Psychological Assessment (1-10, Aly)

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Questions and Answers

What term describes the science of psychological measurement?

Psychometrics (correct)

Psychotherapy

Psychoanalysis

Psychomotor

Which component of a psychological test involves the specific stimulus to which a person responds overtly?

Format

Item (correct)

Score

Administration Procedure

What is the purpose of a 'Cut-Score' in psychological testing?

To divide a set of data based on judgment (correct)

To arrange the layout of a test

To summarize the test statements

To score individual performances

What term is used for the summary statement that reflects an evaluation of performance on a test?

Score Signup and view all the answers

Assigning scores to performances is referred to as what?

Scoring Signup and view all the answers

Who is referred to as a professional that uses, analyzes, and interprets psychological data?

Psychometrist Signup and view all the answers

What is actuarial assessment characterized by?

Application of empirically demonstrated statistical rules Signup and view all the answers

Which level of interpretation is primarily concerned with minimal interpretation and lacks concern with underlying constructs?

Level I Signup and view all the answers

Which interpretation level involves developing a coherent and inclusive theory of the individual’s life?

Level III Signup and view all the answers

What does mechanical prediction in data interpretation use?

Algorithmic and statistical methods Signup and view all the answers

What's a common objective of a test battery?

To measure different variables but with a common objective Signup and view all the answers

Which role in psychological assessment involves creating the tests or other methods of assessment?

Test Author/Developer Signup and view all the answers

What does the term 'over behavior' refer to in psychological assessment?

An observable action or the product of an observable action Signup and view all the answers

Which party is primarily responsible for marketing and selling psychological tests?

Test Publishers Signup and view all the answers

What is the key focus of Level II interpretation in psychological assessment?

Descriptive generalizations and hypothetical constructs Signup and view all the answers

In psychological assessment, which type of prediction involves using computer algorithms?

Mechanical prediction Signup and view all the answers

Which type of test primarily relies on predictive validity?

Aptitude Test Signup and view all the answers

What kind of performance do typical performance tests measure?

Usual or habitual performance Signup and view all the answers

Which type of personality test requires choosing between two or more alternative responses?

Structured Personality Tests Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary characteristic of projective personality tests?

Unstructured with ambiguous stimuli or responses Signup and view all the answers

What does the mental status examination primarily determine?

Mental status of the patient Signup and view all the answers

What can be inferred about the reliability of a test in different contexts?

Reliability of a test can vary depending on the context in which it is used. Signup and view all the answers

Which type of interview allows a client to express feelings without fear of disapproval?

Non-Directive Signup and view all the answers

What does the 'error' component in Classical Test Theory refer to?

The part of the observed test score unrelated to the testtaker's ability. Signup and view all the answers

Which component of psychological assessment relies mainly on content validity?

Achievement Test Signup and view all the answers

What component is essential in the Cumulative Scoring method besides appropriate test items?

Appropriate scoring and result interpretation methods Signup and view all the answers

Which type of test measures individual dispositions and preferences?

Personality Test Signup and view all the answers

Which test's primary purpose is to measure the speed at which the test taker can complete it correctly?

Speed Test Signup and view all the answers

What does the reliability coefficient represent in psychological testing?

The ratio between true score variance and total variance. Signup and view all the answers

Which assumption states that tasks in tests mimic the actual behaviors they attempt to understand?

Assumption 3 Signup and view all the answers

Which kind of interview typically involves more than one interviewer?

Panel Interview Signup and view all the answers

Which factor is NOT a potential source of error variance identified in the content?

True scores Signup and view all the answers

What is error variance defined as in the content?

The variance in test scores due to factors other than the trait or ability measured. Signup and view all the answers

Which assumption highlights that various measurement techniques have both strengths and weaknesses?

Assumption 4 Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following is true about testing and assessment as per Assumption 7?

They can lead to critical decision-making that benefits society. Signup and view all the answers

In which theory is the true score considered an unobtainable ideal?

Classical Test Theory Signup and view all the answers

What does Fleiss Kappa measure?

Agreement between two or more raters on a categorical scale Signup and view all the answers

How does restriction of range affect the correlation coefficient?

Decreases the correlation coefficient Signup and view all the answers

What is the main goal of reliability in psychological assessment?

To estimate errors and devise techniques to reduce them Signup and view all the answers

Which type of error is caused by unpredictable fluctuations and inconsistencies in the measurement process?

Random Error Signup and view all the answers

Which theory emphasizes the problem of using a limited number of items to represent a larger, more complicated construct?

Domain Sampling Theory Signup and view all the answers

According to the true score formula, what does the $Rxx$ represent?

The correlation coefficient Signup and view all the answers

According to Generalizability Theory, what should happen if all facets in the universe are identical during testing?

