Assignment 1: Components and Applications of a Mental Status Exam

Tasks:

In a minimum of 300 words, respond to the following:

• What are the functions of the components of mental status and an interview in determining the competence of clients? Explain with examples and rationales.
• For which types of psycholegal evaluations (competency, risk of dangerousness, and insanity), if any, might an MSE provide useful information? State reasons for your answers.

Submission Details:

By Saturday, April 15, 2017, post your responses to this Discussion Area.

Assignment 2: Selection of a Case Vignette

Select Case Vignette

You will select one of the three case vignettes to use for your final course project. The project will be a mock forensic assessment report incorporating the major topics from each module.

For this assignment, analyze the information provided in any of the provided case vignettes and begin to formulate hypotheses based on the referral questions.

Click here to download the case vignettes.

You can identify the referral question from the case vignette you choose. You might also consider the following referral questions in formulating your hypothesis:

• As a forensic mental health professional, what factors do you need to consider in your psychological testing for the forensic assessment report?
• What behavioral observations do you make about the client after reading the case vignette?
• What are your assessment options in working with the client?
• What standard and accepted psychological tests might you apply to your client in forensic settings?
• How will you recognize and evaluate your client’s offender behaviors associated with malingering and deception?

Components and Applications of a Mental Status Exam Tasks:

In a 1- to 2-page Microsoft Word document, address the following:

• Describe the case scenario you have selected.
• Identify the reason for a referral.
• Identify the purpose of the forensic assessment and report.
• Present your impressions of the client.
• Describe your professional role and relationship with the court and the third party requesting the assessment or evaluation.
• Explain the hypotheses you have formulated.

Submission Details: By Monday, April 17, 2017,Components and Applications of a Mental Status Exam

Assignment 3: Cognitive Testing

Tasks:

In a minimum of 300 words, respond to the following:

• What are the differences between verbal and performance measures in intelligence testing, including verbal comprehension, perceptual reasoning, working memory, and processing speed? Compare and contrast using examples.
• What are the influences of language, culture, and education on popular measures of intelligence?
• What are the major neuropsychological tests used to determine left and right hemispherical brain damage? Explain with examples and a rationale.

Submission Details: By Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Assignment 4: Federal Guidelines

Tasks:

Create a 2- to 3-page paper addressing the following:

• Identify the federal guidelines—statutory, case law, and APA—for psychological tests.
• Describe some of the cases influential in bringing about the federal government’s involvement in the use of tests in the forensic setting.
• Determine the effect of the federal guidelines in ensuring whether assessment reports are accurate and unbiased.Components and Applications of a Mental Status Exam

Submission Details: By Friday, April 21, 2017

Assignment 5: Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2

Tasks:

In a minimum of 300 words, respond to the following:

• Given the norms of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2), what do you need to consider when using the MMPI-2 profile with non-Caucasian individuals. Search the Argosy University online library resources and other scholarly sources for background information on this test.
• What are the cultural competencies necessary for an unbiased psychological evaluation and report? What ethical and multicultural issues do you need to address to ensure that the psychological evaluation is unbiased and accurate?

Submission Details: By Monday, April 24, 2017

Assignment 6: RA: Test Assessment Analysis

For this assignment, you are to write a paper analyzing one test in each of the eight major assessment categories listed below.

You should utilize at least five sources from additional professional literature, relevant textbooks, and the Mental Measurements Yearbook for relevant information on these testing instruments. Your paper should be approximately 10 pages long (approximately 1 page per test).

