Introduction to Psychological Testing

Aryne F. Levine

PSY/475

May 24, 2012

Glenn Leighbody

Introduction to Psychological Testing

The term test is a difficult term to define. There are several major categories and sub-

categories of assessments. The major categories of assessments relate to the type of examination.

The sub-categories of assessments relate to the manner in which the assessment is taken.

Assessments can be used for a wide variety of purposes in the professional, military, and

educational worlds. The validity and reliability of a test affect the overall purpose of the test.

Human error and individuality can affect the reliability and validity of psychological

assessments.

Definition of the Term Test

The term test is defined as an analytical assessment, examination, or appraisal that is used

to measure the abilities, understanding, intellect, proficiencies, or skills of an individual or group

(Merriam-Webster, 2012). There are many major and minor categories of tests. The five major

test categories are: The five main categories of psychological tests are: mental ability tests,

achievement tests, personality assessments, interest and attitude assessments, and

neuropsychological tests. The minor categories of tests are: performance, paper and pencil,

power, speed, individual, group, maximum performance, typical performance, norm-referenced,

and criterion referenced examinations. Separating examinations into categories allows a

researcher to better understand the purpose of an examination and the users that a test is designed

for (Hogan, 2007).

Description of the Major Categories of Tests

The five major categories of examinations are not black and white, they exist more in

shades of gray. One type of test may also delve into areas that are categorized as another type of

assessment.

Mental Ability Tests. Mental ability assessments main function is to assess an individual’s cognitive functions. Mental ability tests can be used to assess an individual’s recall, retention,

visualization of space, and innovative thought. The sub-categories of mental ability testing are:

individually conducted intelligence assessments, group administered intelligence assessments,

and ability tests other than intelligence examinations (Hogan, 2007).

Achievement Tests. Achievement assessments are designed to determine an individual’s ability

levels in a specific area. Many examinations in this category are developed by professionals and

are standardized. There are four subcategories of achievement tests: individually administered,

primary and secondary school achievement assessments, single-subject assessments, and

examinations used for professional certification and licensure (Hogan, 2007).

Personality Tests. Personality tests are intended to produce information that is relevant to

human personality. There are three subcategories of personality assessments: objective

personality assessments, projective techniques, and other measures. Objective personality tests

are considered to be objective because they are counted objectively based on the test takers

answers given using a true/false test format. Some objective personality tests are designed to

assess an individual’s personality traits within the average scale. Other objective personality

assessments are used to clinically assess an individual’s likelihood of extreme or incapacitating

psychological conditions. Projective techniques are unstructured tasks that hope to offer the

assessor insight into an individual’s personality. Reactions to pictures, word association, ink-blot

testing, and human figure drawings are examples of projective technique personality tests. The

category other measures includes any personality assessment that is not found in the first two

sub-categories of personality tests (Hogan, 2007).

Interest and Attitude Assessments. Interest and attitude assessments are used to measure an

individual interest in or attitudes towards a specific topic, group, practice, or vocation. The

largest subcategory of interest and attitude assessments is vocational interest measures.

Vocational interest measures are used by high school and college counselors to help an

individual explore vocational areas that are applicable to his or her interests and activities

(Hogan, 2007). A second subcategory of interest and attitude assessments is attitude surveys.

Attitude surveys are an assessment of the feelings of a populace in relation to a product, brand,

company, topic, group, or practice. Attitude surveys are helpful to businesses in detecting

underlying markets, determining the demographics necessary to boost sales or to assess the effect

of a corporation’s events or pronouncements (Business dictionary.com, 2012).

Neuropsychological Tests. The purpose of neuropsychological assessments is to ascertain data

about the level of functioning in an individual’s central nervous system. Neuropsychological

tests are mainly used to assess an individual’s level of cognitive functioning. They are also used

to examine verbal and figurative recall and retention levels, nonconcrete cognition, and

psychomotor capabilities. Neuropsychological tests employ assessments from many other

categories and subcategories to aid in the assessment of an individual’s level of nervous system

functioning (Hogan, 2007).

Identification of the Major Uses and Users of these Tests

There are four major categories of users of tests and assessments. They are clinical,

educational, personnel, and research. Each categories of user contains a large level of variety.

However, the uses of the assessments are more distinctive within each classification.

