Deck 11: How Do Counselors Collect and Use Assessment Information

Question 1

Which of the following can be important and appropriate sources of assessment information for clients? _____

A) Reports from family members
B) Behaviors of the client during sessions
C) Results of tests given to the client
D) All of the above

Answer 1

All of the above

Question 2

The assessment of what someone has learned in school is an example of _____

A) An achievement test
B) An intelligence test
C) An aptitude test
D) A measure of counseling progress

Answer 2

An achievement test

Question 3

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) is an example of _____

A) An intelligence test
B) A measure of neuropsychological impairment
C) A test of psychopathology
D) A test of personality preferences

Answer 3

A test of psychopathology

Question 4

When counselors conduct an assessment interview, they typically include _____

A) Information about the history of the problem, including severity and frequency
B) Developmental history, including school problems, and important developmental milestones
C) Substance abuse history
D) All of the above

Question 5

Structured instruments that have been developed by rigorous criteria and yield results that can be compared to other individuals are called _____

A) Standardized tests
B) Nonstandardized tests
C) Ideographic tests
D) Ipsitive tests

Question 6

The so-called "Big Three" mistakes in testing involve ignoring (or failing to accurately assess) _____

A) Severe mental disorders, substance abuse, and violence/self-harm
B) Strengths, weaknesses, areas for growth
C) Client's goals, counselor's goals, program goals
D) Mental disorders, physical disorders, intellectual disorders

Question 7

In schools, counselors work with other specialists, such as teachers and school psychologists, to develop _____ for students with special needs

A) LREs (Least Restrictive Environment strategies)
B) IDEAs (Individual Documentation for Education and Access)
C) IEPs (Individualized Education Plans)
D) PACs (Personalized Access to Counseling)

Question 8

A "SUD" is a _____, which is used to help measure a client's symptomatology

A) Standardized Unerring Discrepancy score
B) Subjective Unit of Distress
C) Sad Unreconciled Defeats
D) Suffering Upset Difficulties

Question 9

Before couples counseling, all couples should be screened for domestic violence because _____

A) Approximately 1/5^th of all women have been assaulted to varying degrees by a partner
B) Counseling couples who are currently in a violent relationship is not considered ethical
C) It is not considered effective to counsel couples when one member is assaulting the other
D) All of the above

Question 10

The relationship between counselor and client during assessment is _____

A) Not very important, since objective tests and assessments are specifically designed not to be influenced by the relationship between the examiner and examinee
B) Best if it is a formal, hierarchical relationship that underscores the expertise of the counselor
C) Is important, but not essential to the testing process
D) Is as critically important to the assessment process as it is during any point in the counseling relationship

Question 11

When interpreting test results, it is most important that counselors make determinations about the client _____

A) By putting the information in context and comparing the client's test results to a group of people similar to the client
B) Based on the objective scoring system of the test and classify the client according to this system
C) Based on the client's attitude about the counseling process and make decisions that will increase the likelihood that s/he will seek counseling in the future
D) Based on the results of the test, which supersedes other information the counselor has about the client

Question 12

The primary purpose behind Kleinman's questions to help clients communicate their understanding of the problem is _____

A) To remind counselors that they need to assess when the problem began
B) To remind counselors to assess the role that culture plays in an individual's understanding of the problem
C) To remind counselors that different people call problems by different names
D) To help clients see that the counselor is an expert on the client's problem

Question 13

The now discredited theory of understanding people by "reading" the bumps on their head is called _____

A) Somatotyping
B) Phrenology
C) Intrinsic (internal) messaging
D) Eugenics

Question 14

Which of the following statement(s) is/are true about informing clients of the results of the tests _____

A) Because some test results are easily misunderstood by clients, it is better if clients are not told the results of tests
B) Counselors must consider cultural factors when giving test results to clients
C) The ACA ethical code is an important resource because it gives counselors specific guidelines and steps to follow about communicating test results to clients
D) All of the above

