Psychological Assessment I

Objectives

At the end of CU the student should be able to:

1. Frame historically the emergence of psychological assessment

2. Understand the key concepts and theoretical approaches related to psychological assessment

3. Recognize the psychological assessment process and its complexity: objectives, contexts, phases

4. Recognize and understand the relevance of the psychometric properties of the assessment instruments

5. Identify the main psychological assessment methods/instruments: characteristics, strengths and limitations

6. Acquire basic skills in interview and direct observation

7. Reflect on ethical and deontological issues of psychological assessment and their relevance for the psychologist’s activity

Program

1. Introduction to psychological assessment

    1.1. History of psychological assessment (international and in Portugal)

    1.2. Concepts, objectives and main theoretical approaches related to psychological assessment

    1.3. Contexts of psychological assessment

2. Psychometrics

    2.1. Construction and adaptation of psychological assessment instruments

    2.2. Psychometric properties: reliability and validity

    2.3. Psychological assessment test scores

3. Psychological assessment: Process

    3.1. Phases of the psychological assessment process

    3.2. Psychological assessment as a decision-making process: heuristics, bias and errors.

4. Psychological assessment: Methods and instruments

    4.1. Interview

    4.2. Observation

    4.3. Psychological tests

    4.4. Rating scales and inventories

5. Ethics and deontology in psychological assessment

Teaching Methodologies

Theoretical/expositive and theoretical-practical lectures using audiovisual resources (power point)

Presentation of several assessment instruments

Practical exercises

Small group work

Analysis and discussion of scientific articles/texts

Bibliography

Cohen, R. J., & Swerdlik, M. E. (2018). Psychological testing and assessment: An introduction to tests and measurement (9^th ed.). McGraw-Hill

Cooper, C. (2018). Psychological testing: Theory and practice. Routledge.

Fernandez-Ballesteros, R.  (2014). Evaluación psicológica: Conceptos, métodos y estudio de casos (2ª ed.). Pirámide.

Groth-Marnat, G. & Wright, J. (2016).  Handbook of psychological assessment (6th ed.). Wiley.

Moreira, J. M. (2004). Questionários: Teoria e prática. Almedina.

Suhr, J. A. (2015). Psychological assessment: A problem-solving approach. Guilford.

Urbina, S. (2014). Essentials of psychological testing (2^nd ed.). John Wiley & Sons.

Wright, A. J. (2011). Conducting psychological assessment: A guide for practitioners. Wiley.