1. What Are Psychological Tests?
Chapter 1

2. 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

3. 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

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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

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

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