Psychological Assessment
Code: 102574 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year | Semester |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2502443 Psychology | OB | 2 | 2 |
Contact
- Name:
- Estel Gelabert Arbiol
- Email:
- Estel.Gelabert@uab.cat
Use of Languages
- Principal working language:
- catalan (cat)
- Some groups entirely in English:
- No
- Some groups entirely in Catalan:
- Yes
- Some groups entirely in Spanish:
- No
Teachers
- Cynthia Binelli Capurro
- Gloria Marsellach Umbert
- Maria Jesus Tarragona Oriols
- Montserrat Lacalle Sistere
- Gloria Adam Torres
Prerequisites
There are no official requirements; however, students must have a basic knowledge of the different approaches to the explanation of normal and abnormal behaviour, and its biological and social basis.
Therefore, it is recommended to simultaneously study those subjects in the same semester and to have passed the subjects programmed in previous semesters and academic years.
Objectives and Contextualisation
Any professional activity carried out by professionals in psychology involves an assessment process that allows responding to specific demands. These demands may vary according to the area of application, the information-collection process and the organisation and interpretation of results. However, there are common guidelines called the assessment process.
On completion of the subject, students must be able to:
- Detect, identify and analyse different kinds of demands.
- Know the characteristics of psychological assessment techniques; their advantages and disadvantages.
- Interpret and understand the results.
- Organise the obtained information and make decisions based on results and theories with scientific evidence.
- Write a results report.
- Evaluate the tasks carried out as a professional during the psychological-assessment process.
Competences
- Analyse the demands and needs of people, groups and organisations in different contexts.
- Apply knowledge, skills and acquired values critically, reflexively and creatively.
- Criticise the effects of personal practice on people, taking into account the complexity of human diversity.
- Diffuse knowledge derived from the results of the research and the products and services generated taking into account the social and personal repercussions that could derive from it.
- Evaluate, contrast and take decision on the choice of adequate methods and instruments for each situation and evaluation context.
- Formulate hypotheses about the demands and needs of the recipients.
- Identify and recognise the different methods for assessment and diagnosis in the different areas applied to psychology.
- Obtain and organise relevant information for the service requested.
- Recognise the deontological code and act ethically.
- Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.
- Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
Learning Outcomes
- Apply assessment techniques.
- Apply communication skills.
- Apply knowledge, skills and acquired values critically, reflexively and creatively.
- Assess the limitations and advantages of the different psychological assessment procedures in their scopes.
- Criticise the effects of personal practice on people, taking into account the complexity of human diversity.
- Describe how to obtain updated information instruments.
- Differentiate the various methods and tools and their usefulness.
- Distinguish between the different areas of psychological assessment.
- Distinguish the quality criteria of the instruments depending on the context.
- Formulate and describe problems of people assessed psychologically according to the results of the assessment process.
- Recognise the deontological code and act ethically.
- Recognise the stages of intervention.
- Recognise the stages of the assessment process.
- Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.
- Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
- Transmit information giving value to the repercussions that it may have on the receiver and their environment and respecting the rights of the receiver (or receivers) such as informed consent, confidentiality, veracity, non-maleficence, etc.
- Use psychological strategies to convey information based on the specific characteristics of each situation, the recipient and the most viable communication procedures.
- Use the specific lexicon of subject.
- Write psychological reports in the various fields of discipline applied and adapted to each request.
Content
A. THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS
1. Models for behavioural assessment
2. The psychological-assessment process
3. Ethical and scientific aspects in Psychological Assessment
4. The psychological-assessment report
B. ASSESSMENT TECHNIQUES
5. The interview
6. Observation
7. Inventories, questionnaires and scales
8. Objective techniques
9. Projective techniques
10. Psychometric tests
C. AREAS OF APPLICATION
11. The psychological assessment process: vocational guidance, clinical context and recruitment processes
Methodology
The methodology is divided into different kinds of work and activities.
