2: Historical, social, legal, and moral issues Flashcards
Explain the earliest history of testing…
Early Antecedents
Testing advancements mainly in the last century, with roots traced back over 4000 years to China’s civil service testing program, including;
oral examinations for work evaluations and promotions.
During the Han Dynasty, test batteries covered subjects like civil law, military affairs, and agriculture. By the Ming Dynasty, a multistage testing system was established, with participants advancing through local, regional, and national levels to compete for public office based on exam scores.
- The Western world adopted testing programs from China.
- British influence led to testing in the English East India Company in 1832, then for the British civil service in 1855.
- France, Germany, and the U.S. followed suit.
- The U.S. created the American Civil Service Commission in 1883 to conduct competitive exams for government positions, expanding the testing movement in the West.
Describe the basic concept of psychological and educational testing and Darwins contribution…
Charles Darwin and Individual Differences
The basic concept of psychological and educational testing focuses on individual differences. Tests are tailored to measure:
- variations in ability and
- personality among individuals, recognizing that no two people are alike.
Developing tools to measure individual differences was challenging until Charles Darwin’s theory on evolution highlighted how variations among species contribute to survival.
Darwin proposed that those with adaptive traits survive and pass them on, leading to the complexity and intelligence seen in life today.
Describe Francis Galton & James Cattells contributions…
Sir Francis Galton, influenced by Darwin, applied evolutionary theories to human studies.
He aimed to prove that some individuals were more fit due to genetic traits, conducting studies on:
- human sensory and
- motor differences.
This research laid the foundation for the study of human individual differences in psychology.
Galton’s work was extended by the U.S. psychologist ——- James McKeen Cattell, who coined the term mental test (Cattell, 1890).
Cattell’s doctoral dissertation was based on Galton’s work on individual differences in reaction time.
As such, Cattell perpetuated and stimulated the forces that ultimately led to the development of modern tests.
Describe the history of Experimental Psychology and Psychophysical Measurement
Experimental Psychology and Psychophysical Measurement
The foundation of testing in experimental psychology traces back to early efforts to understand human consciousness.
J.E. Herbart developed mathematical models of the mind, influencing 19th-century educational theories.
E.H. Weber explored sensory thresholds, while G.T. Fechner formulated the law linking sensation strength to stimulus intensity logarithmically.
- Wilhelm Wundt founded psychology at the University of Leipzig in 1879,
- succeeded by E. B. Titchner and influential figures like G. Whipple and L. L. Thurstone.
Whipple’s seminar in 1919 led to the development of the
- Carnegie Interest Inventory and the
- Strong Vocational Interest Blank, impacting the field of testing.
Describe the relationship between the development of psychological testing and experimental psychology
Psychological testing originated from Darwin, Galton, and Cattell’s focus on individual differences, and German psychophysicists’ work like Herbart, Weber, Fechner, and Wundt.
Experimental psychology stemmed from the latter group. The concept of;
- rigorous experimental control in testing parallels experiments,
- emphasizing standardized test administration conditions.
Where does the need for the creation of modern psychological tests stem from? Describe
The creation of modern psychological tests stemmed from the need to classify and identify the mentally and emotionally handicapped.
Early tests like the:
- Seguin Form Board Test and
- Kraepelin’s examinations
were developed for evaluating such individuals.
At the turn of the 20th century, a French commission, including Alfred Binet, developed the first major general intelligence test to identify intellectually subnormal individuals
…..for tailored education……
Describe the evolution of Intelligence and Standardized Achievement Tests
The Evolution of Intelligence and Standardized Achievement Tests
The Binet-Simon Scale, published in 1905, aimed to:
(((((identify intellectually subnormal individuals using 30 increasingly difficult items. )))))
Standardization through a sample of 50 children allowed for comparison of test results.
Norms from the sample aided in evaluating scores accurately.
= Obtaining a standardization sample that represents the test’s target population is crucial. =
(+ / -) Comparing individuals to groups with different characteristics is inappropriate as it can lead to unfair evaluations.
Binet recognized the significance of a standardization sample for test development.
Enhancements to the Binet test included efforts to expand and ensure the sample’s representativeness. A representative sample mirrors the intended test users and should encompass all population segments in proportion to their prevalence when used for the general population.
Describe improvements to the Binet-Simon Scale and the impact of this…
In 1908, the Binet-Simon Scale was enhanced with more items and a larger standardization sample. It introduced the concept of:
- mental age,
- measuring a child’s performance relative to their age group. T
This concept compared a child’s abilities to those of an average child in a specific age group, regardless of their actual age.
In 1911, the Binet-Simon Scale was revised and popularized globally for intelligence testing.
In the United States, L. M. Terman developed the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale in 1916, representing an advancement in testing standards.
Terman’s 1916 revision of the Binet-Simon Scale improved by
- INCREASING the standardization sample to 1,000 people,
- revising original items, and
- adding new ones.
The Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale boosted the credibility of the emerging testing movement.
Describe the impact of WW1
World War I
The testing movement expanded in the U.S. during World War I to assess military recruits efficiently.
Large-scale group testing was needed due to limited personnel, despite the Binet test being an individual assessment.
