1. Psychological Testing and Assessment
Chapter 1
Psychological Testing and Assessment

2. Twelve Assumptions in Psychological Testing and Assessment
Assumption 1: Psychological traits and states exist
Observed (manifest) vs. latent
Can you study something invisible?
Logical positivism, Behaviorism
Assumption 2: Psychological traits and states can be quantified and measured
Can you really assign a numeric value to everything?
Rasch: objective measurement
Assumption 3: Various approaches to measuring aspects of the same thing can be useful (Methodology Triangulation)

3. Twelve Assumptions in Psychological Testing and Assessment
Assumption 4: Assessment can provide answers to some of life’s most momentous questions
Tracking (in the UK system)
screening and placement
Assumption 5: Assessment can pinpoint phenomena that require further attention or study
National (?) assessment: No Child Left behind (The objective of assessment is…)
International assessment: PISA, TIMSS

4. What is PISA? Not these
PISA: Program for International Student Assessment is a series of assessments on reading literacy, mathematics literacy, and science literacy, sponsored by Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and administered internationally to 15-year-olds
TIMSS: The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is administered every four years internationally to both fourth and eighth grade students.

5. Source: OECD/PISA and Wikipedia

6. Source: TIMSS and Wikipedia

7. Obama's "Sputnik Moment"
In 1957 the USSR launched the first artificial Earth satellite, Sputnik. In order to fill the technological gap, the US government awarded financial support to promote math and science education.
In response to the performance gap between the US students and Asian/European students, President Obama introduced the phrase "Sputnik moment" to argue for more investment in science, technology, engineering, and technology (STEM) education.

8. Twelve Assumptions in Psychological Testing and Assessment (Cont’d)
Assumption 6: Various sources of data enrich and are part of the assessment process (Data triangulation)
Assumption 7: Various sources of error are part of the assessment process

9. Error is everywhere! Sources of error Types of error Measurement error
Sampling error
Types of error
Bias: Systematic e.g. self-report height and weight
Variance: Random

10. Twelve Assumptions in Psychological Testing and Assessment (Cont’d)
Assumption 8: Tests and other measurement techniques have strengths and weaknesses
Classical test theory
Item response theory
Rasch model

11. Twelve Assumptions
Assumption 9: Test-related behavior predicts non–test-related behavior
Assumption 10: Present-day behavior sampling predicts future behavior
Academically adrift: Limited learning on college campuses -- After 4 years, 36% college graduates showed no gains in higher order thinking skills. US corporations complain that college graduates don’t have the critical thinking skill required by the jobs.
Corporations launch their own assessment programs e.g. MCSE, CCNA.

12. Examples of industry certification/assessment program

13. Twelve Assumptions in Psychological Testing and Assessment (Cont’d)
Assumption 11: Testing and assessment can be conducted in a fair and unbiased manner
Assumption 12: Testing and assessment benefit society

14. Who, What and Why? Who Are the Parties? The test developer
The test user
The test taker
Society at large

15. The test developer
Subject matter expert/content expert: item authoring
Psychometrician: item analysis, factor analysis
Database programmer/IT personnel: item banking
Program manager: put all together

19. Evaluating the Quality of Tests
What is a “Good” Test?
Reliability
Validity
Other settings
Reference Sources for Test Information
Test catalogues
Test manuals
Journal articles
Online and CD-Rom databases
Other sources

25. Exercise (2 points)
Form a group consisting of 3-4 people. One or two must have a Web-enabled laptop.
Access the APU library
Look for Mental Measurements Yearbook (the electronic version)
Search for instruments that measure psychological constructs (e.g. anxiety, depression, happiness…etc)
Read the comments at the end
Discuss which one is the best.