Attitudes toward Clinical Assessment by Members of the AABT

Abstract

The present survey investigated the attitudes toward projective, objective, and behavioral assessment practices from members of the Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy (AABT). Of the 531 persons in the AABT sample, 171 returned the questionnaire for a 32.2% rate of response. In terms of future emphasis it appeared that both behavioral and objective personality assessment were deemed as continuing in popularity, while projective techniques were viewed with little future utility. However, professional practitioners were expected to be familiar with standard projective measures and tests of intelligence by about half the respondents. Further, AABT members felt somewhat pessimistic about the empirical credibility of assessment techniques in general. The implications of these findings for academic and applied emphasis in clinical assessment were discussed and compared to the findings of a previous survey of AABT members by Wade, Baker, and Hartmann in 1979. The emerging practical emphasis over the past several years on behavioral assessment has not yet matured in the academic and applied setting.