Discussion Questions

Have you had any recent experiences with being interviewed (e.g., employment interview, stress interview, hypnotic interview, cognitive interview, mental status examination)? Was the interviewer warm and accepting or cool and aloof? Were open-or closed-ended questions posed? Did you feel the interviewer understood you? How did the interviewer attempt to put you at ease? Was it structured or unstructured? Based on your reading of the section on psychometric aspects of the interview, how might the reliability and validity of the type interview in which you were a participant be assessed? How can it be increased? Based on your experiences, how was culture considered?

Compare and contrast clinical and counseling psychologists in relation to their use of psychological tests.

Why is face validity a problem with the Beck Depression Inventory?

What do the Barnum and Aunt Fanny effects tell a psychologist about what to include and what not to include when writing a psychological report?

Can you differentiate diagnostic from screening measures. Which appears to be the most reliable and valid based on the information presented?

What is forensic psychological assessment? In what specific contexts might it be used?

Identify the emotional and behavioral indications of child abuse and neglect. How does the psychologist assess these? Discuss the reasoning of why tests that measure risk of child abuse are not permissible in court. How is the concept of base rate related to this decision?

Discuss the impact of managed care on clinical assessment. Include the impact on the amount of assessment conducted as well as the choice of approaches.