FINAL EXAM Flashcards
What are the advantages of taking an individual test?
- Provides a lot of information beyond the test score
- Allows the examiner to observe behavior in a standard setting
- Allows individual interpretation of test scores
What are the advantages of taking a group test?
- Cost-efficient
- Don’t need to settle for a test with poor psychometrics
- Minimizes scoring time and scoring skill
- More objective
What is an individual test?
- One subject tested at a time
- Examiner records response
- Scoring requires considerable skill
- Examiner flexibility can elicit maximum performance if permitted by standardization
What is a group test?
- Many subjects are tested at one time
- Subjects record their own responses
- Scoring is straightforward and more objective
- There is little flexibility
What four things should one take in mind when using group tests?
- Use results with caution
- Be suspicious of low scores
- Consider wide discrepancies as a warning signal
- When in doubt, refer them for individual testing
What is an achievement test?
- Evaluating things you have already learned
- Mainly used for evaluating a course of training
- Rely heavily on content validation procedures
What is an aptitude test?
- Evaluating the effects of an unknown, uncontrolled set of experiences
- Evaluate the potential
- Rely heavily on predictive criterion validity procedures
What is an example of an achievement test?
This test
What is an example of an aptitute test?
SAT, GRE, LSAT
What is grade inflation?
- Professors give out too many A’s
- Inflates the GPA of students
How does grade inflation impact college admissions?
made it harder for college admissions teams to distinguish between applicants
Major weaknesses of the ACT
- doesn’t have high internal consistency
- Restricted range on GPA predictions
- Poor predictive power
- Race and SES affect scores as well
Major weaknesses of the SAT
- Test prep requires time, energy and money
- Race and class biases associated with the SAT
- Too much importance placed on the SAT
- SAT alone not a strong predictor of college success
What effect do coaching/preparation courses have on tests like the SAT or GRE? What are the problems?
Effect: Point increases with coaching
Problems: Large financial and time investment
How well does the SAT predict undergraduate school performance?
correlation of .42 and 17% of variance
pretty good - undergraduate
How well does the GRE predict graduate school performance?
- overpredicts young people, and underpredicts old people,
- accounts for 5 to 11% of variance
- correlation = .4 to .25 which isnot good
What is the best combination of predictors of undergraduate GPA?
Combination of SAT and high school records with correlation coefficients of 0.55 - 0.61
What is the Raven Progressive Matrices test?
Very popular nonverbal intelligence test
What is a major advantage of the Raven Progressive Matrices test?
minimizes language and culture differences
the best single measure of Spearman’s g available
CON: can’t compare to other test scores as easily
What is the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and GPA/standardized test scores?
Typically, the higher your SES, the higher your scores. Wealthy people have access to better preparations.
Define personality
the relatively stable and distinctive patterns of behavior that characterize an individual and his or her reactions to the environment
Define Personality Characteristics
nonintellective aspects of human behavior, typically distinguished from mental abilities
Define personality types
general descriptions of people
for example, avoiding types have low social interest and low activity and cope by avoiding social situations
Define personality traits
relatively enduring dispositions—tendencies to act, think, or feel in a certain manner in any given circumstance and that distinguish one person from another
Define personality states
emotional reactions that vary from one situation to another
Define self-concept
a person’s self-definition or an organized and relatively consistent set of assumptions that a person has about himself or herself
What are the two major strategies for the development of a personality test?
Deductive and empirical
What are the two deductive strategies for structured personality-test construction?
Logical content and theoretical
What is logical-content strategy?
uses reason and deductive logic in the development of personality measures
What is theoretical strategy?
begins with a theory about the nature of the particular characteristic to be measured
What are the empirical strategies for structured personality-test construction?
Criterion Group and Factor Analysis
What is criterion group strategy?
begins with a criterion group, or a collection of individuals who share a characteristic such as leadership or schizophrenia.
Test constructors select and administer a group of items to all the people in this criterion group as well as to a control group that represents the general population. Constructors then
attempt to locate items that distinguish the criterion and control groups, or how the two groups contrast
What is factor analysis strategy?
uses factor analysis to derive empirically the basic dimensions of personality
What is cross-validation?
Taking a test that you’ve already administered to a sample to another different sample, with the goal of trying to confirm its validity and reliability with that new sample
What are some of the criticisms of the original MMPI?
