PSYn4030 Child Psychological Assessment

Faculty of Social Studies
Spring 2025
Extent and Intensity
2/1/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Ondřej Bouša (lecturer)
Mgr. Jana Cíglerová (lecturer)
prof. PhDr. Ivo Čermák, CSc. (lecturer)
Mgr. Zuzana Masopustová, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Jan Širůček, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Barbora Fejtová (assistant)
Mgr. Jana Fikrlová (assistant)
Mgr. Marie Rudolfová (assistant)
Mgr. Adéla Švestková (assistant)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Zuzana Masopustová, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Mgr. Zuzana Masopustová, Ph.D.
Supplier department: Department of Psychology – Faculty of Social Studies
Prerequisites (in Czech)
! PSY403 Psychodiagnostics of children
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The introduction of the basic principles and approaches of the child psychological assessment is the aim of the course. The focus is on the process of assessment and choice of useful methods in the diagnostic situation. Particular assessment tools are described in broader developmental and psychopathological contexts.
Learning outcomes
After completing the course, students should be able:
- to know core principles and methods used in child psychological assessments
- to understand the main benefits of the most commonly used methods and to be aware of their limits
- to identify which background data are necessary and relevant to a referral question and be able to collect them
- to consider the referral question and child's developmental stage when describing observed behavior during the assessment
- interpret results of assessments and analyze what findings mean for respondents with respect to their developmental stage
- to write assessment reports that a) integrate findings from multiple sources b) answer the referral question as explicitly as possible, and c) offer alternative explanations/hypotheses
Syllabus
  • Interview and behavioral observation
  • Psychological assessment in infancy and toddlerhood (mother-infant relationship, self-regulation difficulties)
  • Projective techniques
  • Cognitive capacity assessment
  • Core principles and methods in child psychological assessment; background information; report writing; ethical issues in child psychological assessment
  • Infancy and toddlerhood - developmental scales
  • Preschool age
  • Middle childhood
  • ADHD, ASD, anxiety disorders, depression
Literature
    required literature
  • VÁGNEROVÁ, Marie and Jarmila KLÉGROVÁ. Poradenská psychologická diagnostika dětí a dospívajících. Vydání první. Praha: Univerzita Karlova v Praze, nakladatelství Karolinum, 2008, 538 stran. ISBN 9788024615387. info
    not specified
  • SVOBODA, Mojmír, Dana KREJČÍŘOVÁ and Marie VÁGNEROVÁ. Psychodiagnostika dětí a dospívajících. (Psychogiagnostics of Child and Adolescents). Vydání třetí. Praha: Portál, 2015, 792 pp. ISBN 978-80-262-0899-0. info
  • ZUCKERMAN, Edward L. Clinician's thesaurus : the guide to conducting interviews and writing psychological reports. 7th ed. New York: Guilford Press, 2010, xviii, 395. ISBN 9781606238745. info
  • BRAATEN, Ellen. The child clinician's report-writing handbook. Edited by Edward L. Zuckerman. New York: Guilford Press, 2007, xx, 380. ISBN 9781593853952. info
  • Essentials of assessment report writing. Edited by Elizabeth O. Lichtenberger. [Great Britain]: J. Wiley, 2004, xii, 287 p. ISBN 0471394874. info
Teaching methods
lectures, seminars, videos, case studies, class discussions, role-playing, self-led learning and studying assessment tools' manuals, individual assessment and report writing
the lectures cover the core assessment principles and areas
the seminars cover assessment methods and specifics of assessment in different developmental stages
Assessment methods
fulfilling requirements (min 14 points, max 25 points):
- an active participation in seminars (only one absence is tolerated)
- group project (min. 3 points, max 5 points)
- an accepted assessment report (min 11 points, max 20 points)
the final exam (min 14 points, max 25 points) consists of:
- a written test that covers assessment methods (their use, advantages, and disadvantages), a child psychological assessment principles, ethics, and an assessment report writing principles (min 8 points, max 15 points)
- an oral exam in which students have to formulate their diagnostic considerations based on a model case study (child assessment results and child's background information) they get at the exam (min 6 points, max 10 points) grades (min 28 points, max 50 points): A: 46-50 points B: 41-45 points C: 36-40 points D: 31-35 points E: 28-30 points F: 27 and lower
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course is taught annually.
The course is taught: every week.
Listed among pre-requisites of other courses
Teacher's information
http://www.fss.muni.cz/psych/studium.html
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2020, Spring 2021, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2025, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/fss/spring2025/PSYn4030