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The assessment of academic skills is an essential and critical component of the life of all schools. Like the assessment of other areas of functioning, assessment of academic skills needs to include multiple methods, multiple modalities, and multiple perspectives to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the nature of the problem. The process of assessment needs to cut across the range of direct and indirect approaches in order to capture a complete viewpoint of the academic skill problems that the student is experiencing. Included in the chapter are brief reviews of direct assessment methods built on observation, curriculum-based assessment, normative or criterion-referenced standardized tests, permanent product or portfolio review, as well as indirect methods built upon rating scales and interviews with teachers and students.

This chapter provides an overview of critical concepts about academic interventions that school psychologists can apply in their assessment (prevention and diagnosis) and problem solving consultation roles. Topics covered include (a) general principles from research on reading, writing, math, and science instruction and learning; (b) home–school relationships; and (c) issues of diversity, motivation, and interpersonal relationships. School psychologists are encouraged to read widely and deeply the research literature on academic instruction and learning, to which many disciplines have contributed. School psychologists are also encouraged to practice and master the artful transformation of that research knowledge to the individual case at hand within a specific social context, including the family, classroom, school, community, and culture.

Although polysomnography is the gold standard for recording sleep, the use of actigraphy in conjunction with a sleep diary is now common in the study of sleep/wake patterns in infants, children, and adolescents. Actigraphy has the advantage of being able to record data over long periods of time while the subject carries out his or her normal routine. The devices are small, lightweight, and can be worn on the wrist in a similar manner to a wristwatch, or on the ankle as is often used in infant studies. A number of studies have validated actigraphy against polysomnography for determining sleep and found good agreements; however, the specificity for determining wake is low across all ages of children. In conjunction with a sleep diary, the accuracy of actigraphy is significantly improved. Conversely, accuracy of parental reporting of sleep and wake using a sleep diary can be significantly improved when used in conjunction with actigraphy. The use of actigraphy in clinical medicine is expanding as it provides important supplementary information to clinicians regarding a variety of sleep disorders.

Despite their best intentions, practitioners of personality assessment sometimes painfully discover they have paid insufficient attention to what they should or should not have done. This article addresses ways in which personality assessors can anticipate ethical and legal challenges, and, by so doing, avoid them. The American Psychological Association's Ethical Principles and Code of Conduct is an ethics code that rests on the fundamental requirement for psychologists to be knowledgeable and responsible professionals who respect the rights and dignity of others, show concern for the welfare of their clients and colleagues, and present themselves fairly and honestly to their patients and their communities. Five sequential phases of clinical personality assessment, in each of which lurk some ethical and legal hazards, must be considered: accepting a referral; selecting the test battery; conducting the psychological testing; preparing and presenting a report; and managing case records.

Theoretically grounded aphasia assessment that matches clinical practice settings is critical to planning intervention and assisting individuals with aphasia and their family members. This chapter begins with an overview of aphasia assessment in three historical periods: clinical description prior to 1935, standardized testing into the 1960s, and the postmodern era of multifaceted assessment. Topics in this section include aphasia classification; screening; assessing specific linguistic ability, functional communication, and quality of life; and assessment within cognitive neuropsychological and information-processing models. The second section describes contemporary assessment practices including the purpose and models of assessment, personal and environmental factors influencing assessment decisions, assessing conversation and connected speech, and related assessment areas such as cognition, executive function, and emotional state. Finally, emerging trends in assessment are discussed including evidence-based practice, treatment candidacy and prognosis, psychosocial models of assessment, and telehealth. Successful aphasia assessment should be a principled, systematic, and dynamic component of managing and living with aphasia.

This chapter is from the forthcoming The Oxford Handbook of Affective Computing edited by Rafael Calvo, Sidney K. D'Mello, Jonathan Gratch, and Arvid Kappas. This chapter discusses appraisal theory, the most influential theory of emotion in affective computing today, including how appraisal theory arose, some of its well-known variants, and why appraisal theory plays such a prominent role in computational models of emotion. The authors describe the component model framework, a useful framework for organizing and contrasting alternative computational models of emotion and outline some of the contemporary computational approaches based on appraisal theory and the practical systems they help support. Finally, the authors discuss open challenges and future directions.

