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Psychometrics Flashcards

1
Q

what is psychometrics?

A
  • psychological measurement

- the measurement of mental capacity, thought processes, aspects of personality.

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2
Q

what is measurement?

A

the assignment of numbers to objects and events according to some rules

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3
Q

What is a test?

A

measurement devices or techniques used to quantify behaviour

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4
Q

Psychometric aim

A

to operationally define and quantify the things it measures

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5
Q

overt behaviour

A
  • observable

- eg. time needed to put 10 pegs in a board

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6
Q

covert behaviour

A
  • mental, social or physical action or practice that is not immediately observable
  • eg anxiety
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7
Q

define psychological test

A

a test designed to provide a quantitative analysis of a person’s mental capacities or personality traits, typically shown by responses to a standard series of questions or statements

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8
Q

define test items

A

a specific stimulus to which a person responds overtly

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9
Q

Individual tests

A
  • administered to one person at a time
  • useful for collecting comprehensive info
  • eg personality, iq tests
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10
Q

negatives of individual tests

A
  • some degree of subjectivity in the scoring

- time, cost and labour intensive

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11
Q

group tests

A
  • designed to be administered to more that one person at a time
  • eg. university class tests (mcq)
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12
Q

positives of group tests

A
  • scoring is more objective

- economical and time-saving

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13
Q

WAIS

A
  • The Weschsler Adult Intelligence Scale

- individual test

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14
Q

Rorschach test

A
  • ink blot test

- individual test

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15
Q

Ability tests

A
  • measure skills in terms of speed, accuracy or both
    1. achievement
    2. aptitude
    3. intelligence
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16
Q

Achievement tests

A
  • refers to a person’s past/previous learning

- designed to measure acomplishment of a task

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17
Q

Aptitude Tests

A
  • individual’s potential to learn a specified task under training
  • potential for learning a new skill
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18
Q

Intelligence test

A
  • refers to a person’s general potential to solve problems, adapt to changing circumstances, think abstractly
  • measures general mental abilities
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19
Q

Raven’s Progressive Matrices

A

-intelligence test

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20
Q

Structured Personality tests

A
  • self-report statements
  • chose between alternative responses
  • eg. true/false
21
Q

Projective Personality Tests

A
  • unstructured, spontaneous response
  • provides and ambiguous stimulus
  • eg Rorschach
22
Q

TAT

A

Thematic Apperception Test

-provides ambiguous pics and you have to make up a story

23
Q

Norm-Referenced Tests

A

test score is judged against the distribution of scores obtained by other test takers

24
Q

Criterion-Referenced Tests

A

compare each individual’s performance to a criterion or expected level of performance
-eg. you need 50% to pass your exam

25
Contributions of the Han Dynasty to modern testing
- names of candidates had to be concealed - independent assessments - conditions of examinations should be standardised
26
Wilhelm Wundt
1879 - 'brass instruments' era of testing - 'thought meter' - overly simplistic but demonstrated empirical analysis that sought to explain individual differences
27
Galton
- father of modern psychometrics - believed everything was measurable - was more interested in problems of human evolution than pscyhology
28
Galton's contributions
- attempted to measure intellect by things such as visual, auditory and weight discrimination (mostly failed) - came up with Pearson Product correlation for analyzing data from these experiments - used the normal curve to plot test scores - came up with twin studies to study hereditary factors
29
James Cattel
- invented the term 'mental test' - examined relationships between academic grades, psycho-sensory tests and the size of the brain - proposed 10 mental tests - took brass instrument method to USA
30
Alfred Binet
- first to develop intelligence test | - wanted to separate children with intellectual disabilities from normal children in schools
31
Binet's test
1. did not measure any single faculty 2. aim was classification, not measurement 3. brief and practical 4. measured practical judgement 5. items were ordered by level of difficulty
32
Stanford-Binet scale
- developed by Lewis Terman - adapted Binet test for American schools and adults - relied on language/vocab skills - included IQ
33
Lewis Terman
- coined term IQ | - developed Stanford-Binet scale
34
Eugenics
the science of using controlled, selective breeding to improve hereditary qualities of the human race and create superior individuals.
35
Positive Eugenics
encouraging reproduction of the genetically 'fit'
36
Negative Eugenics
aims to prevent those deemed physically, mentally or morally unfit to procreate
37
Fitter Family Contests
- positive eugenics - judged on physical, mental and moral traits - given a score - encouraged to procreate
38
example of negative eugenics
-forced sterilizations
39
Robert Yerkes
- rise of the group tests - used to evaluate soldiers - ease of admin and scoring
40
Army Alpha test
- for English literates - Oral directions, arithmetic, practical judgement, analogies, disarranged sentences, number series, information - WW1
41
Army Beta test
- for non-English and non-literates - Memory, matching, picture completion, geometric construction - WW1
42
WW2 tests used
- personality tests for screening recruits | - first pen and paper, then projective
43
Jensen and Eysenck (1960s)
- Used Binet IQ test to show that black American children had a lower average IQ than white children - This difference was due to genetics
44
Herrnstein and Murray (1994)
Argue that poor black communities in the US are a ‘cognitive underclass’ formed by the interbreeding of people with low IQ
45
Critique of mental testing
- Testing came under attack by advocates for underprivileged - Required knowledge and cultural values rather than innate intelligence – biased towards White middle class - Tests are culturally biased - Correlation doesn’t imply causation
46
response to critique of mental testing
- added non-verbal tests | - separate scores for performance IQ and Verbal IQ
47
use of psychometrics in SA
- Fick (1929) applied tests developed for and standardized on whites only to white & black children - Use of tests gained momentum after WW II and 1948 when NP came to power - Measures standardized for white people only - Measures of intellectual ability used to draw distinction between races
48
current SA challenge for psychometrics
- A drive in SA and internationally to find tasks that are not biased towards race, culture, gender, language, etc. - Or to adapt existing tests to be race, culture, gender, language appropriate

Research Psychology (6 decks)

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