Psychological Assessment

Question 1

Acturial Versus Clinical Prediction

Answer 1

Actuarial predictions are based on empirically validated relationships between test results and target criteria and make use of a multiple regression equation or similar technique, while clinical predictions are based on the decision-maker’s intuition, experience, and knowledge. Studies comparing the two methods have generally found that the actuarial method alone is more accurate than clinical judgment alone.

Question 2

Behavioral Assessment

Answer 2

Behavioral assessment focuses on overt and covert behaviors and utilizes various techniques including behavioral interviews, behavioral observation, protocol analysis and other cognitive measures, and psychophysiological measures. Functional behavioral assessment (FBA) is a type of behavioral assessment that involves identifying and altering the antecedents and consequences that are maintaining an undesirable behavior.

Question 3

Bender-Gestalt-II

Answer 3

The Bender-Gestalt II is a measure of visual-motor integration that is also used as a screening tool for neuropsychological impairment. It includes 16 stimulus cards consisting of geometric figures that the examinees first copies and then draws from memory.

Question 4

Big Five Personality Traits

Answer 4

The initial identification of the personality traits that make up the “Big Five” (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience) utilized an atheoretical lexical approach that entailed identifying personality characteristics listed in the dictionary and then using factor analysis to identify the core traits (factors).

Question 5

Crystallized And Fluid Intelligence

Answer 5

Horn and Cattell proposed that general intelligence can be described in terms of two types: Crystallized intelligence (Gc) refers to acquired knowledge and skills and is affected by educational and cultural experiences, whereas fluid intelligence (Gf) enables an individual to solve novel problems and perceive relations and similarities and does not depend on specific instruction.

Question 6

Curriculum-Based Measurement

Answer 6

Curriculum-based measurement (CBM) involves periodic assessment of school-aged children with brief standardized and validated measures of basic academic skills that reflect the current school curriculum for the purposes of evaluating instructional effectiveness and making instructional decisions.

Question 7

Differential Validity

Answer 7

The term differential validity has two meanings: In the context of multiaptitude batteries, differential validity is desirable, and a battery lacks differential validity when each test or subtest has similar validity coefficients for each criterion group or category. In the context of job selection, differential validity is undesirable and occurs when a predictor has different validity coefficients for different groups of individuals (e.g., men and women).

Question 8

Dynamic Assessment/Testing The Limits

Answer 8

Dynamic assessment was derived from Vygotsky’s method for evaluating a child’s mental development and involves deliberate deviation from standardized testing procedures to obtain additional information about an examinee and/or determine if he/she would benefit from assistance or instruction. Testing the limits, a type of dynamic assessment, involves providing an examinee with additional cues, suggestions, or feedback and is ordinarily done after standard administration of the test to preserve the applicability of the test’s norms.

Question 9

Flynn Effect

Answer 9

Research conducted prior to 2000 found that IQ test scores consistently increased over the previous 70 years in the United States and other industrialized countries. This increase is referred to as the Flynn effect, involves a rate of at least three IQ points per decade, and is apparently due primarily to increases in fluid intelligence. Recent research suggests, however, that the Flynn effect has reversed in some countries and, in the U.S., for individuals with IQs of 110 and above.

Question 10

Glasgow Coma Scale

Answer 10

The Glasgow Coma Scale is used to assess level of consciousness following brain injury and involves rating the patient in terms of three responses - visual response (eye opening), best motor response, and best verbal response.

Question 11

Halstead-Reitan

Answer 11

The Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Battery is used to detect brain damage and determine its severity and possible location. It produces a Halstead Impairment Index that ranges from 0 to 1.0, with higher scores indicating greater impairment.

Question 12

Heredity And Intelligence

Answer 12

Correlations between the IQ scores of people with varying degrees of genetic similarity are used to demonstrate the impact of heredity on intelligence. The studies have found that, the closer the genetic similarity, the higher the correlation (e.g., identical twins reared together, r = .85; identical twins reared apart, r = .67).

Question 13

Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

Answer 13

IDEA requires that (a) all disabled people from infancy to 21 years of age must be evaluated by a team of specialists to determine their specific needs; (b) an Individualized Educational Program (IEP) must be developed for each disabled child enrolled in the public education system that provides education for the student in the “least restrictive environment” and that has been approved by the child’s parents; and (c) while reliable, valid, and nondiscriminatory psychological tests can be used, assignment to special education classes cannot be made on the basis of IQ tests only.

Question 14

Infant and Preschool Tests

Answer 14

Infant and preschool tests are generally considered valid as screening devices for developmental delays and disabilities; but, when administered to children aged two or younger, they have little predictive validity. Examples include the Denver Development Screening Test, Bayley Scales, and Fagan Test of Infant Intelligence.