Required Components:

Mental Measurements Yearbook with Tests in Print can be found in the “M” section on the Find Articles and More page of the Argosy University online library. For each test using the Mental Measurements Yearbook, explain the following seven topics:

• Test purpose
• Uses, particularly in a forensic setting
• Test development and history (any revisions made)
• Normative information and test statistics
• Applicable populations
• Validity and reliability
• Malingering or deception

When your paper is complete, you will have a discussion on a total of eight tests (one from each of the categories mentioned below). Be sure to choose just one test from each category and do not discuss more than eight tests. Also, do not include any tests that are not listed below.Components and Applications of a Mental Status Exam

Assessment Categories and Tests:

• Mental Status Exam

Appearance, Motor, Behavior, Sensorium, Thought Process, Thought Content, Communication, Speech, Perception, Mood, Affect, Cognition/Orientation, Response to Proverbs, Estimate of Intelligence, Memory, and Insight

• Substance Abuse
  • Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory (SASSI)
  • CAGE Questionnaire
• IQ/Cognitive Functioning
  • Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, 4th ed. (WAIS–IV)
  • Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, 4th ed. (WISC-IV)
  • Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test, 2nd ed. (KBIT-2)
  • California Verbal Learning Test, 2nd ed. (CVLT-II)
  • Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scales (RIAS)
• Projective Personality
  • Rorschach Inkblot
  • Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
• Objective Personality
  • Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI)
  • Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III (MCMI-III)
  • Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)
• Competency to Stand Trial
  • MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool-Criminal Adjudication (MacCAT-CA)
  • Georgia Court Competency Test (GCCT)
  • Competency Assessment Instrument (CAI)
• Risk Assessment
  • Violent Risk Appraisal Guide (VRAG)
  • Sex Offender Risk Appraisal Guide (SORAG)
  • Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R)
• Insanity/Criminal Responsibility
  • Rogers Criminal Responsibility Assessment Scales (RCRAS)

Submission Details: By Wednesday, April 26, 2017,

Assignment 7: Competency vs. Insanity

Tasks:

In a minimum of 300 words, compare and contrast the differences between the psycholegal issues of competency and insanity (also known as criminal responsibility):

• Briefly identify the legal standard used to determine competency through an evaluation. What psycholegal questions need to be addressed?
• Briefly identify the legal standard used to determine insanity through an evaluation. What psycholegal questions need to be addressed?
• Does a mentally ill individual need to be either competent or insane, or can a person be both? Why or why not?
• Comment on whether someone who is not competent to stand trial should be forced to take medications to become competent in order to face full legal penalties for his or her crimes.

Provide examples and rationales. Follow APA guidelines for writing and citing text.

Submission Details: By Monday, May 1, 2017

Assignment 8: Mock Individual Assessment (Rough Draft)

Create a mock forensic assessment report based on a patient in a selected vignette. Provide your diagnostic impressions based on the DSM-5 criteria. Name the file M4_A2_LastName_LASA_Draft.doc and submit the paper to the M4 Assignment 2 Dropbox.

Your instructor will provide feedback by critiquing the rough draft so that you can make corrections and additions to your final submission due in M5 Assignment 2 LASA.

For this assignment you are to:

• Improve your interview and referral questions for the case vignette you selected in M1 Assignment 3.

Use the case vignette you selected in M1 Assignment 3 for this assignment.

Next, create and document a set of mock interview questions and potential referral questions to ask your client and yourself. You can determine the questions in relation to the case vignette that you choose.

You might also want to consider some of the example referral questions listed below.

Analyze all the information provided in the case vignette and begin to formulate a hypothesis as to why the individual needs referral.Components and Applications of a Mental Status Exam

Example Referral Questions:

• • As a forensic mental health professional, what factors need to be considered in your psychological testing for the forensic assessment report?
  • What behavioral observations do you make about the client by reading the case vignette?
  • What are your assessment options in working with the client?
  • What standards and accepted psychological tests might you apply to your client in forensic settings? Select from the instruments you researched in M3 Assignment 2 RA.
  • How will you recognize and evaluate your client’s offender behaviors associated with malingering and deception?
  • What theoretical orientation do you want to use in this case for your treatment recommendations?
  • What is the case scenario you have selected?
  • What is the reason for referral?
  • What is the purpose of the forensic assessment and report?
  • What is the nature of the problem presented in your selected case vignette?
  • What is the context in which the forensic assessment report will be used?
  • What is the background of your client? What are the symptoms displayed by your client and the significance they have in this case?
  • What is the mental status of your client? Be sure to elaborate on every major component addressed in the mental status examination.
  • What interview type and approach did you use with your client?
  • What tests are appropriate to use in your forensic assessment report? Identify one intelligence test, one objective personality test, and one projective test.
  • What collateral information will you use in the process of the evaluation?
  • How will you present your impressions of the client?
• Write a Forensic Mental Health Professional Individual Assessment Report.

