Psychological assessment involves a comprehensive evaluation of an individual. The process usually involves the integration of information from multiple sources, such as personality tests, tests of ability or intelligence, tests of interests or attitudes, as well as information from personal interviews. Information may also be collected about personal, occupational, or medical history, such as from records or from interviews with parents, spouses, teachers, or previous therapists or other health professionals. Typical areas of focus for assessment are to provide a diagnosis for treatment settings; to assess a particular area of functioning or disability often for school settings; to help select a type of treatment or to assess treatment outcomes; to help courts decide issues such as child custody or competency to stand trial; or to help assess job applicants or employees and provide career development counselling or training.
Here our Psychologists specialize in three specific types of assessment:
Cognitive and Educational Assessments:
Sometimes referred to as Intelligence or IQ tests, cognitive assessments measure intelligence. In these types of tests, a series of tasks is presented to the person being evaluated, and the person’s responses are graded according to carefully prescribed guidelines. After the test is completed, the results can be compiled and compared to the responses of a norm group, usually comprised of people at the same age or grade level as the person being evaluated. IQ tests, which contain a series of tasks, typically divide the tasks into verbal (relying on the use of language) and performance, or non-verbal (relying on eye-hand types of tasks, or use of symbols or objects). Examples of verbal IQ test tasks are vocabulary and information (answering general knowledge questions). Non-verbal examples are timed completion of puzzles (object assembly), making designs out of coloured blocks (block design).
IQ tests (e.g., WAIS-IV, WISC-IV, Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Abilities-III, Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales V) and academic achievement tests (e.g. WIAT, WRAT, Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement-III) are designed to be administered by a trained evaluator (psychologist or school psychologist). At Bulimba Psychology we have a preference for the WAIS-IV, WISC-IV, WIAT, and WRAT as these tests are well recognized and understood in the education system.
Where an educational assessment is required, this is conducted by a psychologist who has expertise in educational and developmental psychology and is able to provide practical recommendations to the school to aid the learning and development of the student. Our main area of specialty for conducting these assessments is to assess for learning difficulties, and to help in the identification of giftedness.
Clinical Assessment:
Many psychologists do some level of assessment when providing services to clients, and may use for example, simple checklists to assess some traits or symptoms. However, clinical assessment is a more complex, detailed, in-depth process usually involving the assimilation of information obtained through interview, personality tests, and clinical checklists. Typical types of focus for assessment are to provide a diagnosis for treatment settings to help select a type of treatment or to assess treatment outcomes.
At Bulimba Psychology we use the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III (MCMI-III) as part of the clinical assessment process.
Vocational Assessment:
To make effective career decisions, it is important that you understand yourself – in other words, that you are self-aware. These tools can help you to confirm information you already know about yourself, provide you with new data and reveal common patterns in your life that you may not be aware of. Having knowledge about your skills, abilities, personal qualities, values and interests and clarifying what really matters in your personal and work life can help you to determine your next career planning steps.
Vocational assessments typically identify a range of careers that match your skills, values and interests, through an analysis of how you answer a range of pre-determined questions and psychological tests. A comprehensive report outlines the person’s vocational options, training needs and a labour market analysis. Such an assessment examines which occupations best fit with an individual’s abilities, interests, and personality. Vocational testing can be particularly useful for adolescents, young adults, and persons contemplating a mid-life career change. A vocational assessment can also assist injured workers looking to return to the workforce or employment agencies to determine best fit for placements.
At Bulimba Psychology we use a combination of personality tests (eg. NEO-PI) and career inventories (e.g . Holland’s SDS) to help complete these assessments.
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