EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT IN PSYCHOLOGY AND DIAGNOSTIC ACCURACY (LICENSING,M RELIABILITY, COMPETENCE, HOGAN, DANIEL, VALIDITY

The present study investigated the relationship between educational attainment in psychology and four types of diagnostic accuracy (a) accuracy of behavioral description, (b) accuracy of symptom identification, (c) accuracy of DSM-II diagnosis, and (d) accuracy of DSM-III diagnosis. Subjects viewed a series of seven videotapes in which persons discussed their problems with a psychologist or a psychiatrist. Subjects then selected descriptive phrases or diagnostic terms from a series of multiple choice alternatives. Participants received credit for their selections when these selections agreed with the diagnoses of the experts who designed the videotapes.;Five subject groups served to define the variable of educational attainment in psychology (a) 33 introductory undergraduate psychology students, (b) 29 advanced undergraduate pyschology students, (c) 30 first year graduate psychology students, (d) 28 fourth year graduate psychology students, and (e) 30 licensed psychologists. The licensed psychologists were also compared to a group of 29 master's level psychologists to determine the relationship between advanced training in psychology and diagnostic accuracy.;A significant relationship was found between educational attainment in psychology and behavioral description accuracy p < .05, symptom identification accuracy p < .001, DSM-II accuracy p < .001, and DSM-III accuracy p < .001. Licensed psychologists exhibited significantly greater symptom identification accuracy than master's level psychologists p < .05, and significantly greater accuracy in identifying the DSM-II condition of "manic depressive illness, manic" p < .05. Licensed psychologists did not differ significantly from master's level psychologists in the accuracy with which they selected behavioral descriptions for patients.;The results suggest that untrained persons have difficulty with some diagnostic tasks because they lack the vocabulary necessary for identifying mental disorders and psychological symptoms. Persons at the higher levels of educational attainment in psychology appear to be more familiar with the definitions of clinical symptoms and mental disorders and consequently more attuned to the types of information needed to make mental diagnoses.;These results also provide validity evidence for one important licensing criterion, educational attainment in psychology. Consideration of this evidence could help legislators to make informed decisions regarding current proposals to discontinue psychology licensing laws.