Psychological Assessment on Internship: A Survey of Training Directors and Their Expectations for Students

Abstract

We used a survey of internship training directors to examine the nature of assessment use and assessment skills training at 382 internship settings in professional psychology across the United States and Canada. For the purposes of this study, we created a questionnaire that inquired about the types of assessment instruments used at each internship setting, the amount and type of training offered at internship sites, and the type of assessment experience desired of interns before beginning their rotations. The results revealed several differences across type of internship facility surveyed as well as several trends in the current use of assessment in applied settings. The findings further demonstrate the important role of projective assessment in the training of graduate students and lead to the conclusion that major discrepancies may exist between what is being taught in graduate school and what students are expected to know on entering their internship positions.

Current Assessment Practice, Personality Measurement, and Rorschach Usage by Psychologists

“…To better understand assessment approaches, multiple surveys of psychologists' test usage and reviews of assessment training and practice have been conducted over several decades (Agrawal, 2005;Belter & Piotrowski, 2001;Berndt, 1983;Camara, Nathan, & Puente, 2000;Childs & Eyde, 2002;Clemence & Handler, 2001;Durand, Blanchard, & Mindell, 1988;Lubin, Larsen, & Matarazzo, 1984;Mihura & Weinle, 2002;Piotrowski, Belter, & Keller, 1998;Piotrowski & Keller, 1989;Piotrowski, Sherry, & Keller, 1985;Sundberg, 1961;Wade & Baker, 1977;Wade, Baker, Morton, & Baker, 1978;Watkins, Campbell, Nieberding, & Hallmark, 1995). Relevant findings from these studies can be categorized into two broad areas including general conclusions about assessment practice and findings related to personality assessment and the Rorschach.…”

“…Although performance-based personality tests may no longer be valued as highly or emphasized as significantly as self-report tests in training programs, psychologists working in applied settings use them frequently and find that many doctoral interns are not adequately trained in their use (Belter & Piotrowski, 2001;Clemence & Handler, 2001;Durand et al, 1988). Furthermore, graduate students learning the Rorschach were more satisfied with their experience and expected to use the Rorschach in practice when faculty exposed them to the empirical literature on the Rorschach and had a positive attitude toward the test (Mihura & Weinle, 2002).…”

Achieving competency in psychological assessment: Directions for education and training

“…These findings suggest that competency in testing skills is considered important in the training of interns for their future role as professional psychologists. Clemence and Handler (2001) surveyed training directors from 382 professional psychology internship sites in North America. Their survey results indicated that, across the settings surveyed, the training directors wanted their interns to be familiar with the well-known and widely used intellectual and personality tests.…”

Culturally competent school assessment: Performance measures of personality

“…Personality assessment training with standard instruments also decreased in quality, scope, and adequacy (Dana, 1992(Dana, , 1995. Interns are now generally perceived as deficient in assessment skills (Clemence & Handler, 2001).…”