality and psychopathology (3rd ed.). New York: Oxford.

Course Requirements:

Your final grade for this course will be based on the total number of points that you obtain in completing the following requirements: psychological testing/report writing (52 possible points); a short term paper (20 possible points); and an exam (33 possible points). The breakdown of possible points for psychological testing/report writing is as follows: 2 points for learning to correctly administer and score the WAIS-III; 10 points for the first assigned test battery and written report; 12 points for the second test battery and report; 14 points for the third battery/report; and 14 points for the fourth battery/report. The term paper will describe and evaluate an existing psychological inventory (one not covered in class) and should be 10 to 15 pages in total length; examples of paper topics will be discussed in class. The final exam will be comprehensive and will be given at the regularly scheduled examination meeting time. The dates for completing the various requirements in the course are firm and are listed later on this syllabus. It is important that you read the assigned chapters and articles in advance of the class session in which they will be covered.

Test Materials and Administration:

All of the test materials and scoring forms that you will need for this course can be found in the Psychological Services Clinic. Because the clinic has a limited supply of test materials (i.e., WAIS-III kits, MMPI-2 booklets, TAT and Rorschach cards), you will need to return these materials promptly after using them to ensure that they are readily available to other students. Testing sessions can be scheduled during regular hours in the Psychological Services Clinic. Following each testing session, you are responsible for returning the table and chairs in the clinic room to their previous arrangement for therapy. I will provide additional details in class about the individuals you will test and about the length of time you will need to schedule for the various testing sessions.

Psychology 414 Schedule of Topics and Assignments

Date/Topic/Assignment (see Reading List)

Aug. 23--Introduction and Context of Clinical Assessment--I

Aug. 30--Assessment Interview and Psychological Report Writing--II and III

Sept. 13--Intellectual Assessment: Adult--IV

Sept. 20*--Intellectual Assessment: Adult--IV

Sept. 27*--Intellectual Assessment: Adult and Intellectual Assessment: Child--IV and V

Oct. 4*--Intellectual Assessment: Child--V

Oct. 11--Personality Assessment: General and Personality Assessment: MMPI-2--VI and VII

Oct. 18*--Personality Assessment: MMPI-2--VII

Oct. 25--Personality Assessment: TAT--VIII

Nov. 1*--Personality Assessment: Rorschach--IX

Nov. 8--Personality Assessment: Rorschach--IX

Nov. 15*--Personality Assessment: Rorschach and Family/Marital Assessment--IX and X

THANKSGIVING RECESS

Nov. 29*--Family/Marital Assessment and School Assessment--X and XI

Dec. 6--Community Assessment--XII

Dec. 13 (Mon.)*--FINAL EXAM

*Important Dates:

September 20--WAIS-III record form due

September 27--Paper topic proposal due

October 4--First report due

October 18--Short paper due

November 1--Second report due

November 15--Third report due

December 29--Fourth report due

December 13--Final exam, 1:00 - 3:00 p.m.

Reading List for Psychology 414

I. Context of Clinical Assessment

• Groth-Marnat, G. (2003). Introduction. In G. Groth-Marnat, Handbook of psychological assessment (4th ed., pp. 1-36). New York: Wiley.
  
  
• Groth-Marnat, G. (2003). The context of clinical assessment. In G. Groth-Marnat, Handbook of psychological assessment (4th ed., pp. 37-68). New York: Wiley.
  
  
• Okazaki, S., & Sue, S. (1995). Methodological issues in assessment research with ethnic minorities. Psychological Assessment, 7, 367-375.
  
  
• Phinney, J. S. (1996). When we talk about American ethnic groups, what do we mean? American Psychologist, 51, 918-927.

II. Assessment Interview

• Groth-Marnat, G. (2003). The assessment interview. In G. Groth-Marnat, Handbook of psychological assessment (4th ed., pp. 69-101). New York: Wiley.
  
  
• Watkins, C. E., Jr., Campbell, V. L., Nieberding, R., & Hallmark, R. (1995). Contemporary practice of psychological assessment by clinical psychologists. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 26, 54-60.

