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Writing to Clients and Referring Professionals About Psychological Assessment Results

a handbook of style and grammar

J. B. Allyn

forewords by stephen e. finn and constance t. fischer

http://www.routledgementalhealth.com/writing-to-clients-and-referring-professionals-about-psychological-assessment-results-9780415891240


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Library of Congress Cataloging‑in‑Publication Data

Allyn, J. B. (Janet B.)Writing to clients and referring professionals about psychological assessment

results : a handbook of style and grammar / Janet B. Allyn.p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.ISBN 978-0-415-89123-3 (hardback) -- ISBN 978-0-415-89124-0 (paperback)1. Psychology--Methodology. 2. Behavioral assessment. 3. Psychodiagnostics.

4. Report writing. 5. English language--Writing. I. Title.

BF38.5.A458 2012808.06’615--dc23 2011033325

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v

ContentsForeword xiStephenE.Finn,PhD

Foreword xiiiConstanceT.Fischer,PhD,ABPP

Acknowledgments xvIntroduction xvii

Part I Building Blocks of the report: attitude, tone, Style, and Voice

Chapter 1 Attitude:The Writer’s View 5

WhatIsAttitudeinWriting? 6AttitudeTowardYourOwnWriting 7AttitudeTowardYourSubjectandAudience 9

WhatInfluencesAttitude? 10AttitudeandYourReader 12

Chapter 2 Tone:Words and More 17

FormalityinTone 19FormalityandContractions 22WordChoice 22

AccuracyandClarity 23ClarityVersusVariety 25DenotationandConnotation 26

SelectingMaterialandSubtext 27JuxtapositionandFinn’sLevels1,2,3 28

Chapter 3 Style:Content Plus Structure 31

Beginning,Middle,andEnd 33CommunicationQualities:ClarityandAccuracy 34CommunicationQualities:Specificity 35

ConcreteVersusAbstractTerms 37AbstractionandHayakawa’sLadder 38



vi ■ Contents

CommunicationQualities:Sensitivity,Compassion,RespectforYourSubjectandReader 40JettisonUnnecessaryJargon 42ClearAwayClutter 43EnergizeText 44

DynamicVersusLinkingVerbs 45“Smothered”Verbs 47ActiveVersusPassiveStructure 48

Chapter 4 Voice:What Is It and How Do I Find It? 49

ActiveVersusPassiveVoiceinSentenceStructure 49UsingActiveandPassiveVoice 52NarrativeVoice/PointofView 53

ThirdPerson 54FirstPersonandSecondPerson 55

StylisticVoice 55NarrativeStance 58NeutralVoiceandObjectivityinWriting 59

Part II Mortar to Fortify the Building Blocks: Grammar and Editing

Chapter 5 Big Picture, Small Details:Format, Write, Edit, Proof 67

Formatting 68ChoosingFont:StyleandSize 68OrderingSectionsandContent 69PossibleFormats 72UsinganOutline 74AnAlternativeApproachtoOutlining 76

Writing 77EvaluatingandEditing 78Proofing 79

Chapter 6 Content that Communicates:Sentences and Paragraphs 81

Sentence:WhatIsItandHowIsItStructured? 81InitialDecisions 82



Contents ■ vii

SentenceStructure 83BasicSentence 83SentenceOrder 84VaryingYourSentences 86

Paragraph:HowDoSentencesBuildIntoParagraphs? 87BuildingtheParagraph 88StandardPhrasesforReports 89

ParallelStructure 90Fillers,Redundancies,andUnnecessaryPhrases 92AssessingReadability 93

ReadabilityTools:VariousFormulas 94

Chapter 7 Reaching Agreement:Subject–Verb, Pronoun, and Gender 99

VerbTenses 100“Mood”inGrammar 101VerbPairs:WhichtoUse? 101

Used ToVersusUse To 102CanVersusMay 103FewerVersusLess 103LayVersusLie 104RaiseVersusRise 104Set VersusSit 104

Subject–VerbAgreement 105InterveningWords 106CompoundSubjects 107CollectiveNouns 107AdditionalSubject–VerbAgreementChallenges 108