The exact same test score should be obtained Signup and view all the answers

Which measure is specifically designed to evaluate inter-rater reliability with only two raters?

Cohen's Kappa Signup and view all the answers

What is a major source of error variance related to the environment during test administration?

Testtaker's motivation or attention Signup and view all the answers

What is a key characteristic of a dynamic trait when measuring internal consistency?

Presumed to be ever-changing as a function of situational and cognitive experiences Signup and view all the answers

What happens to the test score when the test-retest interval is short and the second test is influenced by the first?

The correlation is inflated due to carryover effects Signup and view all the answers

What is the best description of a power test?

A test with a long enough time limit to allow test takers to attempt all items Signup and view all the answers

What is the effect of measurement error that consistently affects the test score in the same direction?

Systematic Error Signup and view all the answers

What increases the reliability of a test?

Increasing the number of items Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary focus of Item Response Theory?

Item difficulty Signup and view all the answers

Which term describes the degree to which an item differentiates among individuals with varying levels of trait or ability?

Discrimination Signup and view all the answers

Which type of reliability is obtained from correlating pairs of scores from the same people on two different administrations of the test?

Test-Retest Reliability Signup and view all the answers

What element of variance is described as the difference between the observed score and the true score?

Measurement Error Signup and view all the answers

Which type of error is associated with consistent bias in scores due to a particular factor?

Systematic error Signup and view all the answers

Which statement about error variance is correct?

Error variance can either increase or decrease the test score by varying amounts Signup and view all the answers

Which statistical tools are used to assess the Coefficient of Stability?

Pearson R, Spearman Rho Signup and view all the answers

What is the main error associated with Split-Half Reliability?

Item sample: nature of split Signup and view all the answers

Which measure is used for inter-item consistency of dichotomous items with unequal variances?

KR-20 Signup and view all the answers

Which term describes a test that measures a single trait?

Homogeneity Signup and view all the answers

What is the purpose of counterbalancing in test administration?

To avoid carryover effects for parallel forms Signup and view all the answers

Which type of reliability is established when at least two different versions of the test yield almost the same scores?

Parallel Forms/Alternate Forms Reliability Signup and view all the answers

What is the error associated with Internal Consistency (Inter-Item Reliability)?

Item sampling homogeneity Signup and view all the answers

Which error should be corrected by just removing the first test of absentees?

Mortality Signup and view all the answers

Which measure evaluates internal consistencies by focusing on the degree of differences between item scores?

Average Proportional Distance Signup and view all the answers

What should be equal for two forms in Parallel Forms Reliability?

Means and error variances Signup and view all the answers

Which term describes the failure to capture important components of a construct in a test blueprint?

Construct underrepresentation Signup and view all the answers

What happens when test scores are influenced by factors irrelevant to the construct?

Construct-irrelevant variance Signup and view all the answers

Which statistical concept is used to calculate the Content Validity Ratio (CVR)?

Lawshe’s formula Signup and view all the answers

If the CVI is low, what should be done to the items with low CVR values?

Remove or modify Signup and view all the answers

Which type of validity involves assessing whether test scores can predict future performance?

Predictive Validity Signup and view all the answers

What describes the degree to which an additional predictor explains something not explained by predictors already in use?

Incremental Validity Signup and view all the answers

What type of validity covers all other types and is both statistical and logical?

Construct Validity Signup and view all the answers

Which method demonstrates that test scores vary predictably as a function of group membership?

Method of Contrasted Groups Signup and view all the answers

What is indicated by a validity coefficient showing little relationship between test scores and unrelated variables?

Discriminant Evidence Signup and view all the answers

Which type of validity measures the relevancy, validity, and uncontaminated nature of a standard for judgment?

Criterion Validity Signup and view all the answers

Which stage of Factor Analysis involves estimating or extracting factors and deciding how many factors must be retained?

Explanatory Factor Analysis Signup and view all the answers

What is the term used for the revalidation of a test to a criterion based on a different group from the original group?

Cross-Validation Signup and view all the answers

Which type of rating error involves the rater's ratings clustering in the middle of the rating scale?

Central Tendency Error Signup and view all the answers

Which table is used in Utility Analysis to indicate the extent to which a test taker will score within some interval of scores on a criterion measure?

Expectancy Table Signup and view all the answers

Which factor analysis approach tests the degree to which a hypothetical model fits the actual data?

Confirmatory Factor Analysis Signup and view all the answers

What describes the term 'Factor Loading' in the context of factor analysis?

The extent to which a factor determines the test scores Signup and view all the answers

Which approach is used to prevent bias during the development of a test?

Estimated True Score Transformation Signup and view all the answers

What is the term for the procedure that entails comparing the cost and benefits to yield information about the usefulness of an assessment tool?

Utility Analysis Signup and view all the answers

What error might occur due to a rater's inability to discriminate among conceptually distinct aspects of a ratee’s behavior?