Question 15

ITPA-3

Answer 15

The ITPA-3 (Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities, Third Edition) is appropriate for individuals ages 5:0 to 12:11. It was designed to evaluate a child’s strengths and weaknesses in terms of linguistic abilities, assist in the diagnosis of dyslexia and problems related to phonological coding, and track a child’s progress as the result of an intervention.

Question 16

KABC-II

Answer 16

The KABC-II (Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children) is a measure of cognitive ability for children ages 3:0 through 18:11 and was designed to be a culture-fair test by minimizing verbal instructions and responses. Interpretation of scores can be based on one of two models - the Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) model of cognitive abilities or Luria’s neuropsychological processing model.

Question 17

Kuder Occupational Interest Survey

Answer 17

The Kuder Occupational Interest Survey (KOIS) was designed for high school juniors and seniors, college students, and adults. It was developed on the basis of empirical criterion keying but, unlike the Strong tests, did not include a general reference group. Instead, items selected for inclusion were those that distinguished between different occupational groups.

Question 18

Larry P. V. Riles

Answer 18

The case of Larry P. was brought by plaintiffs on behalf of African American children who were disproportionately enrolled in special education classes in the San Francisco school system. Based primarily on the testimony of experts, the judge handed down the opinion that “IQ tests are racially and culturally biased, [and] have a discriminatory impact on Black children” and enjoined San Francisco public schools from using them to place Black children in special education classes.

Question 19

Leiter-3

Answer 19

The Leiter-3 was designed as a culture-fair measure of cognitive abilities for individuals aged 3 to 75+ years. It can be administered without verbal instructions and is also useful for individuals with language problems or hearing impairment. Examinees are required to match a set of response cards to corresponding illustrations on an easel. Test items emphasize fluid intelligence and evaluate four domains of cognitive functioning - visualization, reasoning, memory, and attention.

Question 20

Mini Mental State Exam

Answer 20

The Mini Mental State Exam (MMSE) is a screening test for cognitive impairment for older adults and assesses six aspects of cognitive functioning: orientation, registration (immediate recall), attention and calculation, delayed recall, language, and visual construction. The maximum score is 30, and a score of 23 or 24 is ordinarily used as a cutoff, with scores below the cutoff indicating cognitive impairment.

Question 21

MMPI-2 (Validity Scales, T-Scores, Profile Analysis)

Answer 21

The MMPI-2 includes the L, F, and K validity scales, which are designed to assess test-taking attitudes and determine if an examinee’s results are valid. A high L Scale score indicates an attempt to present oneself in a favorable light, a high F Scale score suggests response carelessness or an attempt to “fake bad”, and a high K scale score indicates defensiveness or an attempt to “fake good.” Scores are reported as T- scores with a mean of 50 and standard deviation of 10. A T score of 65 or higher is considered clinically significant. Scores are commonly interpreted through profile analysis, which involves considering the examinee’s two or three highest scale scores.

Question 22

Norm-, Criterion-, and Self-referenced Scores

Answer 22

The scores provided by most tests can be categorized as norm-, criterion-, or self-referenced. Norm-referenced scores permit comparisons between an examinee’s test performance and the performance of individuals in the norm group. Criterion-referenced scores permit interpreting an examinee’s test performance in terms of what the examinee can do or knows with regard to a clearly defined content domain or in terms of performance or status on an external criterion. Self-referenced scores are provided by ipsative scales and permit intraindividual comparisons – i.e., comparisons of an examinee’s score on one scale with his/her scores on other scales.

Question 23

PPVT-4

Answer 23

The PPVT-4 (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Fourth Edition) is a measure of receptive vocabulary. It is designed for examinees ages 2:6 to 90+ years; and is useful for people with a motor or speech impairment and can be administered to any examinee who is able to hear the stimulus word, see the drawings on the cards, and in some way communicate a response.

Question 24

Raven’s Progressive Matrices

Answer 24

Raven’s Progressive Matrices is a nonverbal measure of general intelligence (g) and is considered useful as a multicultural test because it is relatively independent of the effects of specific education and cultural learning. There are several versions including the Standard Progressive Matrices and Colored Progressive Matrices.

Question 25

Rorschach Inkblot Test (Administration, Scoring Categories, Interpretation)

Answer 25

The Rorschach is a projective personality test that presents the examinee with 10 inkblots and is based on the premise that an examinee’s responses to the inkblots reflect his/her underlying personality, conflicts, etc.. Administration usually entails two phases - free association and inquiry. Most scoring systems involve looking at the following categories: location, determinants, form quality, content, and popularity; and interpretation involves considering the number and ratio of responses in each category.

