Personality Testing And Competency Paper

Personality Testing and Competency In the field of psychology, testing and assessment is key in giving clients the proper diagnoses followed by the correct and most appropriate form of intervention required. One area that is well known to many is that of personality tests. There are numerous forms of personality tests available including those used when choosing the right employee for a job, or determining how well a person will fit with a certain group. On a more intricate level, clinicians and researchers use personality tests in order to diagnose patients and clients with personality disorders such as Borderline Personality Disorder, Antisocial Personality Disorder, and an array of others. To properly diagnose and treat a personality

One of these area of competencies includes having an extensive knowledge of the background of psychometric theory. This knowledge, according to Krishnamurthy, VanedeCreek, Kaslow, Tazeau, Miville, Kerns, Stegman, Suzuki and Benton (2004), includes knowing the essentials of the concept of reliability such as internal consistency, temporal stability, and validity such as criterion-related, construct and incremental validity, as well as having an understanding of specific sources of error that include response bias (p. 733). Without this area of competency, the instrument would not be deemed reliable and valid. due to potentially being administered and rated incorrectly. This type of knowledge is gained through trainings, graduate programs and other advanced educational programs such as a doctoral level of

Krishnamurthy, et. al (2004) discuss the behavioral competency model which entails four major areas which includes Knowledge, Skills, Abilities and Other Characteristics (KSAO) that are used to determine competency (p. 734). These four areas are essential for ensuring competency in evaluation of psychological assessments. The four elements of the KSAO model are further broken down and explained. Knowledge is gained through information from coursework and experience. Skills are viewed by expertise in different areas of assessment, which include administering tests, coding and scoring results as well as interpretation of the results that are obtained. Abilities, according to Krishnamurthy, et.al (2004), include the capability to build rapport with others, the capacity to show critical and integrative ways of thinking and being psychologically mindful (p. 734). Other characteristics entail anything that is beneficial in increasing knowledge, skills and