Article Review on Achieving Competency in Psychological Assessment
Article Review on Achieving Competency in Psychological Assessment
Literature Review
The article under review was authored by Radhika Krishnamurthy and associates in 2004. The article surmises the proceedings of psychological assessment work group in the Competencies Conference: Future Direction in Education and Credentialing in Professional Psychology. The objective of this group was to first, identify the core components of psychological assessment competency. Second, determining the primary educational and training requirements that will facilitate competency development(Krishnamurthy et al., 2004). Third, Identifying and explicating strategies that will help evaluate competence. Finally, developing a roadmap for future direction in identification training and evaluation of competence in psychological assessment.
Applied Psychology relies heavily on testing and assessment activities and this has been a mainstay of experimental psychology in the past few decades. Psychological assessment has become an identifying characteristic of psychological expertise. In the present scenario psychological assessments continue to be one of the many important tools used for psycho-diagnosis and treatment planning. According to Krishnamurthy and associates (2004) psychological assessments have diverged from traditional mental health evaluations to medical, organizational, educational and forensic practices. Psychological assessments perform myriad functions in the society that caters to a wide selection of professional fields. In the present article, the authors aptly point out various examples where psychological assessments have become a standard procedure. The authors aptly point out the work by Maruish, (2004), where it was conclusively shown that the psychological assessment is one of the biggest tools to have emerged for screening, to diagnose disorders, psychopathology, psychological treatment planning. Moreover, the psychological assessments are also used to better understand and monitor progress of treatments. Krishnamurthy and associates also stress the importance of psychological assessments in assessment of brain functioning (Lezak, 1995). The authors also reviewed interesting studies such as the one by Clemence & Handler, (2001), where in a survey conducted on 382 directors of professional psychology institutes, it was found that the directors considered competency testing skills an important aspect of training for internship programs. Such studies showcase the exigent requirement for standard rules and regulations for better competency testing of psychological evaluations.
The present study provides a conclusive literature review that covers the history of psychological assessment and their competency testing along with the recent advances in the field. Krishnamurthy and associates have conducted a thorough literature review to showcase that in the current context psychological assessments play a huge role in an individual’s life which involves mental health, job interviews, academic performance etc. Therefore the psychological assessments need to be evaluated for their competence and relevance on a regular basis through feedback and other mechanisms so that they stay relevant and keep serving the society.
The team of Krishnamurthy and associates (2004) used literature review as one of the most important tools to explain competency testing of psychological assessments. The authors identified four broad tools to address the issues of competence plaguing psychological assessments. First, the identification of important components of psychological assessment that were common to most methods, which included theories of assessment, methods of diagnosis, psychological measurement, diversity considerations etc. Second, the authors identified important training tools that facilitate competency in psychological assessments for individuals; this was done to disseminate the vast amount of experiential knowledge to professionals for better self-evaluation of competencies. Third, standardized evaluation of psychological assessments across different stages of education and training process to determine the minimal acceptable level of competence. Fourth, future direction that considered other material such as archives, literature surveys, conference proceedings that could further add to the findings of the Krishnamurthy and associates (2004).
Psychological assessments and evaluations have branched out into myriad forms of practical applications. The authors of the present paper evaluated an exhaustive list of psychological assessment scales to determine the evaluation of competency of psychological assessments. Some of the psychological methods that were evaluated and discussed include, direct observation of psychological assessment, data from interviews, archived records etc. The work group also asserted that self-assessment through usage of methods of reflection was one of the crucial instruments of measuring competency of psychological assessments. Such self-evaluations may involve 360 degree surveys from clients, supervisors, and peers to get a better understanding of the competency of the evaluations.
The work group of Krishnamurthy and associates first identified the three guiding principles for the evaluation of competency of psychological assessments. The team decided to keep the principles broad and all-encompassing to include all aspects of psychological testing. First, the team decided that the evaluation of psychological assessment competency should have a focused and integrated approach as it progressed from initial steps of interview, psychological assessments, and intervention, finally followed by evaluation of the psychological treatment scheme. According to the second principles of psychological assessment evaluation, the content areas of psychological testing should adequately reflect the core concepts along with a standardized method for training of personnel administering the test. Third, the authors agreed that the psychological evaluation should be designed to meet the requirements of individuals and should be able to generate adequate and meaningful feedback for betterment of the testing procedure.
Krishnamurthy and other team members evaluated psychological assessments and formulates strategies to better perform competency testing on them. The authors agreed that psychological assessments need to have a certain gold standards for measuring competency in certain standard tests like Rorschach test. Psychological assessment has broadened its scope of impact from the mental health industry to a broad range of avenues, including forensic psychology(Frank & Elliott, 2000). It is important to have a minimum competency level for standard psychological assessments. The authors designed a system that left room for further modification and betterment of standards of competency of psychological assessments. The authors were crucial in identifying the four primary principles of competency testing of psychological testing which can serve as a benchmark for future studies.
References
Clemence, A. J., & Handler, L. (2001). Psychological assessment on internship: A survey of training directors and their expectations for students. Journal of Personality Assessment, 76(1), 18–47.
Frank, R. G., & Elliott, T. R. (2000). Handbook of rehabilitation psychology. American Psychological Association.
Krishnamurthy, R., VandeCreek, L., Kaslow, N. J., Tazeau, Y. N., Miville, M. L., Kerns, R.,Benton, S. A. (2004). Achieving competency in psychological assessment: directions for education and training. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 60(7), 725–39. doi:10.1002/jclp.20010
Lezak, M. D. (1995). Neuropsychological assessment. Oxford university press.
Maruish, M. E. (2004). The Use of Psychological Testing for Treatment Planning and Outcomes Assessment: Volume 1: General Considerations. Routledge.
