PSYCH INTEG
HISTORICAL ACCOUNTS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT
Overview of Early Philosophical Foundations
Key Philosophers:
Plato and Aristotle: Discuss fundamental human identity and the understanding of the human self (soul).
Philosophical Ideas: Emphasize the uniqueness and rationality of every individual, a dominant philosophy 2,500 years ago.
Early Psychological Assessment by Civilizations
Chinese Civil Service Assessments:
Timeline: As early as 2,200 B.C., the Chinese Empire implemented a system of civil service assessment.
Purpose: These assessments determined qualifications for public service and government positions.
Important Milestones in Psychological Testing
2200 B.C.: Standardization of civil service exams in China.
1838: Jean Esquirol distinguishes between illness and mental retardation.
1862: Wilhelm Wundt utilizes a calibrated pendulum to measure the speed of thought.
1866: O. Edouard Seguin writes the first major textbook on assessment and treatment of mental retardation.
1879: Wundt establishes the first experimental laboratory in psychology at Leipzig, Germany.
1884: Francis Galton administers the first test battery to thousands of citizens; results presented at the International Health Exhibit.
1890: James McKeen Cattell introduces the term "mental test" in the context of announcing the Galtonian Battery test.
1896: Emil Kraepelin offers the first comprehensive classification of mental disorders.
1901: Clark Wissler discovers no correlation between Cattellian brass instrument tests and college grades.
1904: Charles Spearman proposes that intelligence comprises a single general factor (g) alongside numerous specific factors.
1905: Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon create the first modern intelligence test.
1908: Henry H. Goddard translates the Binet-Simon Intelligence Test into English.
1912: William Stern introduces the concept of the IQ (Intelligence Quotient), defined as Mental Age divided by Chronological Age.
1916: Lewis Terman revises the Binet-Simon scales, with further revisions in 1937, 1960, 1986, and 2003.
1917: Robert Yerkes leads the development of the Army Alpha and Beta examinations for World War I recruits.
1918: Robert Woodworth develops the Personal Data Sheet, the first personality test.
1920: Publication of the Rorschach Inkblot Test.
1921: Establishment of the Psychological Corporation, the first major test publisher, by Cattell, Thorndike, and Woodworth.
1926: The first Scholastic Aptitude Test published by the College Entrance Examination Board.
1927: Release of the first edition of the Strong Vocational Interest Blank by Edward Kellog Strong, incorporating the RIASEC principle by John Holland.
1935: Publication of the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), developed by Morgan and Murray at Harvard University.
1936: Edgar Doll publishes the Vineland Social Maturity Scale for assessing adaptive behaviour in mentally retarded individuals.
1938: L.L. Thurstone introduces the concept of intelligence as consisting of seven group factors known as primary mental abilities.
Raven’s Progressive Matrices published, a non-verbal reasoning test intended to measure Spearman’s g factor.
Lauretta Bender releases the Bender Visual Motor Gestalt Test designed to assess visual motor integration.
Arnold Gesell publishes his scale of infant development.
Oscar Buros publishes the first Mental Measurement Yearbook.
1939: Publication of the Wechsler-Bellevue Intelligence Scale.
Release of Taylor-Russell tables for determining expected proportions of test outcomes.
Kuder Preference Record: a forced-choice interest inventory considering 10 career paths — Outdoor, Mechanical, Computational, Scientific, Persuasive, Artistic, Literary, Musical, Social Service, Clerical.
1942: Introduction of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI).
1948: The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) utilizes situational techniques in officer selection.
1949: Publication of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children.
1950: Release of the Rotter Incomplete Sentence Blank.
1951: Lee Cronbach introduces coefficient alpha as an index of reliability for tests and scales (internal consistency).
1952: The American Psychiatric Association publishes the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-I).
1953: Stephenson develops Q-technique, a method for studying self-concept and other variables through factor analysis that correlates individuals across variables.
Paul Meehl publishes on Clinical vs. Statistical Prediction.
1956: Emergence of the Halstead-Reitan Test Battery as a premier neuropsychological assessment tool.
1957: Charles E. Osgood describes the semantic differential scale.
1958: Lawrence Kohlberg publishes the first version of his Moral Judgment Scale.
1959: Campbell and Fiske propose a pioneering test validation approach known as the multitrait-multimethod matrix.
1963: Raymond Cattell proposes the distinction between Fluid and Crystallized Intelligence.
1967: Hobson vs. Hansen leads to the ruling against the use of group ability tests to “track” students, emphasizing discrimination concerns against minority children.
1968: Publication of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID) by Nancy Bayley.
1969: Arthur Jensen hypothesizes about genetic differences in IQ between African-American and White individuals in the Harvard Educational Review.
