- Email: [email protected]
Behavioral assessment: A practical handbook (second edition)
82
BOOK
tices. It even touches on such issues in research as ethics and the choice of a theoretical basis for hypothesis testing. Although this scope is adequate for an undergraduate text, any depth of understanding was inevitably sacrificed in the process of trying to be comprehensive. Authors Agnew and Pyke have added a number of important chapters to this new edition, including a very good chapter on external and internal validity (Chapter 7), and a thoughtfully written final chapter on new methodological trends in the social sciences. This last chapter briefly reviews Kuhn’s (1970) position and attempts to introduce the reader to the role of science in a world context. The bulk of the chapters include many clear and engaging examples of where scientific procedures can be used to answer questions. The writings of Don Campbell (Campbell and Stanley, 1966) are evident throughout the book. By using less technical jargon and maintaining an overview position, the authors have made the fundamentals of research design very readable and comprehensible. They reveal the common artifacts that can influence experimental results and demonstrate how an experimenter can control for these factors. The chapters on statistics are the weakest. It is useful for the reader to see how mathematical symbols are integrated with research and theory, but the authors make an ineffec-
REVIEWS tual attempt to explain some complex issues, such as the analysis of variance or the choice of the correct statistical test. The use of long statistical formulae is not warranted, and this section would be confusing to many students not schooled in statistics. I would have much preferred a theoretical discussion of statistics and their role in science, leaving the number crunching to a book that can cover the subject thoroughly. In summary I was quite pleased with The Science Game. It may be very useful in introducing research design and scientific process to students who otherwise may cringe at the notion of “an experiment”. The combination of an engaging writing style with technical accuracy is a welcome addition to the field of social sciences. REFERENCES D. T. and Stanley J. C. (1966) Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Designs for Research. Rand MC Nally, Chicago. Kuhn T. (1970) The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, 2nd Edn. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Campbell
ANDREW
A. SWEET
Behavior Therapy institute of Colorado Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.
Behavioral Assessment: A Practical Handbook (Second Edition) Edited by MICHEL Pergamon
HERSEN
and ALAN S. BELLACK
Press, Elmsford,
Hersen and Bellack have structured this book into three broad categories: Fundamental Issues, Assessment Strategies and Evaluation for Treatment Planning. The first section includes two chapters which discuss the general issues and psychometric considerations which underlie behavioral assessment. Then follow four chapters which examine general assessment methodologies, and finally, the third section contains nine chapters which review behavioral assessment in specific problem areas. Conceptually, this structure provides an appealing and logical division of behavioral assessment; each section offers the reader a foundation for the chapters in the next. Unfortunately, these positive reactions to this structure as well as to the titles of the individual chapters were not uniformly sustained in the text. In their preface, the editors do not clearly identify their intended audience, and the volume suffers as a result. Knowing the audience to which one is writing is important, especially for an edited volume such as this, because it guides the individual authors. Without this focus, the chapters can vary greatly on how fundamental, comprehensive or critical the authors are in presenting their material. As such, this volume has not succeeded in overcoming the common indictment against edited works, of inconsistency and unevenness. Despite this, the volume gets off to a very good start
N.Y., $19.50
with chapters by Nelson and Hayes (Nature of Behavioral Assessment) and Cone (Psychometric Considerations). Both are well written and present the fundamental issues clearly and succinctly. Cone’s chapter questions the usefulness of both classical psychometric concepts and generalizability theory in evaluating the quality of behavioral asssessment measures. Offering a “behavioral assessment alternative” Cone argues that “It is time for behavioral assessors to adopt a paradigm more suitable to behavior as a subject matter and to reject concepts belonging to a radically different paradigm developed for a completely different subject matter altogether” (p. 64). The four chapters in Part II, Assessment Strategies, are: Behavioral Interviewing, Behavioral Observation, Selfreport and Cognitive Functions, and Psychophysiological Assessment. Morganstern and Tevlin’s chapter, Behavioral Interviewing, presents important issues in interviewing (e.g., identifying treatment goals), dispels myths that the client-therapist relationship is unimportant to behavior therapists, and describes how to conduct a behavioral interview. However, research which has investigated (even indirectly) the reliability (i.e. accuracy) or validity of the interview was not presented. Most noticeably absent was a recent study by Hay et al. (1979) which investigated the reliability of problem identification (see Haynes and Jensen, 1979 for a presentation of other research in this
83