-Original standardization sample was not adequate
- Language was outdated in questions, some language was sexist,
- Not properly edited (there were grammatical errors, double negatives, etc.)
- too narrow of a scope (suicide attempts, drug and alcohol abuse not addressed in test)
What is the purpose of the MMPI?
the purpose is to diagnose or assess major psychiatric disorders
distinguishes normal from abnormal
How did the MMPI-II improve upon the original MMPI?
- Updated and expanded norms
- Revise and broaden scope of items (those that were sexist, out of date, etc.)
- Develop an adolescent form
What scales are there for the MMPI and MMPI-II?
Validity, Clinical, Content
What is the validity scale for the MMPI?
meant to measure test-taking attitude and assess a normal honest approach
What is the clinical scale for the MMPI?
tries to identify psychological disorders
What is the content scale for the MMPI?
items that relate to specific content areas like intelligence or a disorder
What reading level is required for both the MMPI and MMPI-II?
At least an eighth-grade level
Know the three validity scales of the MMPI
The L (lie) scale
The F (infrequency) scale
The K scale
What does the L scale measure?
- designed to evaluate a naive attempt to present oneself in a favorable light
- People who score high on this scale are unwilling to acknowledge minor flaws.
What does the F scale measure?
designed to find people “faking bad”
items that are scored infrequently (less than 10%) by the normal population
High score invalidates the profile
What does the K scale measure?
detect attempts to deny problems and present oneself in a favorable light.
People who score high on this scale are attempting to project an image of self-control and personal effectiveness
What is Code Typing on the MMPI? How has this been beneficial?
creating a personality profile based on the most extreme 2 or 3 MMPI scales
used to diagnose them for psychopathy
Is there much empirical research on the MMPI and MMPI-II?
Yes, more than other personality tests
What are the problems with factor analytic strategy?
subjective nature of naming the factors
What are the three types of variance associated with factor analytic strategy?
Common variance, unique variance, error variance
What is common variance?
the amount of variance a particular variable holds in common with other variables.
It results from the overlap of what two or more variables are measuring
What is unique variance?
factors uniquely measured by the variable.
In other words, it refers to some construct measured only by the variable in question
What is error variance?
variance attributable to error
What kind of test-development strategy (or strategies) were used to develop the NEO-PI-R?
factor analysis and theory in item development and scale construction
What does NEO stand for?
neuroticism, extroversion, and openness
What are the five personality dimensions on the NEO-PI-PR?
Neuroticism
Extroversion
Openness
Conscientiousness
Agreeableness
Define neuroticism
the degree to which a person is anxious and insecure as opposed to calm and self-confident.
Define extroversion
the degree to which a person is sociable, leader-like, and assertive as opposed to withdrawn, quiet, and reserved.
Define openness
the degree to which a person is imaginative and curious as opposed to concrete-minded and narrow in thinking.
Define Conscientiousness
the degree to which a person is persevering, responsible, and organized as opposed to lazy, irresponsible, and impulsive
Define agreeableness
the degree to which a person is warm and cooperative as opposed to unpleasant and disagreeable.
Does IQ tell the whole story?
nope
What is deliberate practice?
The use of activities that are specifically done in order to improve the current level of performance
Characteristics of deliberate practice
- Immediate feedback
- Deliberate repeated actions.
- Focus
- Goal setting and perseverance is key
Be able to give examples of deliberate practice and how it differs from other kinds of practice.
Practicing a hard part on the piano that you have not yet been able to master for an hour vs playing twinkle, twinkle, little star everyday on the piano for a hour (a lot of questions about this on the test)
What is the 10-year/10,000-hour rule?
It takes 10,000 hours of deliberate practice to be an expert
Be able to name some people who exemplify deliberate practice.
Surgeons, musicians, athletes
Operational definition
the way you are going to measure your hypothetical construct
Hypothetical construct
an unmeasurable phenomenon that we infer exists and that gives rise to a measurable phenomenon
Used to develop tests
What is the regression formula? Understand the different components of the formula and how they are applied.
Y = bX + a
Y: expected value
a: the y-intercept
X: the average
B: the slope
What components make up Classical Test Score Theory?
X = T + E
X: score
T: True score
E: error
In what ways can error impact the observed score?
