Question

What are 5 reasons that psychologists tend to make mistakes when making predictions about complex people? In your analysis, name the mistake or bias, define it in your own words and then provide an example to show how a psychologist might accidentally think in a biased manner and make an inaccurate judgment. (at least 1 page)​

Answer 1

Mistakes and biases in clinical assessment is dangereous. No predictions must be made prior to the clinical assessment. Clinical assessment is very important in diagnosis of a mental disorder. The goals of clinical assessment is to achieve the right diagnosis and planning the right treatment for a mental disorder. It is extremely important for a psychologist to arrive to the correct diagnosis for a set of symptoms. A psychologist has to refer to the Diagnostic Statistical Manual for mental disorders (DSM) to match the criteria of the symptoms mentioned by the patient. A psychologist cannot simply 'label' the patient. For instance, Miss Y comes to you with a set of symptoms like feeling very stressed, forgetting things. Lately, it is gotten worse to the extent where she forgot as to where she parked her car. On listening to the symptoms, the psychologist cannot label the patient with dementia. There are major reasons for memory loss. The psychologist must refer to the DSM for correct diagnosis. The diagnosis must be correct for the treatment to take place. If the diagnosis is wrong, then it is clearly going to affect the treatment procedure.