BOOK REVIEWS area). Moreover, there was no discussion of the various potential somces of error and bias in interview data or how to reduce their effects. These omissions were a constant frustration not only in this chapter, but also in the chapters on behavioral observation, self-report, and psychophysiological assessment. The observation chapter by Kazdin is mostly descriptive and may be useful in assisting someone in developing an observation measure, but again lacks any review of current measures or their quality (e.g. the ability of certain behavioral coding systems to discriminate between clinic and non-clinic populations). This is unfortunate because it would seem that such information is crucial in the selection of any direct observation measure. Hollon and Bemis present a new and interesting approach to the topic of Self-Report and Cognitive Functions. Rather than review the various self-report measures available in the field (e.g. assertiveness or fear survey schedules), the major portion of the chapter presents their theoretical position on the importance of assessing cognitive functions, as well as what to assess and how. Within the chapter, they present an interesting taxonomy and model of assessment. Unfortunately, the only attention given to specific assessment devices is found in two tables which list measures used with either general populations (e.g. to assess irrational beliefs) or specific populations (e.g. depressed or anxious clients). Very little space is reserved for the quality of any of these measures, probably reflecting the dearth of attention given to this area of behavioral assessment in the literature. No doubt this chapter will provide an arena for controversy, as it takes a new look at the topic of self-report and the role of cognitions in understanding human behavior. In their consideration of psychophysiological assessment, Ray and Raczynski give a brief description of the varied measures and how they are recorded, discuss some concepts related to interpreting psychophysiological data, and list some applications of psychophysiological assessment. Although they do a nice job of presenting many important issues in this area, several problems are apparent. Primarily their audience seems to change as the chapter progresses. Their initial presentation on how specific measures are recorded seems to be directed at novices, while their listing of the applications of assessment provides the reader with too little information. The reader may be continually frustrated by the mere listing of studies without any serious integration or presentation of conclusions. The reader is left with the knowledge that psychophysiological assessment has been applied to a variety of problems, but will be unable to evaluate any of the methods reported unless he or she reads the studies and reviews cited. Ray and Raczynski give little attention to critically evaluating the methods they present. Part III is entitled Evaluation for Treatment Planning, bringing attention to the important tie between assessment and intervention in behavior therapy. With the exception of the final two chapters which address separately the
assessment of children in outpatient and inpatient settings, this section focuses on specific problem areas. Included are chapters on anxiety and fear, depression, social skills, psychotic behavior, marital dysfunction, and appetitive disorders. Although the quality of these chapters is on the whole, they provide current slightly uneven, information in an interesting and critical manner. Those chapters which the reader will find particularly helpful are those on depression, social skills, appetitive disorders and children in outpatient studies. In addition to being well organized, up to date and critical, these chapters raise important issues, offer thoughtful conclusions and contain data on the quality of the various assessment strategies. Each chapter in this section also presents actual case material which provides an example of how behavioral assessment can be accomplished for specific problems. This structure is a welcome addition to such a text and will certainly be helpful to the student. Most of these presentations are well done and clearly demonstrate the kind of information important to the behavioral assessor, and how it is integrated to develop a treatment plan, and evaluate treatment effectiveness. In sum, the second edition of Behavioral Assessmenf is inconsistent and uneven. An apparent lack of consistency with respect to the audience for which the chapters were written seems to underlie a host of difficulties, including the depth and integration of the material. For the student, many chapters will be too theoretical and assume the existence of a knowledge base where there may be none. For the researcher or practicing behavior therapist, some of the information is too descriptive, uncritical and poorly integrated. On the whole, however, the first and third sections of this volume can be useful to either the clinician or researcher in evaluating and selecting an assessment strategy for a given project or individual case. For the clinician, the case presentations are a pleasant bonus. The second section on assessment strategies is the weakest of the volume. The reader would do better to look elsewhere, for this material has been handled more critically and thoroughly in other places (e.g. Ciminero, Calhoun and Adams, 1977).
REFERENCES Ciminero A. R., Calhoun K. S. and Adams H. E. (Eds.) (1977) Handbook of Behavioral Assessment. Wiley, New York. Hay W. M., Hay L. R., Angle H. V. and Nelson R. 0. (1979) The reliability of problem identification in the behavioral interview, Behav. Assess. 1, 1077118. Haynes S. N. and Jensen B. J. (1979) The interview as a behavioral assessment instrument, Behav. ASPS. 1, 97-106. RICHARD Behavior Therapy Institute of Colorado Denver, Colorado 80231, U.S.A.
