Clinical assessment relies on both "construct validity", which focuses on the accuracy of conclusions about a psychological phenomenon drawn from responses to a measure, and "case validity", which focuses on the synthesis of the full range of psychological phenomena pertaining to the concern or question at hand. Whereas construct validity is…

The current study examined whether the Avoidance and Fusion Questionnaire for Youth (AFQ-Y; L. A. Greco, W. Lambert, & R. A. Baer, 2008), a self-report measure of psychological inflexibility for children and adolescents, might be useful for measuring psychological inflexibility for adults. The psychometric properties of the AFQ-Y were examined…

Agreement among informants' ratings of children's and adults' internalizing and externalizing problems is moderate. Each informant contributes unique information about an individual's problems. Thus, it has been advocated to obtain ratings from multiple sources in child psychiatry, whereas adult psychiatry relies mostly on self-reports.…

Conducting and publishing research on coached malingering that might undermine the security of psychological tests and procedures presents a real problem of ethical issues. Until a consensus is reached by responsible parties, producers and consumers of research must keep their ethical responsibilities well in mind. (SLD)

Implications of phase space functions for psychological assessment are examined in this third article of the special section. The ability to predict the future time course of variables and the strength of causal relationships can be enhanced if temporal, dynamic, and nonlinear characteristics of variables are considered. (SLD)

The EA:es index (part of the Comprehensive Rorschach System) is discussed, demonstrating how conceptual difficulties and abstract jargon can result in misleading and contradictory inferences. The comments of J. E. Exner, Jr., and the response of J. H. Kleiger concern the importance of theory in Rorschach interpretation. (SLD)

The authors propose using cluster analysis to develop a branching logic that would allow the adaptive administration of psychological instruments. The proposed methodology is described in detail and used to develop an adaptive version of the Halstead Category Test from archival data. (SLD)

This second article of the special section on chaos theory addresses implications of the definition of chaotic behavior for its measurement. The requirements to test the presence of chaotic relations among variables are in agreement with the conceptual and methodological hallmarks of behavioral assessment. (SLD)

Summarizes the current state of the art in test construction and contrasts it with previous conceptual models, some of which are wrong or misleading. New methodologies for item selection and review are presented, with current thinking on the specification of technical characteristics of tests. (Author/SLD)

To investigate mistakes in the reporting of diagnostic efficiency statistics, all studies of the diagnostic performance of self-report scales in two psychological journals published between 1980 and 1991 were reviewed. Of 26 relevant studies, 9 had an error in calculation of diagnostic efficiency. Implications are discussed. (SLD)

This introduction to a special section provides the basic definitions and presents the measurement approaches and data analytic techniques that are collectively referred to as chaos theory. The conceptualization and assessment of unstable behavioral disorders can be strengthened by incorporating elements of chaos theory. (SLD)

In the context of developing assessment instruments in psychology, issues of standardization, norming procedures, and test reliability and validity are discussed. Criteria, guidelines, and rules of thumb are provided to help the clinician with instrument selection for a given psychological assessment. (SLD)

Many clinicians are reluctant to discuss test results with clients. The four articles of this special section (1) explore ethical issues involved in discussing test results with clients; (2) illustrate the test feedback process for neuropsychological evaluation; and (3) examine the impact of test feedback on the individual's functioning. (SLD)