Week 1: Getting Acquainted & the Complexities of Psychometrics

Welcome back! Over the past week I have been quickly immersed into the world of psychology and neuropsychology. 

As someone relatively new to data collection in the psychology field, I discovered that providing a client with a diagnosis requires a much more in depth and lengthy period of observation than I had previously thought. I currently work alongside and shadow two Ph.D students at Small Brooklyn, and was given the opportunity to listen in on various case studies. Specifically, a combined ADHD and autism diagnosis was particularly memorable for all of the patient’s symptoms could allude to a number of different diagnoses. In doing so, I truly began to understand the depth in which a patient must be understood before being given a formal diagnosis. I discovered that all aspects of a patient’s life must be noted, from the verbal phrases they use to the way in which they were born. 

I already knew that a common obstacle in the medical field was different diagnoses across physicians and subsequently different medications, however within the field of psychology, that number of differences skyrocketed to a new level. I witnessed a patient who had seen many clinicians, neuropsychologists, psychologists and psychiatrists alike, yet all of his diagnoses were different. To make matters even more complicated the patient was even prescribed medications that should not have been taken together. This experience showed me how complicated diagnosing a patient is, let alone providing them with the correct treatment, whether that be cognitive-behavioral therapy, medication, or lifestyle changes.  

I also learned how to score a couple different types of ADHD questionnaires, used to gain information from the client, the parents and even teachers. I was introduced to the system in which Small Brooklyn organizes the information from these questionnaires, and as I become familiarized with their system, I will undoubtedly gain more experience with different types of questionnaires and the quantification of different brain functions. 

Lastly, Dr. Mandi introduced me to Small Brooklyn’s archived information. This contains the data from hundreds of past clients–information that will be extremely useful for me when beginning my own data collection, with an in-depth analysis of IQ examinations and score reports. I am excited to pull demographic information, like race and economic status from current clients as well as past clients, which will only increase my data set.

Katie