Psychological Testing Concepts and Functions

What is testing? Why do we have so many tests? What are the pros and cons to testing? How can we use testing to improve . . .? What types of tests do we take?

Psychological Testing A psychological test is a standardized measure of a sample of a person’s behavior that is used to measure the individual differences that exist among people.

Types of Psychological Testing There are two types of Psychological tests. Mental Ability tests Personality tests

Why use tests? Psychological tests are used in research, however, most serve a practical purpose.

Mental Ability Tests Includes three subcategories. Intelligence tests Aptitude tests Achievement tests

Intelligence tests Measure general mental abilities. They are intended to measure intellectual potential.

Examples Emily is four years old. Her big sister Amy is three times as old as Emily. How old will Amy be when she is twice as old as Emily? WOLF is to FLOW as 8526 is to: 2856 - 6258 - 5862 - 5682 - 6852

Examples Hanger is to closet as tree is to: Branch - Bushes - Forest - Ground - Nest What would be the next number in this series? 15 ... 12 ... 13 ... 10 ... 11 ... 8 ... ?

Aptitude tests Assess talent for specific kinds of learning. (clerical speed, mechanical reasoning, etc.)

Examples Are You a Self-Starter? Climbing the ladder would bring a load of responsibility and pressure that I wouldn't want to carry. If my boss or supervisor told me I were being promoted, the fact that they had so much confidence in my abilities would:

Achievement tests Gauge a person’s mastery and knowledge of various subjects

Examples Who was the 43rd President of the United States? What is 5x6 divided by 2? How many branches of Government exist in the U.S.?

Personality Tests Measure aspects of personality, including motives, interests, values, and attitudes.

Examples Do you become upset when. . ? Do you feel like you lose control when. .? Are you happy when . . ?

Test Design In order for a test to be accurate, it must meet the three standards below. Standardization Validity Reliability

Standardization Standardization refers to the uniform procedures used in administrating and scoring a test. Test norms: information used to rank scores in relation to other scores on the test. Can you think of examples

Validity Examples What psychologist promoted introspection? Who developed the four mechanisms for dreaming? What school of psychology does Skinner belong to? Refers to the ability of a test to measure what it was designed to measure.

Reliability Reliability refers to the measurement consistency of a test (or other techniques). Example You take a personality test and are scored as “assertive”. Three weeks later you take the same test and are scored as “passive”. A drastic change is probably a result of an unreliable test.

Testing Reliability Test-retest Comparing subjects’ scores on two administrations of a test. Correlation Coefficient A numerical index of the degree of relationship (-1, +1)

Visual example

Visual example

Think! Why do we have so many tests? How can we use testing to improve . . .? How does psychological testing apply to school, careers, sports, etc?