SYLLABUS:
Psychology 5321
Graduate Seminar in Personality Assessment
Instructor: Dr. James Wood
Psychology 203
Phone: 747-6570
E-mail: jawood@utep.edu
Website: http://utminers.utep.edu/jawood
Office Hours:
Tuesdays and Thursdays 8:00-10:00
or by appointment
Texts:
Greene, R. L. (1999). MMPI-2: An Interpretive Manual (2nd ed.) Boston: Allyn &
Bacon.
Lanyon, R. I., & Goodstein, L. D. (1997) Personality Assessment (3rd ed.)
New York: Wiley.
Assorted articles and book chapters, as listed in syllabus.
READINGS (must be completed by the dates given)
January 21
January 28
Lanyon & Goodstein, Chapters 1-3
Lanyon & Goodstein, Chapters 4 & 5
Lilienfeld, S. O., Wood, J. M., & Garb, H. N. (2000). The
scientific status of projective techniques. Psychological
Science in the Public Interest, 1, 27-66.
Wood, J. M., Nezworski, M. T., Lilienfeld, S. O., & Garb, H. N.
(2003). The Rorschach, fortune tellers, and cold reading.
Manuscript submitted for publication.
February 4
Lanyon & Goodstein, Chapters 6 & 7
Hunsley, J., Lee, C. M., & Wood, J. M. (2003). Controversial and
questionable assessment procedures. In S. O. Lilienfeld, J.
M. Lohr, & S. J. Lynn (Eds.), Science and pseudoscience in
contemporary clinical psychology. New York: Guilford.
February 11
Lanyon & Goodstein, Chapters 8 & 9
Garb, H. N., & Boyle, P. A. (2003). Understanding why some
clinicians use pseudoscientific methods. In S. O.
Lilienfeld, J. M. Lohr, & S. J. Lynn (Eds.), Science and
pseudoscience in contemporary clinical psychology. New York:
Guilford.
February 13
February 18
February 20
First homework assignment due at beginning of class (evaluation of
psychometric properties of a personality scale)
Lanyon & Goodstein, Chapters 10-12
MIDTERM EXAMINATION
February 25
February 27
March 4
March 11
March 15-23
Greene, Chapters 1, 2, and part of 3 (pp. 1-63)
Second homework assignment due at beginning of class (evaluation
of psychometric properties of a personality scale)
Greene, Chapter 3 (pp. 63-129)
Greene, Chapters 4 & 7
SPRING BREAK
March 25
Greene, Chapters 5 & 6
April 1
Greene, Chapter 8
April 8
Green, Chapter 9 & 10
Cuellar, I. (1998). Cross-cultural clinical psychological
assessment of Hispanic Americans. Journal of Personality
Assessment, 70, 71-86.
Gray-Little, B. (1995). The assessment of psychopathology in
racial and ethnic minorities. In James N. Butcher (Ed.),
Clinical Personality Assessment: Practical Approaches. New
York: Oxford University Press.
April 10
Third homework assignment due at beginning of class
(interpretation of MMPI-2 results)
April 15
Morey, L. C. (1999). Personality Assessment Inventory. In M. E.
Maruish (Ed.), The use of psychological testing for
treatment planning and outcomes assessment. Mahwah, NJ:
Erlbaum.
Rogers, R., Salekin, R. T., & Sewell, K. W. (1999). Validation of
the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory for Axis II
disorders: Does it meet the Daubert standard? Law and Human
Behavior, 23, 425-443.
Lambert, M. J., & Finch, A. E. (1999). The Outcome Questionnaire.
In M. E. Maruish (Ed.), The use of psychological testing for
treatment planning and outcomes assessment. Mahwah, NJ:
Erlbaum.
April 22
Matazow, G. S., & Kamphaus, R. W. (2001). Behavior Assessment
System for Children (BASC): Toward accurate diagnosis and
effective treatment. In J. J. W. Andrews, D. H. Saklofske,
& H. L. Janzen (Eds.), Handbook of psychoeducational
assessment. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Gresham, F. M. (2001). Assessment of social skills in children and
adolescents. In J. J. W. Andrews, D. H. Saklofske, & H. L.
Janzen (Eds.), Handbook of psychoeducational assessment. San
Diego, CA: Academic Press.
(Readings for April 22 are continued on the next page)
April 22 (continued from previous page)
Volpe, R. J., & DuPaul, G. J. (2001). Assessment with brief
behavior rating scales. In J. J. W. Andrews, D. H.
