Psychological Testing and Assessment INTRO.docx

Psychological Testing Testing and Assess ment Notes Test Test - a measurement device or technique used to quantify behaviour or aid in the understanding and prediction of behaviour. behaviour. Remember that a test measures only a sample of behaviour, and they are not perfect measures of a behaviour or characteristic, but will probably help in the prediction process. •

Item Item – a specic specic stimulus stimulus to which a person person responds responds overtly. This response response can be scored scored (objective (objective tests or evaluated evaluated (projective (projective techniques. The specic questions or problems that ma!e up a test.  The data produced in psychological and educational tests are e"plicit and subjected to scientic inquiry. inquiry.

Note Note## there there is, however, a clean cut distinction distinction between between ability ability tests and personali personality ty tests. tests. A%ilit A%ility y Tests ests are related to capacity capacity or potential, potential, while Personality Tests are related to overt and covert dispositions of an individual, li!e the tendency of a person to respond to a given situation. ersonality tests measure typical behaviour.  The types of Personality Tests are& Struc Structur tured ed Pers Persona onali lity ty Tests ests – 'o%(e 'o%(ect ctive ive tests tests)) provid provide e a statement, statement, usually of the self-report self-report variety, li!e the )True )True or /alse0 alse0 types. Pro(ec Pro(ective tive Personal Personality ity Tests ests – unstructur unstructured. ed. The stimulus stimulus (test material or the required response are ambiguous. "amples are the *orscha *orschach ch and Themati Thematic c A""erc A""erce"ti e"tion on Test&  This type of test assumes that a person's interpretation of an ambiguous stimuli might somehow re1ect his or her unique characteristics, or their underlying feelings or thoughts.

Psychologica Psychologicall Test Test – (educatio (educational nal test set of items that are designed designed to measure characteristics of human beings that pertain to behaviour. #easures past or current behaviour. $ome also attempt to predict future behaviour. behaviour.  Types  Types of %ehaviour& • •

Overt Behaviour – an individual's observable activity. activity. Covert Behaviour –  –  ta!es place within the individual and cannot be directly observed. "amples are feelings and thoughts.

Scales Scales-- used by psychologists psychologists to relate raw scores scores on test items to some dened theoretical or empirical distribution. Traits – enduring characteristics or tendencies to respond in a certain manner. "amples are )determination' and )shyness'. Test Scores – may be related to the state, specic condition or status of an individual.

Psychologic Psychological al Testing Testing - refers refers to all the possible possible uses, applications, applications, and underlying concepts of psychological and educational tests. The main use of  these tests, though, is to evaluate individual di2erences or variations among individuals. $uch tests measures individual di2erences in ability and personality, to show actual actual di2er di2erenc ences es among among indivi individua duals. ls. 3ts most most import important ant purpos purpose e is to di2erentiate among test ta!ers.  Two  Two of the most fundamental fundamental concepts in testing& o

 Tests  Tests measures many many types of behaviour. behaviour. o

TYPES O TESTS Test Administrator – person assigned to give the test. *ives the test to only one person at a time, depending on the type of test. •

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Individual Individual Tests Tests – those that can be given to only one person at a time. !rou" Test – can be administered to more than one person at a time by a single e"aminer.

Note& Note& +ne can categorie tests according to the type of behaviour that they measure. o o o

Achievement – refers to previous learning. A"titude – potential for learning or acquiring a specic s!ill. Intelligence – refers to a person's general potential to solve problems, adapt adapt to changing changing circumstances circumstances,, thin! abstractly, abstractly, and prot from e"perience.

Note# Note# distinctions among these three are not so clear because all three are highly interrelated. ll three are encompassed by the term $uman A%ility&

*elia%ilit *elia%ility y – accuracy, dependability, consistency, or repeatability of  test results. results. 4egree 4egree to which test scores are free of measureme measurement nt errors. 5onsistency of test scores over time. +alidi +alidity ty – meaning and usefulness of test results. 4egree to which a certain inference or interpretation is appropriate. #easure what it is supposed to measure.

Intervi Intervie, e, – a method method of gathering gathering informatio information n through through verbal verbal interactio interaction. n.  Traditionally  Traditionally served as a major technique of gathering psychological informatio information. n. 4ata from interviews interviews provide provide an important important complement complement to test results. $ISTO*ICA ANTECE.ENTS vidence suggests that the 5hinese had a relatively sophisticated civil service testing program more than 6777 years ago. very third year, oral e"aminations were given to help determine wor! evaluations and promotion decisions. 8se of  Test Batteries 'two 'two or more tests used in conjunction was quite common.  The nglish copied the 5hinese $ystem as a method of selecting employees for overseas duty. 3n 9::; 9::;,, the the 8$ *ove *overn rnme ment nt esta establ blis ishe hed d the the American American Civil Service Commission/ which developed and administered competitive e"aminations for certain government jobs.

0EAS1*IN! IN.I+I.1A .IE*ENCES $tarted $tarted with 5harles 5harles 4arwin's publication publication of his highly in1uential in1uential boo!, The Origin Origin o2 S"ecies S"ecies in 3456 3456&& ccording ccording to his theory, theory, higher higher forms of life evolved partially because of di2erences among individual forms of life within a species. Those with the best adaptive characteristics survive at the e"pense of  those who are less t and that the survivor's characteristics are passed on to the ne"t generation. Sir rancis !alton applied 4arwin's theories to the study of human beings. 3n his boo!, boo!, $ereditary $ereditary !enius '3476)/ he set out to show that some people possessed characteristics that made them more t than the others.