Chapter 1: PSY T&M

What is a psychological test?

A measurement tool or technique that requires a person to perform one or more behaviors to make inferences about human attributes or predict future outcomes

Two most common types of psychological tests

Personality tests, intelligence tests

Example of least common psychological test

Road portion of drivers test

True or false? No distinct definition of a psychological test exists.

True

What is the first similarity of psychological tests?

All psychological tests require a person to perform some behavior (an observable and measurable action)

What is the second similarity of psychological tests?

The behavior an individual performs in psychological tests is used to make inferences

What are psychmetrics?

The quantitative and technical aspects of learning

What behavior was required in the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)?

Look at images and create a story

What behavior is required for the GRE test?

Answer multiple-choice questions, perform calculations and written tasks

What place requires job applicants to participate in simulated job activities?

Assessment centers

What behavior does the WAIS-IV require?

Explain what is missing from pictures (measures verbal intelligence)

Personality, intelligence, and anxiety are examples of what?

Constructs (what is tested in psychological tests)

A test can be administered in what three ways?

Pencil-and-paper, on a computer, or verbally

Good tests measure what they claim to be measure and any conclusion drawn from the test scores about the person taking the test are appropriate, meaning there is evidence of what?

Validity

Good tests also measure whatever they measure consistently, meaning they have evidence of what?

Reliability

When and where can the first use of psychological tests be traced back to?

220 BC in ancient China’s Xia dynasty (royal examinations were used)

What Chinese emperor administered exams to officials ever 3rd year to determine whether were suitable to remain in office?

Yushun

During what Chinese dynasty did the use of psychological tests increase?

The T’ang dynasty (did civil service testing of literary knowledge)

After France started using this testing, who abolished it?

Napolean

What two people proposed that the U.S. should use this testing in the 1960s?

Senator Sumner and Representative Jenckes

What federal law intended to improve the U.S. civil service?

Civil Service Act of 1883

In what year did Charles Darwin publish On the Origin of The Species?

1859

Who published Hereditary Genius, which proposed some people were more fit due to their characteristics?

Sir Francis Galton (Darwin’s cousin)

Who introduced the first psychological laboratory in 1879?

Wilhelm Wundt

Who extended Sir Francis Galton’s research in the 1880s?

James Cattell

Who founded the first French psychology journal?

Binet

Published by Binet and Simon, what was the first intelligence test called?

The Binet-Simon Scale

Who produced the Bradford-Simon Intelligence Tests?

Lewis Terman

What does the WBIS measure?

Mental ability

What test determined if people were able to handle the stress of going to war?

Personal Data Sheet

What was the first self-report test called?

The Wordsworth Psychoneurotic Inventory

What was the Rorschach Inkblot test designed to measure?

Personality disorders and mental functioning

What test measured an individual’s pattern of thought and feelings from creating a story from images?

TAT

What test was used during the Great Depression to predict how successful someone would be with a certain occupation?

General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB)

What association provides human resource materials?

Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)

Increasing accountability for educating America’s children in math and reading by testing them annually, ensuring all children have quality education, increasing flexibility for federal spending, and emphasizing reading skills were all implied in what federal law?

NCLB (enforced by George W. Bush in 2002)

What act replaced the NCLB in 2015?

Every Student Succeeds

Tests should involve behaviors that predict a certain outcome, tests should include behaviors administered the same way, tests should have rules for scoring…These can be considered the what?

The three defining characteristics of psychological tests

Psychological tests measure what they purport to measure (test validity), an individual’s behavior/test scores remain stable over time (test-retest validity), people understand test items the same way, individuals will report accurately about themselves, individuals will report honestly about their thoughts and feelings, and there will be some error when measuring test scores…what are these statements called?

Assumptions of psychological tests

What tests require test takers to perform a particular task, often being measured by their ability to do so?

Tests of maximal performance

What type of test involves observing behavior and how people respond in a particular context?

Behavioral observation tests

What type of test requires test takers to report their feelings, beliefs, or mental states?

Self-report tests

What tests are designed to measure a specific construct and are administered to a large group of people?

Standardized tests

What is the name of the group of people who are tested to obtain data to establish a frame of reference for interpreting individual test scores?

The standardization sample

What type of test does not involve standardization samples and are taught in a less formal manner by a teacher or trainer (an example is exams in a class)

Nonstandardized tests

What are tests where test takers choose/provide a response and there are predetermined correct answers?

Objective tests

What are tests where test takers are asked to respond to unstructured items or stimuli such as pictures?

Projective tests

Tests are often measured by “dimensions.” What does this mean?

This could mean several attributes or traits in a test

What dimension measurement test measures a person’s previous learning in a specific area?

Achievement tests

What dimensions measurement test assesses a test taker’s ability or potential for performing in a new job or situation?

Aptitude tests

What dimension measurement test assesses a test taker’s ability to cope with the environment at a broader level?

Intelligence tests

What dimension measurement test assesses a person’s interests in educational programs and career decisions?

Interest inventories

What dimension measurement test measures human character or disposition?

Personality tests

In what kind of test are multiple methods of testing used?

Psychological assessments

What is considered only one tool in the in the psychological assessment process?

A psychological test

What is the process of assessing the size, amount, or the degree of an attribute using certain rules for transforming the attribute into numbers?

Measurement

What is a tool or technique for assessing the size, amount, or degree of an attribute?

A measurement instrument

What do psychological tests focus on?

Individual outcomes

What do surveys focus on?

Group outcomes

The results of a psychological test are often reported through scaled scores. True or false?

True