Understanding Psychological Assessment

By Ho Shee Wai

Director/Registered Psychologist

Understanding Psychological Assessment

Learn what is psychological assessment and why we test our children. Find out what is the typical process during a psychological assessment and what would a psychologist be able to tell about your child after doing a psychological assessment.

When parents meet with the school for consultation regarding their child’s progress, some parents may have received recommendation to send their child for psychological assessment. This may cause some anxiety and questions such as “Is there something wrong with my child?” Let's look at some of the basics so as to help parents make informed decisions about psychological assessment.

Why Do We Test Our Children?

Psychological assessment is intended to provide a structured, organized, and succinct description of current psychological functioning including cognitive abilities and emotional experience.  The purpose of it is to obtain a complete picture of the child by examining the following resources: intelligence, language, adaptive skill and motor skill development, cognitive achievement, learning style, attention level, social development, and emotional maturity.

The most common reason for referring children for a psychological assessment is that there are concerns about children having difficulty acquiring age-appropriate academic skills, or controlling their behaviors.  A full psychological assessment will establish a child's strengths and weaknesses and will help in planning an effective teaching program.  An assessment will also provide a detailed diagnosis of dyslexia or other learning difficulties and the psychologist will be able to give recommendations as to what can be done to help, when appropriate.

Even if your child’s difficulties are not regarded as severe enough to recommend assessment with a psychologist, we feel that children who are experiencing difficulties at school will benefit from an assessment, in order to ascertain the reasons for their difficulties and to ensure that the right kind of help is received as soon as possible.

It is prudent and appropriate practice to re-evaluate young children frequently. Young children demonstrate a great deal of variability in their rates of maturation and acquisition of skills, and especially in their attention and motivation during testing. Since the resulting predictive validity of preschool tests is quite weak, frequent reassessment is needed to provide a current picture of the young child's functioning. In addition, if a young child has been receiving intervention services, the developmental picture may be changing rapidly.

Psychological assessment is not limited to children with problems.  Parents who have desires to help their children fulfil their fullest potential can use psychological testing to find out their children’s strengths, weaknesses, and learning styles so as to tailor learning experiences to best suit their children’s unique needs.

Types of Psychological Assessment

1. Intelligence test (IQ)

This is probably one of the most familiar tests to the lay person.  Intelligence test attempts to measure the child’s intelligence, or his/her basic ability to understand the world around him/her, assimilate its functioning, and apply this knowledge to enhance the quality of his/her life.  Intelligence is a measure of a potential, not a measure of what the child has learned.

2. Achievement test

What is not common knowledge is that IQ score in and of itself is not useful.  Achievement test is needed to supplement it to obtain a more complete picture of the child.  Achievement test attempts to measure either how much the child know about a certain topic (i.e., achieved knowledge), such as mathematics, reading, or spelling.  It provides useful information as to the child’s specific strength and weakness in various academic tasks.  It also tells us whether the child is performing below, within, or above his/her ability as measured by the IQ test.

3. Adaptive and Developmental Behaviour Assessment

This test attempts to measure the child’s development in non-academic/cognitive areas.  Usually, 4 areas of the child will be assessed. a. Communication: how speaks and understands others, read and write; b. Daily living skills: practical skills needed to take care of self; c. Socialization skills: skills need to get along with others as well as their play activities and leisure time; d. Motor skills: important physical skills

4. Behaviour/Emotional Assessment

This type of assessment can help identify whether the child has any behaviour or emotional concerns that may benefit from therapeutic or medical intervention.  E.g., ADHD, Anxiety, Depression, Autism, etc.

What to expect from a Psychological Assessment?

During the process of a psychological assessment, your psychologist will take the role of an investigator to find out the full picture of what’s going on with your child. This will take the form of interviews with relevant people: parents, teachers, tuition teachers/tutors, and the child himself/herself. The Psychologist will also utilize standardized and normalized assessment tests which compare your child’s performance to that of a group of children of his/her age and gender on specific measures of certain areas. The Psychologist will then write a report tabulating the findings of this investigative exercise. The Psychologist will then meet up with you, the parents, to explain the outcome of their investigation and make recommendations for the next steps to support your child in fulfilling their potential. If your child receives a diagnosis, it would trigger the appropriate system support (from school, government, etc.) to ensure your child gets the help he/she needs to be successful in learning. Depending on the age of your child, the Psychologist may also discuss with you regarding how to share the news of the diagnosis with your child so that they can do some self-management as well.

How can I help my child prepare for the Psychological Assessment?

Unlike school exams or tests, this process does not require your child to go study or prepare something in advance. The whole purpose of the assessment is to see where your child currently is at, their strengths or weaknesses. You can help your child prepare by explaining the reasons and purposes of the assessment (i.e., so that they receive help and support). It will be helpful to present this in a positive manner (i.e., let’s find out how smart you are and/or what you can do). Manage your child’s anxiety if they are prone to be anxious during school exams or tests. Bring some snack and drink for your child as the assessment process can take some time. Parents will not be allowed in the room when the child is being assessed.