PSY334 Test 1

What is Clinical Psychology?

Integrates research, teaching, and services to understand, assess, predict, and alleviate psychological difficulties and promote well-being (science informs practice)

What is Assessment?

allows for diagnosis as well as treatment planning

What is Treatment?

to understand and solve psychological problems

What is Research?

using science to guide future treatment approaches

What is Teaching?

instruction of undergraduate or graduate courses

What is Consultation?

providing advice to various organizations

What is Administration?

managing organizations daily operations

Psychologists Subfields

counseling psychology, school psychology, social work, behavior analysis, sports psychology

Steps to Clinical Psychology career

continuing education → state licensure → licensure exam (EPP + state specific) → postdoctoral supervision → supervised clinical training (practicum & internship) → doctoral degree in clinical psychology

Evidence-Based Practice: 3-Legged Stool

1. best available research (choose treatment based on best research)

2. clinical expertise (use therapist’s training, knowledge and experience to help clients)

3. patient characteristics, culture, and preferences

What is Consultation?

a professional provides advice/guidance to another person to help them support someone else

What is Therapy?

works directly with a client to address their emotional, behavior, or mental health concerns

What is Empirical tradition?

scientific investigation of behavior

What is Psychometric tradition?

measuring individual differences, such as intelligence and personality

What is Clinical tradition?

understanding, assessing, and changing behavior

Who was Wilhelm Wundt?

established 1st formal experimental psychology lab in 1879, studied mental processes through controlled experiments

Who was Franz Joseph Gall?

developed phrenology (the false belief that the shape and bumps of the skull reveal personality and mental abilities), not valid because it’s not reliable

Who was Francis Galton?

helped start the mental testing movement by studying individual differences

Who was James McKeen Cattell?

developed sensory-motor mental tests to measure individual abilities

Who was Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon?

developed an early intelligence scale to identify children who needed educational assistance

Who was Lewis Terman?

adapted binet and simon’s intelligence test into the Stanford-Binet intelligence test

Who was Lightner Witmer?

established first psychological clinic in 1896 and helped develop clinical psychology as a profession

Was is Assessment before Intervention?

evaluate a person’s needs and difficulties before deciding on treatment

What is Multidisciplinary Collaboration?

professionals from different fields work together to help a client

What is Evidence-Based Assessment?

uses reliable tests, scientific research, and appropriate evaluation methods

What is Physiognomy?

the unsupported belief that facial features reveal a person’s character

What is Phrenology?

the unsupported belief that skull shape reveals psychological traits

What are Supernatural Explanations?

psychological problems were sometimes blamed on spirits, demons, or supernatural forces

What are Hippocrates?

promoted natural explanations for mental illness, including role of people with mental illness

What is Moral Treatment?

emphasized humane care, dignity, kindness, and respectful treatment of people with mental illness

Who was Emil Kraepelin?

classified mental disorders based on their signs, symptoms, and pattern’s over time

How did WW1 affect the psychological field?

increased the use of psychological testing to evaluate soldiers avilities and identify psychological difficulties

How did WW2 affect the psychological field?

increased the need for psychological assessment and psychotherapy for service members and veterans, helping expand clinical psychology

What is the Psychodynamic approach?

unconscious conflicts and past relationships influence behavior

What is the Humanistic approach?

problems relate to subjective experiences, personal growth, and the need for acceptance

What is the Behavioral approach?

behavior is learned through conditioning, reinforcement, and punishment

What is the Cognitive approach?

unhelpful thoughts and interpretations contribute to psychological problems

What is the CBT approach?

thoughts and behaviors influence each other; treatment may use cognitive restructuring and exposure

What is the Social Systems approach?

relationships, family, culture, poverty, and discrimination influence problems

What is the Biological system?

brain function, genetics, and other biological processes contribute to psychological problems

What is the Diathesis-Stress Model?

explains how vulnerabilities interact with stress

What is Clinical Prediction?

a clinician uses personal judgement, experience, and intuition to interpret information

What is Statistical prediction?

