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Principles of Psychological Assessment (PSYC90030)
Graduate courseworkPoints: 6.25On Campus (Parkville)
About this subject
- Overview
- Eligibility and requirements
- Assessment
- Dates and times
- Further information
- Timetable(opens in new window)
Contact information
Semester 1
Overview
| Availability | Semester 1 |
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| Fees | Look up fees |
This subject introduces students who are studying clinical psychology or clinical neuropsychology at the graduate level to the principles and practice of psychological and neuropsychological assessment, covering childhood and adulthood. Current trends in the theoretical understanding of personality, psychopathology and cognitive ability will provide the conceptual basis assessment practice. It will be shown that psychological and neuropsychological assessment is best understood to include all aspects of the clinical encounter which lead to diagnostic case formulation. In particular, the subject content will address the application of techniques derived from psychological science to enhance correct classification of psychological conditions.
Intended learning outcomes
Knowledge
On completion of this subject, students should:
- Be familiar with a variety of assessment techniques useful for the evaluation of psychological conditions in children and adults with an emphasis on cognitive ability assessment and be able to describe the theoretical context in which these assessment techniques are located;
- Understand the principal criteria practicing psychologists use to evaluate the quality of psychological data, as they relate to the clinical assessment of individuals.
Skills
On completion of this subject students should be able to:
- Illustrate how criteria for evaluation of psychological test reliability and validity can be used to enhance the accuracy of psychological classification decisions
Application of Knowledge and Skills
On completion of this subject, students should be able to:
- Illustrate the techniques for life-long earning related to the evaluation of the validity of psychological opinions.
Generic skills
Written,oral and interpersonal communication skills
Analytic, information integration and synthesizing skills
Ability to evaluate the quality of data against formal criteria
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
Enrolment in one of the following Psychology professional training programs, 527CL, 527CN, 080CL, 080CN or MC-PSYCHCS
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
None
Recommended background knowledge
Completion of psychology studies to fourth-year (Honours) level. At the beginning of the subject it will be assumed that students are familiar with basic concepts of psychological assessment in particular the concepts of validity and reliability as covered in introductory tests such as:
Anastasi, A., & Urbini, S. (1997). Psychological Testing (7th E). Prentice Hall, New Jersey.
or
Cohen R.J., & Swerdlik M.E., (2005). Psychological Testing and Assessment. (6th ed.). McGraw-Hill, Boston, or equivalent.
Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)
The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.
Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Assessment
Additional details
A written report of 1000 words (25% of assessment), to be submitted mid-semester
An end-of-semester two-hour written examination (75% of assessment).
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Dates & times
- Semester 1
Principal coordinator Stephen Bowden Mode of delivery On Campus (Parkville) Contact hours 1.5 hours of lectures/seminars per week for a 12-week semester Total time commitment 85 hours Teaching period 4 March 2019 to 2 June 2019 Last self-enrol date 15 March 2019 Census date 31 March 2019 Last date to withdraw without fail 10 May 2019 Assessment period ends 28 June 2019 Semester 1 contact information
Time commitment details
85 hours
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Further information
- Texts
Prescribed texts
Kaufman, A.S., & Lichtenberger, E.O. (2009). Essentials of WAIS-IV Assessment. John Wiley and Sons, New York.
Anderson, V., Notrham, E., Hendy, J., & Wrennal, J. (2001) Developmental Neuropsychology: A Clinical Approach. London: Psychology Press.
- Related Handbook entries
This subject contributes to the following:
Last updated: 3 November 2022