Chapter 1 - introduction to psychological tests and their use Flashcards
Test (definition)
a ciritcal examination, observation, or evaluation
- > critical (especially important jucture)
- > objective (standardized test procedure)
Psychological test (definition)
A systematic procedure for obtaining samples of behavior, relevant to cognitive, affective, or interpersonal functioning, and for scoring and evaluating those samples according to standards
Basic elements of the Definition of psychological testing
- Systematic procedures
- Samples of behavior
- cognitive, affective or interpersonal functioning
- evaluated and scored
- standards based on empirical data
Psychological tests are systematic procedures (Explanation and Rationale)
- are characterizted by planning, uniformity and thoroughness
- must be demonstrably objective and fair to be of use
Psychological tests are sample of behavior (Explanation and Rationale)
- small subsets of a much larger whole
- sampling behavior is efficient because the time available is usually limited
The behaviors sampled are relevant to cognitive, affective, or interpersonal functioning (Explanation and Rationale)
- samples are selected for their empirical or practical psychological significance
- tests are tools
Test results are evaluated and scored (Explanation and Rationale)
- numerical category system is applied to test results
- no questions about what the results of tests are
To evaluated tests it is necessary to have standards based on empirical data (Explanation and Rationale)
- apply common criterion to test results
- the standards used are the only meaning those results have
The goal of testing is…
- to make and assessment of an individual’s standing relative to a selected comparison group
- assessment will be ussually quantitative in nature
- psychometric theory (interpretation is tied to…)
Standardization
- uniformity of teting procedure (Control of extraneous variables)
- explicit reference to the results of a normative sample
The term “psychological test”
per se dominated procedures where responses are scored as correct vs. incorrect
Personality tests
responses are neither evaluated nor scored right-wrong or pass-fail
( inventories, questionaires, surveys, etc.)
Ability tests
tests that sample knowledge, skills, and cognitive functions
Psychometric scale
group of items that pertain to a single variable and are arranged in order of difficulty or intensity
Scaling
process of arriving at the sequencing of the items
Bettery
group of several tests, or subtests, that are administered at one time to one person (several test packaged togteher for a specific purpose)
Psychological tests as tools
- tests serve as a purpose
- tests need to be applied appropriately and skillfully
2 distict points and ways at/in which test are evaluated
- Test as potential tools
2. Tests used for a specific purpose
- Test as potential tools (evaluation)
of primar concern are their technical qualities and the available empirical evidence base
- Tests used for a specific purpose
the focus shifts to the test user and the way she/her handles the test
Testing Standards and Guidelines
• Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (AERA, APA,
NCME)
• International Test Commission (ITC)
• National test commissions (Germany: DGPs [DTK])
Psychological tests as prodcuts
while generally intended to improve an individual’s fucntioning, tests are commercial products and must make profit
Testing standards
„The interests of the various parties involved in the
testing process may or may not be congruent“
Participants in the testing process
- Test authors and developers
- Test publishers
- Test reviewers
- Test users
- Test sponsors
- Test administrators or examiners
- Test takers
- Test scorers
- Test score interpreters
Test authors and
developers
To conceive, prepare, and develop tests. To disseminate their tests by publishing them either commercially or through professional publications
Test publishers
To publish, market, and sell tests, thus controlling their distribution
Test reviewers
To evaluate tests based on their technical and practical merit
Test users
To select specific tests and use them for some purpose
Test sponsors
Institutional boards or government agencies who contract test developers or
publishers for various testing services
Test administrators
To administer the test either to one indidual at a time or to groups
Test takers
To take the test by choice or by necessity
Test scorers
To transform the raw responses of testees into test scores through objective or
mechanical scoring
Test score interpreters
To interpret the results to their ultimate consumers
History of psychological testing
- in the occupational realm
How to select the best possibel individual for a given job
History of psychological testing (in the field of education)
How to make sure that students have acquired the knowledge taught in a course?
History of psychological testing
- in clinical psychology
- how to differentiate the normal from the upnormal?
- instruments devsised to assess cognitive functioning in patients with disorders
History of psychological testing
- in scientific psychology
Development of standardized procedures as a consequence of the rise of experimental psychology
-> interested in interindividual differences
Foundation for the rise of modern testing
- Lab test and tools
- Measurement instruments and statistical techniques (developed by Galton)
- an accretion of signficiant findings in the budding of sciences of psychology
Binet-Scale, 1905
development of the first intelligence test
practical need to make deceisions in educational placement
the IQ, Stern 1911
mental age score devided by chronological age (typical for one’s age group)
Group testing
developing a group test of intelligence that could be administered to all recrutis (WW1)
Standardized Testing in educational settings (two developments)
- Achievement test
2. Apptitude test
Achievement test
- standardized test designed to evaluated arithmetic, reading and spelling skills (results)
- crystallized intelligence
Apptitude test
- emphasize the verbal, quantitative, and reasoning abilities needed for success in most academic endeavors
- rather stable (fluid intelligence)
Personal testing and vacational guidance
Tests of specific skills and aptitudes
- job analysis
- administering tests designed to assess those skills and correlating the test results with measures of job performance
Personal Testing and Vocational guidance
- multiple aptitude batteries
profile the strength and weaknesses of an individuals by providing seperate scores on various factors such as verbal, numerical, spatial and logical reasoning, etc.
Personal Testing and Vocational Guidance
- Measures of interests
concerning preferences for reading materials and leisure activitities
Clinical testing (three types)
- Personality inventories
- Projective techniques
- Neuropsychological tasks
Personality inventories
- identify a normal individuals and problems
- featured many dimensions
(reducing social desirability)
Projective techniques
- additional help in diagnosing and treating mental illness
- not as objective (rely on qualitative interpretation)
Neuropsychological tests
- make connections between sth. you cannot depict
- brain-damage is no longer viewed as an all-or-none condition
Current use of psycholgical tests
- decision making
- psychological resaerch
- self-understanding and personal development
Decision making
need to determine the bases upon which to select place, classify and deal with individuals, organizations, etc.
Psychological resaerch
- psychological phenomena
- individual differences
Self-understanding and personal development
provide clients with info to promote self- understanding and positive growth
Psychological assessment
the use of tests for making significant decisions about a person, a group, or a program should always be placed within this context
Example of issues amenable to investigation through psychological assessment
- diagnostic questions
- making predictions
- evaluative judgements
Several dimensions that differentiate psychological testing and assessment
- degree of complexity
- duration
- sources of data
- focus
- qualification to use
- procedural bias
- costs
- purpose
- degree of structure
- evaluation of results
