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Department of Pediatrics > Psychology Internship > Objectives > Assessment

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Assessment


Psychological assessment is a fundamental component of professional psychologists roles. Assessment is emphasized as the primary training focus in all of the rotations of the Internship. Assessment skills including behavioral observation, interviewing, mental status examination, objective and projective assessment techniques, and use of computerized testing methods are refined during the course of the year. Assessment training also includes selection of appropriate assessment methods, test administration and scoring, data interpretation, acquisition and integration of information from medical records and collateral sources, preparation of written reports, and oral communication of findings and recommendations to patients, families, and professionals.

The extent and diversity of interns assessment training and experience varies on each rotation according to the clinical assessment activities and patient populations served by that clinical unit. The greater a particular rotations assessment activities, the more interns can expect to be involved in clinical assessment. It is expected that interns will receive the training necessary to achieve mastery of the basic psychological assessment approaches utilized in their rotation settings. The comprehensiveness of assessments varies among rotations. On inpatient psychiatric services, assessment is usually a primary responsibility, with attention to personality and cognitive functioning, treatment, and prognostic issues. In pediatric medical clinics and hospital units, assessment activities typically address psychological adjustment to medical conditions and treatment and to diverse social circumstances including school and family problems. Evaluation of intrapersonal, interpersonal and situational resources is a complex process that integrates personal data and psychological principles in formulating recommendations as well as planning and implementing treatment. Neuropsychological assessments are conducted to clarify diagnostic and treatment issues through comprehensive assessment of cognitive and psychomotor development, attention, learning, intellectual functioning, memory, abstract reasoning, problem solving, and personality functioning. Neuropsychological assessments address central nervous system status and often yield educational, dispositional, and rehabilitation recommendations.

Attention to a range of assessment issues is provided, including the use of assessment techniques with ethnic, linguistic, and culturally diverse populations, legal and ethical issues in assessment of children and families, and psychometric aspects of specific tests and measurement instruments. Assessment resources may include supplemental support of psychometrists and other professionals in some settings. Interns are expected to complete psychological reports within time frames which meet the needs of consumers and referral sources, and the expectations of supervisors, generally within two weeks of patient contacts.

Estimates of the frequency of use of a variety of tests on each of the three rotations are available below:

Instrument Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Pediatric Neuropsychology Pediatric Psychology
ADI neveroccasionalrare
ADOS neveroccasionalrare
Behavioral Assessment System for Children (BASC) oftenoftenrare
Bayley Scales of Infant Development rareoftenoften
Bayley Neurodevelopmental Screener neverrarerare
Beck Depression Inventory occasionalneveroccasional
Beery Test of Visual Motor Integration oftenoftenoften
Bender-VMG neveroccasionaloften
Benton rareoftenrare
Test of Nonverbal Intelligence for Children (C-TONI) occasionaloccasionaloccasional
Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) occasionaloccasionaloften
CASL neveroftennever
Child Behavior Checklist occasionalrareoften
Children's Apperception Test (CAT) occasionaloccasionaloften
Children's Auditory Verbal Learning Test (CAVLT-2) neveroccasionaloccasional
Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-3rd Edition (CELF III) oftenoftenoften
CELF-Preschool neveroftenoften
CELF-R neverrarenever
Child Depression Rating Scale occasionalrareoften
Child Development Inventory neveroftenoften
Children's Category Test neverrarenever
Children's Depression Inventory oftenoftenrare
Children's Memory Scale (CMS) oftenoftenrare
Conners' Rating Scale oftenoftenrare
CSBI rareneverrare
CVLT oftenoftenrare
CVLT-C oftenoftenoften
Differential Abilities Scale oftenoftenrare
Expressive One Word Picture Vocabulary Test (EOWPVT) neveroccasionalrare
Expressive One Word Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised (EOWPVT-R) neveroccasionalrare
Finger Tapping neverrarenever
Gray Oral Reading Test occasionaloftennever
Grooved Pegboard occasionaloftenoften
Jordan Left Right Reversal Test (LRRT) occasionaloftenoften
Kaufman Assessment Battery For Children (K-ABC) occasionaloftenrare
K-SNAP neverneverrare
Merrill-Palmer neverrareoften
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) oftenrarerare
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent (MMPI-A) oftenoccasionaloften
Mullen Scales of Early Learning neveroftenrare
NEPSY occasionaloftennever
Pennsylvania Smell ID Test occasionalrarenever
Personality Inventory for Children (PIC) rareoccasionaloften
PIY nevernevernever
Preschool Language Scale (PLS-3) rareoftenoften
Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised (PPVT-R) occasionalrarerare
Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-3rd Version (PPVT-III) neveroftenoften
Purdue Pegboard oftenoftenrare
Random A's neveroccasionalnever
Raven neveroccasionalnever
Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale (RCMAS) oftenoftenoften
Receptive Expressive Emergent Language Scale-Version 2 (REEL-2) rareoftenoften
Rey Osterreith Complex Figure oftenoftenoften
Robert's Apperception Test oftenoftenoften
Rorschach Inkblot oftenoccasionalrare
SIB-R neverrareoften
Social Skills Rating System neverrarenever
Stanford-Binet occasionaloccasionaloften
Stroop occasionaloccasionalrare
Thematic Apperception Test oftenoccasionaloften
Test of Everyday Attention for Children (TeAch) neveroftenrare
TEMA neverrarenever
TERA neverrarenever
Test of Language Competence (TLC) neveroftenoften
(T...) neveroccasionalrare
Token Test occasionaloccasionaloften
Test of Language Development-2nd Edition) (TOLD-2) neverrarerare
Test of Memory and Learning (TOMAL) neverrarenever
Test of Nonverbal Intelligence-2nd Edition (TONI-2) neverrarenever
TOPA rarerarenever
Test of Variables of Attention (TOVA) oftenoftenoften
Test of Written Language-2nd Edition (TOWL-2) neveroftennever
Trail Making Test rareoccasionaloften
TVPS neverrarenever
Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales occasionaloftenoften
Wecshler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-R) oftenrareoften
Wechsler Intelligence Achievement Test (WIAT) oftenoftenrare
Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC IV) oftenoftenoften
Wechsler Memory Scale Revised (WMS-R) neverrarerare
Wechsler Memory Scale III (WMS-III) neverrareoften
Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) oftenoftenoften
Woodcock Johnson-Revised neveroccasionalnever
Woodcock Johnson-III oftenoftenoften
Word Fluency occasionaloftenoften
Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scales of Intelligence-III (WPPSI-III) neveroftenrare
WRAML occasionaloftenoften
Wide Range Achievement Test-3 rareoftenrare
WRAVMA neveroccasionalnever

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