NE Psych Juris key terms

The process of telling a client, in understandable language, the nature of services, risks, benefits, alternatives, fees, and limits of confidentiality, and documenting the client's voluntary agreement before services begin.

The ethical duty to protect client information, bounded by exceptions such as client consent, legal mandate, danger to self or others, suspected abuse or neglect of protected persons, and court orders.

A legal protection held by the client that prevents a psychologist from disclosing confidential communications in legal proceedings without the client's authorization or a court order.

A situation in which a psychologist holds another role with a client, supervisee, or research participant, such as business partner, friend, or family member, that could impair objectivity or exploit the other party.

Any sexual or romantic involvement between a psychologist and a current client, or with a former client within a specified period, or with a student or supervisee under the psychologist's authority, treated as a serious violation.

A departure from customary professional practice, such as self-disclosure or accepting a small gift, that is not inherently harmful but must be evaluated for risk of exploitation or harm.

The obligation, arising from case law and state statute, to take reasonable steps such as warning an identifiable intended victim or notifying authorities when a client presents a serious threat of violence.

A protective action, named for the California case establishing it, in which a therapist warns an identifiable third party or law enforcement about a client's serious threat of harm.

The statutory requirement that certain professionals, including psychologists, report suspected child abuse or neglect, and in many states abuse of vulnerable adults, to designated authorities within a set time.

Practicing only within the boundaries of one's education, training, supervised experience, and continuing professional development, and obtaining consultation or referral when a case exceeds those boundaries.

The range of activities a licensed psychologist may legally perform under state law, including assessment, diagnosis, psychotherapy, consultation, and research, subject to statutory exclusions.

The credential issued by a state board that authorizes an individual to practice psychology independently after meeting education, supervised experience, and examination requirements.

The requirement that licensure applicants pass a standardized written examination of professional knowledge, and in Nebraska also a jurisprudence examination covering statutes and regulations.

A mandatory number of approved credit hours of professional development that a licensee must complete and document during each renewal cycle to maintain an active license.

A formal relationship in which a qualified supervisor oversees a supervisee's clinical work, evaluates performance, and retains legal and ethical responsibility for the services provided.

The process of administering a test to a representative normative sample under uniform procedures so that scores can be interpreted relative to a defined reference group.

The consistency or stability of test scores across occasions, forms, or raters, typically expressed as a coefficient where higher values indicate less measurement error.

The degree to which evidence and theory support the interpretations of test scores for a proposed use, encompassing content, construct, and criterion-related evidence.

An index of the average amount of error in an individual's observed score, used to build confidence intervals around a score rather than treating it as exact.

The systematic process of distinguishing among conditions with overlapping symptoms by weighing onset, course, duration, and symptom patterns against diagnostic criteria.

The specified symptom lists, duration requirements, and exclusion conditions that must be met before a particular mental disorder can be diagnosed.

A structured, present-focused treatment that targets maladaptive thoughts and behaviors through techniques such as cognitive restructuring, behavioral activation, and exposure.

A technique in which a client is systematically and repeatedly confronted with a feared stimulus, in imagination or in vivo, until anxiety diminishes through habituation and extinction.

The integration of the best available research evidence with clinical expertise and the client's characteristics, culture, and preferences in making treatment decisions.

A systematic method for collecting information about the tasks, duties, and worker requirements of a job, forming the foundation for selection, training, and performance appraisal.

The extent to which a selection procedure predicts a relevant outcome such as job performance or training success, often reported as a validity coefficient.

A substantially lower selection rate for a protected group compared with the majority group, often assessed by the four-fifths rule under federal equal employment opportunity guidance.

The formal process of evaluating employee work behavior and results against job-related standards, ideally using criteria derived from job analysis.

A written plan developed by a team for a student with a disability, specifying present levels of performance, measurable goals, services, and placement under special education law.

The federal guarantee that eligible students with disabilities receive special education and related services at public expense, designed to provide meaningful educational benefit.

The requirement that students with disabilities be educated alongside peers without disabilities to the maximum extent appropriate, with removal only when supplementary aids cannot support success.

A structured process for identifying the antecedents, behaviors, and consequences that maintain a problem behavior, used to design an effective behavior intervention plan.

The process of giving prospective participants complete information about purpose, procedures, risks, benefits, and withdrawal rights so they can decide voluntarily whether to enroll.

A committee that reviews and approves research involving human participants, assessing risks, informed consent procedures, and protection of vulnerable populations before the study begins.

The deliberate withholding of information or use of misleading instructions in a study, permitted only when justified by scientific value and followed by prompt debriefing.

The post-study explanation given to participants that reveals the purpose, methods, and any deception used, and addresses distress or misconceptions created by the research.

Public communication about psychological services, which must be accurate, not misleading, and free of exaggerated claims, testimonials implying guaranteed results, or unverifiable superiority statements.

The procedure a psychologist follows when served with a legal demand for records or testimony, typically asserting privilege and seeking client authorization or a court order before disclosing.