Question 26

SB5 (Age Range, Cognitive Factors, Routing Subtests)

Answer 26

The SB5 (Stanford-Binet, Fifth Edition) is an individually administered intelligence test for individuals ages 2 and up. It is based on a hierarchical intelligence model that includes “g” and five cognitive factors: Fluid Reasoning, Knowledge, Quantitative Reasoning, Visual-Spatial Processing, and Working Memory. Administration of the SB5 is tailored to the examinee’s level of cognitive functioning through the use of two routing subtests (Object Series/Matrices and Vocabulary) which indicate the appropriate starting point for the remaining subtests. The Full Scale IQ and Factor scores have a mean of 100 and standard deviation of 15, and the subtest scores have a mean of 10 and standard deviation of 3.

Question 27

Seattle Longitudinal Study

Answer 27

The Seattle Longitudinal Study found that a cross-sectional design is more likely to find early age-related declines in IQ because it is more vulnerable to the confounding effects of educational and other differences between different age groups (“cohort effects”). It utilized a cross-sequential design (which combines cross-sectional and longitudinal methodologies) and found that, of the six primary mental abilities studied, only perceptual speed declined substantially prior to age 60.

Question 28

Self-Directed Search/RIASEC

Answer 28

Holland classified occupations and occupational interests into six themes, which he believed reflect basic personality characteristics. The relationship between these themes is conceptualized in terms of a hexagon with themes located closer to one another being more similar. Starting in the upper left of the hexagon, the themes are Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional (RIASEC). These themes are measured by the Self-Directed Search (SDS).

Question 29

Standardization

Answer 29

Standardization refers to two characteristics of a test. First, a test is standardized when the administration and scoring procedures are clearly defined. Second, a test is standardized when it has been administered under standard conditions to a representative sample for the purpose of establishing norms.

Question 30

Strong Interest Inventory

Answer 30

The Strong Interest Inventory provides scores on General Occupational Themes, Basic Interest Scales, Occupational Scales, and Personal Styles Scales. Development of the Occupational Scales used an empirical criterion keying strategy and indicate the degree to which the examinee’s interests are similar to those of satisfied workers of the same gender in 122 occupations.

Question 31

Stroop Color-Word Association Test

Answer 31

The Stroop Test assesses the degree to which an examinee can suppress a prepotent (habitual) response in favor of an unusual one and measures cognitive flexibility, selective attention, and response inhibition. It is sensitive to frontal lobe damage, and poor performance has been associated with ADHD, mania, depression, and schizophrenia.

Question 32

Thematic Apperception Test

Answer 32

The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) is based on Murray’s theory of needs and presents the examinee with vague black-and-white pictures that include one or more human figures. The examinee is asked to make up a story about each picture and his/her responses are scored and interpreted in terms of several factors including the story’s “hero,” the intensity, frequency, and duration of needs, environmental press, thema, and outcomes expressed in each story.

Question 33

Triarchic Theory

Answer 33

Sternberg’s triarchic theory defines “successful intelligence” as the ability to adapt to, modify, and choose environments that accomplish one’s goals and the goals of society and proposes that it is composed of three abilities - analytical, creative, and practical.

Question 34

Types of Test Bias (Slope and Intercept)

Answer 34

Slope and intercept biases are types of test bias that can invalidate the interpretation of test scores for members of certain groups. Slope bias occurs when there is differential validity - i.e., when the validity coefficients for a test differ for different groups. Intercept bias (unfairness) occurs when the validity coefficients and criterion performance for different groups are the same, but their mean scores on the predictor differ.

Question 35

Vineland -II

Answer 35

The Vineland-II (Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, Second Edition) is used to evaluate personal and social skills of children and adults with Intellectual Disability, Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD, brain injury, or dementia and to assist in the development of educational and treatment plans.

Question 36

WAIS-IV (Age, Range, FSIQ, Indexes)

Answer 36

The WAIS-IV (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, Fourth Edition) is an individually administered intelligence test for individuals ages 16:0 to 90:11. It provides a Full Scale IQ (FSIQ), scores on four Indexes (Working Memory, Verbal Comprehension, Processing Speed, and Perceptual Reasoning), and scores on 10 core and five supplemental subtests. The FSIQ and Index scores have a mean of 100 and standard deviation of 15; the subtests have a mean of 10 and standard deviation of 3.

Question 37

WISC-V (Age Range, Primary Indexes)

Answer 37

The WISC-V (Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Fifth Edition) is an individually administered intelligence test for examinees ages 6:0 to 16:11. It provides a Full Scale IQ (FSIQ) score; scores on five Primary Index Scales (Verbal Comprehension, Visual-Spatial, Fluid Reasoning, Working Memory, and Processing Speed), scores on optional Ancillary and Complementary Index Scales, and individual subtest scores.

Question 38

Wisconsin Card Sorting Test

Answer 38

The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) is used to assess the ability to form abstract concepts and shift cognitive strategies in response to feedback. It is sensitive to frontal lobe damage, and impaired performance has been linked to alcoholism, autism, schizophrenia, depression, and malingering.