Chapter 5: Testing In Clinical Psychology Flashcards
Resurgence of Tests
Newer and better tests have been designed to address some of the concerns such as unflattering results of research on reliability and validity of many tests, awareness of susceptibility of tests to various biases, recognition that tests may place members of certain minority groups at a disadvantage, fear that the testing process may invade respondents’ privacy, worry that tests are too easily misused and misinterpreted
Test
Systematic procedure for observing and describing a person’s behavior in a standard situation; present a set of planned stimuli and ask the client to respond in some way
How Tests are Distinct from All Other Assessment Techniques
Client’s test responses can be quantitatively compared to statistical norms
Tests can be administered in private
Tests can be administered in groups and individually
Categories Tests are Placed In
Intellectual or Cognitive Abilities
Attitudes, Interests, Preferences, and Values
Personality Characteristics
How are Tests Constructed
Using analytic or empirical approaches, and a sequential system approach which combines the two
Analytic or Rational Approach to Test Development
What are the qualities I want to measure, and how do I define these qualities? They build tests by creating items that answer these questions; Developer creates test materials or items by analyzing the content of a domain and matching qustions that he or she believe (or that a theory says) tap that content
Empirical Approach to Test Development
The tester lets the content choose itself; clinician would amass a large number of self-report test items, performance tasks, inkblots, or other stimuli and then administer all of them to a large group of people who have already been identified; Entire group’s responses would be examined
Factors which affect the developer’s coice between analytic and empirical proceduresq
Cost, convenience, what theory one is evaluatingl time, and resources
Sequential System Approach
Combination of aspects of the analytic and empirical techniques; decision about which items to try is usually made on analytic grounds, some items are from existing tests while others are those the clinician believes ought to be evaluated;
Standardization
Refers to consistency in administration an scoring of a test; also refers to the sample on which the test was originally developed
Standardization Sample
Scores obtained from tis sample become the standard against which subsequenct scores are compared; scores provide the main interpretative framework for all individual scores on the test
Norms
Numbers that come from the standardization sample - means, variances, percentages, etc.
Renorming
Done every decade or so; involves identifying large representative sample of persons willing to take the test; finding examiners to give the test, and report results, then finally, compiling and analyzing all the data
Criterion
Level of proficiency;
Ipsative Measurement
Interpreting test scores not by comparing the test taker to others or to an external criterion but only to himself or herself;
Sources of Distortions in Test Results
Room temperature, time of day, client responding in particular ways to most items, regardless of what the items are; social desirability biases
How to eliminate all extraneous sources of variablitiy in test scores
Develop clear, simple instructions for examiners and testtakers; extensively pilot-testing and studying response tendencies in items; enlisting the participation of outside experts in test bias during test development; and building indicators of response bias or deliberate distortion into the test so that these can be identified if they occur
How Test Administrators can reduce distortion
Clearly explaining thepurposes of the test and answering any questions the client has, thereby enhacing rapport and client motivation
Paying careful attention to the circumstances under which testing takes place so that conditions are esentially the same for each client
Noting and reporting any circumstances in the testing that might compromise the validity of the test results
Cultural Fairness & Bias in Psychological Tests
Will the client be able to understand the test items? WILL she interpret the items in the same way as native English speakers would? To what extent do psychological tests adequately assess psychopathology, personality, intelligence, or other characteristics in diverse populations?
International Test Consortium
Formed to promoted study of cross-cultural applications of tests of these and other efforts related to cross-cultural test used
Ethical Standards in Testing
Testing-related situations requiring ethical decisions relate to principles of confidentiality, privacy, informed consent, and social responsibility
APA Standards for Ethical Use of Testing
Standards for Educational and Psychological Tests (1999)
APA Guidelines for Test taker Qualifications
General Intelligence Model (g)
Psychometric approach to testing Intelligence, describes intelligence as a general characteristic; proposed by Spearman, intelligence as a global, general ability
Multiple Specific Intelligences Models
Intelligence as a collection of relatively separate abilities; as many as 120 specific intellectual functions (s) were proposed
Robert Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory
There are three basic kinds of intelligence: analytical, creative, and practical
Howard Gardner
Lists eight intelligences or frames of mind: verbal, mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, intrapersonal, interpersonal, and naturalistic
Heirarchical and Factor Analytic Models
Separate and General cognitive abilities are related in a heirarchical fashion; at the most elemental are specific abilities such as vocabulary knowledge, visual pattern recognition etc.
