How We Do Psychological Testing
During the course of your evaluation or treatment, your clinical team may have questions that are best answered by having you undergo psychological testing by one of our clinical psychologists. Psychological testing is similar in some ways to medical testing. If your physician wants to understand some aspect of your medical condition, he or she may order blood tests, x-rays, or other tests. Psychological testing and assessment is similar in that it is designed to answer a referral question that will help your clinical team better understand your condition to provide you better treatment.
Types of Referral Questions
Common referral questions for psychological testing by your treatment team include:
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
- Are the problems the patient has with their attention due to attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), another psychological disorder, or a combination of conditions?
- Is the ADHD medication and psychotherapy showing measurable improvements on ADHD psychological testing instruments?
Specific Learning Disorder
- Does the patient demonstrate measurable difficulties learning and using academic skills in reading, writing, and/or mathematics that meets diagnostic criteria for a Specific Learning Disorder?
ADA Documentation for Accommodation for Students with Disabilities
- Does the patient meet ADA requirements at their college or university to qualify for accommodations due to a mental health disability? If so, prepare documentation to submit to the educational institution.
Academic Achievement
- What is the patient’s current level of academic achievement (what they have learned in school) to help them prepare to attend college, vocational training, or volunteer work?
Intellectual Functioning and Neuropsychological Screening
- What are the patient’s global and specific levels of intellectual functioning? Are there discrepancies between different types of intellectual functioning that could indicate psychological disorders, neurological disorders, or indicate problems in adjustment to work, school, or social functioning? Is there any suggestion of neuropsychological impairment that would
Executive Functioning
- Is the patient showing problems or impairment in executive functioning (planning, organizing, hypothesis testing, impulse control over behaviors, emotional regulation, shifting between situations, initiating tasks, holding different thoughts in memory at the same time, self-monitoring one’s performance)?
Career Testing
- What are different careers, school subjects/majors, and leisure activities that might be a good fit for the patient?
Personality Testing
- How does the patient’s personality function in relation to self-concept, emotional regulation, view of others, and identity?
Diagnostic Testing
- What additional mental health diagnoses should be considered for the patient?
Types of Psychological Tests
Psychological tests can be grouped into the following categories:
Achievement Tests: Designed to measure what a person has learned or knows how to do.
Aptitude Tests: Measuring what the person’s ability or capability is to perform specific tasks or skills.
Attitude Tests: Determining what the person’s attitude or beliefs are about topics, situations, or events.
Direct Observation Tests: Involve directly observing someone and scoring their behavior, actions, speech, or other characteristics using rating scales or counting systems.
Intelligence Tests: Measurement of a person’s global and specific types of intelligence.
Neuropsychological Tests: Measurement of brain functions that are linked to brain structures or pathways.
Personality Tests: Measurement of a person’s identifiable patterns or traits that a person consistently shows across a variety of settings or situations.
Vocational Tests: Assessment of a person’s interests to determine which types of occupations are the best fit with their personality.
Testing Batteries
Although only a single test may be administered to a patient on occasion, most of the time clinical psychologists administer a psychological testing battery to a patient when they conduct psychological testing. A psychological testing battery is a group of different tests designed to complement one another that helps to answer the referral question. Some of the tests may be verbal questionnaires, some may be administered face-to-face with the psychologist, and some may be nonverbal or may be completed by family members. By administering a testing battery, the testing results are more thorough, accurate, and complete, especially if the referral question is complex.
What Should I Expect?
The clinical psychologist that will conduct your psychological testing usually will meet with you for an initial intake appointment in which the referral question from your treatment team is discussed. The psychologist may get additional background information on you, and he or she may ask if they can get additional records from medical doctors, schools, or hospitals. They may ask if they can speak to your parents, significant other, or children. They will explain the purpose of the testing with you and how the testing will be conducted.
Some psychological tests are conducted by computer, and some psychological tests are administered face-to-face. Testing is usually broken up into testing sessions. Testing can take as little as an hour to complete or as long as 12 hours. Once the testing is complete, it may take days or even weeks for the psychologist to prepare a final report. This is because the scoring and interpretation of psychological tests can be very time-consuming. Your test results will rarely be given to you directly as it is the standard of care to have your test results reviewed by a licensed mental health professional who is an expert in psychological testing. Most likely, this will be the psychologist who administered your tests and wrote the report or the psychologist who is your therapist and trained to interpret psychological tests.
Testing via Telehealth
Many types of psychological tests can be administered via telehealth with some modifications. It may take longer to administer psychological tests via telehealth, and you may need additional assistance from family or friends to complete psychological testing remotely. If we decide to conduct psychological testing with you remotely, we will discuss the procedures involved in completing a psychological test battery remotely with you and your loved ones.
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