Published on Behalf of the World Health Organization

Psychological testing has grown exponentially as technological advances have permitted it to and societal complexities have necessitated its growth. Psychological testing or psychological assessment is a field characterised by the use of samples of behaviour in order to infer generalisations about a given individual. By samples of behaviour, one means observations over time of an individual performing tasks that have usually been prescribed beforehand. These responses are often compiled into statistical tables that allow the evaluator to compare the behaviour of the individual being tested to the responses of a norm group. The broad categories of psychological evaluation tests include: Norm-referenced, IQ/achievement tests, Neuropsychological tests, Personality tests, Objective tests (Rating scale), Direct observation tests, Psychological evaluations using data mining. New and important research is presented in this book.

The field of psychological assessment has been undergoing rapid change. The second edition of this Handbook, published in 1990, appeared at the beginning of a decade marked by extensive advances in assessment in essentially all of its specialized areas. There are many new tests, new applications of established tests, and new test systems. Major revisions have appeared of established tests, notably the Wechsler intelligence scales. The time seemed right for a third edition, since even over the relatively brief period of ten years, many tests described in the second edition have been replaced, and are no longer commonly used. Furthermore, much new research in such areas as neuropsychology, cognitive science, and psychopathology have made major impacts on how many tests and other assessment procedures are used and interpreted. This third edition represents an effort to give the reader an overview of the many new developments in assessment, while still maintaining material on basic psychometric concepts in order for it to continue to serve as a comprehensive handbook for the student and professional.

Understanding the Emotional Disorders is the first manual for how to use the IDAS-II and examines important, replicable symptom dimensions contained within five adjacent diagnostic classes in the DSM-5: depressive disorders, bipolar and related disorders, anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive and related disorders, and trauma- and stressor-related disorders.