Monash University Handbook 2011 Postgraduate - Unit

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Synopsis

Students will be introduced to general principles of psychological assessment across the lifespan, including ethical and cultural issues, reliability and validity, sensitivity and specificity, error types and bias prevention, statistical and clinical significance, and the effect of base rates. They will learn how to apply behavioural assessment techniques. They will be exposed to a range of tests and scales assessing important aspects of cognitive and emotional functioning and they will learn the background theory of these measures, as well as how to administer, score and interpret them. They will learn how to integrate and interpret psychological assessment results and communicate this information in both written and oral form.

Objectives

On completion of this unit students should:

1. Understand the principles of psychological measurement and their application;
2. Have become proficient in the administration, scoring and interpretation of some of the most commonly used psychological tests; and
3. Show competency in evaluating psychometric instruments for research purposes and in screening referrals for psychometric assessment, selecting appropriate tests, integrating results and providing oral and written communication of results to interested parties.

Assessment

Satisfactory attendance and participation are required to pass the unit. In addition, each student will be required to present a 15-minute talk and prepare a class handout on a selected, clinically-relevant psychological test (20%). They will also complete short in-class exercises concerning psychometric issues and behavioural assessment techniques (20%) and will be required to prepare a psychological report of approximately 500 words or less (40%). Prior to the completion of Semester 1, students must administer and score two WAIS-IV's and one WMS-IV (hurdle requirement). They will also be required to demonstrate administration of two randomly chosen subtests of the WAIS-IV (20%).

Chief examiner(s)

Dr Rene Stolwyk