Functional Cognitive Psychodiagnosis: An Exploratory Examination of a Complementary Tool

Abstract

A major goal of evidence-based psychotherapy is to assess specific cognitive or emotional schemata and behavioral patterns associated with a particular disorder. The present study is an exploratory attempt to form a quantitative basis for this sort of clinical work in terms of Anderson's Information Integration Theory and the theory's methodological counterpart-Functional Measurement. The participants of the study' s three experiments were 24 adolescents who suffer from disruptive behavior disorders, 17 patients who suffer from a dual diagnosis (a combination of substance dependence and psychopathology), and 14 patients diagnosed as suffering from emotional disorders such as anxiety, depression, and panic attacks. The following three types of functional cognitive schemata were diagnosed: bio-psycho-social in the participants with disruptive behavior disorders; addiction in the participants with dual diagnosis, and inner speech schemata in the participants with emotional disorders. The results are presented in terms of the relative importance assigned to the components of each sort of schema. It is concluded that the study's findings exemplify the viability of the information integration as an infrastructure of a complementary psychodiagnostic tool.