Evaluation of an instructions and modeling procedure for training behavioral assessment interviewing

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Behavioral Science
• Educational Psychology

Background:

• Effective behavioral assessment interviewing skills are crucial for psychologists.
• Training methods for these skills require empirical evaluation.
• Undergraduate psychology programs can benefit from structured skill development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of different training components for behavioral assessment interviewing skills.
• To determine the impact of instructions versus modeling on skill acquisition.
• To assess the level of performance improvement in undergraduate psychology students.

Main Methods:

• Two experiments were conducted with ten undergraduate psychology majors.
• A multiple baseline across-participants design was employed.
• Training involved instructions, audio/written modeling, and feedback.

Main Results:

• All participants substantially increased interviewing performance with training.
• Written instructional material alone led to significant improvement for some.
• Adding modeling and feedback ensured all participants reached over 90% correct performance.

Conclusions:

• A combination of instructions, modeling, and feedback is highly effective for training behavioral assessment interviewing skills.
• The study demonstrates a viable training protocol for developing essential interviewing competencies in psychology students.
• Further research can explore the long-term retention and generalization of these skills.