Current psychological assessment practices.

Abstract

This nationwide survey of psychological test usage in mental health facilities reveals the overall frequency of usage of different tests and cites the three most frequently used instruments in each of seven age groups for both personality and intellectual assessment.

Survey of Mental Health Agencies in Curriculum Development of a Master's-Level Psychology Training Program

“…In the agencies concerned with children a w~de range of problem categories was represented conduct problems in the home and school (62%), child abuse and neglect (62%), hyperact~vity (53%), learning disabilities (30%), developmental dlsabil~ties (28%), and infantile autism (23%) Consistent with findings from national surveys (Garf~eld & Kurt$ 1973, Brown & McGuire, 1976) many agencies employ diaghostic testing (72%), wlth 64% uslng the Problem Oriented Medi,cal Record (Hayes-Roth, Longabaugh, & Ryback, 1972) An increasing number of agencies (58%) appear to be using behaworal assessment (e g , direct observat~on and recording) and rating scales Recent surveys by Garfleld andKurtz (1976, 1977) of doctbral level psychologists indicate a nat~onal sh~ft toward an e~l e c t i~ psychotherapy orientation with almost 55% of those surveyed ~dentifying themselves as eclectic. Similarly, in the present survey over half of the agencres reported an eclectic or very heterogeneous staff Eighteen percent of the staff were comm~tted to a phenomenological orientation (Rogerian, existential, etc.…”

A note on the generalizability of assortative mating coefficients for personality

“…It has been described repeatedly as being the most widely employed objective personality assessment device in a wide range of settings (Brown and McGuire, 1976;Lubin et al, 1985;Piotrowski et al, 1985). In addition, it is viewed as being the most important objective personality test to learn in clinical training centers (Moreland and Dahlstrom, 1983;Wade and Baker, 1977).…”

Rorschachbound: A 50-Year Memoir

“…Although there has been a definite deemphasis on teaching the Rorschach as with other projectives, it is again included in the clinical programs of universities and professional schools (Garfield & Kurtz, 1973;Petzel & Berndt, 1980;Riotrowski & Keller, 1984b;Ritzler & IDel Gaudio, 1976;Russ, 1978;Shemberg & l~venthal, 1981), and hundreds of students have taken advantage of the specialized training that courses and workshops have offered. And although the R,orschach is no longer at center stage, innumerable surveys indicate that it remains one of the most frequently required, requested, needed, recommended, and used tests in many clinical settings, hospitals, clinics, counseling centers, commu~nity clinics, Veterans Administration medical centers, and many mental health facilities (Brown & McGuire, 1976;Garfield & Kurtz, 1973;Lubin, Larsen,, & Matarazzo, 1984;Lubin, Larsen, Matarazzo, & Seever, 1985;Piotrowski & Keller, 1984a, 1984bReynolds & Sundberg, 1976;Sell & Torres-Henry, 1979;Wade, Baker, Morton, & Baker, 1978;Weiner, 1983). There can be little doubt thait the Rorschach is alive in 1986.…”