Chapter 4 Flashcards
any distinguishable, relatively enduring way in which one individual varies from another; unique characteristics that are enduring (ex: motivation, self-esteem, personality)
trait
distinguishes one person from another but are relatively less enduring; temporary
states
an informed scientific concept developed or constructed to describe or explain behavior
costructs
psychological traits exist as _____
constructs
the obtained _____ of behavior is expected to predict future behavior
sample
a long-standing assumption that factors other than what a test attempts to measure will influence performance on the test
error
an observable action or the product of an observable action
overt behavior
the component of a test score attributable to sources other than the trait or ability measured
error variance
formula of score
true score + error
who are the sources of error variance
both the assessee and the assessor
what is assumption 1
psychological traits and states exist
what is assumption 2
traits and states can be quantified and measured
what is assumption 3
test-related behavior predicts non-test-related behavior
what is assumption 4
all tests have limits and imperfections
what is assumption 5
various sources of error are part of the assessment process
what is assumption 6
unfair and biased assessment procedures can be identified and reformed
what is assumption 7
testing and assessment benefit society
what assumption: traits, states, constructs
assumption 1: psychological traits and states exist
what assumption: different test developers may define and measure constructs in different ways
assumption 2: traits and states can be quantified and measured
what assumption: responses on tests are thought to predict real-world behavior
assumption 3: test-related behavior predicts non-test-related behavior
what assumption: competent users understand and appreciate the limitations of the tests they use as well as how those limitations might be compensated for by data from other sources
assumption 4: all tests have limits and imperfections
what assumption: error, error variance, assessee and assessors are sources of error variance
assumption 5: various sources of error are part of the assessment process
what assumption: all major test publishers strive to develop instruments that are fair when used in strict accordance with guidelines in the test manual
assumption 6: unfair and biased assessment procedures can be identified and reformed
what assumption: there is a great need for tests, especially good tests, considering the many areas of our lives that they benefit
assumption 7: testing and assessment benefit society
characteristics of a psychological test
- objectivity
- standardization
- reliability
- validity
- utility
free from bias
objectivity
consistency of administration and environment
standardization
consistency of scores across situations
reliability
measures what it purports to measure
validity
usefulness of the tests; benefits the society
utility
all tests must first be _____ before it becomes _____
reliable ; valid
facade of the test
face validity
method of evaluation and way of deriving meaning from tests sores by evaluating an individual test taker’s score and comparing it to scores of a group of test takers
norm-referenced testing and assessment
test performance data of a particular group of test takers that are designed for use as a reference when evaluating or interpreting individual test scores
norms
reference group to which the performance of test takers are compared
normative sample
shares the qualities of population
representative sample
the process of administering a test to a representative sample of test takers for the purpose of establishing norms
standardization
test developers select a population, for which the test is intended
sampling
sampling that includes different subgroups, or strata, from the population
stratified sampling
every member of the population has an equal opportunity of being included in a sample
stratified-random sampling
arbitrarily selecting a sample that is believed to be representative of the population; no basis
purposive sample
a sample that is convenient or available for use; it may not be representative of the population
incidental/convenience sample
true or false: you should generalize findings from convenience samples
false; generalization of findings from convenience samples must be made with caution
the distribution of scores obtained on the test from one group of test takers is used as the basis for the calculation of test scores for future administrations of the test
fixed reference group scoring systems
involve comparing individuals to the normative group
norm-referenced tests
test takers are evaluated as to whether they meet a set standard (ex: a driving exam)
criterion-referenced tests and assessments
two types of testing
- criterion referenced
- norm referenced
two subgroups of norm referenced testing
- developmental norms
- within group norms
three subgroups of developmental norms
- mental age (age norms)
- grade equivalent (grade norms)
- ordinal scale
three subgroups of within group norms
- percentiles
- standard scores
- deviation IQ
a standard on which judgement or decision may be based
criterion
indicates how far along the normal developmental path an individual has progressed
developmental norms
individual’s performance is evaluated in terms of the performance of the most nearly comparable standardization group
within group norms
child’s score corresponds to the highest year/age level that he can successfully complete
grade equivalent (grade norms)
assigns achievement on a test/battery of tests according to grade norms; only relevant to the years with respect to schooling
grade equivalent (grade norms)
identify stage reached by child in development of specific behavior
ordinal scale
an expression of the percentage of people whose score on a test or measure falls below a particular raw score
percentiles
derived scores that uses the SD of the population as its unit upon which the test was standardized
standard scores
the basis is the developmental abilities of people of the same developmental age
developmental norms
differentiate mental age and chronological age
- mental age: what age is your level of functioning
- chronological age: number of years alive
we use the people within the same developmental stage as the basis
mental age (age norms)
we base the abilities of a person among people of the same grade level
grade equivalent (grade norms)
ranked; when we’re using developmental norms it’s possible to just be ranked
ordinal scale
everyone will be distributed from 1-100
percentiles
mean, median, SD of Z scores
- mean and median: 0
- SD: 1
mean, median, SD of T scores
- mean and median: 50
- SD: 10
quite synonymous with percentiles but you divide it into nine
stanines
norms derived from a normative sample that was nationally representative of the population at the time the norming study was conducted
national norms
equivalency table for scores on two nationally standardized tests designed to measure the same thing; provide some stability to test scores by comparing them to other test scores
national anchor norms
(ex: we will merge the data of NAT for gr.6 and gr.7 to create a standardization sample because they’re technically the same tests)
segmented normative samples
subgroup samples
local population’s performance on the test
local norms
what should a responsible test user do when selecting a test to use
make sure that the test’s available norms are appropriate for use with the targeted test taker population
when interpreting test results, it helps to know about the _____ and _____ of the test taker
culture ; era
it is important to conduct a _____
culturally informed assessment
why are there test revisions?
there are changes in norms and norms are increasing. And because norms are increasing, the normal distribution of a test (the scores/data being used) are also changing.
