Lecture 1 Flashcards
What is Psychometrics?
-Psychometrics is a branch of psychology focused on the measurement of psychological attributes and behaviours.
-It encompasses theories and methods for developing measurement instruments, and evaluating their metric properties and usefulness.
What is the difference between Measurement and Assessment in Psychology?
-Measurement is the process of assigning symbols, usually numbers, to objects, people, or events to describe the degree to which they exhibit specific attributes or belong to categories. These symbols, representing the measurement’s result, are linked to a particular unit of measurement.
-Assessment is a broader process encompassing data collection, utilization, and interpretation regarding individuals or larger entities like couples, groups, classrooms, or organizations.
What are the functions of measurement?
-scientific: to quantify, isolate or classify variables; to reduce measurement error and increase precision; to facilitate assessment and diagnosis of individuals, to make comparisons possible, to generalize
-clinical: facilitates communication, helps decide treatment based on exact problem, helps follow how clients evolve over time
Why are Numbers Important in Psychological Measurement?
-Numbers facilitate comparisons, simplify communication of findings, are efficient and concise, can be manipulated for richer descriptions, and allow for statistical analysis.
What is the importance of Standardized Procedures in Psychological Testing?
-Enabling meaningful comparisons between individuals.
-Ensuring scientific control by making the test and the construct being measured the only independent variables.
-Minimizing the influence of external factors on test results
What are the defining characteristics of a Psychological Test?
-It serves as a stimulus designed to elicit a sample of relevant behaviours.
-The sample of behaviours is gathered under standardized conditions.
-The behaviours are systematically converted into symbols, typically numbers, using standardized procedures.
Why are Standardized Correction Procedures Important for Psychological Tests?
-Raw scores require interpretation through comparison with norms or criteria.
-Standardized corrections eliminate assessor/corrector subjectivity.
-Objective scoring rules should be straightforward, unambiguous, and easy to apply.
What are Reliability and Validity in the context of Psychological Testing?
-Reliability refers to the consistency and reproducibility of test results.
-Validity indicates whether the test actually measures what it claims to measure.
What are other types of psychological measures?
-surveys (constructs assessed with a single item; bigger error margin)
-index (constructs are “artificial”)
-interviews (questions asked verbally and more or less structured/standardized)
-observation (collected visually, more or less standardized)
-documentary analysis
-neuropsychological/physiological measures (scanners, MRI, etc.)
What are the limitations of using Surveys for Psychological Measurement?
-isolated items only weakly related to any single psychological construct.
-isolated items are often related to more than 1 psychological construct.
-Item content potentially influenced by factors unrelated to the target construct (e.g., vocabulary).
-large amount of measurement error (1-4 scale –> 25% jump if mistake).
-less variability in responses, reducing the ability to discriminate between individuals.
What is an Index in Psychological Measurement and what are its characteristics?
-An index measures “artificial” constructs, meaning they are defined by the combined presence of the assessed behaviours in an additive way. These behaviours are not expected to correlate with each other. It uses a simple format, often asking respondents to indicate if specific events occurred in their life within a specific time frame.
What are the differences between a Questionnaire and an Index?
-Questionnaire: reflective measurement model; assesses a construct assumed to predict observed behaviours (correlation between behaviours).
-Index: formative measurement model; assesses an “artificial” construct defined by the presence of the assessed behaviours in an additive manner (no correlation).
What were some early forms of work-related assessments?
-China Antiquity: triennial oral exams for promotions and performance evaluations (every 3 years).
-Han Dynasty: test batteries (set of tests used together) used in various domains.
-Ming Dynasty (middle ages): national multi-stage assessment programs (series of sequential assessments).
-English East India Company: Western country inspired by Asia; boat transport company –> systematic procedures for hiring workers.
-1855: similar assessment system for civil service in England, Germany, and France.
-1883: USA.
What were some early forms of educational assessments?
-Greece Antiquity: Socratic questioning (teaching), assessment of intellectual and physical skills (olympics).
-Middle Ages: assessments of mastery/excellence in first European universities (tests created).
-Leading directly to using tests to measure educational achievement.
-Christian Von Wolff: measuring judgement with precision and certainty.
Who assessed the mental skills and intelligence focusing on individual differences?
-Charles Darwin: origins of species (some qualities more desired than others).
-Sir Francis Galton (Darwin’s cousin): Hereditary Genius; sensory-motor differences; anthropometric lab (1st to measure intelligence with non-systematic tests).
