Chapter 2: Historical, Cultural, and Legal/Ethical Considerations Flashcards
China
Where tests and testing programs first came into being as early as 2200 BCE to select who, of many applicants, would obtain government jobs
Contents of Early Tests from China
Proficiency in endeavors such as music, archery, horsemanship, writing, and arithmetic were examined; so were agriculture, geography, revenue, civil law, and military strategy; knowledge and skill with respect to the rites and ceremonies of public and social life were evaluated
Song Dynasty
Emphasis placed on knowledge of classical literature
Imperial Examinations
State sponsored examinations for official positions; those who passed the examination were entitled to wear special gard which entitled them to be accorded special courtesis by anyone they happened to meet; exemption from government sponsored interrogation by torture if the individual was suspected of committing a crime
Middle Ages
Who was in leage with the Devil; various measurement procedures were devised to address this question
Christian Von Wolff
Anticipated psychology as a science and psychologic measurement as a specialty within that science;
Francis Galton
In the course of his efforts to explore and quantify individual differences between people, became an extremely influential contributor to the field of measurement; aspired to classify people according to their natural gifts and to ascertain their deviation from an average; pioneered the use of a statistical concept central to psychological experimentation and testing: the coefficient of correlation
Contemporary Tools of Psychological Assessment
Questionnaires
Rating Scales
Self-Report Inventories
Karl Pearson
Developed the product-moment correlation technique
Wilhelm Max Wundt
Ran the first experimental psychology laboratory at the University of Leipzig in Germany; he and his students tried to formulate a general description of human abilities with respect to variables such as reaction time, perception, and attention span; focused on questions relating to how people were similar; attempted to control all extraneous variables in an effort to reduce error to a minimum
Contemporary Assessment
Objective is to ensure that any observed differences in performance are indeed due to differences between the people being measured and not to any extraneous variables
James McKeen Cattell
Coined the term Mental test; responsible for getting mental testing underway in America; instrumental in founding the Psychological Corporation; the goal was the advancement of psychology and the promotion of the useful applications of psychology
Charles Spearman
Credited with originating the concept of test reliability as well as building the mathematical framework for the statistical technique of factor analysis
Victor Henri
Frenchman who collaborated with Alfred Binet on papers suggesting how mental tests could be used to measure higher mental processes
Emil Kraepelin
Early experimenter with the word association technique as a formal test
Lightner Witmer
Succeeded Cattell as director of the psychology laboratory at University of Pennsylvania; little founder of clinical psychology
Alfred Binet & Victor Henri
Published several articles in which they argued for the meaurement of abilities such as memory and social comprehension
Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon
Published a 30-item measuring scale of intelligence designed to help identify mentally retarted Paris schoolchildren
Sundry Mental Characteristics
Personality, Interests, Attitudes, values, and Widely varied mental abilities
David Wechsler
Clinical psychologist at Bellevue Hospital in NYC; introduced a test designed to measure adult intelligence
Intelligence
The aggregate or global capacity of the individual to act purposefully, to think rationally, and to deal effectively with his environment
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale
Used to be called Wechsler-Bellevue Intelligence Scale
Group Intelligence Tests
Were first used in the United States in response to the military’s need for an efficient method of screening the intellectual ability of World War I recruits
Robert S. Woodworth
Assigned the task of developing a measure of adjustment and emotional stability that could be administered quickly and efficiently to groups of recruits; Labeled the questionnaire as Personal Data Sheet which later was adapted for civilian use and was called Woodworth Psychoneurotic Inventory
