Psychological Assessment Lecture Notes

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering psychological testing history, psychometric principles, statistical concepts, specific assessment tools, and ethical guidelines based on the lecture transcript.

R.A. 10029

Also known as the Philippine Psychology Act of 2009 and its Implementing Rules and Regulations.

Psychometrician

A professional authorized to perform (1) administering and scoring of objective or structured personality tests, (2) interpreting results and preparing written reports, and (3) conducting preparatory intake interviews for psychological intervention sessions.

BLEPP Passing Criteria

An examinee must obtain an average of $75$ with no rating of less than $60$ in any of the four subjects.

Psychological Assessment

The gathering and integration of psychology-related data for the purpose of making a psychological evaluation through the use of tools such as tests, interviews, case studies, and behavioral observation.

Referral Question

The specific problem or reason for assessment that psychological assessment aims to answer through an individualized problem-solving process.

Interview

A method of gathering information through direct communication involving reciprocal exchange.

Portfolio

A collection of work products or a candidate's previous works used as a tool for assessment.

Behavioral Observation

Monitoring of actions while recording quantitative and/or qualitative information regarding those actions.

Role Play Tests

An assessment tool where the individual acts an improvised part in a simulated situation.

Psychological Test

A systematic procedure for obtaining samples of behavior, relevant to cognitive and/or affective functioning, and for scoring and evaluating those samples according to standards.

Psychological Report

The end product of assessment that must adequately answer the referral question, be relevant and clear, and meet the needs of the client; typically between $5$ and $7$ single-spaced pages.

Woodworth Personal Data Sheet

The first widely used self-report test of personality, originally developed to measure adjustment and emotional stability for military recruits.

Army General Classification Test (AGCT)

A test of general learning ability used by the Army and Marine Corps to assign recruits to military jobs during World War II.

Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT)

A measure of general ability used in the selection of recruits, consisting of $100$ selected items covering Paragraph Comprehension, Arithmetic Reasoning, Word Knowledge, and Numerical Operations.

Sir Francis Galton

The individual considered the Father of mental testing, Father of eugenics, and Father of Differential Psychology who advocated for the lexical hypothesis.

Ratio IQ

A concept proposed by William Stern defined as $\frac{\text{mental age}}{\text{chronological age}} \times 100$.

David Wechsler's definition of Intelligence

The global capacity of a person to act purposefully, to think rationally, and to deal effectively with his environment.

Non-intellective Factors

Factors such as lack of confidence, fear of failure, and attitudes that Wechsler advocated for considering in intelligence testing.

Scale Magnitude

A property of measurement scales referring to the idea of 'moreness' or 'higher' values.

Nominal Scale

A scale of measurement where data can be grouped but not arranged in any particular order; the best measure of central tendency is the Mode.

Ordinal Scale

A scale of measurement where data can be arranged in order but intervals are not necessarily equal.

Interval Scale

A scale of measurement with equal intervals where zero is arbitrary (e.g., Fahrenheit scale, Z-scores).

Ratio Scale

A scale of measurement with equal intervals and an absolute zero that means 'none' (e.g., Height, running speed).

Negatively Skewed Distribution

A distribution where the tail points to the left, often indicating a 'test ceiling' (many high scores); the central tendency values follow the pattern: $\text{Mean} < \text{Median} < \text{Mode}$.

Positively Skewed Distribution

A distribution where the tail points to the right, often indicating a 'test floor' (many low scores); the central tendency values follow the pattern: $\text{Mean} > \text{Median} > \text{Mode}$.

Platykurtic

A distribution with the highest dispersion, appearing flatter than the normal curve ($Sku < 0$).

Leptokurtic

A distribution with the lowest dispersion, appearing more peaked than the normal curve ($Sku > 0$).

Pearson's r

A correlation coefficient used specifically for ratio and interval scales to measure the relationship between two variables.

Standard Deviation

The square root of the averaged squared deviations about the mean; adding or subtracting a constant to all scores does not change this value.

Criterion-referenced testing

Evaluating an individual's score with reference to a set standard or level of competence rather than a group's performance.

Norm-referenced testing

Evaluating an individual testtaker's score and comparing it to scores of a group of testtakers using the properties of the normal curve.

Percentile Rank

An expression of the percentage of people whose score on a test falls at or below a particular raw score.

T-score

A standard score transformation with a mean of $50$ and a standard deviation of $10$.

Stanine

A 'standard of nine' scale from $1$ to $9$ dividing the normal curve into nine scores with a mean of $5$ and a standard deviation of $2$.

Standard Error of the Mean

The error in estimating the mean of a population based on a sample; it decreases as the sample size increases.

