Psychometrics Prelims

Referral

Referral

The beginning of assessment

Level A

School-made assessments (not necessarily school administered)

Level B

RPm, group assessments

Level C

RPsy, individual assessments (e.g., Rorschach Test)

Test

Used to measure specific aspects of a person’s abilities, personality, or behavior

Test Content

The subject matter of the test

Test Format

The way a test is structured or presented

Test Administration Procedures

Individual vs. Group Tests

Psychometric Soundness

How consistently and accurately a psychological test measures what it purports to measure

Reliability

The consistency of scores obtained by the same persons when retested with the identical test or with any equivalent form of the test

Validity

The degree to which the test measures what it purports to measure

Psychometrics

The science of psychological measurement

Psychometric Test Utility

Usefulness or practical value that a test or other tool of assessment has for a particular purpose

Interview

Method of gathering information through direct communication involving reciprocal exchange

Portfolio

A tool of evaluation consisting of samples of one’s ability and accomplishments

Case History Data

Records, transcripts, and other accounts in written, pictorial, or other form that preserve archival information

Behavioral Observation

Monitoring the action of others or oneself by visual or electronic means while recording quantitative and/or qualitative information regarding those actions

Test Developer and Publisher

Creators and distributors of tests and other methods and assessment

Test Users

This includes clinicians, counselors, school psychologists, HR personnel, consumer psychologists, experimental psychologists, social psychologists

Test Anxiety

Inability to perform well in a test

Informed Consent

Process where a person is given all the important information about a decision or treatment before agreeing to it

Test Acquiescence

A test-taker’s tendency to respond with “true” or “yes” to items regardless of the item content

The 7 Assessment Settings

1. Educational

2. Clinical

3. Counseling

4. Geriatric

5. Business and Military

6. Governmental and Organizational Credentialing

7. Academic Research

Educational Setting

Achievement tests and Diagnostic tests

Achievement Tests

Measures the amount of learning

Diagnostic Tests

Used to help narrow down and identify areas of deficit to be targeted for intervention

Clinical Settings

Hospitals, in-patient and out-patient clinics, private practice consulting rooms, schools, other institutions

Counseling Settings

Schools, prisons, government, and private institutions. Measures of social and academic skills, personality, interest, attitudes, and values

Geriatric Settings

Long-term care facilities, hospitals, home for the aged. Assessment of quality of life and cognitive decline

Dementia

Loss of cognitive function that affects memory, thinking, reasoning, psychomotor speed, attention, personality

Alzheimer’s Disease

Most commonly known among the many forms of dementia

Pseudodementia

A condition usually caused by severe depression that mimics dementia

Business and Military Settings

Decision-making about careers of personnel. Achievement, aptitude, interest, motivational tests

Governmental and Organization Credentialing

Licensure, certification, or membership in organizations

Academic Research Settings

Measuring variables being explored by researchers

Rapport

To manage test anxiety, the test examiner can utilize techniques that will put the test taker in the proper perspective for test taking

Standardization

The conduct of preliminary demonstration, giving of oral instructions, and use of time limits; Implies uniformity of procedures in administering and scoring the test

Establishment of Norms

Implies average or normal performance

Objective Measurement of Difficulty

The administration, scoring, and interpretation of scores are independent of the subjective judgement of the examiner

Test Sophistication

The advantageous effects of test taking practice

The earliest use of tests was to?

Identify mentally retarded persons

Overt

Observable activity

Covert

Takes place within the individual and cannot be directly observed (feelings, thoughts)

Ability Test

Contains items that can be scored in terms of speed, accuracy, or both; the goal is to score high

Achievement Test

Under ability test; tests previous learning

Aptitude Test

Under ability test; tests ones potential for learning

Intelligence Test

Under ability test; tests general potential to solve problems

Personality Test

Related to the overt and covert dispositions of an individual

Self-Report Test

Under personality test; an objective test with choices

Projective Test

Under personality test; a stimulus will be presented and you need to create a story or describe something

Esquirol

1838, distinction between mentally retarded and insane individuals. Pointed out that there were many degrees of mental retardation.

Seguin

Pioneered the training of mentally retarded persons. 1837, established the first school devoted to educating mentally retarded children. 1848, migrated to the US and made suggestions for the training of mentally retarded persons.

Francis Galton

Focused on individual differences. Credited to be primarily responsible for the launching of the testing movement. Even pioneered in the application of rating scale and questionnaire methods. 1884, set up an anthropometric laboratory at the International Exposition.

Wilhelm Wundt

Focused on controlling conditions, making conditions similar, and standardizations. 1879, the problems studied in their laboratories were concerned largely with their sensitivity to visual, auditory, and other sensory phenomena. First experimental psychology lab in Germany.

