Psychological Assessment Quiz

Principles of Psychological Assessment: Intelligence Testing and Ethical Issues

• Intelligence has been defined in various ways, including abstract thinking, adaptation to the environment, and capacity for knowledge.

• Models of intelligence include Charles Spearman's "G" factor, which suggests that intelligence is measured by one test, and Guilford's model, which proposes 120 independent factors of intelligence.

• Thurstone's Primary Abilities model breaks intelligence down into seven factors, including verbal comprehension and perceptual speed.

• John Carroll's CHC model is the current most popular model of intelligence, with eight broad abilities to be measured and individual tasks measured beyond that.

• Fluid intelligence (Gf) refers to the ability to apply knowledge easily in different situations, while crystallized intelligence (Gc) depends on learning and knowledge applied to specific scenarios.

• Genetics and environmental factors both play a role in intelligence, with correlations between monozygotic and dizygotic twins showing evidence of inheritability, but environmental factors such as prenatal and early developmental influences, malnutrition, and family background also affecting IQ.

• Individual tests provide extra clinical information but require more skill and training, while group tests are more efficient but limit the richness obtained in individual tests.

• The Wechsler Intelligence Scales are the most commonly used individual IQ tests, with different versions for different age groups.

• The Stanford Binet V is an alternative IQ test to the Wechsler scales, with adaptive test formats and subtests assessing fluid reasoning, knowledge, quantitative reasoning, visuo-spatial reasoning, and working memory.

• A code of conduct is necessary in psychological assessment to safeguard the welfare of those who use psychological services and the integrity of the profession.

• Ethical issues in psychological assessment include informed consent, confidentiality and privacy, competence and expertise, cultural and diversity considerations, and conflicts of interest.

• The psychologist's responsibility is to ensure that the assessment is valid, reliable, and culturally fair, and that the results are communicated appropriately to the client and other relevant parties.Ethical Guidelines for Psychologists in Australia and Self-Report Inventories

• Australian psychologists are guided by the Psychology Board of Australia and the Australian Psychological Society's (APS) Code of Ethics and Guidelines for psychological assessment and the use of psychological tests.

• The APS Code of Ethics includes three general ethical principles: respect for the rights and dignity of people and peoples, propriety, and integrity.

• Justice, respect, informed consent, privacy, confidentiality, release of information to clients, and collection of client information from associated parties are among the ethical standards that psychologists must follow.

• When assessing culturally and linguistically diverse clients, psychologists must be aware of language and cultural biases in assessment instruments and seek advice from cultural consultants if necessary.

• Psychologists must obtain informed consent from clients before conducting psychological assessments and explain the limits of confidentiality and how reports will be stored.

• Psychological assessment information must be used only for the purposes for which it was first collected, and if used for a secondary purpose, psychologists must obtain consent from the client.

• Propriety includes ensuring competence to deliver psychological services, providing services to benefit rather than harm, and protecting the interests of clients and the public.

• Competent conducting of psychological assessments includes determining the need for assessment, choosing appropriate assessment procedures, accurately interpreting results, and effectively communicating results to clients and commissioning parties.

• Self-report inventories (SRIs) are a popular method of measuring personality and possess psychometric properties such as standardised norms and reliability and validity of test scores.

• SRIs include a set of items selected by the individual to be descriptive of themselves and can measure several variables or single variables.

• Response tendencies such as acquiescence, socially desirable responding, and extremes in responding must be considered when interpreting SRI results.

• The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF) are examples of standard measures that use self-report inventories to measure personality. MMPI includes 10 clinical scales and 3 validity scales, while 16PF includes 16 factors.Overview of Personality and Projective Tests

• The text discusses various personality tests, including self-report tests and projective techniques.

• The 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF) assesses 16 personality factors, such as warmth, reasoning, and dominance.

• The NEO PI-3 is based on the Five Factor Model of personality traits and includes items derived from previous questionnaires.

• The Million Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) is designed as a test of personality disorders and symptoms associated with them, with scales reflecting the classificatory system of DSM Personality Disorders.

• The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) assesses personality using Jung's classification, with four bipolar dimensions yielding 16 possible types.

• Projective techniques require the client to respond to ambiguous stimuli and assume that the client will "project" their characteristic thoughts, feelings, and behaviors onto the material.

• Projective techniques have in common vague or ambiguous stimuli, an unstructured task, disguised testing procedures, and a global approach to assessing personality.

• The Rorschach inkblot test consists of 10 symmetrical inkblots on separate cards, with scoring systems having in common scoring categories such as location, determinants, and content.

• The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) requires respondents to construct a story based on 31 cards containing ambiguous pictures.

• Sentence completion tests, such as the Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank, ask respondents to complete sentence stems and rate their answers on a 7-point scale.

• Draw-a-Person (D-A-P) tests ask respondents to draw one or more people and are administered and scored relatively quickly.

• Projective techniques are primarily used as a clinical tool and are supposed to have advantages over self-report tests, such as bypassing conscious defenses and allowing clinicians privileged access to important psychological information.

• However, projective techniques have limitations in terms of reliability, validity, and cultural bias, and their use should be evaluated carefully.Psychological Testing: WISC-IV, Test Bias, and 16 Personality Factors

• The WISC-IV is a cognitive test for children that assesses different functions through 15 subtests, 10 of which are core and 5 supplementary.

• The WISC-IV gives five index scores: Fullscale IQ, Verbal Comprehension Index, Perceptual Reasoning Index, Working Memory Index, and Processing Speed Index.

• The subtest scores contribute to the index scores, and each score has a mean of 100 and standard deviation of 15.

• Test bias is a statistical term that refers to whether a test or procedure systematically predicts one group in favor of another, and it is usually determined based on a test's predictive validity.

• There are two types of test bias: slope bias (also known as differential validity) and intercept bias (equivalent to the notion of unfairness).

• Slope bias occurs when the slope of a regression line for one group is significantly different from another group, while intercept bias occurs when the intercept of a regression line for one group is significantly different from another group.

• The determination of test bias is an objective/data-driven procedure.

• The 16 Personality Factors (16PF) test provides scores on 16 primary factors of personality that combine to make five global factors.

• The 16PF primary factors are scored as STEN scores with a standard deviation of 2 and a range of 1-10, while the global factors are scored by weighting the primary factors and summing those weighted scores.

• Extreme STEN scores in the range of 1-3 and 8-10 are interpreted as important in describing the person's personality, and high and low scores do not indicate abnormality.

• There are three validity indices in the 16PF to detect response styles: IM, ACQ, and INF.

• The 16PF can be used to assess desired attributes for reality TV show contestants, such as emotional stability, self-assurance, self-control, social boldness, and openness to change.