Introduction to Psychological Testing and Assessment

Question 1

An evaluative or diagnostic procedure or process that varies from the usual, customary, or standardized way a measurement is derived, either by some special accommodation made to the assessee or by alternative methods designed to measure the same variable(s)

Answer 1

Alternate assessment

Question 2

Monitoring the actions of others or oneself by visual or electronic means while recording quantitative and/or qualitative information regarding the actions, typically for diagnostic or related purposes and either to design intervention or to measure the outcome of an intervention

Answer 2

Behavioral observation

Question 3

Records, transcripts, and other accounts in written, pictorial, or other form, in any media, that preserve archival information, official and informal accounts, and other data and items relevant to an assessee

Answer 3

Case history data

Question 4

An informed, scientific idea developed or generated to describe or explain behavior; some examples of constructs include “intelligence,” “personality,” “anxiety,” and “job satisfaction”

Answer 4

Construct

Question 5

A description or conclusion reached on the basis of evidence and opinion through a process of distinguishing the nature of something and ruling out alternative conclusions

Answer 5

Diagnosis

Question 6

A tool used to make a diagnosis, usually to identify areas of deficit to be targeted for intervention

Answer 6

Diagnostic test

Question 7

A unit of work

Answer 7

Erg

Question 8

The study of work

Answer 8

Ergonomics

Question 9

Collectively, all of the factors other than what a test purports to measure that contribute to scores on the test; error is a variable in all testing and assessment

Answer 9

Error

Question 10

In the true score model, the component of variance attributable to random sources irrelevant to the trait or ability the test purports to measure in an observed score or distribution of scores. Common sources of error variance include those related to test construction (including item or content sampling), test administration, and test scoring and interpretation

Answer 10

Error variance

Question 11

A general reference to the form, plan, structure, arrangement, or layout of test items as well as to related considerations such as time limits for test administration

Answer 11

Format

Question 12

A tool of assessment in which information is gathered through direct, reciprocal communication

Answer 12

Interview

Question 13

Assigning numbers or symbols to characteristics of people or objects according to rules

Answer 13

Measurement

Question 14

Also referred to as normative data; the test performance data of a group of test takers, designed as a reference for evaluating, interpreting, or otherwise placing in context individual test scores

Answer 14

Norms

Question 15

A work sample; used as a tool in an evaluative or diagnostic process

Answer 15

Portfolio

Question 16

(1) The form or sheet on which test taker’s responses are entered; (2) a method or procedure for evaluation or scoring

Answer 16

Protocol

Question 17

The gathering and integrating of psychological data for psychological evaluation, through the use of tests, interviews, case studies, behavioral observation, and specially designed apparatuses and measurement procedures

Answer 17

Psychological assessment

Question 18

A measuring device or procedure designed to measure psychology-related variables

Answer 18

Psychological test

Question 19

The measuring of psychology-related variables by means of devices or procedures designed to obtain samples of behavior

Answer 19

Psychological testing

Question 20

The science of psychological measurement

Answer 20

Psychometrics

Question 21

An online electronic database maintained by the American Psychological Association and leased to institutional users, designed to help individuals locate relevant documents from psychology, education, nursing, social work, law, medicine, and other disciplines

Answer 21

PsycINFO

Question 22

A working relationship between examiner and examinee in testing or assessment

Answer 22

Rapport

Question 23

The extent to which measurements are consistent or repeatable; also, the extent to which measurements differ from occasion to occasion as a function of measurement error

Answer 23

Reliability

Question 24

An assessment tool wherein assessees are instructed to act as if they were placed in a particular situation

Answer 24

Role play test

Question 25

(1) A system of ordered numerical or verbal descriptors, usually occurring at fixed intervals, used as a reference standard in measurement; (2) a set of numbers or other symbols whose properties model empirical properties of the objects or traits to which numbers or other symbols are assigned

Answer 25

Scale

Question 26

(1) In test construction, the process of setting rules for assigning numbers in measurement; (2) the process by which a measuring device is designed and calibrated and the way numbers (or other indices that are scale values) are assigned to different amounts of the trait, attribute, or characteristic measured; (3) assigning numbers in accordance with empirical properties of objects or traits

Answer 26

Scaling

Question 27

A code or summary statement, usually but not necessarily numerical, that reflects an evaluation of the performance on a test, task, interview, or other sample of behavior

Answer 27

Score(s)

Question 28

The process of assigning evaluative codes or statements to performance on tests, tasks, interviews, or other behavior samples

Answer 28

Scoring

Question 29

In true score theory, a statistic designed to estimate the extent to which an observed score deviates from a true score

Answer 29

Standard error of measurement

Question 30

(1) the transitory exhibition of a trait, indicative of a relatively temporary predisposition to behave in a particular way; (2) in psychoanalytic theory, an inferred psychodynamic disposition designed to convey the dynamic quality of id, ego, and superego in perpetual conflict

Answer 30

State

Question 31

A measuring device or procedure

Answer 31

Test

Question 32

Any distinguishable, relatively enduring way in which one individual varies from another

Answer 32

Trait

Question 33

A general term referring to a judgment regarding how well a test or other measurement tool measures what it purports to measure; this judgment has important implications regarding the appropriateness of inferences made and actions taken on the basis of measurements

Answer 33

Validity

Question 34

An approach to psychological assessment in which the assessor and assessee may work as partners from initial contact through final feedback

Answer 34

Collaborative psychological assessment

Question 35

An approach to psychological assessment that encourages therapeutic self-discovery and new understandings through the assessment process

Answer 35

Therapeutic psychological assessment

Question 36

An interactive
approach to psychological assessment that usually follows a model of (1) evaluation, (2) intervention of some sort, and (3) evaluation

Answer 36

Dynamic assessment

Question 37

A reference point, usually numerical, derived by

judgment and used to divide a set of data into two or more classifications

Answer 37

Cut score or cutoff score or cutoff

Question 38

The assembly of case history data into an illustrative account

Answer 38

Case study

Question 39

A report that include a mere listing of score or scores

Answer 39

Simple scoring report

Question 40

A report that include a listing of scores as well as statistical analyses of the test taker’s performance

Answer 40

Extended scoring

report

Question 41

A report that includes numerical or narrative interpretive statements in the report, usually calling the test user’s attention
to certain scores that need to be focused on

Answer 41

Interpretive report

Question 42

A report that is usually written in language appropriate for communication between assessment professionals, may
provide expert opinion concerning analysis of the data

Answer 42

Consultative report

Question 43

A report designed to integrate data from sources other than the test itself into the interpretive report; employ previously collected data (such as medication records or behavioral observation data) into the test report

Answer 43

Integrative report

Question 44

They create tests or other methods of assessment

Answer 44

Test developers and publishers

Question 45

Licensed, trained or educated professionals who employ psychological tests and assessment methodologies

Answer 45

Test users

Question 46

Anyone who is the

subject of an assessment or an evaluation

Answer 46

Test takers or assessees

Question 47

A reconstruction of a deceased individual’s
psychological profile on the basis of archival records, artifacts, and interviews previously
conducted with the deceased assessee or with people who knew him or her.

Answer 47

Psychological autopsy

Question 48

Interviewer follows scripted questions; no deviations from question order and wording of each question; no adjusting level of language; similar to a pencil-and-paper survey

Answer 48

Structured interviews

Question 49

Asymmetrical structure wherein main questions and script are fixed but may be reordered and adjusted; interviewer may answer questions and make clarifications

Answer 49

Semi-structured interview

Question 50

Free flowing conversation wherein both interviewer and interviewees initiate questions and discuss topics

Answer 50

Unstructured interview