Shortly AFTER the US entered World War I, Robert Yerkes, President of the American Psychological Association, led a committee to create two tests:
- Army Alpha for reading ability and
- Army Beta for assessing intelligence in illiterate adults.
World War I led to the development of;
- group tests,
- expanding testing to achievement, aptitude, interest, and personality.
The distinctions between achievement, aptitude, and intelligence tests were blurred.
The 1916 Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale and Army Alpha test sparked optimism in measuring
HUMAN BEHAVIOUR.
Schools, colleges, and industry adopted tests following the war, viewing psychological tests as a solution to challenges posed by population and technological growth.
Achievement Tests
Standardized achievement tests, a key post-World War I development, offer multiple-choice questions standardized on a large sample to establish norms for comparing new examinees’ results.
Standardized achievement tests gained popularity due to ease of administration, objective scoring, and cost efficiency compared to essays. They provided consistent testing conditions and broader content coverage for a large number of students. The Stanford Achievement Test, published in 1923, marked a milestone in standardized testing development.
Standardized tests gained popularity in the 1930s for their objectivity. Today, there is a shift towards favoring written tests and portfolios over standardized tests to assess children and reduce marginalization.
Rising to the Challenge
Critics in the 1930s US testing movement challenged existing tests, including the Stanford-Binet, despite the development of new tests. Accuracy and utility were heavily criticized, causing advocates to become defensive.
In the late 1930s, tests like the Stanford-Binet were improved with greater standardization. In 1939, David Wechsler introduced the Wechsler-Bellevue Intelligence Scale, offering multiple scores for a more comprehensive analysis of abilities compared to the single IQ score from the Stanford-Binet test.
The Wechsler test includes a performance IQ score that assesses intelligence without verbal responses, benefiting individuals with limited language skills. Wechsler’s nonverbal scale addressed weaknesses of the Stanford-Binet test, criticized for its focus on verbal skills. The Binet test was revised in 1986 and 2003 to include performance subtests. Chapter 10 will define important concepts in intelligence testing, including the Wechsler intelligence scales.
Personality Tests: 1920–1940
Personality tests emerged pre and post World War II, focusing on stable traits that influence behavior. Traits are enduring tendencies like optimism or pessimism. Traditional tests aim to measure these traits, but they have limitations.
The first structured personality tests were paper-and-pencil group tests with multiple-choice and true-false questions, providing a high level of structure for scoring. The Woodworth Personal Data Sheet, developed during World War I, was the earliest example of a structured personality test.
Details
The Woodworth Personal Data Sheet represented an attempt to standardize the psychiatric interview. It contains questions such as those shown here.
The first personality tests, like the Binet and Woodworth tests, were developed for screening military recruits. Early tests had simplistic structures and flawed assumptions, such as interpreting responses at face value. The interpretation of statements like “I wet the bed” led to unreliable results due to differing interpretations and dishonest responses.
The Woodworth test led to structured personality tests assuming subjects’ responses at face value. Early tests faced criticism and nearly disappeared, but modern concepts revived them post-World War II.
Interest in projective personality tests grew during the rise and fall of structured tests. Unlike structured tests, projective tests use ambiguous stimuli and subjective scoring methods.
Interest in the Rorschach inkblot test grew slowly after its publication in 1921 by Herman Rorschach. David Levy introduced it to the U.S., and Sam Beck’s 1932 dissertation boosted its scientific investigation. Despite early skepticism, the test gained popularity until facing scrutiny today.
The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) developed in 1935 by Henry Murray and Christina Morgan added momentum to projective test acceptance. Unlike the Rorschach test, the TAT used structured ambiguous pictures for subjects to create stories about, aiming to measure human needs and individual motivation differences.
The Emergence of New Approaches to Personality Testing
The Rorschach and TAT projective personality tests gained popularity in the late 1930s and early 1940s, but their psychometric properties, especially the Rorschach, have been questioned in later examinations.
The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), introduced in 1943, transformed structured personality tests by emphasizing empirical research to determine test response meanings. Unlike earlier tests, the MMPI required empirical data for interpretation, leading to its widespread use and influencing the development of numerous studies.
Personality tests emerged with the MMPI and factor analysis, a statistical method to identify underlying dimensions. For example, traits like outgoing and talkative may be grouped under extroversion through factor analysis.
In the early 1940s, Guilford and Cattell pioneered structured personality tests using factor analysis. Cattell introduced the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF), a well-constructed test. Factor analysis is now widely used in test design and validation.
Summary of Personality Tests
Woodworth Personal Data Sheet: An early structured personality test that assumed that a test response can be taken at face value.
The Rorschach Inkblot Test: A highly controversial projective test that provided an ambiguous stimulus (an inkblot) and asked the subject what it might be.
The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT): A projective test that provided ambiguous pictures and asked subjects to make up a story.
The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI): A structured personality test that made no assumptions about the meaning of a test response. Such meaning was to be determined by empirical research.
The California Psychological Inventory (CPI): A structured personality test developed according to the same principles as the MMPI.
The Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF): A structured personality test based on the statistical procedure of factor analysis.
