Psychological Assessment and Testing Essay

Several websites that discuss psychological assessment and testing are scattered throughout the Internet. These psychological-based sites help students, experts and ordinary people to discern the basic concepts of psychology and recognize its various functions. One of the functions of psychological assessment and testing websites is to determine and somehow predict and pinpoint the possible psychological problem that an individual experienced. In this paper, two peer reviewed articles from two different websites devoted to psychology will be critically evaluated to illustrate the importance and role of psychological assessment and testing. The first website is www. apa. org, the title of the article is ‘How is Psychopathology Assessed in Older Adults? ’ The author of the article is the American Psychological Association. The problem deals specifically to the assessment of ‘older adults’ which are 65 years old and above. The authors list and identify several types of psychopathological assessment for older adults. The identification of the different types of assessment and test regarding the psychopathology in older adults help students, experts and other concerned individual understand the process and the meaning of the said assessments. The group hypothesize that dimensional type (age-based) of analysis is better than categorical type (illness-based) analysis in the case of older adults. The research design they used is a qualitative design. The methodology that they used is historical research wherein they analyze the data from previous works to find a generalization from deduction that can help in understanding the past, present and even future trends regarding the psychopathological assessment in older adults. They conducted their research through a comparison of the different screening measures used for older adults. The authors suggested that the Geriatric Depression Scale is the most useful due to the fact that it is age related, it can assess those who are cognitively impaired since it can either be oral or written and it is not depressive. They compared the BECK Anxiety Scale, the Geriatric Depression Scale, the Cage and Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test-Geriatric version, the MMPI-2 test, the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, Rorschach Inkblot Test and the Thematic Apperception Test. The authors decided to find out which assessment is most applicable and helpful since no standard exist regarding the psychopathological assessment of adults. The second website is www. mental-health-matters. com, the article is entitled ‘Personality and Stress? ’ The author was Gillian Darby, a psychologist and affiliated to Get Mental Help, Inc. The research problem was concerned on the possible relationship between personality and stress. It was important to identify the relationship to help caution those people with a personality prone to stress regarding future problems and help them understand themselves better through stress-management activities. Darby hypothesize that those who posses type ‘A’ personality are more prone to stress. Darby further elaborates that hose with type ‘B’ personality were often less aggressive and are therefore less prone to stress. The research design that was used was a qualitative research. Using this research design, Darby tries to explore the connections that exist between type ‘A’ personality and stress. The methodology that the author used is data analysis to be able to formulate the pattern/s and principle/s involve. Darby used literature review and case study review. The author included a personality test in the article to help readers qualify their personality type. Therefore the article showed the possibility that psychological assessment of personality can affect stress levels which might also lead to stress-related illness such as heart diseases. Both websites and articles proved that indeed the use of psychological assessment and test are helpful and educational. Psychological assessments help individuals to evaluate themselves. Thus, the websites and articles can also be considered as self-help materials. Psychological assessments and testing are in themselves important in understanding oneself and promoting good health and healthy living since. Second Part The article ‘How is Psychopathology Assessed in Older Adults? ’ could help medical practitioners or concerned individuals identify the best or most applicable type of assessment for the older adult patient. Most specifically, the group believes that Geriatric Depression Scale is most useful due to its nature which is somehow considerate of the older adult’s psychological state. Nevertheless, whenever these type of assessment might not be applicable, several other test and scales are presented. The article can be helpful in assisting the patient with information regarding the Psychopathology of his illness or problem. The suggestion and study in the article can be treated to be of primary importance to the medical practitioner or attendant upon admission of the patient. In case that the Geriatric Depression Scale is not applicable to the patient, the article mentioned other relevant Psychopathological assessment scales and test. If possible the Geriatric Depression Scale can be use in conjunction with another scale or test to get a better view of the psychopathology of the patient. Particularly, the assessment recommended by the group is ‘most useful’ due to the fact that it tries to focus on the medical cause of the problems by eliminating depressive questions. Geriatric Depression Scale unlike other Psychopathology Scale is not lengthy and can be answered or done orally. This somehow helped the patient minimize the effort and stress that accompanies answering lengthy and technical assessment test. The second article is about ‘Personality and Stress’. In this article, the patient will be asked to answer a questionnaire or personality test which would determine whether he/she has a type â€Å"A† or a type â€Å"B† personality. A person who understands his/her situation and behavior would normally perform better than those who cannot acknowledge or is not aware of his or her behavior and personality. Thus, with the use of the personality test employ in the article, a person is able to check him/her self and the situation. The person might opt to try new types of defense mechanism against stress or the person might want to seek professional advice regarding management of stress. As a common knowledge, stress often times leads to heart diseases. Since the article affirms that people with type â€Å"A† personality are prone to stress, it prompts necessary actions to control or reduce the possibility of heart disease. The person might try low cholesterol diet or engage in regular exercise. According to article, studies revealed that those who has type â€Å"A† personality are less relaxed than those with type â€Å"B†. This shows that the treatment for stress in the two types of personality should also vary. A medical practitioner, a psychologist or a counselor will find it easier to prescribe treatment if the cause of the illness or the source of the illness is identified. A person who has personality problems may not be treated properly with medication alone if the person still receive the same stressors at work or at home (several work load, weather, pets, traffic, etc). In case that the person already has a heart disease, knowing the personality type can help the family and the patient understands the things that can worsen the situation. For instance, a patient can understand himself better and the reason why he felt stress out. The patient might try to avoid the things that made him lose his temper. The counselor can also administer the necessary advice for the patient, since a type â€Å"A† personality is usually aggressive and critical. References: American Psychological Association. ‘How is Psychopathology Assessed in Older Adults? ’ Retrieved on January 5, 2009 from the World Wide Web: http://www. apa. org/pi/aging/practitioners/assessment05. html Darby, G. 2007. ‘Personality and Stress’ Retrieved on January 6, 2009 from the World Wide Web: http://www. mental-health-matters. com/articles/article. php? artID=1323