ABSTRACT
Like most scientific endeavors, the clinical assessment of behavior is guided by models or paradigms and associated sets of expectations, be they implicit or explicit. The model is the filter through which a collection of behavioral observations comes to be viewed as a coherent entity (i.e., diagnosis) and a treatment plan subsequently formulated. The consequences for the child of the evaluator’s choice of model can be far reaching—responses to an identical complaint can range from focused academic remediation to drug regimens to psychotherapy.
