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Miriam Siegel has made a real contribution toward the comprehensive psychological evaluation of children and adolescents. This is not just another book on psychological testing. It is not a cookbook presentation on how to administer, score, and interpret tests;
nor is it simply a reporting of various interesting cases. Most important, it is not a book jammed with experimental/research findings of little relevance to the practitioner. Instead, Siegel shares with the reader, in a very practical way, her vast knowledge and experience in testing children and adolescents.
The word practical cannot be overemphasized in describing this book. For example, at one point Siegel advises some modification in the standard (or traditional) administration of the Rorschach. In testing young children, she recommends that the inquiry immediately follow the child's response so that the patient's reasoning is not lost. By this method, the emphasis is on understanding the child, as opposed to rigid adherence to strict test procedures, which is so often done by the inexperienced evaluator with a psychometrician mentality. At another point, the author aptly warns the psychologist that there is no need to explain everything: "Each twitch and giggle cannot be endowed with deep dynamic significance; fleeting moments of sadness or suspicion do not necessarily signify a depressive or paranoid reaction" (p. 15). In conjunction with Siegel's practical approach, a very sophisticated psychodynamic and developmental framework serves as a common denominator throughout all of her analysis and interpretation of test findings.
The volume is divided into two major sections. The first part, consisting of eleven chapters, reviews the "time honored" and most widely used psychological tests, such as the intelligence tests (Wechsler Scales), Rorschach, the apperception tests, projective figure drawings, Bender Gestalt, and the like. Chapter 10 is devoted to an integration of test findings, with pr