Psychological Testing

Question 1

name 4 methods to determine reliability of a test

Answer 1

• test-retest method: correlation between performance of subjects on the same form of the test at different times
• alternate forms method: correlation between performance of subjects on two equivalent forms of the test
• internal consistency method: several different methods involving establishing the correlation between diff. parts of the exam
• inter-scorer (or inter-rater) method: establishes the correlation (agreement) between scores obtained by different clinicians when scoring the test
  
  • generally not an issue with objective tests, but an issue with subjective tests (Rorscharch) and TAT

Question 2

describe the 2 types of validity

Answer 2

• content validity: are the test items representative of the domain sampled?
  
  • commonly used to validate teacher-made tests
• criterion-referenced validity: how well do test results correlate with a direct and independent measure (criterion) of what the test is desinged to measure?

Question 3

describe the 2 types of criterion-referenced validity

Answer 3

• predictive validity: (correlation between test score and score on criterion test in the future)
  
  • test: MCAT
  • criterion: final med school GPA
• concurrent validity: (correlation between test score and score on criterion test now)
  
  • test: HAM-D
  • criterion: current clinician’s ratings of depression

Question 4

list the most common IQ tests in the US

Answer 4

• WAIS-IV
• WISC-V
• Stanford-Binet scale

Question 5

describe aptitude tests

Answer 5

• measure specific abilities relevant to performance in academic or vocational settings
  
  • SAT
  • GRE
  • MCAT
  • US civil service exams

Question 6

describe acheivement tests

Answer 6

• assess how much a person has learned in a specific educational domain
  
  • in the US, tests given in primary school such as the Iowa and Stanford achievement tests

Question 7

describe neuropsychological batteries

Answer 7

• assess behavioral, cognitive and personality deficits following head trauma or neurological disease
• based on these behavioral deficits, inferences are made regarding localization of damage to brain

Question 8

describe intelligence and intelligence testing

Answer 8

• intelligence is considered to be an individual’s innate capacity for learning
  
  • mostly inherited
  • highly correlated with educational achievement
• tests are culturally-specific and may be subject to cultural bias, asking about objects, words and practices common in one culture but not in others

Question 9

describe IQ (intellience quotient)

Answer 9

• IQ is a standard score
  
  • mean: 100
  • standard deviation (SD): 15
• tends to be stable throughout adulthood, but fluctuates in teens
• IQ in mental disorders:
  
  • IQ varies across all ranges across disorders
  • symptoms may interfere with IQ assessment
  • IQ not related to suicide risk

Question 10

describe IQ distribution

Answer 10

Question 11

describe how IQ changes with age

Answer 11

• very little decline in elderly
• verbal ability holds up best
• perceptual and motor abilities show some decline
• increased exposure to verbal behavior early in life leads to higher IQ

Question 12

describe the WISC-V test

Answer 12

• the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children: intelligence test for children ages 6-16
• the WISC-V yields measures of general intelligence along with specific indicies including verbal comprehension, visual spatial, fluid reasoning, working memory, processing speed

Question 13

describe personality tests and the 2 types

Answer 13

• assess those relativfely enduring and stable beliefs, values, attitudes and traits that characterize behavior across situations and over time
• 2 types:
  
  • objective: objective question format, norms and stadardization (MMPI-2)
  • projective: subjective format and scoring (Rorschach)

Question 14

describe the MMPI-2 test

Answer 14

• most commonly used personality test in field of mental health
• objective format and scoring
  
  • 567 T/F questions yield scores on 10 personality dimensions
• computer-scoring yields a narrative report of the patient’s important personality features

Question 15

describe the usage of MMPI-2

Answer 15

• commonly used in inpatient psychiatric evaluations for differential diagnosis and in expert witness forensic cases
• in medical cases involving physical symptoms with no apparent organic basis, the MMPI-2 assists in identification of patients who:
  
  • are preoccupied with their health
  • tend to exaggerate and complain about physical symptoms
  • tend to convert psychological conflict into physical symptoms

Question 16

the MMPI was developed through the method of _____

Answer 16

the MMPI was developed through the method of empirical criterion keying

Question 17

describe the HAM-D scale

Answer 17

• the clinician rates symptoms and severity
• one of the most widely used depression scales
• good reliability and validity–becoming gold standard as outcome variable in psycho-pharmacological clinical trials

Question 18

describe the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II)

Answer 18

• assesses symptoms of depression such as:
  
  • cognition - guilt, feelings of being punished
  • physical symptoms - fatigue, weight loss, lack of interest in sex
• 21 items, self-administered
• scored by summing the value (0-3) of the statement selected for each question item

Question 19

describe what the BDI-II is based on

Answer 19

• the BDI-II is based on Beck’s view of depression as a “negative triad” involving negative views of self, world and future
  
  • negative schema developed early in life
  • results in the world being viewed as negative and hopeless
  • theory assumes such negative cognitions to be the cause of depression, not the result

Question 20

describe when screening for depression in primary health care settings is recommended

Answer 20

• screening within at-risk populations such as pregnant and postpartum women allows for earlier and more effective intervention (e.g. CBT, ADs)
• the BDI and Patient Health Questionnaires (PHQ-2 and PHQ-9) are commonly used

Question 21

describe type A behavior pattern

Answer 21

• a cluster of personality traits associated with increased prevalence of coronary heart disease
• such traits include a strong sense of time urgency, and being impatient, highly competitive and easily angered

Question 22

describe why projective personality tests are not as good

Answer 22

• ambiguous test stimuli
• subjective scoring
• lower reliability
• validity: difficult to demonstrate due to subjectivity and psychodynamic concepts

Question 23

describe the projective hypothesis

Answer 23

• when confronted with an ambiguous stimulus and asked to make sense of it, a person’s response will reflect unconscious dynamics and conflicts
• that is, stimuli from the environment (including test stimuli) are interpreted according to the patient’s needs, motives and unconscious conflicts

Question 24

describe the thematic apperception test (TAT)

Answer 24

• features ambiguous scenes of human interaction
  
  • patient is asked to provide a narrative story of what’s going on in the scene on the card
  • scoring is subjective and involves looking for common themes that run through patient’s stories
• characteristic ways of addressing conflict, authority, sexuality, etc, lead to hypotheses about underlying motives, concerns, and how patient views social world

Question 25

summarize psychological testing

• measure of reliability and validity
• types of psychological tests

Answer 25