Ch. 15 S. 1 What Are Psychological Tests? Obj: List the purposes and characteristics of psychological tests.

What Are Psychological Tests? Psychological tests assess abilities, feelings, attitudes, and behaviors. The responses a person gives on test items help psychologists predict a person’s future behavior.

Uses of Psychological Tests Psychological tests can be used to help people make important decisions. Tests can help indicate whether a person is suited for a certain line of work, for a particular class in school, or for medication to reduce agitation.

Intelligence tests are often used to indicate whether children are likely to profit from special kinds of educational experiences.

Features of Psychological Tests For a psychological test to be useful and reasonably accurate, it has to have certain features, or characteristics. A standardized test is one that is administered and scored the same way every time.

Reliability - An individual’s score on a test should be the same or very nearly the same every time the individual takes that test.

Validity – refers to the extent to which a test measures what it is intended to measure and predicts what it is intended to predict. To avoid distortion, some psychological tests have validity scales built into them. Validity scales involve questions that let the psychologist know that the test taker is not answering the tests questions honestly.

Psychological tests are usually scored by comparing an individual’s score to the norm. Norms are established standards of performance. They are designed to tell test administrators which scores are average, high, or low.