TOPIC AREA TIME ALLOTMENT

INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING AND ASSESSMENT 1, 3 3 hours

 Definitions and Nature
 Uses of Psychological Tests and Assessment
 Characteristics of a Good Test
 Measuring Psychological Characteristics
 Pros and Cons of Psychological Testing
 Historical Perspective
CULTURAL, LEGAL AND ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS 3, 6 1 hour
 Concerns of the Public and the Profession
 Rights of Test takers
 Regulations governing the use of tests
 Code of Ethics
ASSUMPTIONS AND THEORIES 1, 2, 3 1 hour
 Assumptions of Psychological Testing and Assessment
 Classical Test Theory
 Modern Test Theory
NORMS 1, 2, 4 2 hours
 Scales of Measurement 1, 2, 4
 Standardization, Sampling and Norming 1, 2
 Types of Norms 1, 2
RELIABILITY 1, 2, 4, 5 2 hours
 Logic behind Reliability Analysis
 Types of Reliability Analyses
 Applying Reliability Information
 Standards for Reliability
 TOPIC AREA TIME ALLOTMENT
VALIDITY 1, 2, 4, 5 2 hours
 Logic behind Validity Analysis
 Types of Validity Analyses
TEST DEVELOPMENT 2 3 hours
 Testing and Scales of Measurement
 Issues in Test Design
 Identifying constructs
 Test Construction
 Designing and Writing Test Items
 Scale Development
 Item Analysis
TEST ADMINISTRATION 5 4 hours
 Intelligence, Aptitude, Achievement
 Personality
 Career/Industrial
THE USE OF SCORES 1, 4, 5 2 hours
 Describing a set of scores
 Relationship between scores in a distribution
 Making predictions and inferences
 Transforming raw scores
TESTING IN VARIOUS CONTEXTS 5 4 hours
 Testing in Educational and School Context
 Testing in Clinical and Hospital Context
 Testing in Business and Industry
 Testing in Community Context
STATISTICS 2 4 hours
 TOPIC AREA TIME ALLOTMENT
 INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING
1, 3 3 hours
AND ASSESSMENT
 CULTURAL, LEGAL AND ETHICAL
3, 6 1 hours
CONSIDERATIONS
 ASSUMPTIONS AND THEORIES 1, 2, 3 1 hours
 NORMS 1, 2, 4 2 hours
 RELIABILITY 1, 2, 4, 5 2 hours
 VALIDITY 1, 2, 4, 5 2 hours
 TEST DEVELOPMENT 2 3 hours
 TEST ADMINISTRATION 5 4 hours
 THE USE OF SCORES 1, 4, 5 2 hours
 TESTING IN VARIOUS CONTEXTS 5 4 hours
 STATISTICS 2 4 hours
Total: 24 + 4
• Psychological Testing and Assessment (Cohen & Swerdlik)
• Psychological Assessment (Kaplan and Saccuzzo)
• Psychological Testing (Kline)
• Psychological Testing (Friedenberg)
• Psychological Testing (Domino and Domino)
• Psychological Testing (Anastasi and Urbina)
 Why is there a need for
measurement in Psychology?
• Assessment: procedure to gather information
about people

• Test: type of assessment that uses specific

procedures to obtain information and convert
that information to number or scores.
– Use of specific or systematic procedures
– Scoring of responses
– Sample of behavior
• Selecting a set of items or tests questions
• Specifying conditions under which the test is
administered
• Developing a system of scoring and
interpreting responses
 Objective Scoring Subjective Scoring

• Responses are • Answers are

converted to evaluated relative
numbers by to a set of scoring
comparing them procedures
to a list of
possible answers.
• Finite number of questions;
sample of characteristics
• TESTING
– term used to refer to the process that covers the
administration of a test to the interpretation of a
test score.

• PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING
– The process of measuring psychology-related
variables through the use of devices or procedures
designed to obtain a sample of behavior.
• PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT
– The collection and integration of psychology-
related data for the use in a psychological
evaluation that is accomplished through the use
of tools such as tests, interviews, case studies,
behavioral observations, and specially designed
apparatuses and measurement procedure.
Cohen & Swerdlik, 2009
 Referral for Assessment
Teacher, Judge, Clinician, Parent, HR, GC, Social Worker Referral Question

Preparation of the Assessor

Meeting with the assessee or others Selecting appropriate tools

Formal Assessment
Interview
Testing Case History Others
•Patient and Sources

Assessment Report
Psychological Report Writing
Collaborative Psychological Assessment
• Therapeutic Psychological Assessment

Dynamic Assessment
• Assessor and assessee works as partners from
initial contact to final feedback
• May include therapy as part of the process
– Therapeutic Psychological Assessment
• therapeutic self-discovery and new understandings are
encouraged throughout the assessment process
• an interactive approach to psychological
assessment that usually follows a model of
– evaluation
– intervention of some sort
– evaluation
• Used in:
– Educational
– Correctional
– Corporate
– Neuropsychological
– Clinical
 THE THE
THE TEST
INTERVIEW PORTFOLIO

CASE HISTORY BEHAVIORAL ROLE PLAY

DATA OBSERVATION TESTS

USE OF
COMPUTERS
• Test – measuring device or procedure
• Modifiers:
– Medical Tests vs. Psychological Tests

PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS

• Device or procedure designed to

measure psychological variable
 MEDICAL TEST PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS

• Samples of Blood • Samples of Behavior

• Samples of Tissue • Oral, Written,
• Samples of Fluids Performance
• Elicited by a test
stimulus or
naturally occurring
PSYCHOLOGICAL TEST: DIFFERENCES

CONTENT

FORMAT

ADMINISTRATION PROCEDURES

SCORING AND INTERPRETATION PROCEDURES

TECHNICAL QUALITY
PSYCHOLOGICAL TEST: DIFFERENCES

• CONTENT
– Subject matter
– “focus”
– The case of the same purpose but differing in
content
• i.e. Personality tests
• Different theoretical orientation
• Different operant definitions
NEO-FFI
• FORMAT
– form, plan, structure, arrangement, and layout of
test items
– Time limit
– Form on which the test is administered
• Pencil-and-paper, computerized
– Procedures in obtaining samples of behavior
PSYCHOLOGICAL TEST: DIFFERENCES

• ADMINISTRATION PROCEDURES
– Individual
• Skills
• Tasks
• Knowledge
i.e. TONI-3
– Group Administration
PSYCHOLOGICAL TEST: DIFFERENCES

• SCORING AND INTERPRETATION PROCEDURES

– Score
• Code or summary statement
• Reflects the evaluation
– Scoring
• process of assigning such evaluative codes or
statements to performance on tests, tasks, interviews,
or other behavior samples
PSYCHOLOGICAL TEST: DIFFERENCES

• SCORING AND INTERPRETATION PROCEDURES

– Types of Scores
• Based from summing up or use of elaborate procedures

CUT SCORE
• Cut-off
• reference point, usually numerical, derived by
judgment and used to divide a set of data into
two or more classifications
• TECHNICAL QUALITY
– Psychometric Soundness
• Psychometrics = science of psychological measurement
• Validity
• Reliability
• Utility
• Interview : “face-to-face talk”
• In Psychology
– More than talking
– “what is said and how it is said”
– VERBAL AND NON VERBAL BEHAVIOR
 – Body Language
• Eye movement/contact
• Facial expression
• Gestures
• Dress/Attire, Hygiene

• Telephone Interview
• Panel Interview
INTERVIEW

•Method of gathering
information through direct
communication involving
reciprocal exchange.
• Files containing one’s works
• Can be in film, canvas, paper, etc.
• Sample of one’s ability
• Refers to records, transcripts, and other accounts
in written, pictorial, or other form that preserve
archival information, official and informal
accounts, and other data and items relevant to an
assessee

• Files or excerpt from files stored in institutions

• Letters, correspondences, news clippings, work

samples, doodles, diary
• Monitoring the actions of others or oneself by
visual or electronic means while recording
quantitative and/or qualitative information
regarding the actions

• Used as a diagnostic aid, for selection

purposes
 NATURALISTIC OBSERVATION

• Observing the behavior as it occurs

in the natural setting, as contrast to
controlled environment such as a
laboratory or clinic
• Observe it as it happens/occurs
• acting an improvised or partially improvised
part in a simulated situation

• a tool of assessment wherein assessees are

directed to act as if they were in a particular
situation
 Biofeedback

Fable Use of Social

Assessment Media

Reenactments

Videos
TEST DEVELOPER

•Test Publishers
•Create and Distribute
Instruments
TEST USER

• Professionals (i.e. clinicians,

counselors, experimental
psychologists, HR)
• Qualification
 Level A

No Special Qualifications

Level S

Degree in the Health care Professions Training in the Use of Tests

Level B
4-year degree in Counseling, Completion of coursework in Or license/certification (use of
Psychology psychological testing tests)

