BASIC CONCEPTS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING

Question 1

Most psychological tests can be categorized as measuring

Answer 1

Intellectual Abilities
Attitudes, Interests, and Values.
Aspects of Personality
Psychopathology.

Question 2

a systematic procedure for observing and describing a person’s behavior in a standard situation (Cronbach, 1970)

Answer 2

Psychological Test?

Question 3

two of the most important features of psychological test

Answer 3

First, tests are ideally designed to be objective measures of psychological characteristics.

Second, the need for test standardization

Question 4

The clinician then scores or interprets the client’s responses using ____________, _________________, meaning rules that are based on empirical data

Answer 4

reasonably objective, empirically derived scoring rules

Question 5

The goal is to ensure that the differences among clients’ test scores reflect ___________________

Answer 5

differences among the clients themselves,

Question 6

Everyone who takes the same test should be exposed to the same set of materials and evaluated according to the same scoring criteria

Answer 6

Standardization

Question 7

The principles of ______________ and _________allow us to evaluate the quality of psychological tests using the same logic that we apply to evaluating the quality of psychological experiments

Answer 7

objectivity and standardization

Question 8

objectivity and standardization reduces or eliminates the impact of extraneous, or confounding, variables—such as _____________ or ____________, so that test results can be attributed to just one source, namely the characteristics of the client.

Answer 8

scoring procedures or the tester’s personal characteristics

Question 9

tests differ from most other clinical assessment techniques in three ways

Answer 9

1. a client’s test responses can be quantitatively compared with statistical norms established by the responses of hundreds or thousands of other people who have taken the same test under standardized conditions.
2. A test can be taken in private, without a clinician present, meaning that there might not be observational data to supplement test results.
3. Tests can be administered in groups as well as individually

Question 10

ensures that everyone who takes a test receives the same instructions and experiences the same (or very similar) testing conditions.

Answer 10

Standardization

Question 11

test construction procedure in which items are chosen because they appear on logical grounds to measure the characteristic of interest to the tester.

Answer 11

Analytic Approach (Rational Approach)

Question 12

Psychologists who take an analytic approach, sometimes called the rational approach, begin by asking:_______________________________ They then build their test by creating items that answer these questions.

Answer 12

What are the qualities we want to measure, and how do we define them?

Question 13

This approach can be faster and less expensive because it does not require the test developer to pre-test many items with many people before settling on the ones that will comprise the test.

Answer 13

Analytic Approach

Question 14

These procedures are also ideal for psychologists who for some reason need to develop a test on short notice, and especially for those who will use their test to evaluate a hypothesis based on a particular theory.

Answer 14

Analytic Approach

Question 15

Example: there is a theory that includes “geekiness” as an important personality dimension. But there is no “geekiness” test available. What approach will researchers use in this situation?

Answer 15

Analytic approach

Question 16

test construction procedure in which items are chosen on the basis of whether people who differ in some way respond differently to them.

Answer 16

Empirical Procedure

Question 17

so instead of deciding ahead of time what test content should be chosen to measure a particular target, testers who employ an __________ allow data to guide their choice of items.

Answer 17

empirical approach

Question 18

In short, the _________ often results in items that appear sensible but may or may not work; the __________ often results in items that work but may not appear sensible.

Answer 18

analytic method; empirical approach

Question 19

A test construction approach that combines aspects of analytic and empirical techniques.

Answer 19

Sequential System Approach

Question 20

The decision about which items to try is usually made on analytic grounds; some items are selected from existing tests, whereas others are those the test designer believes “ought” to be evaluated.

Answer 20

Sequential System Approach

Question 21

After using the _____________ to choose items for the initial version of the test, the testers use an ______________ to refine it.

Answer 21

analytic approach; empirical approach

Question 22

This process requires trying out the items with a group of people and examining the results to determine which items were answered differently by people who are already known to differ on the characteristic of interest

Answer 22

Sequential System Approach

Question 23

refers to consistency in the administration and scoring of a test. Ideally, tests are given in the same way to every person who takes them.

Answer 23

Standardization

Question 24

Every decade or so, most major psychological tests are ______________, meaning that data from a new standardization sample is collected to ensure that the norms are up to date.

Answer 24

re-normed

Question 25

This process can be complex and expensive because it involves identifying a large, representative sample of people willing to take the test; finding examiners to give the test and report the scores; and compiling and analyzing all the data. The results of this process are then usually published in the instruction manuals that accompany the tests. After giving a test, clinicians compare their client’s scores with those contained in the manual.

Answer 25

Re-norming Process

Question 26

aside from normed-reference test, test scores can also be interpreted based on ____________ and _________

Answer 26

a criterion established by the tester rather than on a normative sample; Ipsative measurement

Question 27

a process where test scores are interpreted by comparing a person’s score, not to other people’s scores or to an external criterion, but to the person’s own scores.

Answer 27

Ipsative Measurement

Question 28

Factors that can influences the outcome of psychological tests

Answer 28

• more sex-related test responses if the photographs had been presented by a young, casually dressed male graduate student
• temperature extremes, noise, crowding and presence of a stranger
• adults who were asked to draw a man were more likely to include a mustache if the examiner had one than if he was clean-shaven
• response set/response style/response bias
• social desirability bias
• malingering

Question 29

Test results can also be distorted by the tendency for some clients to respond in certain ways to most or all items, regardless of item content. This long-recognized tendency has been called a

Answer 29

respone set/ response style/ response bias

Question 30

Clients are said to display an __________ if they tend to agree with virtually any selfdescriptive test item (such as “I am self-confident,” “I am fearful,” “I am submissive”).

Answer 30

acquiescent response style

Question 31

Clients exhibiting a _____________ will respond to test items in ways that are most socially acceptable, whether or not those responses reflect their true feelings, attitudes, or impulses

Answer 31

social desirability bias

Question 32

clients give untruthful responses so as to intentionally create false impressions; depending on their goals, they may try to appear healthier or more severely disordered than they really are.

Answer 32

Malingering

Question 33

ways to minimize factors that can potentially distort test scores

Answer 33

Developing clear, simple instructions to guide examiners and test takers

Conducting extensive trials of their tests that can reveal response tendencies on particular items

Seeking advice from experts on test bias to help them flag potential problems

Incorporating item sets that can detect the operation of response bias or deliberate distortion.

Question 34

The clinicians who give psychological tests can also play a part in reducing response distortion by:

Answer 34

clearly explaining the purposes of the test and answering any questions the client has, thereby enhancing rapport and client motivation

paying careful attention to the circumstances under which testing takes place so that conditions are essentially the same for every client

taking note of any circumstances during testing that might have compromised the value of the test results