Features of Psychological Tests

Defining Features of Tests

• Tests are defined by their standardized procedures, ensuring uniformity across examiners and settings.
• Psychological tests sample behavior and allow examiners to make inferences about the total domain of relevant behaviors.
• Tests provide scores or categorize individuals, with psychological testing quantifying performance through numbers or classifications.
• Tests are used in relation to norms or standards.
• Tests predict nontest behavior, with examiners focusing on broader behaviors.

Standardized Procedure

• A test is considered standardized when its administration procedures are uniform across examiners and settings.

Behavior Sample

• A psychological test is a limited sample of behavior, bounded by time and resources.
• A test sample is valuable if it enables making inferences about relevant behaviors.

Scores or Categories

• Tests yield scores or classify individuals into categories.
• Psychological testing quantifies performance numerically or categorically.
• Tests assess individual variation in traits, assuming all people possess the trait to varying degrees.
• The aim of testing is to gauge the amount of a trait or quality an individual possesses.
• Test scores reflect a degree of measurement error.
• Tests estimate characteristics via external behavior samples, which leads to inferred characteristics.
• X = T + e, Where X is the observed score, T the true score, and e is the error component.

Norms or Standards

• An examinee's test score is interpreted by comparing it with scores from others who took the same test.
• Test developers provide norms - a summary of test results from a representative group of subjects.
• Selecting and testing the standardization sample is vital for a test's utility.

Prediction of Nontest Behavior

• A good test allows predicting other behaviors, instead of merely echoing the behaviors to be predicted.
• The objective of testing is to anticipate further behaviors beyond what the test directly samples.

Norm-Referenced vs. Criterion-Referenced Tests

• With norm-referenced tests scores get meaning by comparison to a normative sample.
• Norms are typically inferred from a group sample, instead of an entire population
• Norms allow a better comparison of an examinee's scores to those of a comparison group.
• Criterion-referenced tests determine where an examinee stands regarding tightly defined educational goals.
• With criterion-referenced tests, scores are interpreted against a set standard.

Distinction Between Testing and Assessment

• Assessment is more encompassing than testing which refers to gathering information, making inferences about a person and predictions about their behavior.
• Assessment is defining or estimating the magnitude of person’s attributes.
• Assessment encompasses observations, interviews, checklists, inventories, projective, psychological tests.
• Tests are only one type of information used in assessment.

Types of Tests

• Tests are categorized into group versus individual tests.
• Group tests use pencil-and-paper for large groups.
• Individual tests demand one-on-one administration.
• Individual tests gauge motivation and assess factors like impulsiveness or anxiety to prevent skewing test results.
• Group tests are easy to administer to many people, saving time and effort.

Types of Psychological Testing

• Intelligence Tests: Measure abilities in areas like comprehension, perception, or reasoning to forecast potential in academics or occupations.
• Aptitude Tests: Gauge readiness for specific tasks or skills, acting as a subset of ability testing.
• Achievement Tests: Assess degree of learning or success in a subject or task.
• Creativity Tests: Assess original thinking abilities and the ability to derive innovative solutions, especially for vaguely defined problems.
• Personality Tests: Assess traits, qualities, or behaviors that determine a person's individuality; these tests include inventories, checklists, and projective techniques.
• Interest Inventories: Measure preference for certain activities or topics, helping determine interests for self-knowledge.
• Behavioral Procedures: Objectively describe and count behavior frequencies, linking behaviors to antecedents and consequences.
• Neuropsychological Tests: Assess cognitive, sensory, perceptual, and motor functions.
• Mental Ability Tests: Intelligence tests, Aptitude tests and Achievement tests.

Uses of Tests

• Tests are used in classification, diagnosis/treatment planning, self-knowledge, program evaluation, and research.
• A single test can serve multiple these purposes.

Classification

• Classification is assigning a person to a category.
• Classification significantly affects access to college or job opportunities.

Diagnosis and Treatment

• Placement sorts individuals into suitable programs according to needs/skills.
• Diagnosis determines the nature and source of a person's abnormal behavior; used to classify behavior within a diagnostic system and should convey strengths, weaknesses, and etiology, not simple assignments of labels.
• Screening identifies those who might have special characteristics or needs
• Certification/selection have a pass/fail element where passing certification exams confers privileges and selection provides university or employment opportunities.

Self-Knowledge

• Psychological tests serve as a potent source of self-knowledge, helping to change career paths or otherwise guide a person's life course.

Program Evaluation

• Another application for psychological tests is for systematically evaluating educational and social programs.

Research

• Tests play a key role in applied and theoretical behavioral research.

Test Administration

• Factors that influence testing soundness include administration and characteristics of the tester, the context of testing, motivation, experience of the examinee, and the method of scoring.

Standardized Procedures in Test Administration

• The interpretation of psychological tests is reliable when measurements fit standard outlined in test manuals.
• Nonstandard procedures can distort test results, making them invalid or misleading.
• Test administrators follow standardized procedures that have been specified by the test publisher, especially in clinical applications.

Factors Affecting Test Administration

• When considering reliability, attention is paid to random sources of error, which is observed Score = True Score + Error
• Other factors beyond random error can affect results.