Pronouns 109SelectingPronouns 110IndefinitePronouns 111GenderNeutralityinPronouns 111PronounasSubjectorObject 114

Prepositions 116

Chapter 8 Modifying the Main Idea:Adjectives and Adverbs 119

Adjectives 120Articles=Adjectives 120UsingAdjectivesofQuantity 120CompoundAdjectives 122



viii ■ Contents

PlacingAdjectives 122Adverbs 124

SplittingVerbsWithAdverbs 124Adjectives,Adverbs,andLinkingVerbs 125DegreesofComparisoninAdjectivesandAdverbs 126AvoidingAmbiguityandAwkwardness 127

SeparatingRelatedWords 129MisplacingModifiers 129ConstructingAwkwardAdverbs 129AddingTooManyAdjectivesorAdverbs 129ModifyingAbsolutes 129UsingHopefullyandHowever 130

To+BaseVerb:ToSplitorNottoSplit 131

Chapter 9 Precision:Right Word, Right Spelling 133

SpellingintheBodyofaWord 135PrefixesandSuffixes 135SpellingPluralNouns 136Numbers:DigitsorWords? 137SpellingWordsThatSoundAlike 138

Effect VersusAffect 138OtherWordsEasilyConfused 142

AbbreviationsandAcronyms 142CapitalLetters 144WhenNottoCapitalize 147SpellingVariationsandModernUsage 147

Chapter 10 Guiding the Reader:Punctuate and Connect for Clarity 149

IndependentandDependentClauses 150ConnectingforClarity 150PunctuationMarks:HowandWhyWeUseThem 151

PeriodsandSemicolons 152Commas 153RecognizingFragmentsandRun-onSentences 154Colons 157HyphensandDashes 159Apostrophes 161QuotationMarks 162Ellipsis 165



Contents ■ ix

ConnectingWordsRevisited:SpecialChallenges 165Although, Though, While 166Since 166LikeVersusSuch as 166ThatVersusWhich 167BeginningaSentenceWithaConjunction 168

Part III Beyond the report: Extending Clear and Effective Communication

Chapter 11 Continuing the Therapeutic Goals:Writing Letters and Stories 173

LettertotheIndividualAssessed:AnOverview 174ToneinLettersWrittenasFeedback 175CanaLetterofWrittenFeedbackBe“Therapeutic”? 175

AClinician’sApproach:AssessingPersonalWarmthinLetterstothePersonAssessed 177Metaphor:ABridgeBetweenFactandTruth 178

ConceptualMetaphor:EverydayLife 180MetaphorandtheBrain 183

TherapeuticStories 184Children’sStories:Fables 185AdultandAdolescentStories:Allegories 187NarrativeandDialogue 188

Chapter 12 Richness, Texture, Safety, and Risk:Communicating Verbally 191

WrittenVersusSpokenCommunication 193RichnessandTextureinCommunication 194“Voice”inSpeech 195

PacingandPauses 196LoudnessandPitch 196InterruptionsandOverlap 197Report-TalkVersusRapport-Talk 198

NonverbalCues 198ActiveListening 200CommunicatingWhenFearEqualsRisk 202



x ■ Contents

Glossary of Terms: Grammar, Style, and Communication 205

References 213

Index 221



5

ChaPter 1AttitudeThe Writer’s View

Youmustnotcomelightlytotheblankpage.

Stephen King, American writer

“Inever takethis lightly. Iworryeverystepof theway—aboutmywriting and abouthow Iphrase facts and inferences inmyreport,” commented a psychological assessor after reading theKingquote thatopens the chapter (D.H.Engelman,personalcommunication,September2010).Attitudemarkstheassessor’sstarting place for crafting the report; attitude is often values-drivenandsubliminal,thoughsimplewordsorphrasescanrevealit.Consciouslyrecognizingattitudegivesthewritergreatercon-trolovertheimpactofwrittenmaterial,strengtheninghisorherabilitytocommunicateessentialdata.Whoistheintendedreaderof your report? Is the relationship between assessor and readerdirector implied?What is thepurpose incommunicatingwiththatperson?Isthereasecondaryaudience?Who?Andnotleastimportant,whatistheassessor-writer’sattitudetowardhisorherown writing abilities? These questions and their answers guideawarenessofattitudeinwriting(seeFigure 1.1).