A. MARAFIOTE
BOOK
tices. It even touches on such issues in research as ethics and the choice of a theoretical basis for hypothesis testing. Although this scope is adequate for an undergraduate text, any depth of understanding was inevitably sacrificed in the process of trying to be comprehensive. Authors Agnew and Pyke have added a number of important chapters to this new edition, including a very good chapter on external and internal validity (Chapter 7), and a thoughtfully written final chapter on new methodological trends in the social sciences. This last chapter briefly reviews Kuhn’s (1970) position and attempts to introduce the reader to the role of science in a world context. The bulk of the chapters include many clear and engaging examples of where scientific procedures can be used to answer questions. The writings of Don Campbell (Campbell and Stanley, 1966) are evident throughout the book. By using less technical jargon and maintaining an overview position, the authors have made the fundamentals of research design very readable and comprehensible. They reveal the common artifacts that can influence experimental results and demonstrate how an experimenter can control for these factors. The chapters on statistics are the weakest. It is useful for the reader to see how mathematical symbols are integrated with research and theory, but the authors make an ineffec-
REVIEWS tual attempt to explain some complex issues, such as the analysis of variance or the choice of the correct statistical test. The use of long statistical formulae is not warranted, and this section would be confusing to many students not schooled in statistics. I would have much preferred a theoretical discussion of statistics and their role in science, leaving the number crunching to a book that can cover the subject thoroughly. In summary I was quite pleased with The Science Game. It may be very useful in introducing research design and scientific process to students who otherwise may cringe at the notion of “an experiment”. The combination of an engaging writing style with technical accuracy is a welcome addition to the field of social sciences. REFERENCES D. T. and Stanley J. C. (1966) Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Designs for Research. Rand MC Nally, Chicago. Kuhn T. (1970) The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, 2nd Edn. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Campbell
ANDREW
A. SWEET
Behavior Therapy institute of Colorado Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.
Behavioral Assessment: A Practical Handbook (Second Edition) Edited by MICHEL Pergamon
HERSEN
and ALAN S. BELLACK
Press, Elmsford,
Hersen and Bellack have structured this book into three broad categories: Fundamental Issues, Assessment Strategies and Evaluation for Treatment Planning. The first section includes two chapters which discuss the general issues and psychometric considerations which underlie behavioral assessment. Then follow four chapters which examine general assessment methodologies, and finally, the third section contains nine chapters which review behavioral assessment in specific problem areas. Conceptually, this structure provides an appealing and logical division of behavioral assessment; each section offers the reader a foundation for the chapters in the next. Unfortunately, these positive reactions to this structure as well as to the titles of the individual chapters were not uniformly sustained in the text. In their preface, the editors do not clearly identify their intended audience, and the volume suffers as a result. Knowing the audience to which one is writing is important, especially for an edited volume such as this, because it guides the individual authors. Without this focus, the chapters can vary greatly on how fundamental, comprehensive or critical the authors are in presenting their material. As such, this volume has not succeeded in overcoming the common indictment against edited works, of inconsistency and unevenness. Despite this, the volume gets off to a very good start
N.Y., $19.50
with chapters by Nelson and Hayes (Nature of Behavioral Assessment) and Cone (Psychometric Considerations). Both are well written and present the fundamental issues clearly and succinctly. Cone’s chapter questions the usefulness of both classical psychometric concepts and generalizability theory in evaluating the quality of behavioral asssessment measures. Offering a “behavioral assessment alternative” Cone argues that “It is time for behavioral assessors to adopt a paradigm more suitable to behavior as a subject matter and to reject concepts belonging to a radically different paradigm developed for a completely different subject matter altogether” (p. 64). The four chapters in Part II, Assessment Strategies, are: Behavioral Interviewing, Behavioral Observation, Selfreport and Cognitive Functions, and Psychophysiological Assessment. Morganstern and Tevlin’s chapter, Behavioral Interviewing, presents important issues in interviewing (e.g., identifying treatment goals), dispels myths that the client-therapist relationship is unimportant to behavior therapists, and describes how to conduct a behavioral interview. However, research which has investigated (even indirectly) the reliability (i.e. accuracy) or validity of the interview was not presented. Most noticeably absent was a recent study by Hay et al. (1979) which investigated the reliability of problem identification (see Haynes and Jensen, 1979 for a presentation of other research in this
83
