B7.078 Prework 1: Intro to Psychological Testing and Clinical Case Examples

Question 1

what is psychological testing

Answer 1

a carefully selected subset of an individual’s behavior

Question 2

components of cognitive functioning

Answer 2

attention, memory, language, IQ

Question 3

components of emotional functioning

Answer 3

anxiety, depression, thought disorder

Question 4

components of personality structure

Answer 4

introversion, extroversion, personality disorders

Question 5

components of skill/performance/achievement assessment

Answer 5

arithmetic, processing speed, hand eye coordination, grade level mastery, aptitude

Question 6

reliability

Answer 6

the extent to which a test yields the same results in repeated trials
consistency of test measurement when it is repeated in a population of individuals or groups

Question 7

validity

Answer 7

refers to what the test measures and how well it does it

does the test measure what it is designed to measure?

Question 8

fundamental prereq for validitiy

Answer 8

reliability

Question 9

face validity

Answer 9

what a test looks like it measures, at least on the superficial level

• inspection of the plausibility of content by a naïve person
• affects how well a test may be accepted by test takers

Question 10

why is face validity the least important type of validity

Answer 10

a) it is retrospective rather than prospective

b) some measures have low face validity and good criterion validity

Question 11

content validity

Answer 11

systematic evaluation of test content to determine whether it covers a representative sample of the behavior domain that is purports to assess

• behavioral domain of interest must be adequately specified and sampled
• should be part of the test construction process

Question 12

criterion related validity

Answer 12

tests ability to predict an individuals performance on some other measure

• concurrent validity
• predictive validity

Question 13

concurrent validity

Answer 13

correlation between the test and another measure of the same or similar construct

Question 14

predictive validity

Answer 14

ability of a test to predict some later outcome

Question 15

construct validity

Answer 15

overarching form of validity that encompasses all other forms
results from many forms of empirical data including the test content, its relationship to similar or dissimilar measures, its ability to predict behavior, and whether or not it is supported by a theory

Question 16

convergent validity

Answer 16

test for “A” - high correlation with another test for “A”

Question 17

divergent validity

Answer 17

test or “A” - low correlation with a test for “B”

Question 18

sensitivity

Answer 18

proportion of “positives” on a test that have the criteria the test is searching for

Question 19

type 1 error

Answer 19

incorrectly determining the criteria is present

false positive

Question 20

specificity

Answer 20

proportion of “negatives” on a test that have the criteria the test is searching for

Question 21

type 2 error

Answer 21

incorrectly determining the criteria is not present

Question 22

normative reference

Answer 22

comparison of a participant to a standardized reference population; assume normal distribution

Question 23

goal of a normative reference

Answer 23

predict individual’s performance level in general and across domains

Question 24

criterion reference

Answer 24

comparison of participant to particular criteria; assume skewed distribution

Question 25

goal of criterion referenced testing

Answer 25

determine if a person meets criteria for a psychiatric diagnosis

Question 26

objective testing

Answer 26

restricted response range (yes or not)

increased reliability

Question 27

projective testing

Answer 27

open response range
decreased reliability, but increased information
qualitative

Question 28

examples of projective tests

Answer 28

Rorschach
inkblots
thematic apperception test
sentence completion
draw a person
play/toy techniques

Question 29

what types of tests are good for cognitive screening?

Answer 29

normative reference
battery should cover a variety of functions and be customizable to patient presentation
advantageous if:
-norms/ranges or cutoffs available
-repeated administration is permitted
-some insight into localization

Question 30

Wechsler test of adult reading

Answer 30

premorbid intelligence functioning

Question 31

Wechsler abbreviated scale of intelligence

Answer 31

intellectual screen

Question 32

NCSE

Answer 32

domains of deficits

memory, abstract reasoning, comprehension

Question 33

SLUMS

Answer 33

dementia

Question 34

trail making test

Answer 34

processing speed

complex attention / simple exec functioning

Question 35

complex ideational material

Answer 35

comprehension/receptive aphasia

Question 36

functions included as components of cognitive screening

Answer 36

orientation
attention
verbal/visual functioning
comprehension/ abstract reasoning/ problem solving
memory
concurrent psychiatric/mood assessments