Psychological Diagnostics & Testing Methods

• These notes cover professional-ethical considerations in psychological diagnostics, testing methods, intellectual property, test developers, and the history and theory behind psychological assessment.

Application of Methods

• Psychological assessment methods are used in organizational contexts.
• They are used in consulting or expert evaluation scenarios.
• They are used for solving practical tasks.
• They are used on individual participants.
• They are used for decisions based on the results obtained.

Requirements for Testing Methods

• Objectivity: Testing methods are objective when they exclude human bias to give consistent results regardless of the tester.
• Standardization: Standardized testing methods are consistent structure and procedure to ensure equality of conditions for all participants.

General Requirements for Quality Testing Methods

• Reliability refers to the consistency of a test.
• Internal Consistency: This is how well the test measures a single construct.
• Sample Size: This is the number of participants in the study.
• Equivalence of Forms: This is the similarity between different forms of the same test.
• Retest Reliability: This is the consistency of results when the same test is administered to the same person twice.
• Validity: This is the extent to which a test measures what it is supposed to measure.
• Content: This indicates how well the test measures the content it is designed to measure.
• Construct: This indicates how well the test is related to the underlying construct.
• Criterion-related: This indicates how well the test predicts performance on a related measure.
• Representativeness: This indicates the degree to which the sample accurately reflects the population.
• Test Norms: These describe typical performance of standardization.
• Standardization Sample Selection (Description + Empirical Verification): This includes a description of how the standardization sample was selected along with empirical verification of its representativeness.
• Re-standardization: This is the process of re-establishing test norms for a new population.
• Authenticity/Veracity: This indicates the degree of accuracy and truthfulness of the results.
• Motivational Biases: These include distortions due to motivation.
• Testing situation: These include distortions by the examinee's reaction to the testing environment.

Licensed Purity of Testing Methods

• Requirements for licensed purity of testing methods.

Avoiding Test Usage

• Avoid tests with unknown authors.
• Avoid tests from pirated websites or unlicensed collections.
• Avoid tests lacking documented psychometric verification by their authors.

Intellectual Property

• A "free distribution method" marked with a CC (creative commons) symbol means it is free without written permission.
• If there is a copyright symbol © without a CC symbol, permission to use a methodology is required.
• Dissemination requires approval from the rights holder.

Test Method Developers

• Test method developers should have, at minimum, a specialist degree in Psychology.
• They should have in-depth knowledge of:
  • Test theory
  • Psychodiagnostics
  • Statistics
  • Psychometrics
  • The subject matter of the test
• Experience in developing and adapting tests.
• Have experience analyzing multidimensional data.
• Should have publications, independent reviews, and certification documents for developed methods.
• They should have a basic understanding of:
  • Test theory
  • Psychodiagnostics
  • Method classifications
  • "Scale"
  • "Norm."
  • Correlation
  • Validity
  • Reliability
• Test developers should be able to perform basic statistical calculations, including calculating:
  • Averages
  • Standard deviations
  • Ranks
  • Percentiles
  • Correlations in electronic tables.
• They should be able to correctly select tests for certain tasks and should know the applicable fields, limitations, and standards for interpreting/applying tests and the principles of composing results.
• Providing feedback and computer-based testing must be additional capabilities.

Allied Professionals

• Allied professionals should consult experienced psychologists before applying any methods to solve issues.
• If methodology utilized by these pros requires specific training, then the person must get training, seek out assistance from a psychologist, or forgo the methodology altogether.
• Observation and treatment must adhere to ethical standards.

Origins of Psychodiagnostics

• F. Galton's motto: "Count what can be counted."
• He introduced the concept of "test" as a tool for measuring individual differences.
• Assessed mental capacity through sensory discrimination.
• Developed methods for calculating correlation coefficients.
• They were involved in associative experiments.

Psychodiagnostics of Intellect

• 1890: J.M. Cattell
• 1905: A. Binet, T. Simon
• 1916: V. Stern, IQ, L. Terman

History of Pschyodiagnostics

• Mass testing occurred between 1912 and 1918 due to A. Ottis.
• World War I brought the "Alpha" and "Beta" Tests.
• R. Woodworth's Personal Data Sheet (1917) was also created.
• Hermann Rorschach created the Inkblot Test in 1921.

