Pros, cons, strengths, and limitations of intellectual assessment
Intelligence can have a very broad definition. Intelligence involves a very wide array of an individual including his or her receptive ability, ability to process information and how this individual responds to his or her surrounding environment. It is imperative to understand the minor aspects that entail human intelligence to carry out an effective intellectual assessment (Lycan, 1999).
Intellectual assessment involves evaluating an individual level of intelligence based on the above-stated factors. One can carry out an intellectual assessment by evaluating an individual verbal, non-verbal and social behavior. The three aspects are relative across individuals and vary in strength. It is very difficult therefore to determine which individual is more intelligent than the other is.
It is important to do an intellectual assessment to understand the psychological nature of an individual. Understanding the psychological nature of an individual is a key element towards prescribing how to treat a mental retard or an emotionally deprived individual. Understanding the human nature would also help tutors to determine which techniques to use to help children with learning difficulties and could help psychologist help individuals who have a problem in relating with their surrounding environment adapt easily to their environment (Stanovich, 2009)
There are the dark sides of carrying out an intellectual assessment. An individual might not take it lightly when as a psychologist you carry out a test meant for a mental retard to a completely sane person. One may also get completely wrong results by using the wrong technique in an individual thus giving a wrong prescription.
There are strengths as well as weaknesses of carrying out an intellectual assessment. The strengths include understanding the cognitive ability of an individual as well as the emotional state of an individual. It is also possible to understand an individual’s personality thus being very easy to deal with an individual.
As a mental health-care practitioner, I must understand my patients intellectual and receptive as well as cognitive abilities. The key to understanding the stated aspects is to determine which technique to use on which individual. Mental disorders vary from one individual to another. There are mental retards that acquire this state from birth as a matter of genetic inheritance or complications at birth. One could developmental problems because of physical injury. There are also mental problems because of depression and other emotional problems. One common factor is the all these cases are to do with the brain impairment in one way or another. It is therefore not possible to administer the same kind of treatment to all though they are all mental retards (Kaplan & Saccuzzo, 2009).
It is very easy to deal with a mental retard if you take the right direction on the first interaction with the retard. Since intellectual assessment involves various aspects of an individual, to strengthen any intellectual assessment of a mental retard, it is imperative to analyze individually or the aspects that involve intellectual assessment. By doing this, you identify the major problem of the individual and thus can deal with the individual effectively. Trying to generalize the condition would be detrimental when it comes to prescribing the approach with which to treat the mental retard.
Intelligence tests involve numerical examinations administered to a given group of individuals in institutions of work to determine the effectiveness of such individuals to the given profession. They can also be administered to students to determine their ability and to unravel some hidden potential. Intelligence tests vary from one occupation to another. Some occupations require good mathematical abilities and those that require good communication ability.
For instance, intelligence tests for PR practitioners would be very different from those of accountants. While the PR practitioners are expected to be good in communication, the accountants are expected to be good with numbers and calculations. There are though intelligence tests that cut across a variety of occupations and can thus be administered to determine the all roundness of an individual. Most organizations require all-round individuals hence the popularity of such intelligence tests (Kaplan & Saccuzzo, 2009).
Cognitive Assessment
A depressed individual is one who is not in his or her normal emotional order. Depression is not a disease but a condition, which is caused by one’s environment and how one relates to the environment. Anxiety is a condition of worry and fear of various things including the future. Every other individual experiences this emotion of anxiety especially when one is just about to face something one is not. Anxiety and depression can become potentially dangerous if the emotions consistently occur to a given individual. There are therapeutic as well as medicinal treatments of these conditions. Studies though have shown over time that treatment is much better for such conditions (Core, James & Lawrence, 1999).
Understanding the patient’s cognitive ability was crucial to understanding the patient’s psychological issues. Cognitive ability is the patience level of understanding and acceptance of the world around that person. By understanding how the patient’s reaction to the stimuli around that patient, then it becomes easy to ascertain the issues this patient was facing and thus being in a position to determine which prescription to administer to the patient. The client’s cognitive and emotional state of depression and anxiety would affect prescribing the most suitable way of treating this individual. A depressed person tends to be very concealed and quiet or very rowdy and uncontrollable (Core, James & Lawrence, 1999).
It is very difficult to acquire the required information from such an individual. It is very important, though, to ensure that you make the patient comfortable by trying all means possible to bring him or her to a state where the patient can open up. Failure to get this information from the patient himself or herself would be a great hindrance to treating the patient. The patient has to open up in the best way possible so to get the most plausible information. Failure to achieve this might hurt the outcome of the testing.
To minimize the negative impacts on the psychological tests, you have to get to know the history of the patient and the patient’s past relations with his or her kin. You need to acquire a technique that would relieve the patient’s anxiety and try to bring down his or her fear and worry. Make the patient be as comfortable as possible and give the patient ample time to express him or herself completely. For a depressed person, it is imperative to listen as the patient opens up. Ensure that her state does not affect largely what she or he says and be very objective in your judgment. In this way, you significantly reduce the impact of the patient’s emotional condition on the psychological tests.
References
Coren, S., James, T. E., Lawrence, M.W. (1999). Sensation and Perception. Harcourt: Harcourt Brace.
Kaplan, R. M., & Saccuzzo, D.P. (2009). Psychological testing: Principles, applications, and issues. Belmont: Cengage press.
Lycan, W.G. (1999). Mind and Cognition: An Anthology. London: Blackwell Publishers.
Stanovich, K. (2009). What Intelligence Tests Miss: The Psychology of Rational Thought. USA: Yale University Press.