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Chapter 9 Developing Psychological Skills Solutions

Question - 1 : - What competencies are required for becoming an effective psychologist?

Answer - 1 : -

For becoming an effective psychologists, following competences are essential:
(╨░)General Skills (b) Observational Skills (c) Specific Skills
(a)General Skills:
тАвGeneral skills are essential for all professional psychologists.
тАвThese skills include personal as well as intellectual skills.
тАвOnce ensuring that a student has these skills subsequent training in his/her area of specializations to him/her intellectual and personal skill are as follows:
Interpersonal Skills: Ability to listen and be empathic. It may be verbal or non-verbal.
тАвCognitive:
тАФ Ability to solve problems тАФ Having curiosity and flexibility
тАвAffective Skills:
тАФ Openness to ideas тАФ Agreeableness тАФ Honesty
тАвExpressive skills: Ability to communicate in verbal and non-verbal form.
тАвReflective Skills:
тАФ Intrapersonal intelligence тАФAbility to examine own motives,attitude and behaviour.
тАвPersonal skills:
тАФ Personal hygiene тАФ Time management
(b)Observational Skills:
Psychologists should have training in objectives and systematic observation.
тАвThey should have skill to observe various aspects of surrounding including people and varying events.
тАвPsychologists should engage in observing people and their actions with following precautions:
тАФ Patience. тАФ Optimistic curiosity.
тАФ Respecting clients privacy.
тАФ Awareness of people reactions, emotions and motivation.
тАФ Training good questions which could be answered during observation.
(c)If the psychologist wants to work in a specialized field then professional training in specific skill development is essential.
The main specific skills are as follows:
(a) communication skills (b) Psychological testing skill
(c) Interviewing skill (d) Counselling skill

Question - 2 : - What are the generic skills needed by all psychologists?

Answer - 2 : -

General/Generic Skills:
тАвThese are essential for all professional psychologists.
тАвThese skills include personal as well as intellectual skills.
Generic (intellectual and personal skills) are as follows:
Interpersonal Skills: Ability to listen and be empathic. It may be verbal or non-verbal.
тАвCognitive:
тАФ Ability to solve problems тАФ Having curiosity and flexibility
тАвAffective Skills:
тАФ Openness to ideas тАФ Agreeableness тАФ Honesty
тАвExpressive Skills: Ability to communicate in verbal and non-verbal form.
тАвReflective Skills:
тАФ Intrapersonal intelligence
тАФ Ability to examine own motives, attitude and behaviour.
тАвPersonal skills:
тАФ Personal hygiene тАФ Time management

Question - 3 : - Define communication. Which component of the communication process is most important? Justify your answer with relevant examples.

Answer - 3 : -

Communication is a conscious or unconscious, intentional or unintentional process in which feelings and ideas are expressed as verbal and/or non-verbal messages that are sent, received and comprehended.
Component of the Communication:
The mort important component of communication is speaking with the use of language.
тАвLanguage involves use of vocabulary which includes words by symbols.
тАвCommunicator must know how to use words appropriately in organized and understandable form.
тАвIt is necessary to be clear and precise.
тАвCommunication takes place within a context and needs to consider the otherтАЩs frame of reference.
тАвIt is important for the speaker to adjust his vocabulary level and choice of words to
fit the level of the listener.
тАвSlang expressions, words unique to a culture, euphemism can become obstacles in good communication.
тАвListening may appear as a passive behaviour, as it involves silence. But this is far from true.
тАвListening requires a person to be attentive, patient, non-judgmental and have the capacity to analyze and respond.
тАвIt is an active process.
тАвHearing and listening are not the same, hearing is biological mechanism. It involves reception of a message through sensory channels.

Question - 4 : - Describe the set of competencies that must be kept in mind while administering a psychological test.

Answer - 4 : -

.тАвDeveloping the skills of psychological testing is important since tests are important tools used for the assessment of individuals for various purposes. Proper training is required for administration, scoring and interpretation of tests.
тАвPsychologists study individuals, differences based on factors such as occupation, age, gender, education, culture, etc.
тАвWhile using psychological test, following factors must be kept in mind:
1.An attitude of objectivity 2. Scientific orientation
3. Standardised Interpretation must be kept in mind. For example, in organizational and personnel work, in business and industry, where specialized tests are used to select individuals for specific jobs, it is essential to use actual performance records or ratings as a criterion for establishing validity of a test.
тАвSuppose the personnel department wants to know whether a certain psychological test can help it to identify potentiality of best stenographers.
тАвIt must be established that the test differentiates among employees of several performance levels.
тАвIt should be found the performance on the job of a newly employed worker selected on the basis of test indeed matches with his/her test scores.

Question - 5 : - What is the typical format of a counselling interview?

Answer - 5 : -

 Interview refers to purposeful conversation through face-to-face interactions.
тАвIt follows a basic question-answer format.
тАвFirst, the objectives of the interview are set.
тАвThe interviewer then prepares on interview format.
тАвThere is a basic format which is followed, regardless of the interviewтАЩs purpose; i.e., an interview has three stages:
тАФ Opening тАФ The body тАФ The closing
A.Opening of the Interview:
1. In involves establishing report between the two communicators, so that the interview becomes comfortable.
2. Generally, the interviewer starts the conversation and does most of the talking at the outset. This serves two functions:
(a)It establishes the goal of the interview
(b)It gives the interviewee time to become comfortable with the situation and the interviewer.
B. Body of the Interview:
1.This is the heart of the process.
2.In this stage, the interviewer asks questions in an attempt to generate information and data that are required to fulfil/required for the purpose.
Sequence of Questions:
To accomplish the purpose of an interview, the interviewer prepares set of questions тАУ called a schedule for different domains or categories he/she wants to cover.
1.To form the schedule, the interviewer must first decide on the domain/categories under which information is to be generated. For example for questions used in job interview (box 9.5), the interviewer selected various categories such as not useтАЩ of the organization last worked for, satisfaction with the past job, views on product etc.
2.These domains/categories and the questions within them are formed ranging from easy to answer to difficult to answer.
C. Closing of the Interview:
While closing the interview, the interviewer should:
1.Summarise what she/he has been able to gather.
2.Give a chance to the interviewee to ask questions or offer comments. One тАШ should end witfc a discussion of the next step to be taken.

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