This chapter addresses several assessment and measurement issues relevant to adolescent drug abuse. Both researchers and clinicians working with youth suspected of problems associated with drug involvement are considered as the following topics are discussed: principles of assessment, validity of self-report, clinical domains of interest, instrumentation, clinical considerations when assessing youth, and assessing treatment outcome. Despite some research gaps, the field consists of several psychometrically sound screening and comprehensive assessment tools to assist researchers and clinicians when measuring drug use, drug problems, symptoms of substance use disorders, and behavioral problems that commonly coexist with drug involvement. Future research needs are also discussed, including the need for more psychometric data on sub-populations of young people defined by age and ethnicity/race.

The MMPI-A is a sophisticated self-report instrument that allows clinicians to assess psychopathology in adolescent clients despite complex developmental, clinical, and methodological issues which can interfere with the psychological assessment of teens. It includes Validity Scales that measure the extent to which an adolescent responds to questions in a cooperative and truthful manner. The MMPI-A also includes ten basic Clinical Scales, fifteen Content Scales, thirty-one Content Component Scales, and forty-two Supplementary Scales. MMPI-A profiles require specialized knowledge and training to correctly interpret adolescent functioning and psychopathology. Computer-driven scoring and reporting may assist clinicians in accurate, comprehensive, and integrated interpretation of the MMPI-A's many scales. The MMPI-A can be used to provide feedback to adolescents about their self-reported psychopathology and gain their cooperation with the therapeutic process.

Understanding that antisocial personality disorder and psychopathy are distinct but related constructs is crucial to clinical and forensic assessment of these patients. This article describes the use of the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised, Rorschach, and Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) for a comprehensive evaluation of these patients. These measures lend incremental validity to understanding these difficult patients, especially when combined with testing of intelligence and cognitive functioning. Integrating data from multiple domains is essential to answering the psycholegal and forensic treatment questions surrounding the antisocial and psychopathic patient. The forensically trained clinical psychologist is best suited to assess psychopathy, a task that historically has been overlooked or avoided in traditional mental health settings.

This chapter describes methods of evaluating cognitive change over time using evidence-based practices in the field of clinical neuropsychology. While doing so, a description of cognitive changes during the ‘normal’ ageing process is undertaken, followed by a brief review of cognitive trajectories for a few syndromes associated with abnormal decline. A discussion of the practice of clinical neuropsychology ensues, accompanied by concerns arising when using traditional single time-point assessments. The benefits of and challenges to using serial assessments are also discussed, as well as a basic review of the statistical methods available to identify reliable change over time. The chapter concludes with proposed research directions for the field to better tailor the use of cognitive trajectories to monitor predicted decline in the individual patient.

Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is a complex and debilitating disorder that has a high degree of comorbidity and functional impairment, and significant impact on the family. The purpose of this chapter is to provide a brief overview of comorbidity, family, insight, and quality of life issues, and to review assessment and treatment implications of those issues. Measures for assessing relevant constructs are described.

Couple distress has a high prevalence as well as high comorbidity with a broad range of emotional, behavioral, and physical health problems. Marriage and relationship problems also influence individuals' response to treatment for a wide range of psychological disorders. Hence, clinicians need to be skilled in conducting clinical assessment involving relationships in order to provide effective interventions, whether working primarily with individuals, couples, or the broader family system. This article first introduces brief screening measures and clinical methods for diagnosing couple distress in clinical as well as research applications. It then conceptualizes and assesses couple distress for the purpose of planning and evaluating treatment. The article also reviews empirical findings regarding behavioral, cognitive, and affective components of couple distress, and specific techniques derived from clinical interviews, behavioral observations, and self-reports. Finally, it considers emerging technologies for assessing intimate relationships and makes recommendations for future research.

The assessment of hoarding has evolved over the past two decades to more appropriately capture its key features and associated phenomena. The authors describe a comprehensive and multimethod approach to assessment, which includes questionnaires, pictorial assessment, interview-based measures, behavioral tasks, and the incorporation of reports of family members and clinicians. It begins by reviewing self-report and interview-based measures of hoarding symptoms and providing relevant psychometric information and clinical-cut off scores. It then provides information regarding the assessment of clinical features commonly associated with hoarding, such as hoarding-related beliefs, excessive acquisition, and comorbid psychopathology. It concludes the chapter by noting specific clinical considerations when assessing an individual with hoarding problems and suggesting future directions in the assessment of hoarding, including the incorporation of more standardized behavioral measures of discarding, acquiring, and categorizing.