III. Psychological Report Writing

• Groth-Marnat, G. (2003). The psychological report. In G. Groth-Marnat, Handbook of psychological assessment (4th ed., pp. 621-671). New York: Wiley.

IV. Intellectual Assessment: Adult

• Anastasi, A., & Urbina, S. (1997). Psychological issues in ability testing. In A. Anastasi & S. Urbina, Psychological testing (7th ed., pp. 331-346). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
  
  
• Ceci, S. J., & Williams, W. M. (1997). Schooling, intelligence, and income. American Psychologist, 52, 1051-1058.
  
  
• Groth-Marnat, G. (2003). The Wechsler Intelligence Scales. In G. Groth-Marnat, Handbook of psychological assessment (4th ed., pp. 129-195). New York: Wiley.
  
  
• Kaufman, A. S. (1990). Heritability and malleability of IQ and attacks on the IQ construct. In A. S. Kaufman, Assessing adolescent and adult intelligence (pp. 30-63). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
  
  
• Kaufman, A. S. (1990). V-P IQ discrepancies: Base rates, lateralized brain damage, and diverse correlates. In A. S. Kaufman, Assessing adolescent and adult intelligence (pp. 263-300). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
  
  
• Neisser, U., Boodoo, G., Bouchard, T. J., Boykin, A. W., Brody, N., Ceci, S. J., Halpern, D. F., Loehlin, J. C., Perloff, R., Sternberg, R. J., & Urbina, S. (1996). Intelligence: Knowns and unknowns. American Psychologist, 51, 77-101.
  
  
• Sternberg, R. J., Wagner, R. K., Williams, W. M., & Horvath, J. A. (1995). Testing common sense. American Psychologist, 50, 912-927.
  
  
• Suzuki, L. A., & Valencia, R. R. (1997). Race-ethnicity and measured intelligence. American Psychologist, 52, 1103-1114.

• Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Third Edition: IQ and Index Scores. (Supplement to Class Lectures.)

V. Intellectual Assessment: Child

• Anastasi, A., & Urbina, S. (1997). Psychological issues in ability testing. In A. Anastasi & S. Urbina, Psychological testing (7th ed., pp. 323-330). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
  
  
• Detterman, D. K., & Thompson, L. A. (1997). What is so special about special education? American Psychologist, 52, 1082-1090.
  
  
• Harrison, P. L. (1990). Mental retardation, adaptive behavior assessment, and giftedness. In A. S. Kaufman, Assessing adolescent and adult intelligence (pp. 533-585). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
  

• Intellectual Assessment of Children. (Supplement to class lectures.)
  
  
• Kanaya, T., Scullin, M. H., & Ceci, S. J. (2003). The Flynn effect and U.S. policies: The impact of rising IQ scores on American society via mental retardation diagnoses. American Psychologixt, 58, 778-790.
  

• Winner, E. (1997). Exceptionally high intelligence and schooling. American Psychologist, 52, 1070-1081.

VI. Personality Assessment: General

• Anastasi, A., & Urbina, S. (1997). Evaluation of projective techniques. In A. Anastasi & S. Urbina, Psychological testing (7th ed., pp. 432-442). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
  
  
• Anastasi, A., & Urbina, S. (1997). Self-report personality inventories. In A. Anastasi & S. Urbina, Psychological testing (7th ed., pp. 348-351, 359-385). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
  

• Groth-Marnat, G. (2003). Brief instruments for treatment planning, monitoring, and outcome assessment. In G. Groth-Marnat, Handbook of psychological assessment (4th ed., pp. 579-593). New York: Wiley.
  
  
• Lah, M. I. (1989). Sentence completion tests. In C. S. Newmark (Ed.), Major psychological assessment instruments (Vol. 2, pp. 133-163). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

VII. Personality Assessment: MMPI-2

• Appendix A: Composition of the Standard Validity and Clinical Scales. (Supplement to class lectures.)
  
  
• Berry, D. T. R., Baer, R. A., & Harris, M. J. (1991). Detection of malingering on the MMPI: A meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 11, 585-598.
  
  
• Butcher, J. N., Graham, J. R., & Ben-Porath, Y. S. (1995). Methodological problems and issues in MMPI, MMPI-2, and MMPI-A research. Psychological Assessment, 7, 320-329.
  