Sensitivity to Disabilities

• In valid administration impairments in hearing, vision, speech, or motor control may distort test results.
• Adjustments may be needed in testing or how instructions are given.
• Norms are also needed special people.

Factors Affecting Test Administration

• Rapport, Enthnicity, Language, Training of Test Administrators, Expectancy effects, Use of Reinforcers, Computer-Assisted Testing, Subject Variables

Influence of the examiner and Rapport

• Establishing rapport is creating a warm atmosphere to motivate and elicit cooperation.
• Failing to establish rapport causes anxiety, negative reactions and can distort test findings and ability.
• Enhanced rapport did not benefit younger children (below grade 3).
• Older children (grades 5-9) produced higher IQ scores under enhanced rapport.
• Enhanced Rapport = mean IQ of 122
• Neutral Rapport = mean IQ of 109
• Children score lower on IQ test if administrator makes disapproving comments rather than neutral or positive ones (Witmer, Bernstein, Dunham, 1971).
• Familiar administrators improve test results (DeRosa and Patalano, 1991) or about 4 more IQ points (Fuchs & Fuchs, 1986) - meta-analysis of 22 studies.
• Children from lower socio-economic backgrounds produced a 7.6 IQ point increase when co-occurred with familiar administrators.
• People disclose more on self-report surveys than they do in interviews, and more on a computer than to interviewers.
• Rapport is important in situations viewed as ""personal"" or that are subject to social pressure for desirability.

Examiner sex, Experience and Race

• Studies are contradictory so examiner sex, race and experience do not appear to significantly influence test results.

Ethnicity

• Majority of research on intelligence shows nonsignificant effects for cross-ethnic administration
• Only significant findings are when paraprofessionals test.
• Standardized testing procedures account for this lack of difference.

Language

• It is important to consider the validity of tests given in English to bilingual or Limited-English Proficient (LEP) individuals.
• Language: Administer tests in most proficient language.
• Interpreters are a potential source of bias.

Training

• Administration and scoring errors are a large source of bias, with there being 2-4 administrations on test taken in typical graduate training.
• Fieldwork provides crucial testing practice. Error rates on WAIS improve after 10 administrations.

Test Administration Guidelines

• It is important to provide appropriate test time.
• Test administrators provide standardized instructions clearly and loudly.
• Control noise and distractions
• Appropriate light and ventilation

Expectancy Effects

• Expectancy effects, also called Rosenthal effects, occur when subjects behave consistent with experimenter/test administrator's expectations.
• Biases are not limited to experiments, also occurs on standardized tests. Test administrator's expectations of subjects influence the way they mark scores.
• Expectancy effect are activated through nonverbal cues and experimenter/administrators may not be aware.
• Influence of the expectancy effect on test outcomes is minimal and varies, so careful study is required.

Use of Reinforcers

• Study of reinforcing effects finds conflicting results with small/inconsistent differences.
• Appropriate cultural feedback can increase IQ scores, such as among studies of African-American test takers.
• Before using reinforcement, checking the testing manual first is the standard.
• It is acceptable to reward effort, not answers.

Computer Assisted Testing

• Advantages of Computer Assisted Testing involve the connection to Item response Theory, The ability to tailor tests to a person ability, High standardization, Precision timing, Less dependence on human testers, no need to rush respondents and Bias controls.
• Computer adaptive versions show no difference from paper counterparts.
• The computer version can be more accurate and take less time.
• Examinees enjoy and even prefer computer formats.
• A study revealed computer test takers are more honest when ask about sensitive information.
• CAT can be applied to the MMPI, and can be used for personnel selections and cognitive tests.
• There is concern about inexperienced people misinterpreting computer generated reports.

Background and Motivation of the Examinee

• People vary regarding characteristics that examiners want to assess extraeneous ways to confound the test results.
• Illness, insomnia, test-anxiety, drugs, and hormones are potential source of errors.
• If subjects are struggling with test anxiety they might not perform well.
• Sane murderer seeking to look mental ill, student undergo coaching, subject lack motivation can also influence outcome.
• Test results may be inaccurate because of examinee characteristics like anxiety, malingering, coaching, cultural background.

Test Anxiety

• Test anxiety is phenomenological, physiological, behavioral responses tied with concern about failing.
• There can be varying levels of anxiety with test takers.

Motivation to Deceive

• Overt faking of test results is not common.
• People seeking benefits consciously fake results.

Problems in Testing

• Problems issues involve people judges act as the testing instrument.
• Human judges can add error to an assessment or cause Reactivity, Drift, Expectancies(same as the administration of test.)

Drift

• Evaluators are trained or given strict rules in which to follow when evaluate targets. Evaluators may not follow as strict set of guidelines or stick to rules or standards.
• Evaluators must periodically retrain, to avoid this.

Responsibilities of Test Users

• Standard 5.9: Test users must provide appropriate interpretation of tests.

Best Practice

• Confidentiality of test, Expertise to use test, Informed Concent, Obsolete Tests and the standard of Care, responsible report writing, Communication of Test results, Consideration of individual Differences