Human Ability

An encompassing term for Achievement, Aptitude, and Intelligence tests.

MMPI-2 Validity Scale: Back F

Assesses whether a client changed the way they answered questions in the last half of the test compared to the first half.

MMPI-2 Validity Scale: K (Correction)

Measures denial or evasiveness, indicating a person is very guarded and defensive ('faking good').

16PF (16 Personality Factors)

A measure of normal-range personality developed by Cattell based on 16 primary traits and five global factors.

Aptitude Test

A measurement of a person's capacité or potential to learn a specific subject or skill in the future.

Achievement Test

A test that evaluates information or skills a person has already learned (previous learning).

Flynn Effect

The phenomenon characterized by a marked increase in intelligence test score averages over time, averaging $3$ points per decade.

Classical Test Theory (CTT) Assumption

The assumption that errors of measurement are random and unpredictable in direction.

Coefficient of Stability

Another term for Test-Retest Reliability, which measures the consistency of scores over time.

Internal Reliability

The extent to which a measure is consistent within itself, such as split-half reliability or internal consistency.

KR-20 (Kuder-Richardson 20)

A measure of internal consistency used when test items are dichotomous (scored as right or wrong).

Cronbach's Alpha

A measure of internal consistency used for non-dichotomous items; it provides the lowest estimate of reliability.

Speed Test

A test with a uniform difficulty level where the total score is based on the number of items completed within a time limit.

Kappa Statistic

The best method for calculating inter-rater reliability; values of $.76$ and above indicate 'excellent' agreement.

Spearman-Brown Prophecy Formula

A formula used to estimate what the reliability of a test would be if the number of items were increased or decreased.

Reliability vs. Validity Relationship

A test can be reliable but not valid; however, validity is never higher than the square root of the reliability coefficient.

Standard Error of Estimate

In regression, an estimate of the magnitude of error involved in predicting the value of one variable from another.

Content Validity

The adequacy of item sampling to represent a specific construct, often evaluated through expert judgment.

Predictive Validity

A type of criterion-related validity that refers to the extent to which a test score forecasts a future criterion measure.

Criterion Contamination

A situation where the criterion measure has been based on or influenced by the predictor measures, leading to inaccurate validity evidence.

Convergent Validity

Evidence that measures of the same construct are highly correlated (converge).

Divergent Validity

Evidence that a test has low correlations with measures of unrelated constructs, also called discriminant validity.

Likert Scale

A type of summative ordinal-level scale usually used to measure attitudes with options ranging from 'strongly disagree' to 'strongly agree'.

Thurstone Scale

A method of equal-appearing intervals where judges evaluate statements to determine how strongly they indicate a construct.

Standardization Sample

The group on whom the test was originally developed in terms of administration and scoring procedures to create norms.

Item-Difficulty Index (p)

The proportion of the total number of testtakers who answered the item correctly; an index of $0$ means everyone answered incorrectly.

Item Discrimination Index (d)

The difference between the proportion of high scorers and low scorers who answered an item correctly.

Privacy

The broad right of persons to decide what information about them will be shared with or withheld from others.

Confidentiality

An ethical concept referring to the obligation of a professional to protect client information from disclosure without consent.

Privileged Communication

A legal term referring to laws that protect clients from having confidential communications disclosed in a court of law; the privilege belongs to the client.

Spearman's g

A general intelligence factor that Charles Spearman believed was the common element responsible for all types of mental ability.

Structure of Intellect Theory

Guilford's model of intelligence composed of Contents, Operations, and Products, resulting in up to $150$ or $180$ individual abilities.

Three-stratum Theory of Cognitive Abilities

Carroll's hierarchical model where Stratum III represents general intelligence ($g$), Stratum II represents broad abilities, and Stratum I represents narrow common factors.

Crystallized Intelligence (Gc)

Acquired skills and learned knowledge that continue to increase into old age, as opposed to fluid intelligence which peaks around age $20$.

Edwards Personal Preference Schedule (EPPS)

A forced-choice, objective personality inventory based on H. A. Murray's theory of fifteen normal needs or motives.

Point Scale

A scaling method used by Wechsler where points are assigned to each item and items with similar content are grouped together.

FSIQ (Full Scale IQ)

A broad score in the WAIS-IV based on the total combined performance of the VCI, PRI, WMI, and PSI index scores.

Panukat ng Ugali at Pagkatao (PUP)

A Filipino-oriented test created by Virgilio Enriquez to measure traits, behaviors, and attitudes, primarily to identify inventive talent.

CPD Requirement for Psychometricians

Psychometrician licenses are renewed every $3$ years, and as of 2020, they require $45$ CPD points for renewal.