Explore assessment in clinical practice. What is available? Why is it important? Focus on general aspects rather than focusing on one or two specific diagnoses.
Assessment in clinical practice is a crucial first step towards making a diagnosis. A mental health professional is able to use a variety of assessment tools to carry out a complete psychological assessment and provide an enhanced picture of the patient (Kring et al., 2014).
This essay will explore two assessment measures used in clinical practice; clinical interviews and neurobiological methods. The benefits and weaknesses of each method along with general aspects of assessment will be explored, revealing patterns in clinical practice that have been present during the past few …show more content…
These structured interviews allow professionals to collect standardised information through a prescribed set of questions and response options (Kring et al., 2014). The DIS-IV is a highly structured interview in which questions are read verbatim and includes response options in which answers are coded accordingly. There is little flexibility, with no follow-up questions unless specified in the manual (Koerner, Hood & Antony). A more commonly used interview is the SCID for Axis I of the DSM-IV (Kring et al., 2014). The SCID is a branching interview in which the answers given by the client determine the direction of the interview. Alike the DIS-IV, the SCID has detailed instructions regarding when to probe and when to move onto other questions. The rating system of the SCID allows direct transference of scores derived from symptoms into diagnoses (Kring et al., …show more content…
This was a more flexible hypothesis-testing strategy represented by Luria to test for different types of impairment. Unlike the HRB, Luria was not interested in the score a patient received or cut-off points, rather why the individual performed in a certain manner (Groth-Marnat, 2009).
There are strengths and weaknesses for each of these approaches. A comparative factor is the impact of education on assessment. The Luria-Nebraska can control for educational level (Kring et al., 2014) whereas, HRB has been found to be impacted by education causing competing hypotheses and interaction effects (Leckliter, 1989). In opposition to this, the approach of the HRB allows for both strengths and weaknesses to be assessed across a broad spectrum, whereas the Luria-Nebraska focuses more on the individuals’ weaknesses and provides a narrower view regarding domains of function (Groth-Marnat, 2009).
The preceding description has been somewhat polarised, whereas in practice clinicians integrate the psychometric and pathognomic approaches. A vast majority of clinical neuropsychological assessments combine a fixed core battery combined with additional flexible tests that can be selected based on the individual (Groth-Marnat,
Assessment in clinical practice is a crucial first step towards making a diagnosis. A mental health professional is able to use a variety of assessment tools to carry out a complete psychological assessment and provide an enhanced picture of the patient (Kring et al., 2014).
This essay will explore two assessment measures used in clinical practice; clinical interviews and neurobiological methods. The benefits and weaknesses of each method along with general aspects of assessment will be explored, revealing patterns in clinical practice that have been present during the past few …show more content…
These structured interviews allow professionals to collect standardised information through a prescribed set of questions and response options (Kring et al., 2014). The DIS-IV is a highly structured interview in which questions are read verbatim and includes response options in which answers are coded accordingly. There is little flexibility, with no follow-up questions unless specified in the manual (Koerner, Hood & Antony). A more commonly used interview is the SCID for Axis I of the DSM-IV (Kring et al., 2014). The SCID is a branching interview in which the answers given by the client determine the direction of the interview. Alike the DIS-IV, the SCID has detailed instructions regarding when to probe and when to move onto other questions. The rating system of the SCID allows direct transference of scores derived from symptoms into diagnoses (Kring et al., …show more content…
This was a more flexible hypothesis-testing strategy represented by Luria to test for different types of impairment. Unlike the HRB, Luria was not interested in the score a patient received or cut-off points, rather why the individual performed in a certain manner (Groth-Marnat, 2009).
There are strengths and weaknesses for each of these approaches. A comparative factor is the impact of education on assessment. The Luria-Nebraska can control for educational level (Kring et al., 2014) whereas, HRB has been found to be impacted by education causing competing hypotheses and interaction effects (Leckliter, 1989). In opposition to this, the approach of the HRB allows for both strengths and weaknesses to be assessed across a broad spectrum, whereas the Luria-Nebraska focuses more on the individuals’ weaknesses and provides a narrower view regarding domains of function (Groth-Marnat, 2009).
The preceding description has been somewhat polarised, whereas in practice clinicians integrate the psychometric and pathognomic approaches. A vast majority of clinical neuropsychological assessments combine a fixed core battery combined with additional flexible tests that can be selected based on the individual (Groth-Marnat,