Thischapterdiscusseshowwrittenmaterialcanconvey theassessor-writer’s view of the subject of a report. This materialcanalsodemonstratehisorherstancetowardtheintendedaudi-ence,whetherthatbethepersonassessed,ajudge,aneducator,or a clinician. Attitude and tone—the latter discussed in thechapterthatfollows—arelessaboutthebasicstepsineffective



6 ■ Writing to Clients and Referring Professionals

writingandmoreaboutyourmotivationforcommunicatinginthefirstplace.

What Is Attitude in Writing?Thewordattitudeinpopularusagereferstoapersonwhoappearshaughty,cocky,or“fullofhimself.”Whilethatmay,indeed,applyinsomecases,wewilldiscussattitudehereinitslargerdefinition:“Amannerofacting,feeling,orthinkingthatshowsone’sdisposi-tionoropinion[italicsadded]”(Webster’s,2001).

Regardlesshowobjectiveawriterintendstobe,attitudewillbe the grounding for what becomes the written word. Evenfactual material conveys the writer’s attitude toward a subjectthroughthechoicetoincludeornotincludefactsaswellasbythewordsusedtodescribethosefacts(Gerard,2000).Attitudecanremain unconscious. Yet, when left unconscious, it complicatesthewriter’stask.Itcanselectivelyinfluencewhichfactsaregivenandthewordsusedtoexpressthem.Thewritermighteasilybeunawarethatattitudeisdrivingthebus.Bybringingattitudetoconsciousness,wecancarefullychooseourfactsandwords.Thisconsciouschoicegivesgreatercontroloverourmaterialandour

Clear Communication

Voice

Style

Tone

Attitude

FIGURE 1.1 Buildingblocksoftheassessmentreport:Attitude.



Attitude ■ 7

abilitytocommunicateimportantinformation.(Formoreoncareinchoosingwords,seeChapter2.)

Twoformsofattitudecanaffectyourwriting:

◾ Attitudetowardyourselfandyourabilities(inbothwritingandassessment)

◾ Attitudetowardthesubjectoftheassessmentaswellastheaudiencewhowillreadthereport

Wewillexamineboththroughthelensofcognitivepsychol-ogyof thepast30years, focusingondevelopment inchildren’swriting.Weallbeganaschildren.WethenwentthroughvaryinglengthsanddepthsoftraininginwritingandEnglish,sowecanreadilyapplythefindingstoourwritingasadults.

Attitude Toward Your Own WritingStudiesindicatethatthosewithamorepositiveattitudetowardtheir ability to write are likely to be more productive with thewrittenwordthanthosewhoseattitudeisnegative.Inaddition,negative writing attitudes may demand more effort cognitivelythandopositiveattitudes(Zumbrunn,2010).Byextension,themoreapersonknowsaboutwritingandhas confidence in thatskill,themorelikelys/hewillmeetprofessionalwritingrequire-mentswitheaseandaccomplishment.Skill levelcanalsoaffectthewriter’sabilitytowritewithdepthandbreadth.Twomodelsfrom Bereiter and Scardamalia (1987) differentiate the writingprocessesofnoviceandexpertwritersintoknowledge telling and knowledge transformingapproaches.

Knowledge telling represents a straightforward, less complexapproachthatinvolvesthefollowingsteps:

1.Mentallydefinethetopicandpurposeofwriting. 2.Store both knowledge of topic and knowledge of writing

processinlong-termmemory. 3.Putthetwotogetherintotheprocessofcreatingtext ina

linearfashion,thatis,intoknowledgetelling.

Whileadequate, thismodeldelivers shorter, lesscomplete,andlower-qualitywriting(Graham&Harris,2000).




