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We are proposing renaming PSYC 6485. The current title is “Personality Assessment” and the proposed new title is “Clinical Assessment”. The renaming of this courses stems from the need to demonstrate that this course fully reflects the content required by the APA Standards for Accreditation. There will be no changes to the content of the course (see syllabus below).

Psyc 6485: Clinical Assessment

General Description of Course:

This class will survey major measures of personality and psychopathology, including their associated theories, development, applications, and limitations. Self-report and interview measures will be considered, as will objective and projective measures. Additional topics include ethical issues associated with clinical assessment, clinical interviewing, case formulation, and treatment planning based on assessment information. Practice in test administration and interpretation is also included.

Course Objectives:

(1) To develop a basic understanding of the conceptual and methodological foundations of traditional and contemporary psychological assessment.

(2) To summarize ethical principles which pertain to psychological assessment, test interpretation, and the disclosure of test information.

(3) To interpret differences in test performance among persons from diverse backgrounds, and to examine possible explanations for such differences.

(3) To practice semi-structured interviews used in the diagnostic evaluation of children and adults.

(5) To administer and interpretwidely used self-report clinical measures.

(6) To interpret tests, plan treatments, and write reports.

Required Readings:

Students are encouraged to read assigned readings before the presentation of corresponding material in lecture. In addition to the course textbook listed below, required readings for this course and their assigned dates are listed on the last three pages of this syllabus. They can be downloaded from the course’s website on the University’s Blackboard system.

(1) Groth-Marnat, G. (2009). Handbook of psychological assessment (6th ed.). New York: Wiley.

(2) Readings downloadable from Blackboard. References for these readings are provided below.

Additional Readings:

American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, & National Council of Measurement in Education (1999). Standards for educational and psychological testing (pp. 8-17, 25-31, 49-54, 61-62, 73-80, 91-97). Washington, DC: Authors.

Brantley, P.J., Dutton, G.R., & Wood, K.B. (2004). The Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) and the Beck Depression Inventory-Primary Care (BDI-PC). In M. E. Maruish (Ed.), The use of psychological testing for treatment planning and outcomes assessment (3rd ed.): Volume 3. Instruments for adults (pp. 313-326). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Derogatis, L.R., & Fitzpatrick, M. (2004). The SCL-90-R, the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI), and the BSI-18. In M. E. Maruish (Ed.), The use of psychological testing for treatment planning and outcomes assessment (3rd ed.): Volume 3. Instruments for adults (pp. 1-41). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Eaton, W.W., Smith, C., Ybarra, M., Muntaner, C., & Tien, A. (2004). Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale: Review and Revision (CESD and CESD-R). In M. E. Maruish (Ed.), The use of psychological testing for treatment planning and outcomes assessment (3rd ed.): Volume 3. Instruments for adults (pp. 363-377). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

First, M.B., Gibbon. M., Spitzer, R.L., Williams, J.B.W., & Benjamin, L.S. (1997a). User's guide for the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis II Personality Disorders: SCID-II (pp. 1-35). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.

First, M.B., Spitzer, R.L., Gibbon, M. & Williams, J.B.W. (1997b). User’s guide for the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders – Clinician Version: SCID-I (pp. 1-50). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.

Kaufman, J., Birmaher, B., Brent D., Rao, U., Flynn, C., Moreci, P., Williamson, D., & Ryan, N. (1997). Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children-Present and Lifetime version (K-SADS–PL): Initial reliability and validity data. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 36, 980-987.

Koocher, G.P., & Keith-Spiegel, P. (1998). Ethics in psychology: Professional standards and cases (2nd ed., pp. 145-170). New York: Oxford University Press.

Wilson, K.A., Chambless, D.L., & de Beurs, E. (2004). Beck Anxiety Inventory. In M. E. Maruish (Ed.), The use of psychological testing for treatment planning and outcomes assessment (3rd ed.): Volume 3. Instruments for adults (pp. 399-419). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Lectures:

The purpose of the lectures is to clarify and expand upon material covered in the text and readings, as well as to provide relevant supplementary information. Consequently, material will be introduced during the lectures not covered in the text or other readings. Students will be expected to demonstrate mastery of all course material.

Evaluation:

Course evaluation will be determined by class attendance and aggregate performance on a set of activities listed below.

  • Class attendance - 10% of grade.
  • Ethics vignette- 10% of grade.
  • Two diagnostic interviews and write-up of results - 40% of grade.
  • Clinical interviews with corresponding reports. - 40% of grade.

Grading:

Range of ScoresCorresponding Letter Grade

90-100%A

80-89%B

70-79%C

60% and belowF

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Class Schedule and Readings (Tentative)

WeekTopicReadings (see full reference next page)

1 Overview: Clinical Interview G-M: Chapters 1 and 2

and Assessment

2Clinical InterviewingG-M: Chapter 3

3 Ethics and Psychological AssessmentKoocher & Keith-Spiegel (1998);

AERA, APA, & NCME (1999);

4Projectives (Rorschach/TAT)G-M: Chapters 10 and 11

5MMPIG-M: Chapter 7

6MMPI___

7MCMIG-M: Chapter 8

8PAI

9 SCID-IIFirst et al (1997a)

10 SCID II, SCID-IFirst et al (1997b)

11 SCID I–––

12 K-SADSKaufman et al (1997)

13 Popular Self-Report MeasuresG-M: Chapter 13

Eaton et al. (2004); Wilson et al. (2004)

Derogatis & Fitzpatrick (2004);

14 Popular Self-Report MeasuresLedley et al (2005);

Beck (1995); Brantley et al. (2004);

15Psychological AssessmentG-M: Chapter 14

and Treatment Planning

16Report WritingG-M: Chapter 15

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