Use the Forensic Mental Health Professional Individual Assessment Report template (you can download the template from this link).

Evaluate and interpret the information provided to you in the case vignette that you have selected in M1 Assignment 3. Synthesize the information you collected to create a Forensic Mental Health Professional Individual Assessment Report. Your findings should be in a report format.

In a 10- to 12-page report, include only the following components:

• • Reason for Referral: Explain the objective of your case vignette analysis, clearly bringing out the aspects or reasons that motivated you to carry out the study.
  • Presentation: Create mock interview data and collateral information (you are to identify the questions to ask in the interview). Provide a synopsis of the interview. Provide data to support the mental status of your client, based on your forensic assessment report and the mental status components you have identified.
  • Current Life Situation and Background Information: Explain the problem provided in your selected case vignette using the interview and mental status data. How does the data relate to the background of your client and your behavioral observations?
  • Objective Testing: Identify the assessment instruments you would recommend to evaluate the client and explain the rationale for your recommendations. Describe the objective tests you have selected and their use. How did you apply these tests to your selected case vignette? Based on your study, what is your analysis of the symptoms displayed by your client? What ethical and multicultural issues do you need to address? You will apply what you have learned from M3 Assignment 2 RA into this section.
  • Provide your diagnostic impressions based on DSM-5 criteria. What is your principal diagnosis? What is your secondary diagnosis? Are there other conditions that may be the focus of clinical attention to consider?
  • Conclusion and Recommendations: What is your hypothesis based on the mental status examination, the interview, personality tests, and symptoms analysis? Explain your hypothesis and substantiate it, using instances from your case study. Discuss your results with conclusions and recommendations.

The final Forensic Mental Health Professional Individual Assessment Report should contain all the assigned components and the corresponding information.

Your final deliverables for this module are:

• Selected case vignette
• List of interview/referral questions
• Assessment template
• Final assessment report

Your report should be approximately of 12–15 pages.

Submission Details: By Friday, 05, 2017

Assignment 9: Risk Assessment Practices

Tasks:

In a minimum of 300 words, respond to the following:

• What are the strengths and weaknesses of current risk assessment practices? When writing your response, focus on tests designed to assess risk and dangerousness.
• How can you utilize or build upon the strengths of current risk assessment practices in forensic psychology? How can you account for the weaknesses of current risk assessment practices in forensic psychology? Provide examples and rationales.
• Which term do you prefer, “prediction of risk” or “assessment of risk”? State your reasons for your opinion.

Submission Details: By Saturday, May 8, 2017

Assignment 10: LASA: Mock Individual Assessment Final Draft

A mock forensic assessment report based on a patient in a selected vignette. Provide your diagnostic impressions based on the DSM-5 criteria.

Complete the following:

• Improve your interview and referral questions for the case vignette you selected in M1 Assignment 3.

Using this case vignette, add to your referral questions by integrating the feedback that you received from your instructor in M4 Assignment 2 on your mock interview questions and formulated hypothesis on why the individual needs the referral.

