Psychological Testing

Question 1

Examples of personality tests

Answer 1

Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
16 PF
Roscharch Test
Projective Test

Question 2

Example of intelligence tests

Answer 2

WAIS, WISC, Raven’s Progressive matrices, Stanford Binet intelligence scale

Question 3

Standardized vs non-standardized tests

Answer 3

S tests - Administered to a group that is similar to the group for whom the test is designed

NS - no standardized sampling; feedback forms

Question 4

Objective vs projective tests

Answer 4

O test - subject expected to answer structured true/false, MCQs or rating scales; GATB, Binet intelligence scale, 16 PF

P test - unstructured; tend to elicit personal concerns; respond to ambiguous stimuli; TAT, Rorschach

Question 5

Nominal scales

Answer 5

Assigning numbers to objects, where diff numbers represent diff objects (eg: 1 - men, 2 - women, 3 - children OR player numbers)

Numbers have no real ‘meaning’

Question 6

Ordinal scales

Answer 6

Assigning numbers to objects, but numbers signify an order (eg: rankings)

Question 7

Interval scales

Answer 7

Numbers have order and there are equal intervals between adjacent categories; there is equal distance between a point and the one adjacent to it

(eg: Likert scale - equal distance between ‘strongly agree’ and ‘agree’)

Question 8

Ratio scales

Answer 8

The differences between numbers are meaningful; there is a point representing the absolute absence of the properly called ‘zero’

(eg: temp, weight)

Question 9

Types of test-reliability

Answer 9

Test-retest reliability: Same test given on two different occasions and scores are compared

Alternate-form reliability: Two different, yet similar tests administered; more time & different tests reduce coaching effect

Internal consistency: Measure of how related the items are to each other; one answer can give an indication to how others would we answered (using half-split method or coefficient alpha)

Scorer reliability: Two or more scorers review same test; useful for subjective assessments

Question 10

Validity

Answer 10

Degree to which test measures what it’s supposed to measure

Question 11

Tests for validity

Answer 11

Content validation: Systematic examination of test content

Face validity: Test whether test “looks” valid to untrained observers

Concurrent validation: Used for diagnosis of an existing state (eg: is x a good therapist)

Predictive validation: Used to predict an individual’s performance in certain activities (eg: would x make a good therapist)

Question 12

Self-Directed Search

Answer 12

Career interest test that asks questions about your aspirations, activities, skills, and interests in different jobs

Categories: Realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising, conventional

Question 13

Norms

Answer 13

Average performance on a test made by a standardized sample

Question 14

Sources of error in testing

Answer 14

• Respondent: Honesty, fatigue, boredom
• Situational factors: Anything that can place a strain on the interview
• Measurer: Distortion of data
• Instrument: Defective measuring instrument

Question 15

Ability tests

Answer 15

Aptitude tests: What one can accomplish through training

Achievement tests: What one can do now adequacy of learning & knowledge

Question 16

Ratio and deviation IQ

Answer 16

Ratio - (mental age/chronological age) x 100

Deviation - how well they performed relative to others of the same age

Question 17

MMPI

Answer 17

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory

Contains 550 statements with responses of ‘true’, ‘false’ or ‘cannot say’.

Gives results for depressions, schizo, masculinity/femininity

Question 18

TAT

Answer 18

Devised by Morgan & Murray

Projective test, qualitative results

Contains 20 simple pictures with ambiguous meaning; test-taker to give story surrounding image

Question 19

Barnum effect

Answer 19

Tendency of people to accept and approve interpretation of personality given to them; form of pseudo-validation