Halo Effect Signup and view all the answers

What is the relationship between higher criterion-related validity and utility in the context of psychological assessment?

Higher criterion-related validity increases utility Signup and view all the answers

What does the Confidence Interval in psychological testing represent?

A range of test scores likely to contain true scores Signup and view all the answers

How can the Standard Error of the Difference assist a test user?

By determining if a difference between scores is statistically significant Signup and view all the answers

Which condition will result in a larger confidence interval?

Lower reliability Signup and view all the answers

What is measured by test sensitivity?

True positives Signup and view all the answers

Which type of reliability estimate involves the nature of a test being either homogenous or heterogeneous?

Internal consistency reliability Signup and view all the answers

What does a high selection ratio imply in psychological testing?

A large number of candidates are being hired Signup and view all the answers

Which statement best defines face validity?

Test appears to measure what it claims to the test-taker Signup and view all the answers

In which type of study is conceptual validity most emphasized?

Clinician-based evaluations Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary goal of content validity?

To ensure the assessment instrument samples behavior representative of the construct Signup and view all the answers

Which term is used to describe the proportion of the population that actually possesses the characteristic of interest?

Base rate Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Psychological Assessment

Definition: A device or procedure designed to measure variables related to psychology
Components:
- Content: Subject matter
- Format: Form, plan, structure, arrangement, layout
- Item: A specific stimulus to which a person responds overtly and this response is being scored or evaluated
- Administration Procedures: One-to-one basis or group administration
- Score: Code or summary of statement, usually but not necessarily numerical in nature, but reflects an evaluation of performance on a test
- Scoring: The process of assigning scores to performances
- Cut-Score: Reference point derived by judgement and used to divide a set of data into two or more classification
- Psychometric Soundness: Technical quality
- Psychometrics: The science of psychological measurement
- Psychometrist or Psychometrician: Refer to professional who uses, analyzes, and interprets psychological data

Types of Psychological Tests

Ability or Maximal Performance Test: Assess what a person can do
Achievement Test: Measurement of previous learning, used to assess mastery
Aptitude Test: Refers to the potential for learning or acquiring a specific skill
Intelligence Test: Refers to a person's general potential to solve problems, adapt to changing environments, abstract thinking, and profit from experience
Typical Performance Test: Measures usual or habitual thoughts, feelings, and behavior
Personality Test: Measures individual dispositions and preferences
Structured Personality Test: Provides statement, usually self-report, and requires the subject to choose between two or more alternative responses
Projective Personality Test: Unstructured, and the stimulus or response are ambiguous
Attitude Test: Elicits personal beliefs and opinions
Interest Inventories: Measures likes and dislikes as well as one's personality orientation towards the world of work
Other Tests: Speed, Power, Values Inventory, Trade, Neuropsychological, Norm-Referenced, and Criterion-Referenced Tests

Psychological Assessment Methods

Interview: Method of gathering information through direct communication involving reciprocal exchange
Standardized/Structured Interview: Questions are prepared
Non-Standardized/Unstructured Interview: Ideas in depth
Semi-Standardized/Focused Interview: May probe further on specific number of questions
Non-Directive Interview: Subject is allowed to express his feelings without fear of disapproval
Mental Status Examination: Determines the mental status of the patient
Intake Interview: Determine why the client came for assessment; chance to inform the client about the policies, fees, and process involved
Social Case: Biographical sketch of the client
Employment Interview: Determine whether the candidate is suitable for hiring
Panel Interview (Board Interview): More than one interviewer participates in the assessment
Motivational Interview: Used by counselors and clinicians to gather information about some problematic behavior, while simultaneously attempting to address it therapeutically
Portfolio: Samples of one's ability and accomplishment
Case History Data: Records, transcripts, and other accounts in written, pictorial, or other form that preserve archival information, official and informal accounts, and other data and items relevant to an assessee
Case Study: A report or illustrative account concerning a person or an event that was compiled on the basis of case history data
Groupthink: Result of the varied forces that drive decision-makers to reach a consensus

Data Collection and Interpretation

Data Collection: Gathering information through various methods
Data Interpretation: Analyzing and making sense of the collected data
Hit Rate: Accurately predicts success or failure
Profile: Narrative description, graph, table, or other representations of the extent to which a person has demonstrated certain targeted characteristics as a result of the administration or application of tools of assessment
Actuarial Assessment: An approach to evaluation characterized by the application of empirically demonstrated statistical rules as determining factor in assessors' judgement and actions
Mechanical Prediction: Application of computer algorithms together with statistical rules and probabilities to generate findings and recommendations

Levels of Interpretation

Level I: Minimal concern with intervening processes, data are primarily treated in a sampling or correlate way
Level II: Descriptive Generalizations, hypothetical construct, the assumption of an inner state which goes logically beyond the description of visible behavior
Level III: The effort to develop a coherent and inclusive theory of the individual life or a "working image" of the patient

