Introduction to Psychological Assessment in the South African Context - Fourth Edition

C. Foxcroft, G. Roodt

What exactly is psychological assessment? Which professionals are permitted to use psychological tests? How are tests applied in a culturally diverse country such as South Africa?

The fourth edition of Introduction to Psychological Assessment in the South African Context is an introductory text on measuring and assessing human behaviour within a complex multicultural environment. It offers a practical guide to the development of culturally appropriate measures and the application of assessment measures, as well as the interpretation and reporting of results. The book provides advice with regard to assessing young children and disabled individuals and also discusses the various contexts in which psychological measures are used, including education,
counselling, the psycholegal domain, and research.

Introduction to Psychological Assessment features critical thinking exercises that present students with typical assessment scenarios to develop their reasoning skills. Real-l if e South African examples and case studies illustrate the theory, and allow students to apply psychological assessment principles in practice.

Features

•                 Ethical dilemma case studies encourage students to engage critically with ethical concerns that may arise in        

                      assessment practice.

•                 Advanced reading blocks provide additional content on concepts which are studied at greater depth at Honours level.
•                 Thoroughly updated information helps students and practitioners to keep abreast of the latest developments in

p                     psychological assessment and the measures used in South Africa.

Content

1    An overview of assessment: Definition and scope

2    Psychological assessment: A brief retrospective overview

3    Basic measurement and scaling concepts

4    Reliability: Basic concepts and measures

5    Validity: Basic concepts and measures

6    Developing a measure

7    Cross cultural test adaptation and translation

8    The practice of psychological assessment: controlling the use of measures, competing values, and ethical standards

9    Administering psychological assessment measures

10   Assessment of cognitive functioning

11   Measures of affective behaviour, adjustment and well-being

12   Personality assessment

13   Career counselling assessment

14   Computer-based and Internet-delivered assessment

15   The use of assessment measures in various applied contexts

16   Interpreting and reporting assessment results

17   Factors affecting assessment results

18   What the future holds for psychological assessment