BOOK REVIEWS area). Moreover, there was no discussion of the various potential somces of error and bias in interview data or how to reduce their effects. These omissions were a constant frustration not only in this chapter, but also in the chapters on behavioral observation, self-report, and psychophysiological assessment. The observation chapter by Kazdin is mostly descriptive and may be useful in assisting someone in developing an observation measure, but again lacks any review of current measures or their quality (e.g. the ability of certain behavioral coding systems to discriminate between clinic and non-clinic populations). This is unfortunate because it would seem that such information is crucial in the selection of any direct observation measure. Hollon and Bemis present a new and interesting approach to the topic of Self-Report and Cognitive Functions. Rather than review the various self-report measures available in the field (e.g. assertiveness or fear survey schedules), the major portion of the chapter presents their theoretical position on the importance of assessing cognitive functions, as well as what to assess and how. Within the chapter, they present an interesting taxonomy and model of assessment. Unfortunately, the only attention given to specific assessment devices is found in two tables which list measures used with either general populations (e.g. to assess irrational beliefs) or specific populations (e.g. depressed or anxious clients). Very little space is reserved for the quality of any of these measures, probably reflecting the dearth of attention given to this area of behavioral assessment in the literature. No doubt this chapter will provide an arena for controversy, as it takes a new look at the topic of self-report and the role of cognitions in understanding human behavior. In their consideration of psychophysiological assessment, Ray and Raczynski give a brief description of the varied measures and how they are recorded, discuss some concepts related to interpreting psychophysiological data, and list some applications of psychophysiological assessment. Although they do a nice job of presenting many important issues in this area, several problems are apparent. Primarily their audience seems to change as the chapter progresses. Their initial presentation on how specific measures are recorded seems to be directed at novices, while their listing of the applications of assessment provides the reader with too little information. The reader may be continually frustrated by the mere listing of studies without any serious integration or presentation of conclusions. The reader is left with the knowledge that psychophysiological assessment has been applied to a variety of problems, but will be unable to evaluate any of the methods reported unless he or she reads the studies and reviews cited. Ray and Raczynski give little attention to critically evaluating the methods they present. Part III is entitled Evaluation for Treatment Planning, bringing attention to the important tie between assessment and intervention in behavior therapy. With the exception of the final two chapters which address separately the
assessment of children in outpatient and inpatient settings, this section focuses on specific problem areas. Included are chapters on anxiety and fear, depression, social skills, psychotic behavior, marital dysfunction, and appetitive disorders. Although the quality of these chapters is on the whole, they provide current slightly uneven, information in an interesting and critical manner. Those chapters which the reader will find particularly helpful are those on depression, social skills, appetitive disorders and children in outpatient studies. In addition to being well organized, up to date and critical, these chapters raise important issues, offer thoughtful conclusions and contain data on the quality of the various assessment strategies. Each chapter in this section also presents actual case material which provides an example of how behavioral assessment can be accomplished for specific problems. This structure is a welcome addition to such a text and will certainly be helpful to the student. Most of these presentations are well done and clearly demonstrate the kind of information important to the behavioral assessor, and how it is integrated to develop a treatment plan, and evaluate treatment effectiveness. In sum, the second edition of Behavioral Assessmenf is inconsistent and uneven. An apparent lack of consistency with respect to the audience for which the chapters were written seems to underlie a host of difficulties, including the depth and integration of the material. For the student, many chapters will be too theoretical and assume the existence of a knowledge base where there may be none. For the researcher or practicing behavior therapist, some of the information is too descriptive, uncritical and poorly integrated. On the whole, however, the first and third sections of this volume can be useful to either the clinician or researcher in evaluating and selecting an assessment strategy for a given project or individual case. For the clinician, the case presentations are a pleasant bonus. The second section on assessment strategies is the weakest of the volume. The reader would do better to look elsewhere, for this material has been handled more critically and thoroughly in other places (e.g. Ciminero, Calhoun and Adams, 1977).
REFERENCES Ciminero A. R., Calhoun K. S. and Adams H. E. (Eds.) (1977) Handbook of Behavioral Assessment. Wiley, New York. Hay W. M., Hay L. R., Angle H. V. and Nelson R. 0. (1979) The reliability of problem identification in the behavioral interview, Behav. Assess. 1, 1077118. Haynes S. N. and Jensen B. J. (1979) The interview as a behavioral assessment instrument, Behav. ASPS. 1, 97-106. RICHARD Behavior Therapy Institute of Colorado Denver, Colorado 80231, U.S.A.
A. MARAFIOTE