The psychological assessment of children

Abstract

A major shortcoming of the typical text in the area of personality assessment is the failure of the author to extend the principles from basic research on personality and social behavior to the area of personality assessment. Too often the author of such a text concentrates on either the psychometric qualifications of the instruments used in the area or excludes this sort of objective evaluation and instead emphasizes personality theory and dynamics of behavior. Palmer is to be congratulated for his attempt to integrate the assessment of behavior with facts and theory of behavior. Palmer argues that psychological assessment must use scientific knowledge and methods to study the behavior of an individual child. The application of the scientific approach and knowledge of behavioral facts and theory to clinical assessment is accomplished by, first, understanding basic facts and theories, second, using basic scientific tools in observing behavior, and third, reasoning logically. The book is organized into sections which deal with each of these three aspects of the scientist-clinician approach. In Part I a developmental theory of behavior is presented within an ego psychology framework; Parts II and III have to do with methods of collecting, recording, and analyzing data; Part IV, with interpreting the assessment data in terms of the child's ego development; Part V, with fitting treatment to diagnosis. As the book progresses, Palmer seems to lose sight of his original intention of applying behavioral theory and scientific methods to clinical assessment. His discussion of the child's ego development and the techniques and instruments used to assess it are based on his vast clinical experience and personal preference rather than empirical evidence. There is little evidence cited regarding the reliabili y and validity of the instruments used to assess ego development and to determine appropriate treatment. Under the rubric of assessment Palmer discusses a variety of different instruments and techniques such as child and parent interviews, rating scales, and behavioral observations. He mentions many of the less widely used tests, for example: Rogers Adjustment Inventory, World Test, Structure Doll Play Techniques, and Goldstein-Scheerer Test. However, the Rorschach occupies the central position in his assessment battery. He views the Rorschach as the only well established measure of perceptual growth and indicates that there is an increasing amount of evidence to substantiate the theory which Rorschach posited. However, the conclusions from the research in this area indicate that the Rorschach is not a good measure of perceptual development and that the perceptual determinants such as form, color, and movement possess very little validity. What little validity the Rorschach has seems to be related to

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