2.B.2
Tailoring the assessment as it unfolds
Énoncé de compétence 2.B.2 d’ASPPB : Demonstrate a flexible, appropriate, and tailored use of a broad range of assessment methods
Good assessment is not a fixed battery given to everyone. The psychologist draws on a broad repertoire, adjusts the plan as hypotheses sharpen, and changes approach when a method does not work, whether because the person cannot or will not engage with it or because early findings point elsewhere. Approaches such as collaborative or therapeutic assessment, functional analysis and dynamic assessment widen what an assessment can do.
Notions clés
- Multimethod by design
- A review drawing on more than 125 validity meta-analyses and 800 multimethod samples concluded that distinct methods provide unique information and that clinicians who rely only on interviews are prone to incomplete understandings.
- Hypothesis-driven sequencing
- Starting broad and then adding focused measures where screening, history or observation point keeps the assessment efficient and aimed at the referral question, instead of testing everything or stopping at the first plausible explanation.
- Collaborative and therapeutic assessment
- The client helps frame the questions and discusses the findings. A meta-analysis of 17 studies found that assessment combined with personalized, collaborative feedback had an overall effect of d = 0.42, with the largest effects on therapy process.
- Functional analysis
- Functional analysis observes and measures a problem behavior under at least two conditions that change an environmental event, to show which events influence it; the results guide intervention planning.
- Changing route when a method fails
- If a person cannot complete a method because of fatigue, refusal or a barrier, the psychologist reaches the same information another way, such as interview, observation or informants, and records the change and its effect on confidence.
Exemple commenté
Leila, 12, is referred for missing school on about two days a week this term. Her parents complete intake forms readily, but in her first interview Leila answers most questions with a shrug or a single word.
- The psychologist interviews the parents and Leila separately and asks the school for attendance records, to map exactly which days and classes she misses.
- Since direct questions are not working, the psychologist asks Leila to sort cards naming parts of the school day into piles from easy to hard, then talks about the hardest ones.
- The pattern points to days with oral presentations and gym class, so the psychologist adds a social anxiety measure, a teacher interview and an observation during a group activity.
- Leila and her parents help write the questions the feedback session will answer, which keeps her engaged in the rest of the assessment.
Let emerging hypotheses and the person's responses steer the choice of methods, while keeping the referral question in view.
Vérifiez vos acquis
Why does a psychologist add other methods instead of relying on a thorough clinical interview alone?
Sources
- Meyer, Finn, Eyde, Kay, Moreland, Dies, Eisman, Kubiszyn and Reed (2001), Psychological testing and psychological assessment: A review of evidence and issues, American Psychologist (PMID 11279806), American Psychologist 56, 128-165 (abstract: conclusions c and d)
- Poston and Hanson (2010), Meta-analysis of psychological assessment as a therapeutic intervention, Psychological Assessment (PMID 20528048), Psychological Assessment 22, 203-212 (17 studies; overall d = 0.423; process d = 1.117)
- Hanley, Iwata and McCord (2003), Functional analysis of problem behavior: A review, Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (PMID 12858983), Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis 36, 147-185 (definition: direct measurement under at least two conditions manipulating an environmental variable)
- De Los Reyes, Augenstein, Wang, Thomas, Drabick, Burgers and Rabinowitz (2015), The validity of the multi-informant approach to assessing child and adolescent mental health, Psychological Bulletin (PMID 25915035), Psychological Bulletin 141, 858-900 (informants observe different contexts)
- Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (AERA, APA and NCME, 2014), Chapter 10, Psychological Testing and Assessment