Knowledge transforming embeds knowledge telling into amorecognitivelycomplexprocess:

1.Mentallydefinethetopicandpurposeofwriting. 2.Plan and set goals, using both knowledge of content (e.g.,

assessmentprocessandresultingdata)andknowledgeofthewritingprocess.

3.Create text while continuously analyzing content andreframinggoals,text,orboth.

Thislaststepallowsthewritingprocessitselftoprovidefeedbackthatdevelopsandchangesthewriter’sthinkingasthewritingprogresses.

Stepstwoandthreeofthelatterapproachprovidethegreatestdistinctionbetweenknowledgetellingandknowledgetransform-ing:Planningandsettinggoalsupfrontandthenallowingthosetoshiftbasedonfeedbackfromthewritingitself“servetochangegoals, text, or the relationship between the two” (Cameron &Moshenko,1996).Skilledwritersusemoreupfronttimeinplan-ningbeforeplungingintowriting.Theymayalsospendmoretimeactually writing, since they allow feedback to occur and refinethedocument.Table 1.1showsdifferencesbetweenthetwopro-cesses.Notice thatknowledge transforming takesmore specificandcarefullychosenwordsthandoesknowledgetelling.

You,theassessor-writer,aretheexpertatknowingwhatyourclientexpectsandneedsinanassessmentreport.Knowledgetell-ingmaysufficeincertainreportsandmayevenbepreferableinsome.Butthemoreconfidentyouareaboutyourwritingaswellasyourassessmentskills,themorelikelyyoucandeliverreportsthat are knowledge transforming when you so choose. Thisknowledge-transformingqualitymaybenefityouaswellasyourreader.Areferencebooksuchas thisonecanhelpbuildconfi-denceinyourwritingsothatyouhavethatchoice.

Anothermodeloftherelationshipbetweencognitiveprocessingandwritingexploreshowthewriter’sgoals,beliefs,andattitudesmotivateandaffecttheprogressandsuccessofthewritingprocess(Flower&Hayes,1981).Theseaspectsmayincludeandreflecttheassessor-writer’sattitudetowardhisorherwritingabilityaswellastowardtheintendedaudience.Discussinghowhefinallymanagedtowriteclearlyonatopic,AmericanwriterandEnglishprofessorPeterElbow(1998)wrotethefollowing:“[T]hedifferencewasadecisionImadeaboutmystancetowardthereader.…[R]eadjusting



Attitude ■ 9

mytransactionwithreaderscausedthewordsandideastofinallycomeoutinadifferentandbetterorder”(p.211).

Attitude Toward Your Subject and AudienceAmongotherqualities,theWritingCognitiveProcessesModel(Flower&Hayes,1981)discussesthefollowing:

◾ Thespecificaudienceyouarewritingtoinfluencesthedirec-tionofwhatyouwrite.Thecollaboratorsyouworkwithalsoaffectitsdirection.

◾ Thewriter’sknowledgeoftheaudienceresidesinhisorherlong-termmemoryandaffectsthewrittentext.Ifsecondaryreaders are likely, youwillbeholding that information inmemoryalongwithwhatyouknowoftheprimaryaudience.

TABLE 1.1 Writing Process: Knowledge Telling Versus Knowledge Transforming

Steps in Process Written End Result

Knowledge telling

1. Mentally define topic/purpose

2. Store knowledge (topic and writing) in long-term memory

3. Combine content and writing in linear fashion to form text

Tommy would benefit from being placed with a teacher who is structured in his classroom and approach.

Knowledge transforming

1. Mentally define topic/purpose

2. Plan and set goals for both content and writing

3. Create text; continuously analyze content and adjust goals/text

Being seated in the front of the classroom or in a location that limits distractions will likely benefit Tommy’s learning:• Give him instructions

concretely and briefly.• Break down multiple-part

instructions into smaller components.

• Give Tommy clear information about upcoming expectations to help him prepare for the next steps and anticipate changes.

Note: Steps are adapted from The Psychology of Written Composition, by C. Bereiter and M. Scardamalia, 1987, Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Copyright 1987 by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.