Crisis

• Psychotechnics and pedology faced a crisis and ways to overcome with key solutions.
• Theoretical Exploration: This formed psychological comprehension of mechanisms, variations, and causes of observable events.
• Determined the importance and significance of measuring exterior aspects of human behavior.

The Development of Psychodiagnstics

• 1930s:
  • Stanford-Binet had 141 publications
  • The Rorschach test had sixty-eight publications
• 1935 had TAT.
• 1938 had Raven's Progressive Matrices.
• 1939 saw Wechsler-Bellevue Intelligence Scale.
• 1950s:
  • Rorschach test, 1219 publications
  • Stanford-Binet Scale, 493
  • Wechsler-Bellevue, 371 publications
• 1960's brought criticism.
• Projective tests and intelligence tests were under review.
• Computer testing entered this field.

Modern Psychological Diagnostics Theory and Ethics

• Over time, traditions and practices for understanding human psychology have developed.
• Psychodiagnostic methods have played a significant role, evolving through stages to assess aspects such as reliability, scientific basis, and ethics.
• Naive psychodiagnostics, including physiognomy, phrenology, graphology, and palmistry, was based on relating external features to traits.
• The value of pre-scientific psychodiagnostics in enhancing psychological culture is recognized due to its observational skills.
• Measuring exact psychic processes, states, or individual qualities became the primary goal.
• Early psychodiagnostics: Limited at first to basic data, such as age, place of residence, birth date.
• The subject has gradually developed arithmetic and problem-solving questions into intelligence tests.
• Late 19th Century: Scientific and practical psychodiagnostics emerged with differential-psychological studies. introducing experimentation and mathematical techniques changed research and the discipline.
• Developing psych measurement tools became key for understanding and assessing various aspects of psychology; classification methods came to light.
• Until the late 20th century, psychodiagnostics involved methods for measuring psychological states, properties, and qualities.
• Its association with testology and testing was key to its success, which allowed the detection and measurement of psychic features and group differences; the use of metrics confirmed its practical orientation.
• Creating and implementing methodic tools still matters today.
• Also, studies on tests' measurement capabilities have questioned just what exactly tests measure, along with the ability to refer to an examined psyche in its entirety for a singular experiment.
• In the field, A. Binet's view on tests is key due to regression. He concluded, while using the test, that fifty-four percent are due to educational background, eleven percent are from biology, when thirty-three percent were due to intellect,

Psychodiagnostic Testing Requirements

• Test methodology requires careful analysis and appropriate consideration of cultural-economic development.
• It is important to evaluate how to solve issues and not just rate solutions.
• Grading and typical and personal aspects need to be identified; scores must be known in a follow-up study.
• Psychodiagnostics acknowledges limits.
• This method can fail to account for personal changes or transformations linked to social change. Also, it can eliminate personal context with reality since it only accounts for a fragmented portion of behavior. This makes it difficult to diagnose or categorize.
• Problems of a person are set aside in favor of testing because content has to determine test choice.
• Instrumental-oriented diagnostics lead to relying on tests and shifts diagnostics to describing and implementation. It creates "not working" tests due to inability to adapt to unique circumstances.
• Late XX-early XXI marked new period of high psychological diagnostic importance.
• Changing social atmosphere allowed for increased opportunities for people to self-actualize.
• Work and life success became reliant on activity and situational adaptability.
• People focus on actualizing selves and facing issues like drug addiction or social deviance.
• Psychology at the end of the 1980s saw the emergence of a practicality that not only addressed cultural/economic issues, but was also tied with practical solutions, such as mental illness and the use of human potential.
• Psychology became very important in everyday life and has come to define the nature of diagnostics by:
  • Expanding space
  • Giving new principles
  • Combining various mental-health perspectives
  • Including social awareness by highlighting potential over problems
• Traditional views and techniques are now getting additional approaches; includes gnostic, practical, helping-based or adaptive techniques.
• Psychodiagnosis understands the soul: The "gnostic" approach promotes understanding internal individuality through methods.
• Diagnosis becomes about self-understanding and self-actualization through knowing the soul. This is an idea based on the word "psyche" which is the "soul"--psych can heal individuals.
• The “helping” technique uses psychotherapy, which is another way of providing life's support. These methods are for procedures and tests/consultations.

