Psychological Testing: Chapter 1: Psychological Testing & Assessment

Published a test designed to help place Paris schoolchildren in appropirate classes

Term used to refer to everything from the administration of a test to the interpretation of a test score

Acknowledges that tests are only one type of tool used by professional assessors and that a test’s value is intimately linked to the knowledge, skill, and experience of the assessor

Gathering and integration of psychology related dagta for the purpose of making a psychological evaluation that is accomplished through the use of tools such as tests, interviews, case studies, behavioral observation, and especially designed apparatuses and measurement procedures

The process of measureing psychology-related variables by means of devides or procedures designed to obtain a sample of behavior

The assessor and the assessee may work as partners from initial contact through feedback

Collaborative approach to assessment; therapeutic self-discovery and new understandings are encouraged throughout the assessment process

Interactive approach to psychological assessment that usually follows a model of evaluation, intervention of some sort, and evaluation; used in school settings although it can be used in correctional, corporate, neuropsychological, clinical, and most any other setting as well

Measuring device or procedure

Refers to a device or procedure designed to measure variables related to psychology (intelligence, personality, aptitude, interests, attitudes, and values); involves analysis of a sample behavior

Subject matter of the test; varies with the focus of the particular test

Pertains to the form, plan, structure, arrangement, and layout of test items as well as to related considerations such as time limits; used to refer to the form in which a test is administered; may be software. form or structure of other evaluative tools and processes, such as the specific procedures used in obtaining a particular type of sample

May be one one-to-one basis, may require an active and knowledgeable test administration; may involve demonstration of various kinds of tasks on the part of the assessee as well as trained observation of an assessee’s performance

A code or summary statement, usually but not necessarily numerical in nature, that reflects and evaluation of performance on a test, task, interview, or some other sample behavior

Process of assigning such evaluative codes or statements to performance on tests, tasks, interviews, or other behavior samples

Cutoff Score; Reference point, usually numerical, derived by judgment and used to divde a set of data into two or more classifications;

Technical quality of tests; used when referring to how consistently and how accurately a psychological test measures what it purports to measure

Defined as the science of psychological measurement

Adjective which refers to how measurement that is psychological in nature

Refer to psychological test users

The usefulness or practical value that a test or assessment technique has for a particular purpose

Range from those widely labeled as tests to procedures that measurement experts might label with other, more specific terms (situational performance measures)

Tool of psychological assessment; Interviewer takes note not only of the content of what is said but also the way it is being said; both verbal and nonverbal behavior is also taken note of

May include the interviewee’s body language, movements and facial expressions in response to the interviewer, the extent of eye contact, and aparent willingness to cooperate; also takes note of the way the the interviewee is dressed

Information such as changes in the interviewee's voice pitc or the extent to which particular questions precipitate long pauses or signs of emotion in response;

Method of gathering information therough direct communication involving reciprocal exchange

More than one interviewer participates in the personnel assessment; idiosyncratic biases of a lone interviewer will be minimized by the use of two or more interviewers; disadvantage is utility, the cost of using multiple interviewers may not be justified

Consitutes of work products - whether retained on paper, canvas, film, video, audio, or some other medium

Tool of evaluation which extends to many other fields

Refers to records, transcripts, and other accounts in written, pictorial, or other form that preserve archival information, official and informal accounts, and other data items relevant to an assessee; may include files or excerpts from files maintained at institutions and agencies (schools, hospitals, employers, religious institutions, and criminal justice agencies).

Observing an individual's behavior in a situation; monitoring the actions of others or oneself by visual or electronic means while recording quantitative and/or qualitative information regarding the actions; used as a diagnostic aid in various settings such as inpatient facilities, behavioral research laboratories, and classrooms

Observing human behavior in a natural setting - the setting in which the behavior is more likely to occur

Acting an improvised or partially improvised part in a simulated situation

Tool of assessment wherein assessees are directed to act as if they were in a particular situation

When scoring is done on-site

Scoring is conducted at some central location

Sending test-related data to and returning from a central facility by means of phone lines, by mail, or courier

A listing of score or scores

More detailed, includes statistical analyses of the testtaker's performance

Includes numerical or narrative interpretative statements on the report

A type of report, usually written in language appropriate for communication between assessment professionals, provides expert opinion concerning analysis of data

Employs previously collected data into the test report such as medication records or behavioral observation data

Computer Assited Psychological Assessment

Refers to the assistance computers provide to the test user, not the testtaker

Computer Adaptive Testing

Reference to the computer's ability to tailor the test to the testtaker's ability or testtaking pattern

Who are the parties in the assessment enterprise?
In What types of settings are assessment conducted?
Why is assessment conducted?
How are assessments conducted?
Where does one go for authoritative information about tests?