Level C
Level B Qualifications Advanced professional degree
TEST TAKER

•anyone who is the subject of an

assessment or an evaluation
•Psychological autopsy
•Test takers differ in a continuum
Test anxiety : significance and reliability of results

Extent to which they understand and agree with the rationale for the
assessment

•
Capacity and willingness to cooperate with the examiner or to
comprehend written test instructions

Amount of physical pain or emotional distress they are experiencing

Amount of physical discomfort brought on by not having had enough

to eat, having had too much to eat, or other physical conditions
Extent to which they are alert and wide awake

Extent to which they are predisposed to agreeing or disagreeing when

presented with stimulus statements

Extent to which they have received prior coaching

I•mportance they may attribute to portraying themselves in a good (or bad)

light

Extent to which they are 

”lucky” and can “beat” the oddson a multiple-choice
achievement test
• Society’s demand for “some way of organizing
or systematizing the many-faceted complexity
of individual differences.”
• As society changes, new tests are developed
• Laws and legislations on testing
• Court decisions
• Companies
• Organizations
• Governmental agencies
• Schools
• Clinics
Classification

Self-understanding

program evaluation

Scientific inquiry
Placement Rating Selection

Competency
Decision-
and Experiments
making
Proficiency

Predicting Outcome
Diagnosis
Behavior Evaluation
 Counseling
Educational Clinical Setting
Setting

Government and
Business and
Geriatric Setting Organization
Military Setting
Credentialing
Educational
School Ability Test
Achievement Test
Diagnostic Test
Informal Evaluation
 public, private, and military hospitals, inpatient and
Clinical outpatient clinics, private-practice consulting rooms,
schools, and other institutions

Diagnosis

intelligence tests, personality tests, neuropsychological

tests, or other specialized instruments, depending on
the presenting or suspected problem area
Counseling schools, prisons, and government or
privately owned institutions

improvement of the assessee in terms of

adjustment, productivity, or some related
variable
Measures of social and academic skills and
measures of personality, interest,
attitudes, and values
Geriatric
cognitive, psychological,
adaptive, or other
functioning
Quality of Life Assessment
Business Careers: hiring, promotions, transfer, job
and satisfaction, and eligibility for further training
Military
Engineering Psychology

Customer Satisfaction

Marketing and Promotions

Gov’t and
Org Licensing, certification,
Credentialing
credentialing
PRC – Board of Psychology

PAP
• Tests Standards
• Responsible test users have obligations
before, during, and after a test or any
measurement procedure is administered
PRE-TEST
PREPARATIONS Safe-keeping of
tests

Training on test
administration

Stopwatch
Familiarity with the
tests and materials Supply of Pencils

Test Protocols

Temperature
Room/Venue Lighting
Noise
People
DURING THE TESTING

• Establishing Rapport
• a working relationship
between the examiner
and the examinee
POST-TEST Safeguarding Tests Protocols
RESPONSIBILITIES

Scoring

Interpretation

Note-taking of everything that

happened – even people present

Conveying tests results in a clearly

understandable way
• Assessment of People with Disabilities
– Alternate Assessment
• an evaluative or diagnostic procedure or process that
varies from the usual, customary, or standardized way a
measurement is derived either by virtue of some
special accommodation made to the assessee or by
means of alternative methods designed to measure the
same variable(s).
• Assessment of People with Disabilities
– Alternate Assessment
• Accommodation (adapt, adjust, or make suitable” of
the assessee
• Accommodation may be defined as the adaptation of a
test, procedure, or situation, or the substitution of one
test for another, to make the assessment more suitable
for an assessee with exceptional needs
• Large Print, Audio Format, Braille,
 TEST CATALOGUES

TEST MANUALS

REFERENCE VOLUMES

JOURNAL ARTICLES

ON-LINE DATABASES

LIBRARY
Design Property 1: A good test has a
clearly defined purpose.
Properties
Property 2: A good test has a
specific and standard content.

Property 3: A good test has a set

of administration Procedures.

Property 4: A good test has a

standard scoring procedure.
Psychometric Property 1: A good test is
Properties reliable.

Property 2: A good test is valid.