Parties in Psychological Assessment

Test Author/Developer: Creates the tests or other methods of assessment
Test Publishers: Publish, market, sell, and control the distribution of tests
Test Reviewers: Prepare evaluative critiques based on the technical and practical aspects of the tests
Test Users: Uses the test of assessment
Test Takers: Those who take the tests
Test Sponsors: Institutions or government who contract test developers for various testing services

Assumptions About Psychological Testing and Assessment

Assumption 1: Psychological Traits and States Exist: Psychological traits and states are assumed to exist and can be measured
Assumption 2: Psychological Traits and States can be Quantified and Measured: Traits and states can be measured using tests and other methods
Assumption 3: Test-Related Behavior Predicts Non-Test-Related Behavior: The tasks in some tests mimic the actual behaviors that the test user is attempting to understand
Assumption 4: Test and Other Measurement Techniques have Strengths and Weaknesses: Competent test users understand and appreciate the limitations of the test they use
Assumption 5: Various Sources of Error are Part of the Assessment Process: Error refers to something that is more than expected, and it is a component of the measurement process
Assumption 6: Testing and Assessment can be Conducted in a Fair and Unbiased Manner: Tests are tools and can be used properly or improperly
Assumption 7: Testing and Assessment Benefit Society: Considering the many critical decisions that are based on testing and assessment procedures, we can readily appreciate the need for tests### Psychological Assessment
A field of study that focuses on the development and use of tools to measure and evaluate human behavior, abilities, and characteristics.

Reliability

Refers to the consistency of a test's measurements.
Mortality: Problems in absences in the second session (just remove the first tests of the absents).
Coefficient of Stability: Statistical tool used to measure reliability, e.g., Pearson R, Spearman Rho.
Parallel Forms/Alternate Forms Reliability: Established when at least two different versions of the test yield almost the same scores.
Split-Half Reliability: Obtained by correlating two pairs of scores obtained from equivalent halves of a single test administered once.
Internal Consistency (Inter-Item Reliability): Measures the consistency among items within the test.
Error: Factors that affect reliability, e.g., Carryover Effects, Practice Effect, Item Sampling.

Error

Carryover Effects: Happened when the test-retest interval is short, wherein the second test is influenced by the first test.
Practice Effect: Scores on the second session are higher due to their experience of the first session of testing.
Scorer Differences: The degree of agreement or consistency between two or more scorers with regard to a particular measure.

Tests

Power Tests: Allow test takers to attempt all items.
Speed Tests: Contain items of uniform level of difficulty with a time limit.
Criterion-Referenced Tests: Designed to provide an indication of where a test taker stands with respect to some variable or criterion.

Theories

Classical Test Theory: Everyone has a "true score" on a test, which is affected by random error.
Domain Sampling Theory: Estimates the extent to which specific sources of variation under defined conditions are contributing to the test scores.
Generalizability Theory: Based on the idea that a person's test scores vary from testing to testing because of the variables in the testing situations.

Item Response Theory

The probability that a person with X ability will be able to perform at a level of Y in a test.
Focuses on item difficulty.

Latent-Trait Theory

A system of assumption about measurement and the extent to which item measures the trait.
The computer is used to focus on the range of item difficulty that helps assess an individual's ability level.

Standard Error of Measurement

Provides an estimate of the amount of error inherent in an observed score or measurement.
Higher reliability, lower SEM.

Validity

A judgment or estimate of how well a test measures what it is supposed to measure.
Content Validity: Degree of representativeness and relevance of the assessment instrument to the construct being measured.
Criterion Validity: A judgment of how adequately a test score can be used to infer an individual's most probable standing on some measure of interest.
Construct Validity: Judgment about the appropriateness of inferences drawn from test scores regarding individual standing on a variable called construct.

Test Blueprint

A plan regarding the types of information to be covered by items, the number of items tapping each area of coverage, and so forth.

#BLEPP

Source: Cohen & Swerdlik (2018), Kaplan & Saccuzzo (2018), Groth & Wright (2016), Psych Pearls.

Additional Concepts

Factor Analysis: Designed to identify factors or specific variables that are typically attributes, characteristics, or dimensions on which people may differ.
Bias: Factor inherent in a test that systematically prevents accurate, impartial measurement.
Rating: Numerical or verbal judgment that places a person or an attribute along a continuum identified by a scale of numerical or word descriptors.
Fairness: The extent to which a test is used in an impartial, just, and equitable way.
Utility: The practical value of testing to improve efficiency.

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Description

A quiz on psychological assessment based on Cohen & Swerdlik (2018), Kaplan & Saccuzzo (2018), and Groth & Wright (2016). Review questions to help prepare for boards.