[Handouts] JJPangay

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, people, concepts, and psychometric principles from the Psychological Assessment lecture notes. Designed for quick review and mastery of foundational terminology.

Ancient system that used examinations to select applicants for government jobs, considered an early form of large-scale ability testing.

Chinese Civil Service Testing

Concept that no two humans are exactly alike in traits or abilities; some variations are more adaptive than others.

Individual Differences

Proposed that adaptive individual differences drive evolution toward more complex and intelligent organisms.

Charles Darwin

Founder of the testing movement; created anthropometric labs, rating scales, questionnaires, and applied statistics to psychological tests.

Francis Galton

Instrument Galton used to study visual length discrimination.

Galton Bar

Device Galton used to determine the highest audible pitch a person could hear.

Galton Whistle

Smallest detectable change in stimulus intensity, studied by Ernst Weber.

Just Noticeable Difference (JND)

Mathematical relation that links physical stimulus magnitude to perceived sensation.

Weber-Fechner Law

Established the first psychology laboratory; regarded as a founder of experimental psychology.

Wilhelm Wundt

Early school of thought, brought to America by Edward Titchener, focusing on the structure of conscious experience.

Structuralism

Statistical technique, advanced by Louis Thurstone, that identifies underlying variables (factors) in test data.

Factor Analysis

Charles Spearman’s model with a general factor (g) and specific factors (s).

Two-Factor Theory of Intelligence

Cattell’s component of g involving reasoning and novel problem solving; declines with age.

Fluid Intelligence

Cattell’s component of g involving acquired knowledge and skills; increases with age.

Crystallized Intelligence

First group intelligence test for literate World War I recruits, developed by Robert Yerkes.

Army Alpha

Non-verbal intelligence test for illiterate WWI recruits, paired with the Army Alpha.

Army Beta

Robert Woodworth’s checklist to screen soldiers for shell shock; considered the first personality test.

Personal Data Sheet

Projective personality test using ambiguous inkblots to elicit perceptions that reveal unconscious processes.

Rorschach Inkblot Test

Projective test by Murray & Morgan where examinees create stories about pictures to uncover motives and conflicts.

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

McCrae & Costa’s model of personality: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism.

Big Five Personality Factors

Filipino personality inventory created by Virgilio Enriquez.

Panukat ng Ugali at Pagkatao (PUP)

Enduring pattern of behavior or feeling that is consistent over time and situations.

Psychological Trait

Temporary behavior or feeling influenced by context and motives.

Psychological State

Portion of a test score due to factors other than the trait being measured.

Error Variance

Proportion of a population that naturally possesses a particular trait or outcome.

Base Rate

Percentage of cases a test correctly identifies as having a trait or condition.

Hit Rate

Ability of a test to correctly detect true positives.

Sensitivity

Ability of a test to correctly detect true negatives.

Specificity

Test indicates the trait is present when it is not.

False Positive (Type I Error)

Test fails to detect a trait that is actually present.

False Negative (Type II Error)

Hypothetical assessment stripped of cultural content—considered impossible in practice.

Culture-Free Test

Assessment designed to minimize cultural bias by using content common across cultures.

Culture-Fair Test

Degree to which a test contains vocabulary, concepts, or knowledge specific to a culture.

Culture Loading

Assessment focus on traits common to all people and comparisons across individuals.

Nomothetic Approach

Assessment focus on the unique constellation of traits within a single individual.

Idiographic Approach

Process of obtaining numerical scores reflecting abilities or attributes, usually via standardized instruments.

Psychological Testing

Comprehensive process of collecting, integrating, and interpreting data to answer a referral question.

Psychological Assessment

Client’s voluntary agreement to testing after understanding purpose, procedures, uses, and access to results.

Informed Consent

Respecting clients’ right to self-determination and personal freedom.

Autonomy (Ethical Value)

Ethical principle of actively promoting others’ well-being.

Beneficence

Obligation to avoid causing harm to clients.

Non-Maleficence

Ethical duty to keep client information private unless legally or ethically required to disclose.

Confidentiality

Philippines’ Psychology Act of 2009 regulating practice of psychology and psychometrics.

Republic Act 10029

Entity that markets and distributes psychological tests, responsible for quality and restricted access.

Test Publisher

Instruments that can be administered and interpreted through the manual without specialized training.

Test User Qualification Level A

Instruments requiring some technical knowledge of psychometrics and related coursework.

Test User Qualification Level B

Instruments needing advanced degree or license plus supervised experience (e.g., IQ or projective tests).

Test User Qualification Level C

Arithmetic average of a set of scores; measure of central tendency for interval/ratio normal data.

