Expertise Development in Clinical Psychology

This study intends to shed light on expertise development in clinical psychology during university studies and beyond. So far, 70 participants at different stages of training have taken part in the study, ranging from psychology undergraduates to expert therapists. All participants completed a computerbased questionnaire consisting of 3 parts: a knowledge test, open-format questions, and case studies. At the expert level, data collection has not yet been finished, but preliminary results can be reported. Participants from different stages of training levels did not differ regarding knowledge about basic principles. However, with increasing training, participants knew significantly more about the application of basic principles to clinical psychology and about clinical psychology itself. In answering the open-format questions, participants differed significantly regarding their use of technical terms. The case studies revealed differences in terms of the quality of recalled items, the correctness of the diagnosis, and the quality of the explanations given for the patients’ problems. Preliminary results from the sample of expert therapists indicated a decrease in some of these variables.