Assessing Psychological Assessment

Are psychological assessments a piece of history or a new growth area for psychological practice? Both, according to many observers. The growing acceptance of psychological assessments, including insurance reimbursements, has helped propel an early foundation of psychological practice into a growing niche for some.

Recent research has prompted new recognition of assessment's value among consumers and health professionals, and psychology's advocacy efforts have helped insurers recognize assessment's value as well. Meanwhile, psychologists are moving into new areas of assessment and developing new techniques.

"In large measure, the public understands the value of psychological testing," says Bruce L. Smith, PhD, assessment advocacy coordinator for the Society for Personality Assessment (SPA) and a private practitioner in Berkeley, Calif. "People have the sense that this is science, not someone's opinion."

A valuable resource

Whether they focus on personality, intelligence or some other characteristic, psychological assessments are far more than tests.

"Testing implies something like a blood test, where you just give a test and get a number," explains Smith, also a member of the clinical faculty at the University of California , Berkeley . "Assessment is a much more complex enterprise where you integrate data points from various places to get a more comprehensive understanding."

While psychological assessments can require considerable interpretation, researchers have found that they are just as valid as medical tests.

In a 2001 study, APA's Psychological Assessment Work Group compared psychological tests with medical tests like magnetic resonance imaging, Pap smears and electrocardiograms. The researchers discovered that psychological tests generally predict outcomes just as well as medical tests do. The power of psychological assessment surprised even some leaders in the field.

"It was really quite eye-opening," says study co-author Gregory J. Meyer, PhD, editor of the Journal of Personality Assessment and a University of Toledo associate psychology professor. "I'd been under the impression that psychological tests were in a different league than medical or dental tests–that our instruments would be lower on the totem pole."

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(Taken from the Monitor on Psychology, January 2006, volume 37)