We perceive others through our understanding, our body’svarioussenses(sight,hearing,etc.),andourintuition(Webster’s,2001). We may meet a person whose manner or appearanceremindsusofarelativewefoughtwithaskidsandstilldonotlikenowthatweareadults.Orperhapswecomeuponsomeonewith a drinking problem whose behavior mirrors our alcoholicparent’sandmakesusfeeloutofcontrol.Maybeyouwereonceinvolved in a lawsuit andnowhave an aversion to attorneys orjudges. Understandably, these deep-seated responses can influ-enceyourattitudetowardthepersoninquestion.Nowassumeforamomentthatthatpersonisaclientorareferringprofessional,eitherofwhommightbetheintendedaudienceforanassessmentreport.Being aware of the individual’s personal impact on youenablesyoutomonitoryourattitudeasyouwriteandtoreframeitasnecessary.

Buthowdoyoudealwithattitudewhenwritingforareaderyounevermeet,suchaseducatorsorrepresentativesofacourt?Orwhataboutwhenthereportiswrittenforoneaudience,butyouknowthatoneormoresecondaryaudienceswillreadit?Inthesediffusesituations,attitudecanbecomeevenhardertorecognizebecauseyouraudienceisnotclearinyourmind.Inthefirstcase,whenyourrelationshipwiththeunknownreaderisimpliedratherthandirect,simplyenvisioningtherecipientasalivingpersoncanhelp.Howwouldyouspeaktothatpersonifs/hewereinfrontofyou?Whatisyourpurposeincommunicatingwithhim/her?Whatinformationdoesthispersonneedinordertotakeanextstepinthesituation?You,astheexpert,maybeexpectedtopres-entall sidesof thesituationassessedbutmayalsobecalledonfor opinion or recommendations. In the second situation—thatofmultipleaudiences—theprimaryreaderwilllikelydefineyourattitude.Besensitive,however,tothosesecondaryaudiences,andavoidunknowinglydisplayinganunproductiveornegativeatti-tudetowardthem.

What Influences Attitude?Attitude represents the writer’s view of her or his subject andreflects feelingsaswell as thoughts.Thewriter’sbeliefs, values,doubts,andfearsparticipatestrongly intheprocess,evenwhens/heintendsneutrality(moreonneutralityinChapter4).Ifyouremainunawareofthesubliminalinfluencesonattitude,youcan



Attitude ■ 11

reachconclusionsbasedonlittleornodataandbelievetheyarecorrect. The careful writer reaches his or her attitude toward asubject after intentional research and data gathering. That pro-cessenablesthewritertocreatethemosteffectivenarrativeandtoground it in fact rather thanassumption.Themerepresenceofextensivedataand facts,however,doesnotprecludeattitudefrompresentingitself,knowinglyornot.Gerard(2000)givestheexampleofcoauthorswritingawell-researchedbookontheU.S.SupremeCourt.Althoughleavingoutpersonalopinionandback-ingallquoteswithsources,thereaderhasnodoubtofthewrit-ers’perspectiveonthestoryduetoveryspecificwordusage.Indescribingagroup’sperspectiveonasituation,thewriterssaidthatthisgrouprealizedandknewcertainthings.Bothverbsindicatethatthegroup’sperceptionswere“true.”Amoreobjectiveaccountmighthavereplacedthosewordswiththoughtandbelieved.

We also encounter the issue of “propositions” in writing(Landon,2008,citingChomsky).Thisconceptreferstoourabil-itytoembedunspokenassumptionsandideasintosentencesthatconvey those unspoken ideas to the reader. For example, yourunderlyingpremisesinwritinganassessmentreport(a)forachildseeking school assistance will be different from a report (b) toan adult who has struggled with attention issues and wants tounderstandhowtobettercopewiththem.Inthefirstcase,basedontestingdataandyourownattitude,justafewoftheunderlyingpremisesinfluencingyourreportmightinclude

◾ Thechildissmartenoughorisnotsmartenoughtobehelped.◾ Theschoolwillorwillnotmaketeachingconcessions.◾ Theparents support ordonot support theneeded adjust-

mentsfortheirchild.

