Learning to observe cognition, mastery, and control.

On inpatient psychiatric units, intervening with children and adolescents' behaviors demands an understanding of how they take in and process information. The third paper focuses on assessment cues that will help inpatient staff decipher patients' deficits and strengths in information processing, self-efficacy, and inhibitory control. Each assessment area is explained in the context of the supporting cognitive, neurobiologic, and social-learning theory. Inpatient interventions consistent with the assessment are explained and illustrated with clinical applications.