1971: Supreme Court ruling in Griggs v. Duke Power mandates that employment test results must have a demonstrable link to job performance, emphasizing the relevance of tests.
1971: George Vaillant popularizes a hierarchy of 18 ego adaptive mechanisms alongside assessment techniques.
1974: Friedman and Rosenman introduce the Type A coronary-behavior pattern, interrelating their assessment methods.
1979: Court ruling in Larry P. v. Riles finds standardized IQ tests biased against low-functioning black children.
1985: Joint publication by the American Psychological Association (APA) and others on influential standards for Educational Psychological Testing.
Revision of the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale by Sparrow et al., a follow-up to the 1936 Vineland Social Maturity Scale.
1987: Publication of DSM-III-R by the American Psychiatric Association.
1989: Observation of the "Lake Wobegon Effect": all U.S. states report above-average achievement levels.
Release of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory - 2 (MMPI-2).
1992: The American Psychological Association publishes a revised Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct.
1994: Publication of DSM-IV by the American Psychiatric Association.
Important Milestones in Psychological Testing
2200 B.C.: Standardization of civil service exams in China.
1838: Jean Esquirol distinguishes between illness and mental retardation.
1862: Wilhelm Wundt utilizes a calibrated pendulum to measure the speed of thought.
1866: O. Edouard Seguin writes the first major textbook on assessment and treatment of mental retardation.
1879: Wundt establishes the first experimental laboratory in psychology at Leipzig, Germany.
1884: Francis Galton administers the first test battery to thousands of citizens; results presented at the International Health Exhibit.
1890: James McKeen Cattell introduces the term "mental test" in the context of announcing the Galtonian Battery test.
1896: Emil Kraepelin offers the first comprehensive classification of mental disorders.
1901: Clark Wissler discovers no correlation between Cattellian brass instrument tests and college grades.
1904: Charles Spearman proposes that intelligence comprises a single general factor (g) alongside numerous specific factors.
1905: Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon create the first modern intelligence test. Psychometric Properties: Designed to measure cognitive abilities and mental age.
1908: Henry H. Goddard translates the Binet-Simon Intelligence Test into English.
1912: William Stern introduces the concept of the IQ (Intelligence Quotient), defined as Mental Age divided by Chronological Age.
1916: Lewis Terman revises the Binet-Simon scales, with further revisions in 1937, 1960, 1986, and 2003. Psychometric Properties: Reliability and validity studies conducted to assess consistency and accuracy of the measures.
1917: Robert Yerkes leads the development of the Army Alpha and Beta examinations for World War I recruits, focusing on verbal and non-verbal cognitive skills.
1918: Robert Woodworth develops the Personal Data Sheet, the first personality test, assessing emotional stability and personality traits.
1920: Publication of the Rorschach Inkblot Test, a projective test used to analyze personality and emotional functioning.
1921: Establishment of the Psychological Corporation, the first major test publisher, by Cattell, Thorndike, and Woodworth.
1926: The first Scholastic Aptitude Test published by the College Entrance Examination Board, designed to predict college success. Psychometric Properties: Focus on predictive validity.
1927: Release of the first edition of the Strong Vocational Interest Blank by Edward Kellog Strong, incorporating the RIASEC principle by John Holland. Psychometric Properties: Assess correlation between interests and career satisfaction.
1935: Publication of the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), developed by Morgan and Murray at Harvard University, exploring underlying motives and conflicts. Psychometric Properties: Measures narrative responses and thematic storytelling.
1936: Edgar Doll publishes the Vineland Social Maturity Scale for assessing adaptive behaviour in mentally retarded individuals. Psychometric Properties: Focus on criterion-related validity.
1938: L.L. Thurstone introduces the concept of intelligence as consisting of seven group factors known as primary mental abilities. Psychometric Properties: Reliability established through factor analysis. Raven’s Progressive Matrices published, a non-verbal reasoning test intended to measure Spearman’s g factor.
1939: Publication of the Wechsler-Bellevue Intelligence Scale. Psychometric Properties: Extensive reliability and validity assessments conducted in various populations.
1942: Introduction of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). Psychometric Properties: Standardized scales measuring various psychological conditions.
1949: Publication of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children. Psychometric Properties: Norm-referenced measures to assess childhood intelligence.
1951: Lee Cronbach introduces coefficient alpha as an index of reliability for tests and scales (internal consistency).
1985: Joint publication by the American Psychological Association (APA) and others on influential standards for Educational Psychological Testing. - Revision of the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale by Sparrow et al., a follow-up to the 1936 Vineland Social Maturity Scale. Psychometric Properties: Ensured by updated normative data and reliability studies.