Example Referral Questions:

• As a forensic mental health professional, what factors do you need to consider in your psychological testing for the forensic assessment report?
• What are the pertinent multicultural consideration?
• What behavioral observations do you make about the client by reading the case vignette?
• What are your assessment options in working with the client?
• What standard and accepted psychological tests might you apply to your client in a forensic setting? Select from the instruments you researched in M3 Assignment 2 RA.
• How will you recognize and evaluate your client’s offender behaviors associated with malingering and deception?
• What theoretical orientation do you want to use in this case for your treatment recommendations?
• What is the case scenario that you have selected?
• What is the reason for referral?
• What is the purpose of the forensic assessment and report?
• What is the nature of the problem presented in your selected case vignette?
• What is the context in which the forensic assessment report will be used?
• What is the background of your client? What are the symptoms displayed by your client and their significance in this case?
• What is the mental status of your client? Be sure to elaborate on every major component addressed in the mental status examination.
• What interview type and approach did you use with your client?
• What tests are appropriate to use in your forensic assessment report? Identify one intelligence test, one objective personality test, and one projective test.
• What collateral information will you use in the process of the evaluation?
• How will you present your impressions of the client?
• Revise your copy of Forensic Mental Health Professional Individual Assessment Report on the basis of your instructor’s feedback.Components and Applications of a Mental Status Exam

Using the Forensic Mental Health Professional Individual Assessment Report template that you downloaded for M4 Assignment 2, revise your evaluation and interpretation of the information provided to you in the case vignette that you selected. Synthesize the information you collected to create a forensic mental health professional individual assessment report. Your findings should be in a report format.

In a 10- to 12-page report, include only the following components:

• • Reason for Referral: Explain the objective of your case vignette analysis, clearly bringing out the aspects or reasons that motivated you to carry out the study.
  • Presentation: Create mock interview data and collateral information (you are to identify the questions to ask in the interview). Provide a synopsis of the interview. To support the mental status of your client, provide data based on your forensic assessment report and the mental status components you have identified.
  • Current Life Situation and Background Information: Explain the problem provided in your selected case vignette using the interview and mental status data. How does the data relate to the background and multicultural characteristics of your client and your behavioral observations?
  • Objective Testing: Identify the assessment instruments you would recommend to evaluate the client and explain the rationale for your recommendations. Describe the objective tests you have selected and their use. How did you apply these tests to your selected case vignette? According to your study, what is your analysis of the symptoms displayed by your client? What ethical and multicultural issues do you need to address? You will apply what you have learned from M3 Assignment 2 RA to this section.
  • Provide your diagnostic impressions based on DSM-5 criteria. What is your principal diagnosis? What is your secondary diagnosis? Are there other conditions that may be the focus of clinical attention to consider?
  • Conclusion and Recommendations: What is your hypothesis after taking into account the mental status examination, the interview, personality tests, and the symptom analysis? Explain your hypothesis and substantiate it using instances from your case study. Discuss your results with conclusions and recommendations.

The final version of Forensic Mental Health Professional Individual Assessment Report should contain all the assigned components and the corresponding information and include revisions and improvements based on your feedback from M4 Assignment 2.

• Synthesize the data and write a reflection statement in 2–3 pages.

In a separate document, address the following:

• • Describe your professional role and relationship with the court and the third party requesting the assessment or evaluation.
  • Explain the hypothesis you have formulated.
  • Explain why you chose the tests for the assessment of the client.
  • Discuss potential ethical dilemmas that might arise in your assessment of the client.
  • Discuss the pertinent multicultural perspectives you considered.
  • Explain how you would prepare yourself to defend your evaluation in the court setting or to relevant third parties. Be sure to support your explanation with professional literature.
  • If you recommended treatment for your client, discuss the evidence-based approaches used with the disorder you diagnosed.
  • Discuss the influence of cultural factors on the assessment process.

Your final deliverables are:

• A selected case vignette
• A list of interview and referral questions
• The assessment template
• The final assessment report
• A reflection statement

Your report and reflection statement combined should be approximately 12–15 pages. You are to utilize outside resources in your reflection statement only.

All written assignments and responses should follow APA rules for attributing sources.

Submission Details: By Wednesday, May 10, 2