Humanities Homework Help

UCSD Application of Psychological tools in Mental Status Exam Case Studies

 

Goal of the assignment

For the cases below, what are the assessment tools we should use for each client and why? Remember to explain why that tool would be useful in helping us determine what is going on with the client.

While we have a variety of tests and tools available to us, we should also use caution to strategically explore the problem, as opposed to using “everything but the kitchen sink.”

PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT TOOLS

  1. Controlled observations in clinic or laboratory
  2. Naturalistic observations in office, home, school
  3. Logs kept by parents, friends, the client
  4. Rating scales (ASEBA, Conners 3, Child Behavior Checklist)
  5. Structured interview
  6. Unstructured interview
  7. Projective personality tests (Rorshach, TAT, sentence-completion, draw-a-person)
  8. Personality self-report inventories (MMPI-A, BASC-3)
  9. Self-report inventories (e.g. Beck Depression Inventory, Youth Self Report)
  10. Intelligence tests (WISC-V, Woodcock-Johnson, WPPSI-V)
  11. Neurological tests (CT and PET-scans, EEG, MRI, fMRI)

HYPOTHETICAL CASES NEEDING ASSESSMENT

Hypothetical case 1: Norman

Norman (9 yo) performs poorly in school compared to his classmates. He is fidgety and aggressive, and has great difficulty completing his homework assignments. His teachers are considering holding him back a year and want your advice. What tests and methods of assessment should you use in your evaluation?

Which tests/tools are best for each client? A complete response includes:

  1. Identifying and explaining which assessment tools (from the above list, as examples) you might use to assess this client, and why. What data can be gained from using this type of assessment?
  2. Identifying and explaining which aspects of the Mental Status Exam (MSE) Download Mental Status Exam (MSE)might be especially useful for this case, and why.

Hypothetical case 2: Sarah

Sarah is a 13-year-old girl is having trouble making friends and is exhibiting some behavioral disturbances at school. She has moved to a new school recently after her parents contentious divorce. Her teacher reports that she appears sad and aloof in class, and does not participate with the other children. At lunch today, she got into a fist fight with another student, resulting in a black eye and scratches. When she arrives at the office, her clothing is torn, she is appearing confused, and is angry that she might get in trouble because “that girl jumped on me.” Outside of school she appears to be doing well, and is involved in the community at the local YMCA. She has some friends there, but unfortunately, they do not attend the same school she goes to. She is referred to your office for assessment and potentially, ongoing outpatient therapy.

Which tests/tools are best for this client? A complete response includes:

  1. Identifying and explaining which assessment tools (from the above list, as examples) you might use to assess this client, and why. What data can be gained from using this type of assessment?
  2. Identifying and explaining which aspects of the Mental Status Exam (MSE) Download Mental Status Exam (MSE)might be especially useful for this case, and why.