Clinical Use. Clinical users of assessments and tests consist of clinical psychologist, school

psychologists, counselors, and neuropsychologists. In the clinical arena assessments are used by

a psychologist to assist their patient or client who has some type of problem or dilemma. The

issue may be either simple or complex. Clinical assessments allow the clinician to determine the

type and gravity of the issue. Assessments may also help to offer suggestions to aid the client

with his or her problem or dilemma. They can also be used to assess a client’s level of progress

in dealing with the issue or dilemma. Each of the users of clinical examinations employs the use

of intelligence tests, objective personality assessments, and projective techniques. Most clinical

test users also use neuropsychological assessments. Counselors also use vocational interest

surveys to assist their clients (Hogan, 2007).

Educational Use. Users of educational tests are those users other than a school counselor or

psychologist that employs the use of assessment in an educational environment. Educational use

tests are most often administered in a group setting and assess ability and achievement levels of

the educational environment’s students. The results of these examinations are employed by

educators, educational administrators, parents, and the general public (in a governmental

capacity). There are three major uses of tests in an educational environment; they are:

achievement tests, group mental ability tests and predictors of academic success. The main use of

achievement tests is to determine the level of learning that each student has attained. Predictors

of academic success are used to prepare a student for professional school or college (Hogan,

2007).

Personnel or Employment Testing. The principal users of personnel and employment

assessments are the military and businesses. There are two essential tasks to be achieved in by

employment and personnel assessments. The first is to choose the individual that is most capable

of filling a position. In the employment and military world the terminology most capable refers

to the predicted level of success that an individual will have in the position in question.

Personnel and employment tests can aid the military and businesses in the selection process for

prospective candidates of a position. Assessment types that employers and the military often use

are: measures of overall mental ability, specific position-related skill assessments, and

personality characteristic tests. Other information is also used to help the military and businesses

choose the correct individual. Employment assessments can also be used to help a business

correctly allocate tasks to its workforce or to assess an individual’s penchant for a specific task

(Hogan, 2007).

Research Assessments. The last major category of test usage is research. This category is also

the most diverse. There are many users of assessments for research, such as: psychologists,

educators, and social and behavioral scientists. There are three sub-categories of research test

usage. They are: assessments that serve as the dependent variable in a study, for the purpose of

describing the characteristics of samples to be employed in a study, and research on the

assessments themselves. Usage of an existing examination as the dependent variable of a study

allows the assessment to serve as the operational definition of the dependent variable. Using an

assessment to examine the characteristics of its sample population allows researchers further

insight into the populace they are studying. Studies conducted on the assessments themselves

often relate to the validity or reliability of the assessment in question (Hogan, 2007).

Comparison and contrast of the concepts of reliability and validity

The term reliability in relation to tests and assessments refers to the constancy of the

examination’s scores. If the same person takes the same assessment twice, his or her scores

should be the same if the assessment is reliable. The term validity in relation to tests and

assessments refers to the legitimacy of what an assessment is purported to be assessing. A valid

test must also be considered fair across different ethnic and cultural groups (Hogan, 2007). An

unreliable test can be valid. The test may not be measuring what it is supposed to measure;

however, the test scores can be considered reliable. If a test or assessment is not valid it cannot be considered reliable because it does not meet its intended purpose.

Discussion of how validity and reliability affect the field of psychological testing

The concepts of validity and reliability greatly affect the field of psychological testing.

This is due to the inherent individuality that exists in all humans. Each of us has individual

differences in experiences, life story, personality traits, attitudes, and beliefs. These differences

affect the validity and reliability of any psychological test. It is also important that the person

taking any psychological examination answer truthfully and to the best of his or her knowledge.

If the test is not taken according to these two principles, the results of the assessment will be

skewed.

Assessments come in five major categories. These categories exist in shades of gray and

often overlap with one another. Each of the five major categories also contains subcategories of

examination. There are four major categories of examination usage. These categories are

educational, clinical, business and military, and research. Without validity an assessment cannot

be considered reliable. The validity and reliability of an assessment have a great impact on the

field of psychological testing.

References

Attitude survey. (2012). In Business dictionary.com. Retrieved from

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/attitude-survey.html

Hogan, T. P. (2007). Psychological testing: A practical introduction (2nd ed.).
Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Test. (2012). In Merriam-Webster.com. Retrieved from http://mw3.merriam-
webster.com/dictionary/test