Property 3: A good test contains

items with good item statistics.
 OBJECTIVE
• Freedom from the subjective influence of the examiner

STANDARDIZED
• Uniformity in the administration and interpretation of results

RELIABLE
• Consistency if the scores

VALID
• Concerns with what the test measures and how well it does

GOOD PREDICTIVE VALUE

• Psychological Measurement is Less Precise
– Psychological tests measures only a sample
of the property under study; inference
– Psychological Measurement uses a more
limited scale
– Psychological Measurement is affected by
extraneous variables
• Psychological Measurement is Less Direct
– Psychological Tests are designed to draw
inferences about underlying attributes or
characteristics
– Psychological Tests are designed to measure
constructs
• Hypothetical dimensions or characteristics
• Operational Definitions
• Misunderstanding about or misuse of
psychological tests
– People regard test scores as precise
• Imprecise measures = ineffective?
• Tests are biased against women and minority
groups, dehumanizing, and invasion of
personal privacy
• China – 2200 BC
• Selection of who would
obtain government jobs
• Content changed over
time: cultural
expectations, values of
the ruling dynasty
• Proficiency in endeavors such
as music, archery,
horsemanship, writing, and
arithmetic
• Agriculture, geography,
revenue, civil law, and military
strategy
• Knowledge and skill with
respect to the rites and
ceremonies of public and
social life
• Passing the exam:
– Garb
– Exemption from taxes
– Exemption from torture
during interrogation
• Greco-Roman Writings
– Categorizing people with
personality types
• Such categorizations typically
included reference to an
overabundance or deficiency in
some bodily fluid (such as blood
or phlegm) as a factor believed to
influence personality
• Middle Ages:
– Who is in league with the
devil?
• Renaissance Period:
– Christian von Wolff (18th C.)
• psychology as a science and
psychological measurement as
a specialty within that science
• 1859
– On the Origin of Species by
Means of Natural Selection
(Charles Darwin)
• Scientific interest on individual
differences
– Francis Galton
• Research on heredity
• Classify people accdg. to natural
gifts
• Ascertain the derivation from an
average
• Galton
– London, 1884: Anthropometric Laboratory
• Measurement of people accd to height (standing and
sitting), arm span, weight, breathing capacity, strength
of pull, strength of squeeze, swiftness of blow,
keenness of sight, memory of form, discrimination of
color, steadiness of hands
• Urged schools to do anthropometric records on the
students
• Wilhelm Max Wundt (19th Century)
– Experimental psychology laboratory in Leipzig,
Germany
– Human abilities: reaction time, perception,
attention
– How were people similar
– Standardization: control of extraneous variables
• Cattell
– 1890: “mental test”
– Founding of the Psychological Corporation in 1921
• Students of Wundt
– Charles Spearman: test reliability, factor analysis
– Victor Henri: worked with Alfred Binet on papers
suggesting how mental tests could be used to
measure higher mental processes
– Emil Kraepelin: association technique as formal test
– E. B. Titchener
– G. Stanley Hall
– Lightner Witmer: little-known founder of clinical
psychology, successor of Cattell
• 1895: Binet and Henri
– published several articles in which they argued for
the measurement of abilities such as memory and
social comprehension
• 1905: Binet and Theodore Simon
– published a 30-item “measuring scale of
intelligence” designed to help identify mentally
retarded Paris schoolchildren
• 1939: David Wechsler
– Test designed to measure adult
intelligence
– Intelligence was “the aggregate
or global capacity of the
individual to act purposefully, to
think rationally, and to deal
effectively with his
environment”
– Wechsler-Bellevue Intelligence
Scale  Wechsler Adult
Intelligence Scale (WAIS)
• Binet
– Group intelligence testing
• US: Military’s need to conduct an efficient way of
screening World War I recruits
– Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test
• Late 1930’s: 4000 psychological tests in print
• Clinical psychology = mental testing
• World War I: intelligence testing and testing
on adjustment
• Committee on Emotional Fitness
– Robert S. Woodworth
– Paper-and-pencil psychiatric interviews
– “Personal Data Sheet’
• Robert Woodworth
– Civilian personality test:
Woodworth Psychoneurotic
Inventory
• Self-Report test of personality

• Self-Report tests: prone to

manipulation
– Development of projective tests
• Ex. Rorschach Inkblot Test by Hermann
Rorschach
• Late 1930s
– Henry A. Murray, Christiana D.
Morgan et al (Harvard
Psychological Clinic)
• Pictures/photos as projective
stimuli
• Story
• Analyzing the needs and
motivations