The amount of error impacts how good of an estimator the observed score is of the true score. The less error the better the estimate.
Test reliability is usually estimated in one of what three ways? Know the major concepts in each way.
Test-retest: Take the same test twice
Parallel forms: Take two similar tests
Split halves: Split the test into two equally difficult parts and compare
What is reliability? What does low/high reliability mean for measures? How can one address/improve low reliability?
How consistently a test gets the same results. Bigger sample improves reliability
What is systematic error in a test called?
bias
What is the relationship between reliability and validity
You need reliability for validity, but do not need validity for reliability
What is validity?
Does the test measure what it reports to measure
Define criterion validity
How well test scores correspond with a particular criterion
Define content validity
the degree to which a measure represents the concept it is designed to measure
Define construct validity
the degree to which a measure measures the hypothesized construct
What pre-requisites exist for validity
Reliability, variability, correlation
Why is construct validity the “mother of all validities”?
Every other aspect of validity tries to add to construct validity
What are the two types of evidence for construct-related validity?
convergent and discriminant
What is discriminant validity?
shows the test has uniqueness; low correlations with unrelated constructs
What is convergent validity?
shows that the test measures the same thing as similar tests
What is the validity coefficient?
correlation between a test and criterion - just looking at the correlation
How much trust you can put in the test to predict the criterion
What is the meaning of a squared validity coefficient?
deals with prediction, percent of the variation in criterion we can know because of the test score
Also known as the “coefficient of determination”
What is the relationship between test examiner race and intelligence scores?
If highly standardized, effects are minimal, if there are untrained individuals it has a larger effect
What are expectancy effects? What is another name for these effects?
Results are affected by what the experimenter expects to find
Rosenthal Effects
What is the halo effect? Be able to identify examples of when the halo effect would apply
When you attribute things to someone that isn’t due to the trait because of one dominant, positive trait
Ex. Someone is kind based on their attractiveness
What is social facilitation? Be prepared to identify examples
Social facilitation is the ability to act like the models around you
If you project a mood, the interviewee responds in kind
Exhibit the qualities you want in your interview
Provide a relaxed and safe atmosphere through social facilitation
Remain in control
Set the tone
Act how you want them to act
What is positive manifold?
the idea that when a set of diverse ability tests are administered to large unbiased samples of the population, almost all correlations are positive.- showing the g (general mental ability) affects all tests
What is g? Understand fluid vs. crystallized intelligence.
G: overall intelligence
Fluid: abilities that allow us to reason, think, acquire new knowledge
Crystallized: represents the knowledge and understanding we’ve acquired
Understand the analysis and purpose of factor analysis.
- Data reduction technique
- A method for reducing a set of variables or scores to a smaller number of hypothetical variables called factors.
- Helps determine how much variance a set of tests or scores has in common.
- Helps you understand which constructs are really being measured by your item
Sensitivity
accuracy of the test in identifying the disorder/delay/etc
Risk of false positives: tested for it, but does not have it
Sum of true pos/sum condition positive
Example: want high specificity for tests measuring things with intense treatments/medications - personality disorders, ADHD
Pregnancy, learning disabilities
Specificity
accuracy of the test in identifying those who are NOT delayed/ do NOT have disorders
True negative: does not have it and does not test for it
Sum true negative/sum condition negative
Example: want high specificity for tests measuring things with high costs
Cancer treatments, personality disorders
What is the discrepancy hypothesis? What does this do for psychometrics?
Discrepancies in children’s scores result in diagnoses of learning disabilities,
Fallacy because some kids are lazy or didn’t want to focus on the test etc.
2 standard deviations below the mean = learning disability.
One problem with the use of category rating scales is __________
responses are sometimes influenced by the anchors used to contextualize the scale
If the scores on X give us no information about the scores on Y, this indicates
no correlation
The primary differences between a z-score and a T-score is
the mean and standard deviation
Scales of measurement differ from one another in terms of
magnitude, absolute zero, and equal intervals.
An interviewer is relaxed and genuinely enjoying her interaction with a client. The client then feels more at ease and offers more information about himself. This is an example of
social facilitation
Among his motivations for the development of the Wechsler scales of intelligence, was David Wechsler’s belief that
IQ scores were influenced by lots of things besides IQ
The Woodcock-Johnson-III is a test of
achievement
