Tarleton State University - Central Texas

Department of Psychology & Counseling

 

PSY 580 Personality and Social Assessment

Spring 2008

Wednesday 6-9 PM

 

Professor:         Coady Lapierre, Ph.D., LSSP

Phone:              (254) 519-5428

E-Mail:             lapierre@tarleton.edu

Web Site:         www.tarleton.edu/~lapierre

Office:  Rm.      133B, TSU Center

Office Hours:    Monday - Friday 12 – 5 PM   

                            Additional Hours by Appointment

 

Textbooks (Required):

 

Sattler, J. & Hoge, R. (2006). Assessment of Children: behavioral, social, and clinical foundations 5th edition. Sattler Publishing, San Diego, CA.

ISBN 0-9702671-3-4

 

Nichols, D.S. (2001). Essentials of the MMPI-2 assessment. Wiley

ISBN 0471345334

 

Strack, S. (2002). Essentials of Millon inventories assessment, 2nd edition. Wiley

ISBN: 978-0-470-16862-2

 

Wiger, D.E. & Huntley, D.K. Essentials of interviewing. Wiley

ISBN-10: 0471002372

 

Textbooks (Optional):

 

American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental

Disorders, (4th ed.) Text Revision. Washington, DC: Author.

ISBN 0890420254

 

Readings:       Materials and articles may be assigned as they become available.

 

Course Description:

            Instruction and supervision in the assessment of emotional, motivational, interpersonal, and attitudinal characteristics of children and adults. Includes the administration, scoring, and interpretation of many widely-used tests such as the MMPI, 16PF, Millon scales, and others. (Tarleton State University, 2007, p. 410).

 

Course Objectives:

            Students will demonstrate mastery of the following:

1)                  Conduct a clinical interview and evaluation, including an intake assessment

2)                  Select, administer, score, and interpret objective psychological tests measuring emotional, affective, social, personality, and behavioral patterns

3)                  Understand the purpose of basics of popular projective assessments.

4)                  Acquire and use language and terminology of the mental health profession and school psychology when reporting assessment results and writing clinical reports.

5)                  Relate assessment results to treatment and psycho-educational planning for mental disorders and emotional disturbance.

 

Course Calendar:                  

Week 1            Jan. 16             Introduction & Overview          Sattler Chap. 1

Week 2            Jan. 23             Stats and Concepts                   Sattler Chap. 2

Week 3            Jan. 30             Assessment issues                     Sattler Chap. 3 & 4                         

Week 4            Feb. 6              Sattler Chap. 5 (Submit via email – NASP conf.)

Week 5            Feb. 13            Interview          Sattler Chap. 6 & 7 + Wiger & Huntley 1 - 2

Week 6            Feb. 20            Interview                                 Wiger & Huntley  6-8

Week 7            Feb. 27            Observations (Interviews due)   Sattler Chap. 8 & 9
Week 8            Mar. 5              MMPI 2                                   Nichols                        

Week 9            Mar. 12            Millon                                       Strack

Week 10          Mar. 19           Spring Break

Week 11          Mar. 26            BASC 2                                   Sattler Chap. 10

Week 12          Apr. 2              VMI                                         Sattler Chap. 11 & 12

Week 13          Apr. 9              Vineland                                   Sattler Chap. 13

Week 14          Apr. 16            Beck, CDI                               Sattler Chap. 14

Week 15          Apr. 23            Conners                                   Sattler Chap. 15

Week 16          Apr. 30            CARS, GARS                          Sattler Chap. 22          

Final                 May 7              All reports due

 

Course Grades:                                                                                  Final Grade:

3 Interviews                              5 pts.                                                    90-100 pts.      A

10 Assessment & Reports        80 pts. (8 pts. x 10)                             80-89 pts.        B

15 Chapter/Book Summaries    15 pts.                                                  70-79 pts.        C

                                                                                                            60-69 pts.        D

                                                                                                            Below 60 pts.   F

 

Testing Requirements

Each student will be required to conduct several assessments and clinical interviews in an effort to develop competencies in psychological assessment. Psychological reports will be written utilizing the results of these assessments and interviews. No results of psychological assessments may be divulged to individuals (or parents/guardians) in the community, and may not be used for any other purposes than to fulfill class requirements. Informed consent must be obtained for each assessment and interview conducted by the student. Any assessments completed for a child still enrolled in a PK-12 education will also include whether the child qualifies under TEA guidelines as a child with an emotional disturbance.

 

Interviews: (Due Feb 27)

Students will conduct 3 (at least one must be of a child) clinical interviews, intake assessments and mental status exams.

 

Assessments and Reports:

Behavioral                  2

Developmental           1

Personality                 2

Neuropsych Screen    1

ADHD                        1

Depression                 2

Autism                        1

 

Total:                          10

 

Students will be required to select, administer, and score assessments then write reports addressing the 10 areas listed above. Be sure to include copies of informed consent with each report.

 

Chapter / Book Summaries:

Each week a reading summary is due. It will cover the major points and issues covered in that week’s assigned readings. It should be a short, concise overview and be no longer than one page, double spaced. 

 

Classroom Participation:

Students should arrive at class prepared to share their views on the week’s assignments and readings. Students will be required to behave in a manner expected of professionals in the field of psychology and students at Tarleton State. This includes but is not limited to issues of: confidentiality, attendance, polite disagreements of view, timely completion of assignments, classroom participation, and factual verbal statements. Additional assignments to insure learning in these areas may be assigned. Late work will not be accepted without a documented University excused absence.

 

Academic Honesty:

Tarleton State University expects its students to maintain high standards of personal and scholarly conduct. Students guilty of academic dishonesty are subject to disciplinary action. Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, cheating on an examination or other academic work, plagiarism, collusion, and the abuse of resource materials. The faculty member is responsible for initiating action for each case of academic dishonesty that occurs in his/her class. (Tarleton State University, 2007, p. 37).

 

            Each student’s honesty and integrity are taken for granted. However, if your instructor finds evidence of academic misconduct he will pursue the matter to the fullest extent permitted by the university. Students are strongly advised to avoid even the appearance of academic misconduct. When you use a source’s actual words, you must place those words in quotation marks (or a block quote) and credit the source of the information (i.e., cite the author(s) name (s) and the year of the publication) along with the page number(s) where the information is located in the source document. Please note – the quotation requirement (either using quotation marks or block quotes) is not circumvented when the writer simply changes a few words in a passage written by someone else. When you use another person’s ideas, but not their exact words, you must cite them as a source in the text of the paper. According the APA Style the author(s), name(s), and date of publication must be included in, or immediately follow, the writer’s statement of information from the source. Refer to the APA Publication Manual 5th edition for specifics. Another helpful source is: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/ (click the APA Style Guide).

 

Americans with Disabilities Act

If you have or believe you have a disability, you may wish to self-identify. You can do so by providing documentation to the office of the Disability Services Director on the Stephenville campus or to the office of the Academic Dean of the Tarleton State University - Central Texas. I encourage students with disabilities to speak with me about accommodations they might need to help assure success in this class.

 

Trina Geye                                           Pat Thomas

Director of Disabilities Services Asst.    Dean, Tarleton- Central Texas

Box T-0010                                         1901 S. Clear Creek Rd.

Stephenville, TX 76402                        Killeen, TX 76549

(254) 968-9480                                   (254) 519-5713

 

Reference: Tarleton State University (April 2007). Catalog 2007-2008: Undergraduate and graduate studies. Stephenville, TX: Author.

While this represents the focus and direction of this course, this syllabus is subject to change.