Question 15

The Five Factor (or "Big Five") Theory of Personality includes _____

A) Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism, and Openness to Experiences
B) Extraversion, Introversion, Thinking, Feeling, and Being
C) Emotions, Behaviors, Thoughts, Attitudes, and Experiences,
D) Endomorphs, Mesomorphs, Ectomorphs, Melancholics, and Phlegmatics

Question 16

John Holland's Self-Directed Search is based on the RIASEC Model, which is _____

A) A model used to assess the personality characteristics of court mandated clients (Rebellious, Insubordinate, Annoyed, Subversive, Exasperated, Careless)
B) A model used to assess a person's career interests (Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, Conventional)
C) A model used to assess types of intelligences (Reading/Verbal, Interpersonal, Artistic, Spatial, Emotional, Commonsense)
D) A model used to assess types of learning that students prefer (Rote Memorization, Independent, Active, Solitary, Engaged, Conventional)

Question 17

All of the following are key ethical principles applied to assessment EXCEPT _____

A) Results of any specific test must be taken in context and compared with other knowledge and information about the client
B) As long as tests are used for instructional purposes and not for financial gain, it is okay to photocopy them for use
C) Not all published tests are necessarily reliable and/or valid, and counselors must understand the quality of any test before using it
D) Just because a specific test falls within a counselor's legal scope of practice does not mean that s/he is qualified to use it

Question 18

Which of the following statement is most true about testing? _____

A) Standardized tests are better than nonstandardized assessments because they are objective
B) Nonstandardized assessments are better than standardized tests because they provide information and a depth of perspective about clients that cannot be gleaned from standardized tests
C) Both standardized and nonstandardized assessments can provide valuable and useful information about clients
D) Counselors seldom use either standardized or nonstandardized assessments, but instead prefer projective tests that help them gain insight into a client's inner world

Question 19

All of the following statements are true about the appropriate role that school counselors play in assessment EXCEPT _____

A) School counselors should be competent to assess for suicide risk and substance abuse
B) School counselors should be aware of, and be able to recognize, signs of severe mental illness
C) School counselors should be alert to the signs of child abuse and know how to report suspected abuse
D) School counselors should administer proficiency tests, as it gives them the opportunity to see every student in the school

Question 20

The statement "assessment is treatment" means _____

A) The process of assessment, if done correctly, can start the client on a path toward healing and growth
B) From an insurance perspective, assessment and treatment are both billable
C) In schools, there is no separate step in the counseling process for assessment, so assessment is considered part of treatment
D) A behavioral approach to counseling means that keeping track of a client's behavioral deficits and excesses will determine how treatment is done

Question 21

Counselors in all settings use assessments, primarily in the areas of achievement, career, intelligence, personality/psychopathology, and counseling outcomes.

Question 22

Assessment should uncover not only the client's problems, but the client's strengths as well.

Question 23

Because school counselors cannot reasonably conduct mental health counseling in the schools, it is inappropriate for school counselors to be trained to assess suicide risk.

Question 24

A counselor's time is best spent having someone else administer a test or conduct an interview, since the results, not the process, is the most important component for understanding.

Question 25

Making a diagnosis of a mental illness based solely on the results of a test is appropriate, since tests are objective measures that are not biased by the counselor's beliefs or culture.

Question 26

Asking Kleinman's questions about the client's understanding of the problem helps to make clients collaborators in their own treatment.

Question 27

Name at least three different domains that clients might assess and discuss ways that assessment of this domain could be a useful tool in counseling.

Question 28

What are some of the major categories that counselors assess during an interview?

Question 29

How can an assessment of strengths, as well as problems, help counselors find the best methods of interventions for their clients?

Question 30

Why is personality so difficult to measure?

Question 31

Compare and contrast the arguments of those who believe that school counselors should support high stakes testing in schools with those who believe school counselors should not support this type of testing.