PSY 341 EXAM 1 QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS. VERIFIED 2026.
Clinical assessment - ANS the systematic evaluation and measurement of psychological,
biological and social factors in an individual presenting with a possible psychological disorder
diagnosis - ANS the process of determining whether the particular problem afflicting the
individual meets all criteria for a psychological disorder, as set forth in the fifth edition of the
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM-5
reliability - ANS the degree to which a measurement is consistent
3 concepts to value assessments - ANS reliability, validity and standardization
inter-rater reliability - ANS tactic used by psychologists to improve reliability; carefully
designing their assessment devices and then conducting research on them to ensure that two or
more raters will get the same answers
test-retest reliability - ANS determining whether assessment techniques are stable across
time
@COPYRIGHT 2026/2027 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
1
,validity - ANS whether something measures what it is designed to measure; whether a
technique assesses what it is supposed to
concurrent/descriptive validity - ANS comparing the results of an assessment measure under
consideration with the results of others that are better known allows you to begin to determine
the validity of the first measure
EX: if the results from a standard, but long, IQ test were essentially the same as the results from
a new, brief version, you could conclude that the brief version had concurrent validity
predictive validity - ANS how well your assessment tells you what will happen in the future;
EX: does it predict who will succeed in school and who will not?
standardization - ANS the process by which a certain set of standards or norms is determined
for a technique to make its use consistent across different measurements
clinical interview - ANS the core of most clinical work; gathers information on current and
past behavior, attitudes, and emotions, and a history of the individual's life in general and of the
presenting problem
mental status exam - ANS systematic observation of an individual's behavior; the exam covers
five categories: appearance and behavior, thought processes, mood and affect, intellectual
function, and sensorium
appearance and behavior - ANS any overt physical behaviors (legs twitching, etc) as well as
the individual's dress, general appearance, posture, and facial expression
EX: psychomotor retardation (slow and effortful motor behavior) may indicate severe
depression
@COPYRIGHT 2026/2027 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
2
, thought processes - ANS rate or flow of speech; continuity of speech; content of speech;
does the patient make sense when talking, or are ideas present with no apparent connection?
mood and affect - ANS mood = predominant feeling state of the individual; affect = feeling
state accompanying what individual says;
EX: if your friend is talking about how her mother just died and was laughing, her affect would
be inappropriate for the situation; if your friend is talking about a range of happy and sad things
with no affect whatsoever, than the affect is "blunted" or "flat"
intellectual function - ANS making a rough estimate of intelligence usually just by talking to
the individual - do they have a reasonable vocabulary; do they use abstraction and metaphors;
how is their memory
sensorium - ANS our general awareness of our surroundings; what the date is, what time it is,
who he/she is; people with permanent or temporary brain damage may not know the answers
to these; EX: if the patient is aware of the time, place and person a clinician might say the
patient's sensorium is "oriented times three" and "clear"
thought process complications - ANS loose association or derailment = a disorganized speech
pattern found in some patients with schizophrenia;
delusions of persecution = where someone thinks people are after him and out to get him all
the time; delusions of grandeur = an individual thinks she is all-powerful in some way; ideas of
reference = everything everyone else does somehow relates back to the individual;
hallucinations = things a person sees or hears when those things aren't really there
semi-structured clinical interviews - ANS made up of questions that have been carefully
phrased and tested to elicit useful information in a consistent manner so that clinicians can be
sure they have inquired about the most important aspects of particular disorders; they may also
depart from set questions to follow up on specific issues
@COPYRIGHT 2026/2027 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
3
ANSWERS. VERIFIED 2026.
Clinical assessment - ANS the systematic evaluation and measurement of psychological,
biological and social factors in an individual presenting with a possible psychological disorder
diagnosis - ANS the process of determining whether the particular problem afflicting the
individual meets all criteria for a psychological disorder, as set forth in the fifth edition of the
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM-5
reliability - ANS the degree to which a measurement is consistent
3 concepts to value assessments - ANS reliability, validity and standardization
inter-rater reliability - ANS tactic used by psychologists to improve reliability; carefully
designing their assessment devices and then conducting research on them to ensure that two or
more raters will get the same answers
test-retest reliability - ANS determining whether assessment techniques are stable across
time
@COPYRIGHT 2026/2027 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
1
,validity - ANS whether something measures what it is designed to measure; whether a
technique assesses what it is supposed to
concurrent/descriptive validity - ANS comparing the results of an assessment measure under
consideration with the results of others that are better known allows you to begin to determine
the validity of the first measure
EX: if the results from a standard, but long, IQ test were essentially the same as the results from
a new, brief version, you could conclude that the brief version had concurrent validity
predictive validity - ANS how well your assessment tells you what will happen in the future;
EX: does it predict who will succeed in school and who will not?
standardization - ANS the process by which a certain set of standards or norms is determined
for a technique to make its use consistent across different measurements
clinical interview - ANS the core of most clinical work; gathers information on current and
past behavior, attitudes, and emotions, and a history of the individual's life in general and of the
presenting problem
mental status exam - ANS systematic observation of an individual's behavior; the exam covers
five categories: appearance and behavior, thought processes, mood and affect, intellectual
function, and sensorium
appearance and behavior - ANS any overt physical behaviors (legs twitching, etc) as well as
the individual's dress, general appearance, posture, and facial expression
EX: psychomotor retardation (slow and effortful motor behavior) may indicate severe
depression
@COPYRIGHT 2026/2027 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
2
, thought processes - ANS rate or flow of speech; continuity of speech; content of speech;
does the patient make sense when talking, or are ideas present with no apparent connection?
mood and affect - ANS mood = predominant feeling state of the individual; affect = feeling
state accompanying what individual says;
EX: if your friend is talking about how her mother just died and was laughing, her affect would
be inappropriate for the situation; if your friend is talking about a range of happy and sad things
with no affect whatsoever, than the affect is "blunted" or "flat"
intellectual function - ANS making a rough estimate of intelligence usually just by talking to
the individual - do they have a reasonable vocabulary; do they use abstraction and metaphors;
how is their memory
sensorium - ANS our general awareness of our surroundings; what the date is, what time it is,
who he/she is; people with permanent or temporary brain damage may not know the answers
to these; EX: if the patient is aware of the time, place and person a clinician might say the
patient's sensorium is "oriented times three" and "clear"
thought process complications - ANS loose association or derailment = a disorganized speech
pattern found in some patients with schizophrenia;
delusions of persecution = where someone thinks people are after him and out to get him all
the time; delusions of grandeur = an individual thinks she is all-powerful in some way; ideas of
reference = everything everyone else does somehow relates back to the individual;
hallucinations = things a person sees or hears when those things aren't really there
semi-structured clinical interviews - ANS made up of questions that have been carefully
phrased and tested to elicit useful information in a consistent manner so that clinicians can be
sure they have inquired about the most important aspects of particular disorders; they may also
depart from set questions to follow up on specific issues
@COPYRIGHT 2026/2027 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
3
