Application of process models in assessment psychology: Potential assets and challenges

The relevance of quantitative models of probabilistic processes to clinical phenomena that unfold over time is discussed. Examples of such phenomena i nclude remission processes, accumulation of objective cost and subjective s tress of treatment delay, and psychopathology-related deviations in cogniti ve operations. Provision is made for time as a continuous or discrete varia ble. The discourse is developed with the use of a representative mathematic al model. Extraction of information on time-related aspects of clinical tra nsactions is described. The presentation is extended to indicate how proces s models can be used with established assessment methods. Challenges to the application of process models in clinical-assessment settings, and potenti al avenues of resolution, are put forth. It is contended that stochastic qu antitative models may represent the premier analytic tack to capturing genu inely dynamic features of clinical processes.