This chapter describes methods and tools for assessing obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). The chapter outlines the purposes of assessment and discusses special challenges presented by OCD, such as shame associated with socially unacceptable obsessional content. Several types of assessment tools are discussed, including structured diagnostic interviews, semistructured clinician interviews to assess OCD symptom profile and severity, self-report instruments, behavioral assessment and self-monitoring, assessment of appraisals and beliefs relevant to OCD, and functional impairment. The importance of linking assessment findings to an evidence-based treatment plan is discussed.

Intermittent explosive disorder (IED), a DSM-IV-TR disorder characterized by significant acts of aggression and violence, is being increasingly recognized as a prevalent and chronic disorder. Given the personal, social, and economic costs associated with IED, there is a clear need for well-validated assessment measures and efficacious treatments. However, there are currently no published, well-validated diagnostic measures of IED. With regard to treatment, preliminary evidence from a few randomized clinical trials suggests that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and cognitive behavioral psychotherapy may be effective in treating IED. However, more research is needed before either can be considered an empirically supported treatment for IED. In this chapter, we discuss (1) challenges in developing reliable and valid assessments for IED and (2) issues relevant to developing and testing psychological and pharmacological treatment interventions for IED.

Kleptomania, a disabling impulse control disorder, is characterized by repetitive and uncontrollable theft of items that are of little if any use. Kleptomania often goes undiagnosed or is misdiagnosed as a mood disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, or a substance use disorder. Unlike typical shoplifters, individuals with kleptomania steal for symptomatic relief rather than personal gain. Although the etiology of kleptomania is unknown, various biological and psychosocial theories may explain why some individuals develop kleptomania. Although cognitive behavioral therapy has shown early promise in treating kleptomania in case reports, the only controlled data for treatment involve the use of the opioid antagonist naltrexone.

As gambling becomes more popular, more people will be exposed to it; thus, the prevalence of and demand for gambling-related treatments are expected to increase. Pathological gambling (PG) is the most severe level of gambling compromise, characterized by unrestrained gambling to the point of financial and psychosocial harm. Classified among the impulse control disorders, PG resembles other addictive disorders. A host of scales for screening and diagnosing PG are available for both the specialist and the general practitioner. The diagnosis of PG, like that of other addictions, is based upon signs of loss of control over the target behavior (i.e., gambling), dose escalation (increasing amounts wagered to get the same excitement as in previous bets), withdrawal-like symptoms, psychosocial harm, persistent desire, and persistent betting despite the negative consequences. Its treatment requires thorough assessment of psychiatric related conditions, motivational intervention, gambling-focused psychotherapy, relapse prevention, and support for maintenance of treatment gains. Psychopharmacological tools to treat craving and gambling recurrence are an incipient but promising field.

Pathological skin picking (PSP) refers to chronic skin picking or scratching that causes tissue damage and distress. It is a heterogeneous category of behaviors and may be manifest in the context of various psychological disorders. This chapter presents an overview of the empirical literature on the assessment and treatment of PSP, including (1) a cognitive-behavioral model as heuristic for conceptualizing treatment, (2) assessment tools, (3) a review of the pharmacological and psychosocial treatment outcome literatures, (4) cognitive-behavioral treatment techniques, and (5) future directions. The chapter is intended to introduce the clinician to the assessment and psychological tools used to treat PSP, as well as to provide impetus to advance research in this understudied domain.

Research over the last decade has identified Internet addiction as a new and often unrecognized clinical disorder that impacts a user’s ability to control online use to the extent that it can cause relational, occupational, and social problems. Symptoms of problem Internet use are compared to criteria used to diagnose other addictions. In particular, pathological gambling is compared to problematic Internet use because of overlapping criteria. This chapter describes the diagnostic and treatment implications of the disorder. As technology is used with great frequency, detection and diagnosis of Internet addiction is often difficult. Symptoms may be masked by legitimate use of the Internet, and clinicians may overlook asking questions about technology use because problem Internet use is still a new and often unrecognized condition. This chapter outlines diagnostic conceptualizations of problem Internet use along with assessment and treatment considerations and the newest inclusion in the DSM-5 for Internet Gaming Disorder.