PSYC 806: Advanced Personality Assessment
Prerequisites: Admission into Psy.D. program or permission of instructor
Credit Hours: (3)
The purpose of this course is to provide the student with the historical frame, theory, and research in personality assessment. The student will build mastery in testing theory, assessment selection, administration, scoring, hypothesis testing, and integrated assessment and feedback.
Detailed Description of Course
This course may include the following topics:
1. Context of clinical assessment
A. Ethical, legal, and professional applications
B. Overall cultural considerations, including rural issues
C. Evidence-based practice and assessment
D. Social justice considerations
E. History of personality assessment
F. Theories of personality
2. The assessment interview
A. Building and maintaining rapport
B. Conducting a structured clinical interview
C. Conducting an unstructured clinical interview
3. Behavioral assessment
A. History of behavioral interviewing
B. Application of behavioral interview
4. MMPI-II
A. History
B. Psychometrics
C. Administration
D. Scoring
E. Interpretation
F. Integrating assessment in clinical practice
G. Multicultural application in the clinical setting
5. PAI
A. History
B. Psychometrics
C. Administration
D. Scoring
E. Interpretation
F. Integrating assessment in clinical practice
G. Multicultural application in the clinical setting
6. MCMI-III
A. History
B. Psychometrics
C. Administration
D. Scoring
E. Interpretation
F. Integrating assessment in clinical practice
G. Multicultural application in the clinical setting
7. Brief instruments for treatment planning, monitoring, and outcome(s) assessment
A. History
B. Psychometrics
C. Administration
D. Scoring
E. Interpretation
F. Integrating assessment in clinical practice
G. Multicultural application in the clinical setting
8. Providing clinical feedback
A. Interventions
B. Applied Feedback
C. Ethical implications
9. Psychological assessment and treatment planning
10. Report Writing
A. General guidelines
B. Errors and ethical issues of report writing
Detailed Description of Conduct of Course
This course is intended to provide an advanced level of understanding regarding theory, concepts, and application of assessment in the clinical setting, especially those relevant to objective personality assessment, as well as to build skills needed to administer, score, and interpret prominent personality inventories. Emphasis will be places on “objective”, integrated assessments. Students will gain experience in the administration, scoring, and interpretation of personality measures and in psychological report writing. Significant emphasis will be places on experiential activities. Cultural issues will be infused throughout the course.
Goals and Objectives of the Course
At the end of this course the successful student will be able to:
A) Articulate and discuss the major theories (i.e. conceptual models) associated with
personality disorders
B) Identify the different assessment models associated with personality assessment,
current assessment techniques associated with these models, and the strengths and
weaknesses of these various assessment techniques
C) Utilize the different classifications systems (e.g., DSM-IV-TR)
D) Quickly build and maintain rapport with a client
E) Administer a thorough clinical interview integrating knowledge of strengths-based
and multicultural knowledge
F) Evidence familiarity with psychometric characteristics of different behavioral
and personality measures
G) Write effective and informative psychological reports
H) Provide practical, applicable, and appropriate recommendations and referrals based
on testing results
Assessment Measures
Students will be assessed using several measures, which may include grades on written assignments, participation in group discussion and experiential activities, and performance on the final exam. A midterm, a final, and multiple “quizzes” on administration and scoring of assessments will be required. Obtaining a “test-out score” of 85% on each of the assessments as well as report writing will be required in order to successfully complete this class.
Other Course Information
None
Review and Approval
December, 2007