Inthesecondcase,premisescouldinclude

◾ The adult is or is not able to hear and make sense of theinformationyougive.

◾ S/heisorisnotwillingtomakechangestoimprovelife.◾ Importantpeopleinhisorherworldwillorwillnotbe

aresource.

Table 1.2liststhecomponentsofattitudeinanassessmentreport.Cumulative information from the assessment process—history,




interviews, tests, tasks, and questionnaires—comprises extensivedatagathering.Addinthesubstantivebackgroundof training inpsychologyandassessment,andtheassessor-writerhasastrongbasefordevelopinghisorherattitudeaboutapersonortopic.S/healsohasanequallystrongbaseforconsciouslymanagingthatattitude.

Communication qualities could easily be included under thecomponent“Assessor-writer’sviewoftopicorperson.”Butbecauseattitudeismostclearlymanifestinthewayapersoncommunicates,in either the spoken or written word, communication qualitiesdeserveaseparatecategoryinthisdiscussion.Areport—orasen-tenceorparagraphwithinareport—maybeaccurateandclear,butstilllackthethird,jointcommunicationquality:sensitivity,com-passion,andrespectforthesubject.OneapproachtoshowingthisqualityhasbeenattributedtocountlesssourcesfromSocratesandVoltairetoBuddhaandotherspiritualfigures:thatis,toaskoneself,beforespeakingorwriting,whetherafactistrue,kind,anduseful.Wecanalsokeepinmindanothertakeonthesameidea,thisoneattributedtoViennese-bornpsychologistRoseN.FranzblauinherNew York Post(1966)advicecolumn:“Honestywithoutcompassionandunderstandingisnothonesty,butsubtlehostility.”

Attitude and Your ReaderIngeneral,areaderexpectsawritertoconveyanattitudetowardhisorhersubject(Gerard,2000).Perhapsthisideaapplieseven

TABLE 1.2 Components of Attitude in Writing an Assessment Report

Component How Is It Formed?

Assessor-writer’s view of topic or person

Personal beliefs, values, judgments, doubts, fears

Data gathering Interviews, tests, tasks, questionnaires, education, experience, reading, research

Communication qualities:• Sensitivity, compassion, respect

for the subject and/or readerEmpathy toward othersAwareness of the impact of how information is phrased

• Clarity Care with the written word• Accuracy Understanding that accurate need not

mean blunt



Attitude ■ 13

morewhenthewriteristrainedandpracticinginascientificandtechnicalfield likepsychologicalorneuropsychologicalassess-ment.Thoseoutsidethefieldseeyouastheexpertandmayseekboth facts and opinion from you. Especially in the subset ofCollaborative/TherapeuticAssessment(C/TA),withitsperson-alizedapproach,anentirelyneutral stance in thewriter’satti-tudecouldbeconsideredcounterproductive.(SeetheprefacetoPartIIIformoreonC/TA.)Althoughattitudemaybeexpectedbythereader,noonewantstoreadbluntlyjudgmentalinterpre-tationsofhisorherbehaviororperformance—orthatoftheirchild. Even in documents where we expect an objective per-spective,thewriter’sviewofthesubjectcancreepthrough.Forexample,wordsandphrasessuchas“nodoubt,”“obviously,”or“bynomeans”canbetrayattitudetowardthesubject,thereader,orboth.Ifthepersonwritingareportremainsunawareofhisorherownattitude toward the subject, the situationbecomescomplexandpotentiallydamaging.Thoughcertainwordsmaybeaccurate andclear, they canalsobetray insensitivity to theperson described and be a form of editorializing—of present-ing opinion as if it were an objective report. The example intheindentedtext—acompositefromactualsanitizedreports—illustrateseditorializinginthisway.

