Module 1 Lesson 3: Major Issues: Assumptions and Questions

Question 1

What are the four partly overlapping but reasonably distinct assumptions?

Answer 1

1. People differ in important traits.
2. We can quantify these traits.
3. The traits are reasonably stable.
4. Measures of the traits relate to actual behavior.

Question 2

What are examples of traits?

Answer 2

Examples of traits are verbal ability, memory, extroversion, friendliness, quantitative reasoning ability, self‐esteem, knowledge of Irish history, and depression.

Question 3

What does quantification mean?

Answer 3

Quantification means arranging objects (in this case people) along a continuum.

Question 4

What is a continuum (in quantification)?

Answer 4

Think of a continuum as going from low to high or less to more. The continuum corresponds to the trait we are studying.

Question 5

What does quantification involve?

Answer 5

At its most primitive level, quantification involves distinguishing among the objects on the continuum. The distinction may simply be into two categories, labeled 0 and 1. At the next level of sophistication, we use the concept of “more or less” along the continuum. People are arrayed along the continuum for a trait.

Question 6

What is fundamental in testing?

Answer 6

Quantification of a trait is a fundamental notion in our work.

Question 7

What does the quantification assumption give rise to?

Answer 7

It is this “quantification” assumption that gives rise to use of the term measure in the field of testing.

Question 8

What is the least important assumption in psychological testing?

Answer 8

We assume that the reasonably stable traits that we quantify with our tests have important relationships to actual behavior in real‐life situations. From a theoretical perspective, this fourth assumption is the least important of our assumptions. That is, as theorists, we might be content to show that we can quantify a particular psychological trait regardless of whether it relates to anything else. However, from a practical perspective, this fourth assumption is crucial. As pragmatists, we might say that no matter how elegantly a test quantifies a psychological trait, if the test does not relate to anything else, we are not very interested in it.

Question 9

What are the fundamental questions about tests?

Answer 9

1. Reliability
2. Validity
3. Fairness
4. Norms
5. Test Development
6. Practical Issues

Question 10

What does reliability refer to?

Answer 10

Reliability refers to the stability of test scores.

Question 11

What is the difference between the fourth assumption and question on reliability?

Answer 11

The fourth assumption dealt with the stability of the trait itself. The question of reliability deals with the stability of our measurement of that trait.

Question 12

What is validity?

Answer 12

Validity refers to what the test is actually measuring.

Question 13

What is included in the concept of validity?

Answer 13

Included within the area of validity is the concept of fairness.

Question 14

What does fairness refer to?

Answer 14

Fairness, which is the flip side of bias, deals with the question of whether the test measures in an equitable manner across various groups, for example, across genders, ages, ethnic/racial groups, and different geographic areas.

Question 15

What do interpretation of test scores usually depend on?

Answer 15

Interpretation of test scores usually depends on the use of norms.

Question 16

What are norms based on?

Answer 16

Norms are based on the test scores of large groups of individuals who have taken the test in the past.

Question 17

What forms the core of test theory?

Answer 17

Questions related to reliability, validity, norms, and fairness are the most basic questions we ask about tests. Attempts to answer these questions form the core of test theory.

Question 18

What are the two questions to add to the catalogue of fundamental questions?

Answer 18

Knowing how a test was developed often enhances our understanding of reliability, validity, fairness, and norms. Hence, test development becomes another crucial topic. In addition, we need to consider a host of practical issues. In addition, we need to consider a host of practical issues.

Question 19

What is the differential perspective?

Answer 19

The differential perspective assumes that the answer may differ for different people. We are more interested in how people are different than in how they are the same. This differential perspective pervades the world of testing.

Question 20

What will knowing or being aware about the differential perspective help with?

Answer 20

Being aware of this perspective will help you think about issues in testing.

Question 21

What does the emerging debate within the context of the differential perspective relate to?

Answer 21

An emerging debate within the context of the differential perspective relates to how we think about differences: as categories or dimensions.

Question 22

What is a category?

Answer 22

A category describes a specific condition, such as having a broken ankle or a brain tumor. You either have it or you don’t.

Question 23

What is the dimensional approach?

Answer 23

The dimensional approach describes a continuum from less to more, low to high, or some similar set of descriptors. Think of height or speed in running a mile. Your height or speed is not something you do or don’t have.

Question 24

What implications does the categorical-versus-dimensional debate have?

Answer 24

The categorical‐versus‐dimensional debate has important implications for how we think about the outcomes of psychological tests.

Question 25

What material provides useful discussions of this difference/debate in perspective?

Answer 25

The latest Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM‐5; American Psychiatric Association, 2013) includes several useful discussions of this difference in perspective.