Module 1 Lesson 1: Major Categories of Tests Flashcards
What are the main major categories of tests?
- Cognitive Ability Tests
- Achievement Tests
- Personality Tests
- Interests and Attitudes
- Neuropsychological Tests
What does the term “cognitive ability” include?
In the world of psychological testing, the term cognitive ability includes a wide variety of cognitive functions, such as memory, spatial visualization, and creative thinking.
What has cognitive ability historically been centered on?
Historically, the area has centered on intelligence, broadly defined.
What does the cognitive ability category subdivide into?
This category subdivides into:
1. individually administered cognitive ability tests,
2. group‐administered cognitive ability tests,
3. and a variety of other ability tests,
(that is, other than intelligence tests)
What are examples of individually administered cognitive ability tests?
An example of an individually administered cognitive ability test is the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, abbreviated WAIS. Another classic example in this category is the Stanford–Binet Intelligence Scale.
What are individually administered cognitive ability tests?
These tests are administered to individual examinees, one‐on‐one, by trained psychologists to provide an index of the overall mental ability of individuals.
What are examples of a group-administered cognitive ability test?
An example of a group‐administered cognitive ability test is the Otis–Lennon School Ability Test (OLSAT). Another example of tests in this category is the SAT2 used to predict success in college.
What are group-administered cognitive ability tests for (specifically OLSAT)?
This test is administered to groups of students, usually in classroom settings, to gauge mental ability to succeed in typical school subjects.
There are only a few types of mental ability tests. True or False.
False. There are many other types of mental ability tests—nearly an infinite variety—including tests of memory, quantitative reasoning, creative thinking, vocabulary, and spatial ability. Sometimes these mental functions are included in the tests of general mental ability, but sometimes they are tested separately.
What are achievement tests?
These tests attempt to assess a person’s level of knowledge or skill in a particular domain.
What do we include and exclude in the discussion of achievement tests in terms of psychological testing?
We cover here only professionally developed, standardized tests. We exclude the vast array of teacher‐made tests used daily in the educational enterprise.
What is the most widely used of all types of tests?
Even excluding teacher‐made tests, achievement tests are easily the most widely used of all types of tests.
What are the different subdivisions of achievement tests?
- Batteries
- Single Subject
- Certification, Licensing
- Government-sponsored programs
- Individual Achievement Tests Curriculum-based Measures
What are examples of achievement batteries?
Examples include the Stanford Achievement Test and the Iowa Tests. All these batteries consist of a series of tests in such areas as reading, mathematics, language, science, and social studies.
Where are achievement batteries mostly used?
They are mostly used in elementary and secondary schools.
What are single-subject tests?
The second subdivision includes single‐subject tests that cover only one area, such as psychology, French, or geometry.
What is an example of single-subject tests?
An example of such a test—one that many readers of this book have taken or will take—is the GRE: Psychology Test.
What are achievement tests for certification and licensing?
The third subdivision includes the incredible variety of tests used for purposes of certification and licensing in such fields as nursing, teaching, physical therapy, airline piloting, and so on. None of the tests in this category is a household name. But they have important consequences for people in specific vocational fields.
What are government-sponsored program achievement tests?
Fourth, various government agencies sponsor certain achievement testing programs. Most prominent among these are statewide achievement testing programs in such basic subjects as reading, writing, and mathematics. In fact, such state assessment programs have assumed enormous importance in recent years as a result of new federal laws. Other government‐sponsored programs provide information about nationwide performance in a variety of areas.
What are examples of government-sponsored achievement tests?
The best known of these efforts are the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), both of which are the subject of frequent reports in the media.
What is the fifth type of achievement test?
Fifth, there are individually administered achievement tests. The first four types of achievement tests are typically group administered. However, some achievement tests are individually administered in much the same way as individually administered mental ability tests. The individually administered achievement tests aid in the diagnosis of such conditions as learning disabilities. Finally, we have a relatively recent entry: curriculum‐based measures.
What is the difference between individually administered achievement tests and the first four types of achievement tests?
The first four types of achievement tests are typically group administered. However, some achievement tests are individually administered in much the same way as individually administered mental ability tests.
What are personality tests?
Tests that includes the variety of tests designed to yield information about the human personality.
What are the types of personality tests?
- Objective Tests
- Projective Techniques
- Other Approaches
What are objective personality tests?
In testing parlance, objective simply means the tests are objectively scored, based on items answered in a true–false or similar format.
What are examples of objective personality tests?
Examples of these objective personality tests are the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, abbreviated MMPI, the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI).
What are projective techniques?
The second major subdivision of personality tests includes projective techniques. With all these techniques, the examinee encounters a relatively simple but unstructured task. We hope that the examinee’s responses will reveal something about his or her personality.
