Psychological Assessment Methods

Psychological Assessment

• Ecological Momentary Assessment: evaluates specific problems and related cognitive and behavioral variables in the moment and place they occur.
• Collaborative Assessment: the assessor and assessee work as partners from initial contact through final feedback, encouraging therapeutic self-discovery and new understanding.

Psychological Testing

• A device or procedure designed to measure variables related to psychology, with three key aspects:
  • Content: subject matter
  • Format: form, plan, structure, arrangement, layout
  • Item: a specific stimulus to which a person responds overtly and is scored or evaluated

Psychometric Properties and Principles

• Essential in constructing, selecting, and interpreting tests, with key concepts including:
  • Administration Procedures: one-to-one basis or group administration
  • Score: code or summary of statement reflecting an evaluation of performance on a test
  • Scoring: the process of assigning scores to performances
  • Cut-Score: reference point used to divide a set of data into two or more classification
  • Psychometric Soundness: technical quality of a test
  • Psychometrics: the science of psychological measurement
  • Psychometrist or Psychometrician: a professional who uses, analyzes, and interprets psychological data

Types of Assessments

• Educational Assessment: evaluates abilities and skills relevant in a school context
• Retrospective Assessment: draws conclusions about psychological aspects of a person as they existed at some point in time prior to the assessment
• Remote Assessment: the subject is not in physical proximity to the person conducting the evaluation