Mean

Middle score when data are ordered; preferred for ordinal or skewed distributions.

Median

Most frequently occurring score in a distribution.

Mode

Square root of the average squared deviations from the mean; measure of variability.

Standard Deviation

Percentage of scores in a distribution that fall below a specific raw score.

Percentile Rank

Distribution with few extreme high scores; tail points right.

Positive Skew

Sharpness or peakedness of a frequency distribution curve.

Kurtosis

Standard score with mean 0 and SD 1, indicating distance from the mean in SD units.

z Score

Standard score with mean 50 and SD 10, derived from z scores.

T Score

Nine-point standard score scale with mean 5 and SD 2.

Stanine

Statistical test requiring interval/ratio data, normality, and homogenous variance (e.g., t-test, ANOVA).

Parametric Test

Statistical test for nominal/ordinal data without strict distribution assumptions (e.g., Mann-Whitney U).

Non-Parametric Test

Parametric correlation coefficient for linear relationship between two interval/ratio variables.

Pearson’s r

Non-parametric correlation for ranked (ordinal) data.

Spearman’s Rho

Stability of scores when the same test is repeated on the same individuals after a time interval.

Test-Retest Reliability

Consistency between two equivalent versions of a test administered to the same group.

Parallel-Forms Reliability

Internal consistency estimate based on correlation between two halves of a single test.

Split-Half Reliability

Coefficient of internal consistency for tests with non-dichotomous items (e.g., Likert scales).

Cronbach’s Alpha

Degree of agreement among independent scorers or observers.

Inter-Rater Reliability

Estimated amount by which an observed score deviates from a person’s true score due to measurement error.

Standard Error of Measurement (SEM)

Extent to which a test appears to measure what it claims, judged subjectively by lay observers.

Face Validity

Degree to which test items represent the entire domain of the construct being measured.

Content Validity

Effectiveness of a test in predicting or correlating with an external criterion (concurrent or predictive).

Criterion-Related Validity

Evidence that a test truly measures the theoretical trait or construct it purports to assess.

Construct Validity

High correlation between a test and other measures of the same construct.

Convergent Validity

Low correlation between a test and measures of unrelated constructs.

Divergent Validity

Model stating that an observed score equals true score plus error (X = T + E).

Classical Test Theory (CTT)

Modern model examining probability of specific item responses based on latent traits and item parameters.

Item Response Theory (IRT)

Proportion of examinees who answer an item correctly; higher values indicate easier items.

Item Difficulty (p-value)

Statistic showing how well an item differentiates high scorers from low scorers on the test.

Item Discrimination Index

Expert-judgment procedure for setting a fixed cut score by estimating probability of minimally competent candidates answering each item correctly.

Angoff Method

IRT-based standard-setting technique where experts place a marker in an ordered item booklet to designate cut score.

Bookmark Method

Charts showing expected success rate gains from using a test, given validity coefficient, selection ratio, and base rate.

Taylor-Russell Tables

Proportion of applicants to be hired relative to total applicants assessed.

Selection Ratio

Cost–benefit evaluation of how much a test improves decision-making effectiveness.

Utility Analysis

Process of establishing uniform procedures for administering, scoring, and interpreting a test.

Test Standardization

Official document detailing test purpose, materials, administration, scoring, norms, and psychometric properties.

Test Manual

Measurement approach where respondents judge one stimulus relative to another (e.g., paired comparisons).

Comparative Scaling

Approach where stimuli are rated independently on a continuum (e.g., Likert scale).

Non-Comparative Scaling

Item format using ordered agreement categories (e.g., strongly disagree to strongly agree).

Likert Scale

Rating scale with bipolar adjective pairs to measure connotative meaning of concepts.

Semantic Differential

Field concerned with the theory and technique of psychological measurement.

Psychometrics

Raw score obtained directly from a test, comprising true score plus error.

Observed Score

Statistic used to judge whether two test scores differ significantly, considering their reliabilities.

Standard Error of Difference

Rater bias where an overall impression influences ratings on specific traits.

Halo Effect

Initial recording of behavior frequency/intensity prior to intervention, used for comparison.

Base-Line Observation (Behavioral)

Performance improvement due solely to awareness of being observed or evaluated.

Reactivity (Hawthorne Effect)

Assessment using ambiguous stimuli to elicit projection of internal motives and conflicts.

Projective Test

Structured test with fixed response options and standardized scoring (e.g., multiple-choice inventory).

Objective Test

General guidelines: ≥ .90 excellent, .80–.89 good, .70–.79 acceptable for research, < .70 questionable/poor.

Reliability Coefficient Thresholds

Written communication integrating test data to address referral questions and guide intervention.

Psychological Report