What are examples of projective personality tests?
The most famous of these techniques is the Rorschach Inkblot Test—sometimes just called the Rorschach, other times called the inkblot test. Other examples are human figure drawings, sentence completion techniques, and reactions to pictures.
What is the “other approaches” category of personality tests?
We include under personality measures a third category, simply labeled “other approaches,” to cover the myriad of other ways psychologists have devised to satisfy our limitless fascination with the human personality.
What are the categories under tests for Interests and Attitudes?
- Vocational Interests
- Attitude Scales
What are vocational interest tests?
These tests are widely used in high schools and colleges to help individuals explore jobs relevant to their interests.
What are examples of vocational interest tests?
Examples of such tests are the Strong Interest Inventory (SII) and the Self‐Directed Search (SDS).
What are Attitude Scales?
This category also includes numerous measures of attitudes toward topics, groups, and practices. For example, there are measures for attitude toward capital punishment, attitude toward the elderly, and so on.
What are neuropsychological tests?
These are tests designed to yield information about the functioning of the central nervous system, especially the brain.
Why should neuropsychological tests should not be a separate category according to some perspectives?
From some perspectives, this should not be a separate category because many of the tests used for neuropsychological testing simply come from the other categories. Much neuropsychological testing employs ability tests and often uses personality tests, too. However, we use a separate category to capture tests used specifically to assess brain functions. Of special interest are tests of memory for verbal and figural material, psychomotor coordination, and abstract thinking.
What are some additional ways to categorize tests?
- Paper‐and‐Pencil versus Performance
- Speed versus Power
- Individual versus Group
- Maximum versus Typical Performance
- Norm‐Referenced versus Criterion‐Referenced
What is a performance test?
In a performance test, the examinee completes some action such as assembling a product, delivering a speech, conducting an experiment, or leading a group.
What are paper-and-pencil tests?
In a paper‐and‐pencil test, the examinee responds to a set of questions usually, as implied by the title, using paper and pencil.
In what formats do paper-and-pencil tests form in?
Many paper‐and‐pencil tests use multiple‐choice, true–false, or similar item types. Traditional paper‐and‐pencil tests often appear now on a computer screen, with the answer marked by key stroke or mouse click.
What is the purpose of a speed test?
The essential purpose of a speed (or speeded) test is to see how fast the examinee performs.
What is a person’s score on a speed test? How is it determined?
The person’s score is how many items or tasks can be completed in a fixed time or how much time (e.g., in minutes or seconds) is required to complete the task. For example, how quickly can you cross out all the “e’s” on this page? How quickly can you complete 50 simple arithmetic problems such as 42 + 19, 24 × 8, and so on?
What is a power test?
A power test, on the other hand, usually involves challenging material, administered with no time limit or a very generous limit. The essential point of the power test is to test the limits of a person’s knowledge or ability (other than speed). The distinction is not necessarily all‐or‐none: pure speed versus pure power.
Power tests cannot have the element of speed. True or False.
Some power tests may have an element of speed. You can’t take forever to complete the SAT. However, mental prowess and knowledge rather than speed are the primary determinants of performance on a power test. Some speed tests may have an element of power.
What are individual tests?
An individual test can be administered to only one individual at a time.
What are group tests?
A group test can be administered to many individuals at the same time, that is, to a group.
Group tests can become individual tests, but individual tests cannot become group tests. True or False.
True. In general, any group‐administered test can be administered to one individual at a time, when circumstances warrant, but individually administered tests cannot be given to an entire group at once.
What do maximum performance tests look at?
How well can examinees perform when at their best?
In what kind of tests is maximum performance looked into?
Maximum performance tests are usually used in achievement and ability tests.
What are typical performance tests and in what formats is it usually used?
On the other hand, we sometimes want to see a person’s typical performance. This is usually the case with personality, interest, and attitude tests. For example, on a personality test we want to know how extroverted a person typically is, not how extroverted he can be if he is trying really hard to appear extroverted.
What are norm-referenced tests?
Many tests have norms based on performance of cases in a standardization program. For example, you may know that your score on the SAT or ACT is at the 84th percentile, meaning that you scored better than 84% of persons in the national norm group. This constitutes a norm‐referenced interpretation of your performance on the test.
What are criterion-referenced tests?
In contrast, some test interpretations depend on reference to some clearly defined criterion rather than on reference to a set of norms. For example, an instructor may say: I want you to know all the key terms at the end of the chapter. On the instructor’s test, you correctly define only 60% of the key terms, and this is considered inadequate—regardless of how well other people did on the test. This is criterion‐referenced interpretation. Actually, it is the method of interpretation rather than the test itself that is either norm‐referenced or criterion‐referenced. We explore this distinction more fully in Chapter 3.