There are lectures and practical classes, with extra documents available on Campus Virtual.
Some supervisory sessions are also included to help with writing a psychological report based on a real case presented in the practical sessions.
Independent work consists of text reading, studying the presented material and doing practical exercises (e.g., to analyse specific instruments of psychological assessment; search for suitable assessment techniques to deal with the demand presented in practical sessions, etc.)
N.B. The proposed teaching and assessment methodologies may experience some modifications as a result of the restrictions on face-to-face learning imposed by the health authorities. The teaching staff will use the Moodle classroom or the usual communication channel to specify whether the different directed and assessment activities are to be carried out on site or online, as instructed by the Faculty.
Activities
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Lectures | 33 | 1.32 | 7, 9, 8, 6, 14, 15, 11, 13, 12, 18, 4 |
| Practical classes based on seminars and problem solving | 12 | 0.48 | 3, 2, 1, 5, 10, 14, 15, 11, 13, 18 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Supervising exercises and reports | 10 | 0.4 | |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Preparing a psychological report | 10 | 0.4 | 2, 1, 9, 6, 10, 14, 15, 18 |
| Preparing work for lectures and study | 70 | 2.8 | 3, 7, 9, 11, 13, 4 |
| Reading specific bibliography | 12 | 0.48 | 7, 8, 11, 4 |
Assessment
Three evidences for learning are programmed:
- E1: An exam that represents 40% of the final overall grade for the subject.
- E2: Writing a psychological report and giving oral feedback after a psychological assessment on a case presented and worked on in the practical sessions. This is a group activity (4 or 5 students). The weighting for this activity will be 20% of the final overall grade.
- E3: An exam that represents 40% of the final overall grade for the subject. This exam will be mandatory.
To pass the subject (continuous assessment), students must obtain a minimum grade of 5 in the final overall weighted grade. Requirement: the arithmentic mean between Ev1 and Ev3 must be greater than or equal to 4; if not, the grade obtained in Ev2 will not compute for the final overall weighted grade.
- Students who have given evidences of learning with a weighting equal to or greater than 40% cannot be deemed "non-evaluable" on the official course-grade roster (“acta”).
- A re-assessment test may be taken in the event of NOT having passed the continuous assessment, but only if the student has submitted evidences of learning with a weighting equal to or greater than 2/3 of the total overall grade with a final overall weighted grade of between 3.5 and less than 5. This test will include questions on all the content in the subject. The grade obtained will be registered on the grade roster, to a maximum value of 6.5.
- No unique final synthesis test for students who enrole for the second time or more is anticipated.
Link to the assessment guidelines for all Faculty of Psychology degrees 2019-20: https://www.uab.cat/web/estudiar/graus/graus/avaluacions-1345722525858.html
Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| E1: Exam 1 (written, 1st assessment period) | 40% | 1.5 | 0.06 | 3, 10, 14, 15, 11, 13, 12, 18 |
| E2: Preparing a report (oral and written; delivery: last practical session) | 20% | 0 | 0 | 3, 2, 1, 5, 8, 6, 10, 14, 15, 11, 19, 16, 18, 17, 4 |
| E3: Exam 2 (written, 2on assessment period) | 40% | 1.5 | 0.06 | 7, 9, 8, 6, 14, 15, 11, 13, 12, 4 |
Bibliography
Fernández-Ballesteros, Rocío (Dir). (2011). Evaluación psicológica. Concepto, Métodos y estudio de casos. Madrid: Pirámide. This book is considered the textbook.
Fernández-Ballesteros, Rocío; Márquez, María Oliva; Vizcarro, Carmen y zamarrones, María Dolores (2011). Buenas prácticas y competencias en evaluacion psicologica. Madrid: Pirámide.
Labrador, Francisco Javier (Ed.) (2008). Técnicas de modificación de conducta. Madrid: Pirámide. This book is a good text, especially for students who are interested Clinical and Health Psychology.
Specific complementary bibliography will be proposed throughout the course.