What Are Psychological Tests? Chapter 1

Learning Objectives After completing study of Chapter 1, you should be able to Define what a psychological test is and understand that psychological tests extend beyond personality and intelligence tests Trace the history of psychological testing from Alfred Binet and intelligence testing to the tests of today Describe the ways in which psychological tests can be similar to and different from one another Describe the three characteristics that are common to all psychological tests and understand that psychological tests can demonstrate these characteristics to various degrees Describe the assumptions that must be made when using psychological tests Describe the different ways that psychological tests can be classified Describe the differences among four commonly used terms that students often confuse: psychological assessment, psychological tests, psychological measurement, and surveys Identify and locate print and online resources that are available for obtaining information about psychological tests Miller, Foundations of Psychological Testing 5e, © 2015 SAGE Publications

What are Psychological Tests? All require a person to perform a behavior (an observable and measurable action) Behavior used to make inferences about some psychological construct (an underlying, unobservable personal attribute, trait, or characteristic of an individual that is thought to be important in describing or understanding human behavior) Similarities among Psychological Tests Miller, Foundations of Psychological Testing 5e, © 2015 SAGE Publications

What are Psychological Tests? Miller, Foundations of Psychological Testing 5e, © 2015 SAGE Publications

What are Psychological Tests? Behavior performed Construct measured and outcome predicted Content Administration and format Scoring and interpretation Psychometric quality Differences among Psychological Tests Miller, Foundations of Psychological Testing 5e, © 2015 SAGE Publications

The History of Testing Late 19th Century: Intelligence Tests Alfred Binet and the Binet-Simon Scale Lewis Terman and the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales David Weschler and the Weschler-Bellevue Intelligence Scale and the Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale Late 19th Century: Intelligence Tests Robert Woodworth and the Personal Data Sheet Carl Jung and the Rorschach Inkblot Test Henry Murray and C. D. Morgan and the Thematic Apperception Test Early 1900s: Personality Tests U.S. Employment Service and the General Aptitude Test Battery Early/mid-1900s: Vocational Tests Miller, Foundations of Psychological Testing 5e, © 2015 SAGE Publications

The History of Testing Testing Today Testing is a part of the American culture Multibillion dollar business Thousands of commercially available and unpublished tests Hundreds of test publishing companies Significant spending on tests $1.7+ billion per year spent by schools nationwide 91% of employers use or will use tests Miller, Foundations of Psychological Testing 5e, © 2015 SAGE Publications

The Defining Characteristics of Psychological Tests Representative sample behaviors thought to measure an attribute or predict an outcome 1 Include behavior samples obtained under standardized conditions 2 Have results for scoring 3 Miller, Foundations of Psychological Testing 5e, © 2015 SAGE Publications

Assumptions of Psychological Tests Psychological tests measure what they purport to measure or predict what they are intended to predict 1 An individual’s behavior, and therefore test scores, will typically remain stable over time 2 Individuals understand test items the same way 3 Individuals will report accurately about themselves 4 Individuals will report honestly about their thoughts and feelings 5 The test score an individual receives is equal to his or her true score plus some error 6 Miller, Foundations of Psychological Testing 5e, © 2015 SAGE Publications

Test Classification Methods Maximal performance 1 Behavior observation 2 Self-report 3 Objective 1 Projective 2 Standardized 1 Nonstandardized 2 Dimensions Measured This is another option for an overview slide. Achievement tests Aptitude tests Intelligence tests Interest inventories Personality tests Subject tests Miller, Foundations of Psychological Testing 5e, © 2015 SAGE Publications

Psychological Assessments Psychological Measurements Psychological Assessment, Psychological Tests, Measurements, and Surveys Psychological Assessments Psychological Tests Evaluative methods for collecting important information about people Broader; involves multiple methods for gathering information One tool in the assessment process Psychological Tests Psychological Measurements Often the terms used interchangeably Tools or techniques for making inferences about human attributes, traits, or characteristics, or predicting future outcomes Tools or techniques for assessing the size, amount, or degree of an attribute using specific rules for transforming the attribute into numbers Psychological Tests Surveys Focus on individual outcomes Focus on group outcomes Results reported as overall derived score or scaled scores Results reported at the question level Miller, Foundations of Psychological Testing 5e, © 2015 SAGE Publications

Locating Information about Tests Miller, Foundations of Psychological Testing 5e, © 2015 SAGE Publications

Locating Information about Tests Valuable Websites Miller, Foundations of Psychological Testing 5e, © 2015 SAGE Publications