Developers and publishers of tests
Users of tests
People who are evaluated by means of tests
Society at large

Create tests or other methods of assessment; among these are some that were created for a specific research study, in the hope that they would be published; represent refinements or modification of existing tests

Covers issues related to test construction and evaluaton, test admnistration and use, and special applications of tests such as special considerations when testing linguistic minorities

Wide range of professionals: clinicians, counselors, school psychologists, human resources personnel, consumer psychologists, experimental psychologists, and social psychologists

Identifies who is a qualified test user and who should have access to (and be permitted to purchase) psychological tests, and related tools of psychological assessment

Amount and degree of test anxiety
Extent of their understanding and whether they agree with the rationale of the assessment
Capacity and Willingness to cooperate with examiner or comprehend writtent test instructions
Amount of physical pain or emotional distress they are experiencing
Amount of physical discomfort brought on by the amount of food ingested before the exam or other physical conditions
Extent to which they are alert and wide awake
Extent to which they are alert or wide awake
Extent to which they are predisposed to agreeing or disagreeing when presented with stimulus statements
Extent to which they have received prior coaching
Importance they may attribute to portraying themselves in a good (or bad) light
Extent to which they are lucky and can beat the odds on a multiple-choice achievement test

Anyone who is the subject of an assessment or an evaluation can be a testtaker or an assessee;

A reconstruction of a deceased individual's psychological profile on the basis of archival records, artifacts, and interviews previously conducted with the deceased assessee or with people who knew him or her

Educational Settings, Clinical Settings, Counseling Settings, Geriatric Settings, Business and Military Settings, Government and organizational credentialing, and other settings

Tests administered early in school life to help identify children who may have special needs

Evaluates accomplishment or the degree of learning that has taken place

Defined as a description or conclusion reached on the basis of evidence and opinion; this conclusion is reached through a process of distinguishing the nature of something and ruling out alternative conclusions

Refers to a tool of assessment used to help narrow down and identify areas of deficit to be targeted for intervention

Grades which are not based on any formal assessment; a typically nonsystematic assessment that leads to the formation of an opinion or attitude

Tools are used to help screen for or diagnose behavior problems

Private psychotherapy client
School psychologist
Psychotherapy researcher
Psychologist-Consultant
Court-Appointed psychologist
Prison Psychologist

Test or measurement technique is employed with only one individual at a time

Used primarily for screening - identifying those individuals who require further diagnostic evaluation

Assessment may occur in environments such as schools, prisons, and government or privately owned institutions

Improvement of the assessee in terms of adjustment, productivity, or some related variable

Assessment is used to evaluate cognitive, psychological, adaptive, or other functioning

Defined from the perspective of an observer; defined from theperspective of assessees themselves and refers to one's own self-report regarding lifestyle-related variables

Assessment is used to measure a wide range of achievement, aptitude, interest, motivational and other tests in the decision to hire as well as in related decisions regarding promotions, transfer, job satisfaction, and eligibility for further training; help to diagnose needs of existing and older rands and products and identify how they might be revitalized or made more appealing in the eyes of the consumer

Application of measurement is in governmental licensing, certification, or general credentialing of professionals

Used to recognize excellence in the practice of psychology

Awards its diploma on the basis of an examination to test users, test developers, and others who have distinguished themselved in the field of testing and assessment

How the assessor prepares for the assessment
How the assessment is administered
How the scores or results of the assessment are used
How the entire record of assessment is stored

A working relationship between the examiner and the examinee; sometimes achieved with a few words of small talk when the examiner and examinee are introduced

Safeguarding the test protocols

| Conveying the test results in a clearly understandable fashion

An evaluative or diagnostic procedure or process that varies from the usual, customary, or standardized way a measurement is derived either by virtue of some special accommodation made to the assessee or by means of alternative methods designed to measure the same variable(s)

Adaptation of a test, procedure, or situation, or the substitution of one test for another, to make the assessment more suitable for an assessee with exceptional needs

Test Catalogues
Test Manuals
Reference Volmes
Journal Articles

Contains detailed information concerning the development of a particular test and technical information relating to it