Psychological Assessment In Hood & Johnson, Hood And Johnson

In the first four chapters of the book, Hood and Johnson examined closely the uses, nature, measurement concepts and initial and outcome assessments of psychological assessments used in Counseling Psychology. Psychological assessments are used by counselors to “identify the nature of a client’s concern and to consider possible treatment approaches” (p.3). Additionally, the assessment data derived from assessments is used by counselors for planning and evaluating programs. The assessment process is therapeutic in that it assists clients in clarifying goals and gives them a “sense of perspective and support” (p.3).

The underlying purpose of psychological assessment is embedded in the problem solving model frequently used by counselors to summarize

The “who” asks whether the assessment was based on self reports or reports from others (p.13), “where” helps to distinguish between test results obtained in laboratory as opposed to natural setting (p. 14), when focuses on whether or not the assessment was planned beforehand (prospective) or if it was based on recall (retrospective). The question of why assesses the reason/s for administering the test while the how on the other hand looks at the mode in which the test material was presented (distinguished versus undistinguished); data organization (qualitative versus quantitative); and whether the score was obtained subjectively or objectively. Psychological assessments are categorized as: standardized tests, rating scales, projective techniques, behavioral observations, biographical measures and physiological

Reliability looks at the consistency of a test measure and the extent to which it eliminates extraneous variables in the results. Reliability is influenced by factors such as subjective judgments in scoring test items and the nature of the trait being measured. In contrast, validity refers to “the extent to which meaningful and appropriate inferences can be made from the instrument” (p. 33). Validity assesses whether or not the test scores measured what it claimed to measure and differs based on the purpose and target