Saklofske, & H. L. Janzen (Eds.), Handbook of
psychoeducational assessment. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
April 24
April 29
Fourth homework assignment due at beginning of class
(interpretation of MMPI-2 results)
Sechrest, L., Stickle, T. R., & Stewart, M. (1998). The role of
assessment in clinical psychology. In A. Bellack, M. Hersen
(Series Eds.), & C. R. Reynolds (Vol. Ed.), Comprehensive
Clinical Psychology: Vol. 4: Assessment. New York: Pergamon.
Wood, J. M., Garb, H. N., Lilienfeld, S. O., & Nezworski, M. T.
(2002). Clinical assessment. Annual Review of Psychology,
53, 519-543.
May 6 (Tuesday).
4:00-5:30 p.m.
FINAL EXAMINATION
OBJECTIVES OF COURSE.
By completion of course, students will be able to
(1) describe the adult and child personality measures that are most
frequently used by clinical psychologists;
(2) evaluate the psychometric properties of these and other personality
measures;
(3) describe the history of personality testing, including the major
intellectual developments and problems in the field;
(4) describe and avoid the most common errors made by clinicians when
they evaluate or use personality measures;
(5) discuss intelligently the special issues regarding the use of
personality measurement with Latinos, other American ethnic
groups, or non-Americans;
(6) interpret the MMPI-2;
PREREQUISITES
Students are presumed (but not required) to have the background equivalent to
an undergraduate course in Abnormal Psychology.
APPROACH
This course will require a great deal of reading. The grading system is
designed to reward students for doing the readings promptly, carefully, and
thoughtfully. In addition, homework assignments will be used to help students
develop skills in (a) evaluating personality measures and (b) interpreting the
MMPI-2.
POP QUIZZES
There will be five pop quizzes during the semester. There are no make-ups for
pop quizzes, so if you miss a pop quiz your grade will be 0. At the end of
the semester, the grade from your lowest pop quizzes will be dropped (if you
have missed a pop quiz, it will be the grade that is dropped). the remaining
four pop quizzes will be averaged to compute your "pop quiz grade". This
grade will count toward 40% of your course grade.
The purpose of pop quizzes is to ensure that you do the readings on
time. Therefore pop quizzes will virtually always cover readings before these
readings have been discussed in class. A pop quiz will normally cover only
the readings due on the date in question, unless the instructor announces
otherwise beforehand. A typical pop quiz will be fill-in-the-blank, with some
multiple choice questions.
MID-TERM AND FINAL
The mid-term examination will count toward 10% of your grade. The mid-term
examination will cover all readings and the lecture material up to the time of
the examination.
The final examination will count toward 10% of your grade. It will focus on
the readings and lecture material assigned after the mid-term. However, some
questions on the final may assume you have knowledge of topics that were
covered before the mid-term. To clarify: on the final, the strong emphasis
will be on topics covered after the midterm, but you will be expected to
remember central topics (such as reliability and validity) covered before the
midterm.
HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS:
PSYCHOMETRIC EVALUATION OF TEST SCALES
You will be asked to do two homework assignments in which you provide a
written evaluation of the psychometric properties of a personality test scale.
The instructor will assign the two scales that he wants you to evaluate.
However, if you wish to evaluate a scale other than the ones assigned to you,
you may do so if you contact the instructor well before the assignment is due
and gain his approval.
The instructor will provide you with a strict format that you should follow
exactly when doing the written evaluations of test scales. Furthermore, you
may be asked to do a brief presentation on the scale in class. Your grade for
the assignment will be based on your written evaluation and (if applicable)
your class presentation. Each evaluation will count toward 10% of your grade.
HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS:
INTERPRETATION OF MMPI-2 SCORES
You will be asked to do two homework assignments in which you interpret a
patient’s MMPI-2 test scores. The instructor will provide you with the test
scores that he wants you to interpret. He will also provide you with a strict
format that you should follow exactly when doing the MMPI-2 interpretations.
Furthermore, you may be asked to do a brief presentation on your
interpretations in class. Your grade for the assignment will be based on your
written interpretation and (if applicable) your class presentation. Each
interpretation will count toward 10% of your grade.
PUNCTUALITY ON HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS
All homework assignments must be handed in at the beginning of class on the
day they are due. Assignments that are not handed in on time will receive a
lower grade.
COOPERATION AMONG STUDENTS ON HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS
It is important that you master the skills to evaluate test scales and
interpret MMPI-2 results on your own. However, it is also likely that you
will need some help when you are first gaining these skills. Therefore, you
may consult with other students as much as you wish when writing your first
scale evaluation and your first MMPI-2 interpretation. However, you may not
consult with anyone else regarding your second scale evaluation or your second
MMPI-2 interpretation. In other words, the second evaluation and second
interpretation must be entirely your own work, without any advice or input
from anyone else.