PSYC 435 - Abnormal Psychology, CHAPTER 4 to 6, Complete Correct Solutions Test bank Questions and Answers, A+

PSYC 435 - Abnormal Psychology, CHAPTER 4 to 6, Complete Correct Solutions Test bank Questions and Answers, A+-4.1 Identify the basic elements in assessment What is the difference between clinical diagnosis and psychological assessment? • Psychological assessment refers to a procedure by which clinicians, using psychological tests, observation, and interviews, develop a summary of the client’s symptoms and problems. • Clinical diagnosis is the process through which a clinician arrives at a general “summary classification” of the patient’s symptoms by following a clearly defined system such as DSM-5 or ICD-10 (International Classification of Diseases), the latter published by the World Health Organization (WHO). What components must be integrated into a dynamic formulation? • PERSONALITY FACTORS Assessment should include a description of any relevant long-term personality characteristics. Has the person typically responded in deviant ways to particular kinds of situations? • THE SOCIAL CONTEXT It is also important to assess the social context in which the individual functions. What kinds of environmental demands are typically placed on the person, and what supports, or special stressors exist in her or his life situation? • The diverse and often conflicting bits of information about the individual’s personality traits, behavior patterns, environmental demands, and so on, must then be integrated into a consistent and meaningful picture. Some clinicians refer to this picture as a “dynamic formulation” because it not only describes the current situation but also includes hypotheses about what is driving the person to behave in maladaptive ways Describe the important elements in a social or behavioral history. • Because a wide range of factors can play important roles in causing and maintaining maladaptive behavior, assessment may involve the coordinated use of physical, psychological, and environmental assessment procedures What does it mean to use culturally fair assessments? • It is criti- cal for the psychologist to be informed of the issues involved in multicultural assessment (often referred to as cultural competence) and to use testing procedures that have been adapted and validated for culturally diverse clients • These issues involve the importance of ensuring that the characteristics of the test being employed are appropriate across cultures and that potential biasing fac- tors do not interfere with critical thinking in the overall assessment process. • Psychologists need to ensure that the test proce- dures they employ are appropriate for the particular client. For example, the psychological equivalence of a test for use with a particular population should be determined. The meaning or cultural significance of test items should be similar across cultural groups What is the impact of professional orientation on the structure and form of a psychological evaluation? • typically a psychia- trist or other medical practitioner—is likely to focus on biological assessment methods aimed at determining any underlying organic malfunctioning that may be causing the maladaptive behavior. A psychodynamic or psychoan- alytically oriented clinician may choose unstructured per- sonality assessment techniques, such as the Rorschach inkblots or the Thematic Apperception Test • Such trends are instead a matter of emphasis and point to the fact that certain types of assessments are more conducive than others to uncovering particular causal factors Does providing test feedback to clients aid them in their adjustment? • Inter- estingly, when patients are given appropriate feedback on test results, they tend to improve—just from gaining a per- spective on their problems as a result of the testing. 4.2 Describe the factors involved in the assessment of the physical organism. Compare and contrast five important neurological procedures. What makes each one particularly valuable? electroencephalogram (EEG) to assess brain wave patterns in awake and sleeping states. An EEG is a graphical record of the brain’s electrical activity. An EEG may reveal a dysrhythmia, or irregular pattern, in the brain’s electrical activity. For example, recent research has supported a link between resting frontal EEG asymmetry and depression. computerized axial tomography (CAT) scan,Through the use of X-rays, a CAT scan reveals images of parts of the brain that might be diseased. This procedure has aided neurological study in recent years by providing rapid access, without surgery, to accurate information about the localization and extent of anomalies in the brain’s structural characteristics. magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The images of the interior of the brain are frequently sharper with MRI because of its superior ability to differentiate subtle variations in soft tis- sue. In addition, the MRI procedure is normally far less complicated to administer than a CAT scan and does not subject the patient to ionizing radiation. MRI can be problematic. For example, some patients have a claustrophobic reaction to being placed into the narrow cylinder of the MRI machine functional MRI (fMRI) fMRI most often measures changes in local oxygenation (i.e., blood flow) of specific areas of brain tissue that in turn depend on neuronal activity in those specific regions. MRI scans image anatomical structure whereas FMRI image metabolic function.