NOMOTHETIC ITEM SELECTION-RULES FOR TESTS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL INTERVENTIONS

Although considerable evidence supports the general efficacy of psycho therapy, less consensus exists about the specific changes that occur d uring and after the therapeutic process. One approach to this problem is to develop new methodologies for measuring psychotherapeutic change . This article contains a set of theoretical guidelines for creating a nd selecting change-sensitive items and tasks. Such items should posse ss certain properties, foremost of which is that they demonstrate chan ge in response to an intervention. Items can also be examined for rela tive change across treatment groups. Intervention-based item selection procedures may provide a new method for investigating specific change s following psychological interventions and creating scales sensitive to such interventions.