PY632 Child Assessment (2 cr.)

Prerequisite(s): PY621  
The course provides a detailed overview of various methods used in assessing social, intellectual, and personality development of children including standardized testing, behavioral ratings, observations, and interview techniques. Practical problems occurring in child assessment are examined.

Upon completion of this course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

1. Understand the definitions of personality, emotional and behavior problems, developmental stages, and contexts in describing personality characteristics of children.
2. Understand the development, administration, usage, limitations, and basic interpretation of behavior rating scales, projective instruments, self-report tests, ecological assessments, and structured observations.
3. Evaluate interpretations of each of the above instruments, independently and in combination, in assessing a child’s strengths, attributes, and problems that provide the reasoning in support of diagnosis and treatment interventions.
4. Evaluate a parent and/or teacher interview to obtain background information, current situation and any problem areas for a non-referred child, and communicate this information in a written report.
5. Administer assessment instruments to a role-played child including scoring, interpretation, and use in assessing the child’s strengths, attributes, and problems, and communicate the information in a written report.
6. Report assessment information to parents in role-play situations.