James Mckeen Cattell

American Psychologist, student of Wilhem Wundt. 1890, became active in the spread of the testing movement; first to use the term “mental test”. Instrumental in the founding of the Psychological Corporation.

Herman Ebbinghaus

1897, German Psychologist. Administered arithmetic computation, memory span, and sentence completion to schoolchildren. The sentence completion test was the only one that clearly related to children's academic success—children who perform well on this test are likely to do well in school.

Alfred Binet

His advocacy for the cause of mentally retarded children led to the establishment of a ministerial commission for the study of retarded children. In 1895, along with Victor Henri, he criticized most of available testing for being focused on sensory abilities. Led to the development of the famous intelligence scale.

Binet Scale (1905)

In collaboration with Theodore Simon; made use of a standardization sample of 50 children. It measured judgement, comprehension, and reasoning. It was also used to help identify mentally retarded Paris schoolchildren. Standardization Sample = 50.

Binet Scale (1908)

All tests were grouped into age levels with nearly twice as many items as the 1905 scale. The scores obtained corresponded to the child’s mental level.

Binet Scale (1911)

The third revision that coincided with Binet’s untimely death. No fundamental changes, more tests were added at several year levels, extending to the adult level

Stanford-Binet Scale

Developed by Lewis Terman, the first man to use the term IQ. Standardization sample was increased to 1000

Kuhlmann-Binet Revision (1912)

Same as the Standford-Binet, but extended the scale downward to the age of 3.

Standardized Achievement Tests

First standardized tests for measuring the outcomes of school instruction appeared in 1900, spearheaded by E.L. Thorndike.

Stanford Achievement Test (1923)

Developed by Kelly, Rush, and Terman.

David Wechsler

Introduced a test designed to measure adult intelligence.

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)

Individually administered test to measure adult intelligence. Standardization Sample = 3,000

Personal Data Sheet

Developed by Robert Woodworth. Answerable by yes or no to disguise its true nature.

Woodworth Psychoneurotic Inventory

The first widely used self-report test.

Rorschach Inkblot Test

First published by Hermann Rorschach in 1921 in Switzerland then introduced in the United States by David Levy. Consisted of 10 inkblots.

David Levy

Introduced the Rorschach Inkblot in the United States.

Thematic Apperception Test (1935)

Developed by Henry Murray and Christina Morgan. Consisted of 20 pictures.

Minnesota Multi-Phasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

Introduced the use of empirical methods to determine the meaning of a test response.

MMPI-2

Currently the most widely used and referenced personality test.

Trait

Any distinguishable, relative enduring way in which one individual varies from another.

States

Distinguishable from one person to another but are less enduring; they tend to fluctuate

Test-Related Behaviors

Behavior that is common to everyone taking the test.

Non-Test Related Behaviors

Behaviors that a person will show outside of the testing situation.

Error

Factors other than what a test attempts to measure that influence performance on the test.

Positive Skewed

Fewer scores at the positive tail; more test takers scored low in the test. Mean has the highest value.

Negatively Skewed

Fewer scores at the negative tail; more test takers scored high in the test. Mode has the highest value.

Abscissa

The X-Axis

Ordinate

The Y-Axis

Kurtosis

Steepness of a distribution in its center.

Platykurtic

Scores are more spread out; less than normal.

Leptokurtic

Scores are mostly at the center; more than normal.

Mesokurtic

Zero kurtosis; normal.

Norming

A procedure that facilitates the test user’s interpretation of test scores.

Raw Score

The initial score obtained on a test, based solely on the number of correct responses. It has no inherent meaning without further interpretation.

Standard Score

A transformed score that allows comparison of an individual's performance relative to others, providing meaning to the raw score.

Purpose of Norms

They indicate the individual’s relative standing in the normative sample, and thus permit an evaluation of his performance in reference to other persons.

Normative Sample

Our basis in creating norms.

Test Standardization

The process of administering a test to a representative sample of test takers for the purpose of establishing norms.

Stratified Sampling

Considers certain characteristics that must be proportionately represented in the sample.

Stratified Random Sampling

When members from the identified strata are obtained randomly.

Purposive Sampling

Arbitrarily selecting from a sample because we believe it to be representative of the population.

Convenience Sampling

Often used for practical reasons, utilizes the most available individuals.

Age Norms

They indicate the average performance of different samples of test takers who were at various ages at the time the test was administered.

Grade Norms

Indication of average test performance of test takers in a given school grade.

National Norms

Derived from a normative sample that was nationally representative of the population at the time the norming study was conducted.

National Anchor Norms

Provides an equivalency table, or basis for comparison of two tests with nationally administered tests.