CHAPTER 2
The Assessment Process
Types of Assessment Methods
• Group vs. individual assessment
• Standardized vs. nonstandardized
assessment
– Qualitative assessment
• Speed vs. power test
– Speed: homogenous, easy items
– Power: items of varying difficulty
Types of Assessment Methods
• Rating scales
– Common errors: halo effect, error of central
tendency/range of restriction error, leniency error,
drift, decay
– Examples: semantic differential, rank-order
scales, situational tests
• Projective assessments
– Examples: Rorschach, TAT
• Behavioral observations
– Behaviors that can be observed and counted
Types of Assessment Methods
• Interviews
– Structured, unstructured, and semistructured
• Biographical measures
– Biodata
• Physiological measures
– Examples: heart rate, breathing rate, muscle
contractions, blood pressure
An Overview of the
Assessment Process
• Assessment of client’s stage of change
– Precontemplation, contemplation, preparation,
action, maintenance
• Four major assessment phases
– Test selection, administration, interpretation,
communication of findings
Test Selection
• Sources of information
– Mental Measurements Yearbook
– Tests in Print
– Tests and Test Critiques
– Counseling-related journals
• Locating specific assessments
Test Administration
•
•
•
•
Considerations based on test format
Expectancy effect or Rosenthal effect
Stereotype threat
Maximizing an optimal administration for
clients
– Providing structure, reviewing conditions for
better performance, testing conditions and
accommodations
Test Interpretation and
Communication of Findings
• Considerations related to test
interpretation
– Hand vs. computer scoring
• Computer-based test interpretations
• International Test Commission (2014)
guidelines
Monitoring Client Progress and
Evaluating Counseling Outcomes
• Progress monitoring
– Feedback-enhanced therapy, RTI
• Outcome assessment
– Comparing a score to a desired score in another
group
– Comparing a score to a particular criterion
– Judging whether a baseline score has changed
• Four useful tools: client satisfaction forms,
client self-report scales, client self-monitoring,
rating scales
In Review
1. How might the various assessment methods presented in this
chapter influence the assessment process?
2. How does a client’s stage of change benefit and limit each
phase of the assessment process?
3. Compare the major sources of information for tests. What do
you see as the most useful for you? How do they complement
one another?
4. How do paper-and-pencil and computer assessments
compare in terms of the assessment process? When might one
be more useful than the other?
5. In what ways are outcome assessments helpful for clients?
Counselors? The scientific community?