Factor Analytic STudies
Measure the degree to which various measures are correlated
Binet Scales
His tests based on measures of intelligence have been the most influential means of assessing the mental ability of children
Age Graded Tests
Tasks were arranged so that younger children were expected to pass only the earlier ones, while older children were expected to pass later ones as well
Wechsler Scales
Aimed at adults aged 17 or older; point scale in which the client received credit for each correct answer
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale
Items are arranged and presented in order of increasing difficulty within subtests; the clinician stops each subtest after a predetermined number of failures and then begins the next subtest
Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children
Suitable for children 3 to 18 years of age; based on research and theory in cognitive psychology and neuropsychology; defines intelligence as the ability to solve new problems (fluid intelligence) and also acquired knowledge of facts (crystallized intelligence)
Intelligence Tests
Viewed as general mental ability instruments measuring both aptitude and achievement
Aptitude
The capacity to acquire knowledge or skill
Achievement
Acquired knowledge or skill
Aptitude Tests
Designed to predict success in an occupation or an educational program; measure the accumulated effects of many different educational and living experiences and attempt to forecast persormance on the basis of these effects
Achievement tests
Measure proficiency at certain tasks; measure how much people know or how well they can perform in specific areas
Personality
The pattern of behavioral and psychological characteristics by which a person can be compared and contrasted with other people
Types of Personality Tests
Projective and Objective
Objective Personality Tests
Present relatively clear, specific stimuli such as questions or statements to which the client responds with direct answers, choices, or ratings; paper and pencil variety and can be scored arithmetically; focus on one aspect of personality while others provide a comprehensive overview of many personality dimension
Projective Tests
Ask clients to respond to ambiguous or unstructured stimuli; responses tend to be complex then scored and interpreted by clinicians, often as a reflection of both conscious and unconscious aspects of personality structure and dynamics
Objective Tests of Psychopathology
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory
Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI)
Beck Depression Inventory
Objective Tests of Personality
California Psychological Inventory (CPI)
Sixteen Personality Factors Questionnaire (16PF)
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
NEO Personality Inventory-Revisited (NEO-PI-R)
Projective Personality Test
Grew out of psychodynamic approach to clinical psychology
Projective Hypothesis
Each individual’s personality will determine, to a significant degree, how he or she interprets and responds to ambigiuous stimuli
Projective Methods
Tests that encourage clients to displa this tendency of tests to ellicit a response from ambiguous stimuli
Rorschach Ink Blot Test
Consists of 10 cards which contain an inkblot and client is asked what he or she sees what the blot could be; responses are recorded verbatim, response times made note of, how the card was held as responses occured;
Protocol
Client’s record of responses
Thematic Apperception Test
Consists of 30 drawings of people, objects, and landscapes; analysis can focus both on the content and structure of TAT stories;
Incomplete Sentence Tests
Projective assumption is that how the client does so reflects important personality characteristics;
Projective Drawings
Interpretative inferences are guided by projective assumptions that the inclusion, exclusion, and characteristics of each body part, along with the placement, symmetry, organization, size, and other features of the drawing, are indicative of the client’s self-image, conflicts, and perceptions of the world
Types of Projective Drawings
House Tree Person Test
Draw-A-Person Test
Bender Visual Motor Gestalt Test
A figure copying test designed to measure certain aspects of mental ability, particularly neuropsychological functioning
Reliability and Validity of Projective Tests
Rorschach is in the excellent range for interrater reliabilities for some variables, inferior in psychometric support
Treatment/Clinical Utility
The extent to which tests can be used to select specific treatments or to measure treatment outcomes