Understanding Psychodiagnosis

• An orientation technique requires addressing the importance of problems through professional conditions or experience and provides help with:
  • Variative tools
  • Integrated thinking
  • Introspection
  • Finding practical and actual concerns from different perspectives/life zones.
• Adaptational tools are there to study persons holistically through all relations with the world.
• The study focuses on psychology to reveal:
  • Full potentials
  • Interactions in situations
  • Personal organization
• Integration requires ethical viewpoints, with a goal to standardize cultural elements and provide psychological theory.
• This process demands the ability to understand the patient and the measurement.
• A psychologist has to work in any range regarding the ethical system; with:
  • The absence of expert feebleness
  • The certainty of decision
  • Differentiating "personal" and personal
  • Preventing emotional fatigue by optimizing plans and chances for the future
  • Resolving professional issues by preventing problems
• Today, psychology has shifted in different ways to evolve humans through values and ideas. As such, psychologists should work towards solving humanity's challenges.

Ethical Principles in Methodology

• Ethical principles involved:
  • There should not be a criminal conduct.
  • Regulates the therapist so no ego is on display with patients.
  • Awareness comes from conscience and builds from high values of life when supporting personal improvement.

Aspects of Psychology

• Analysis of historical preconditions for the development of emergence and systematization of progression of diagnostic ideas.
• Diagnostics' importance has been established as more methods have been revealed, with:
  • Strategies
  • Procedures
  • Standards
  • Categories
• The goal of data acquisition in Integrative Psychodiagnostics is to obtain and present overall behavior.
• Historic function in psychology includes social characteristics.
• Modern diagnostics is reliant on other techniques and includes more aspects of:
  • Reflection
  • Dialectical relationships
  • Totality of unity
• This incorporates a new form of standards for comprehension of people that is:
  • Existence and psychology/nature links
• Methods are for an examination of psychological principles that involves:
  • Changes with society to ensure uniqueness with people
  • To not provide estimates
  • To transform social interactions with awareness from changes
  • To use certain norms.
• Psychological studies are changing to become relatable and flexible to patients with:
  • Diagnosis/conditions
  • How long testing has occurred, as well as, their looks, with recognition.
• The principle has established individual awareness; the issues stem from the soul.
• The aim is to establish psychological tests to:
  • Find the cause for actions
  • Plan for the future
  • Be supportive
• Psychology must be interdisciplinary as practices can be changed to improve human connection.
• A range of studies are coming together at the moment to involve psychology in the:
  • Economic shift
• As such, it causes the requirement for educated specialists. These can be linked as with people seeking:
  • The knowledge
  • Training
• However, there should still be a certain understanding within the field.
• The desire for psychology in training is rising as ethics are not maintained for those working in science and those with money.

Negatives in Psychological Diagnostics

• Negatives:
  • There is now a loss of morality for those who had abuse in earlier situations.
  • Also, the industry involves the exploitation of science and technology.
• Certain psychological ethics aren't used, such as a doctor revealing information to their parents.
• Issues can come from:
  • The need for privacy
  • A danger is posed
• Another example occurs when doctors are seeing drug abuses from parents.
• They often feel helpless, but they want and need to offer advice. As it is, market-thinking is growing in current universities, who are using new images that imply students have a desire to obtain money.
• Today, issues stem from intensity as some feel there is not any diagnosis for problems, as well as simple testing errors with the need to fix it. Even scarier are those cases in hospitals.
• Psychology ethics are apparent when supporting folks in crises who are in need of ethical and support tools.
• In crisis situations, it is pertinent that clinicians do no treat their patients harshly.
• People need a mental-health professional that is there to feel for what is happening. Because of these ethical issues, many hesitate to go back to psychology, while ignoring may cause a lot of mental-health issues or problems.
• Care in crisis can make those treated "care in a quiet way" to save others.

Psychological Support

• Psychology aims to support new values and offer help in support (from investigation to treatment).
• It supports professionals/positions, while in psychological efforts, yet recognizes work in action.
• It supports people in need, yet needs to understand limitations. Without being able to, diagnosis or advice is impossible.
• Support must also address standards in the modern zone, despite a certain disbelief. Also, moral codes require correction of mental-health pros.
• These measures are for legal codes that call for punishment. If violated, a psych can call for a higher standard and self-determination. As a rule, the self determines what it values through human evolution in terms of standards for conduct to not allow any harm.
• Norms show there are many psychological approaches, but there are many opportunities for psychology with these.
• No matter what aspects do, it cannot be forgotten that psychology requires high standard measures.