uses data, mathematical formulas, or models to predict outcomes

How can judgement be inaccurate?

intuition and cognitive biases can cause clinicians to overlook evidence to make incorrect assumptions

Effective Psychological Reports should…

1. clearly answer the referral question

2. combine information from multiple sources (interviews, tests, and observations)

3. include specific finding rather than generic descriptions

What is Confirmation bias?

looking for information that supports an existing belief while ignoring evidence that contradicts it

What is Availability heuristic?

judging how common or likely something is based on how easily examples come to mind

What is Illusory Correlation?

believing two things are related when evidence does not support a relationship

What is Anchoring?

relying to heavily on the first piece of information or initial impression when making a judgement

What is the DSM-5-TR?

provides diagnostic criteria used to classify mental disorders

What is the Categorical approach?

a person either meets the criteria for a disorder or does not

What is the Dimensional approach?

measures symptoms or traits along a continuum, such as mild, moderate, or severe

Hierarchial approaches to a diagnosis…

1. categorical (places a person into a specific diagnostic category)

2. dimensional (measures the degree or severity of symptoms)

3. hierarchical (organizes related symptoms and disorders into broader groups/dimensions, recognizing that different disorders may share underlying features)

What is Dimensional Spectra approach?

groups related psychological problems along broader dimensions rather than treating every disorder as completely separate

What is the RDoC (research domain criteria)?

studies underlying behavioral and biological systems, such as fear, reward, and cognition, rather than relying only on DSM diagnostic categories

What is Inter-rater Reliability?

the agree to which different raters agree when evaluating the same person or information

What is a Intake Interview?

collects background information and identifies the client’s concerns

What is Problem-Referral Interview?

focuses on a specific problem that led someone to seek help

What is Orientation Interview?

explains the process, expectations, rules, and purpose of services

What is Debriefing/Termination Interview?

reviews progress, discusses outcomes, and prepares to end services or a study

What is Crisis Interview?

assesses an urgent situation and addresses immediate safety needs

What is a Mental Status Examination (MSE)?

Evaluates a persons mental functioning including: appearance, behavior, speech, consciousness, mood, perceptions, orientation, memory, and attention

What is a Nondirective Interview Structure?

uses open-ended questions and allows the client to guide the conversation

What is a Semistructured Interview?

uses a flexible list of topics or questions

What is a Structured interview structure?

uses standardized questions in a specific order

What is Client Varience?

the client’s responses differ across situations or times

What is Information Variance?

different questions or observations produce different information

What is Criterion Variance?

interviewers apply different standards when interpreting the same responses

How do you open an interview?

build rapport and help the client feel comfortable, explain the purpose and expectations

What do you do during an interview?

practice active listening and empathy, remain nonjudgmental, reflect the client’s content or emotions, avoid leading questions that influence the client’s answers

How do you close an interview?

summarize the main points, check you understood correctly, discuss next steps, allow time for doorknob moments (important concerns clients mention just as the interview is ending)

What are nonverbal clues?

body language, facial expressions, and eye contact

What are cultural norms?

different cultures have different expectations for communication and emotional expression

What is Access Barriers?

financial, language, transportation, or other barriers, may affect access to care

What is Medical Mistrust?

previous negative experiences or discriminations may make clients hesitant to trust professionals

What is Diagnosis Bias?

a clinician’s assumptions can lead to inaccurate diagnoses

What is Postural Mirroring?

matching another person’s posture, which may help build rapport but does not necessarily prove empathy or agreement

What is Naturalistic observation?

observing behavior in everyday settings without controlling the situation

What is Controlled assessment?

observing behavior in structured situations, such as role plays, performance tasks, behavioral approach/avoidance tasks, physiological measurements, or virtual reality

What is Representativeness?

how well observed behavior reflects what the person typically does in real life

What are Demand Characteristics?

when people change their behavior because they know they are being observed or believe they know what is expected

What is Self-Monitoring?

when clients systematically record their own behaviors, thoughts, or feelings over time