Iftheassessor-writerfeelssecretlycontemptuousoftheper-sonassessed,atsomepointthatattitudewilllikelyemerge,oftenbetrayedbytoneasshowninwordchoice.Useoftelltalewordscan be a special challenge if writing about a difficult person,duetotheriskofattitudebleed-through.Forexample,assumea client was loudly vocal and behaved unpredictably before,during, and after assessment sessions. The frustrated assessorcarefully retained a neutral stance in writing his traditionalreport—exceptinoneparagraph.Inthatsingleparagraph,theassessor’scontemptfortheclientcamethroughinexcessiveuseof evocative and judgmental descriptors. None was present intheremainderofthereport.Throughwordchoice,thatseriesofsentences betrayed the writer’s dismissive, even contemptuousattitudetowardthesubject:

Mr. M. had an unfortunate tendency to arrive late for appoint-ments.Anotherpersonality quirkwasthathewaserraticallyemo-tionalandhostileonetimeandmorecalmthenext.Unhappily,he even showed these behaviors in the waiting room. After an




overabundanceoftheseswings,theoffice’sclericalassistantmadederisiveprivatecommentsabouttheclient’semotional instability.Mr.M.usedexcessively ornateanddetailedwordsandphrasestodescribe his presenting problems. His exasperated insistence ontheseverityofhisproblemsseemedexcessive.

Thereadermightnotbeabletopinpointadjectivesandnounsas the offenders. The assessor-writer may not even know whats/hedid,but the attitudewould still reach the readeron somelevel.Andimagineiftheintendedreaderwasthepersonassessed;uneaseandfeelingsofbeingharshlyjudgedordehumanizedarepossible responses. Table 1.3 shows these sentences revised toeliminatethenegativeattitude.AlthoughwewillexaminewordchoiceinmoredetailinChapter2,youcanreadilyseetheimpactoftheitalicizedwordsintheexamples.

Inessence,attitudeinadocumentreflectswhatyou,theasses-sor-writer,valuemostincommunicating.Yourviewsontheworld

TABLE 1.3 Attitude: Revise to Eliminate Judgmental Quality

Original Sentence Problem Revision

Mr. M. had an unfortunate tendency to arrive late for appointments.

Judgmental; editorializing

Mr. M. frequently arrived late for appointments.

Another personality quirk was that he was erratically emotional and hostile one time and more calm the next.


From one visit to the next, his calm demeanor would alternate with agitation.

Unhappily, he even showed these behaviors in the waiting room.

Editorializing Others in the waiting room noticed the times he was agitated.

After an overabundance of these swings, the office’s clerical assistant made derisive private comments about the client’s emotional instability.

Judgmental; insensitive; editorializing

Sentence unnecessary; no revision—eliminate.

Mr. M. used excessively ornate and detailed words and phrases to describe his perceived problems.


Mr. M. described his problems in specific and detailed words and phrases.

His exasperated insistence on the severity of his problems seemed excessive.


Several times he mentioned how severely he experienced the problems.



Attitude ■ 15

setacontextfordecidingwhattocommunicateandhowyoudothat.Dataprovidestheinformationyouneedtocometoreasonedconclusions.Thejointcommunicationqualityofsensitivity,com-passion,andrespectforyourreaderthenplaysthelargestpartinfeeding your words. The additional communication qualities ofclarityandaccuracyalsoshowupinattitude,thoughtheyactuallyexpandanddeepenintheareaofwrittenstyle(moreabouttheminChapter3).

Finally, Table 1.4 lists a series of questions to ask yourselfbeforeandwhileyouwriteareport.Thesemayhelpyounavigateamongtheicebergsofattitudeinallitsmanyforms.

TABLE 1.4 What Is My Attitude in Writing This Report?• What is my attitude toward my writing ability?• What is my attitude toward my psychological assessment ability?• Is my approach to this report knowledge telling or knowledge

transforming? Why?• Who is the intended reader of my report?• Is the relationship between assessor and primary reader direct or implied?• What is the purpose in communicating with that reader?• Is there a secondary audience? Who?• What is my attitude toward my reader(s)?• What is my attitude toward the subject of the assessment?• Have I done thorough research or data gathering that backs up this attitude?• How does my attitude show through in word choice?• Is my writing clear, accurate, sensitive, compassionate, and respectful?



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