  
• Follette, W. R. (1991). How can you tell if the recipes in the cookbook are right? The Scientist Practitioner, pp. 27, 35, 36.
  
  
• Graham, J. R. (2000). MMPI-2: Assessing personality and psychopathology (3rd ed.). New York: Oxford.
  
  
• Groth-Marnat, G. (2003). The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. In G. Groth-Marnat, Handbook of psychological assessment (4th ed., pp. 213-309). New York: Wiley.
  
  
• Hall, G. C. N., Bansal, A., & Lopez, I. R. (1999). Ethnicity and psychopathology: A meta-analytic review of 31 years of comparative MMPI/MMPI-2 research. Psychological Assessment, 11, 186-197.
  
  
• MMPI: Two-Point and Three-Point Code Types. (Supplement to class lectures.)
  
  
• Scoring Procedures for the True Response Inconsistency (TRIN) Scale on the MMPI-2. (Supplement to class lectures.)

VIII. Personality Assessment: TAT

• Bellak, L. (1993). Interpretation of the T.A.T. In L. Bellak, The T.A.T., C.A.T., and S.A.T. in clinical use (5th ed., pp. 75-114). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
  
  
• Groth-Marnat, G. (2003). The Thematic Apperception Test. In G. Groth-Marnat, Handbook of psychological assessment (4th ed., pp.477-515). New York: Wiley.

IX. Personality Assessment: Rorschach

• Groth-Marnat, G. (2003). The Rorschach. In G. Groth-Marnat, Handbook of psychological assessment (4th ed., pp. 407-475). New York: Wiley.
  
  
• Meyer, G. J., & Archer, R. P. (2001). The hard science of Rorschach research: What do we know and where do we go? Psychological Assessment, 13, 486-502.
  
  
• Rorschach: Major Scoring Categories. (Supplement to class lectures.)
  
  
• Rorschach: Response Locations. (Supplement to class lectures.)
  
  
• Weiner, I. B. (1995). Methodological considerations in Rorschach research. Psychological Assessment, 7, 330-337.
  
  
• Weiner, I. B. (1996). Some observations on the validity of the Rorschach Inkblot Method. Psychological Assessment, 8, 206-213.

X. Family and Marital Assessment

• Jacob, T., & Tennenbaum, D. L. (1988). Classifying family measurement methods. In T. Jacob & D. L. Tennenbaum, Family assessment: Rationale, methods, and future directions (pp. 13-21). New York: Plenum.
  
  
• Jacob, T., Tennenbaum, D. L., & Krahn, G. (1987). The context of observed interactions. In T. Jacob (Ed.), Family interaction and psychopathology: Theory, methods, and findings (pp. 306-328). New York: Plenum.
  
  
• L'Abate, L., Ganahl, G., & Hansen, J. C. (1986). Diagrams in family assessment. In L. L'Abate, G. Ganahl, & J. C. Hansen, Methods of family therapy (pp. 51-56). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
  
  
• Markman, H. J., & Notarius, C. I. (1987). Coding marital and family interaction: Current status. In T. Jacob (Ed.), Family interaction and psychopathology: Theory, methods, and findings (pp. 329-343, 384-389). New York: Plenum.
  
  
• Olson, D. H., Portner, J., & Lavee, Y. (1985). FACES-III. St. Paul: Department of Family Social Science, University of Minnesota.
  
  
• Skinner, H. A. (1987). Self-report instruments for family assessment. In T. Jacob (Ed.), Family interaction and psychopathology: Theories, methods and findings (pp. 427-452). New York: Plenum.

XI. School Assessment

• Henggeler, S. W., & Borduin, C. M. (1990). The school system and the family-school mesosystem. In S. W. Henggeler & C. M. Borduin, Family therapy and beyond: A multisystemic approach to treating the behavior problems of children and adolescents (pp. 169-193). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.

XII. Community Assessment

• Cowen, E. L. (1983). Community mental health and primary prevention. In I. B. Weiner (Ed.), Clinical methods in psychology (2nd ed., pp. 634-695). New York: Wiley.