An Iconoclast's View of Individual Psychological Assessment: What It Is and What It Is Not

摘要

Silzer and Jeanneret (2011) focus a great deal on the scientific evidence supporting the practice of individual psychological assessment (IPA). To the credit of our field, various studies have attempted to examine the process. However, with over 30 years in the business of conducting IPAs, I offer another perspective that will likely differ from the majority: IPA is probably more of an art than a science. The observation that there are so many different ways to perform IPA (confirmed by past studies, e.g., Ryan & Sackett, 1987) and the fact that many practitioners rely on their own individualized approaches would seem to support this assertion. Of course for a field that uses as its watchword the scientist–practitioner model, this notion will likely not fly. However, from this iconoclast's perspective, it is probably the reality that IPA is a highly skilled art form practiced well by a very small subset of capable and experienced professionals. The six points below further explain my view of IPA as an accomplished art form.