Psychological Tests: Standardization & Reliability

• Psychological tests are written, visual, or verbal evaluations to assess cognitive and emotional functioning in children and/or adults.
• Psychological tests are objective and standardized measurements of behavior samples that help predict a candidate's future behavior and performance.
• Psychological tests assess a variety of mental abilities and attributes, like achievement.
• Psychological tests used in employee selection have assumption, standardization, objectivity, reliability, validity, and utility characteristics.

Standardization

• Standardization refers to the uniformity of procedure in administering and conducting tests.

Objectivity

• Objectivity relates to the validity and reliability of the instruments used to measure an individual's ability.

Norms

• Norms are fixed or ideal standards and a normative or mean score for a specific age group.

Reliability

• Reliability relates to the extent to which obtained results are consistent or reliable.
• Three methods to determine a test's reliability are test-retest (repetition), alternate/parallel/equivalent-form and split-halves methods.

Validity

• Validity is the extent to which the test measures what it intends to.
• Criterion-related validity is concerned with test scores and subsequent job performance.
• Rational validity relates to a test's nature, properties, and content, independent of its relationship to job performance measures and includes content validity and construct validity.
• Face validity is a subjective expression, not a statistical measure.

Validity Generalization

• Validity generalization involves individual-company studies that have computed the correlation between cognitive ability measures and job performance.
• The studies are affected by methodological limitations that artificially affect the resulting validity.

Establishing a Testing Program

• Specify the test purpose and inferences.
• Develop frameworks that describe the knowledge and skills to be tested.
• Build test specifications.
• Create potential test items and scoring rubrics.
• Review and pilot test items.
• Evaluate item quality.

Types of Psychological Tests

• Intelligence tests measure the ability to understand the environment, interact with it, and learn from it.
• Intelligence tests include the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS), the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC), and the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale (SB).
• Personality tests measure personality style and traits and are used in research or clinical diagnoses.
• Personality tests include the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), and Rorschach ('inkblot test').
• Attitude tests measure how someone feels about an event, place, person, or object using tools like the Likert or Thurstone Scale.
• Achievement tests measure the understanding of a topic, such as mathematics.
• Aptitude tests assess abilities in a specific area, like clerical skills. Achievement tests include the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test (WIAT) and the Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT).
• Aptitude tests include the Bloomberg Aptitude Test (BAT) and the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB).

Individual vs Group Tests

• Individual tests are administered to one person at a time and are usually designed to observe individual characteristics.
• An example of an individual test is an intelligence test by a school psychologist.
• Group tests are administered to groups of people and mainly meet practical needs.
• An example of a group test is traditional college exams.
• Individual tests are expensive to administer but group tests are cheaper.
• Individual tests involve one-on-one consultation with verbal and non-verbal subsets, while group tests include multiple-choice items.

Computer-Assisted Testing

• Computer-assisted testing assesses skills using a computer to access material or interact directly for assessment.
• Any testing that uses a computer does not assess computer skills and requires no prior experience.

Speed and Power Tests

• Speed tests measure the number of items an individual can complete over time.
• Power tests assess performance level instead of response speed and arrange test items in increasing difficulty.

Paper and Pencil and Performance Tests

• Paper-pencil tests are in printed form and record answers on a standard sheet.
• A university theory exam is an example of a paper-pencil test.
• Performance tests assess complex skills like word processing or mechanical abilities.
• A university practical exam is an example of a performance test.

Objective and Subjective Scoring

• Objective tests are scored by comparing student responses with an established set of correct responses on an answer key.
• They are ideal for computer scanning, require no specific training, and use multiple-choice, true/false, and matching questions.
• Subjective tests require scoring based on opinion or personal judgment, so the human element carries enormous weight.
• Subjective tests include essay tests, comprehension questions, and interviews.

Types of Psychological Test: Behavior Measured

• Behaviors that can be measured by Psychological tests.
• Cognitive Ability
  • Cognitive ability is a mental capability of reasoning, problem solving, planning and abstract thinking.
• Interests
  • Interests are things that people enjoy
• Aptitudes
  • Aptitude is a way for employers to test candidates abilities
• Motor ability
  • Motor ability is the body's ability to manage the process of movement.
• Personality
  • Personality test measures human personality constructs
• Self- Report Inventories
  • Self report inventory is used in personality assessments
• Projective Techniques
  • Projective techniques uncover personal characteristics

Advantages of Psychological Testing

• Provides a systematic procedure to measure a sample of behavior and predict future actions.
• Used in vocational and professional colleges.
• Used in decisions about placement, promotion, transfer, counseling, and employee training.
• Helpful in selecting candidates for jobs.
• Helps to reduce personal bias and subjective judgment in the selection process.
• Helps to identify talent that may be otherwise overlooked.
• Enables management to evaluate many candidates and collect data quickly.

Limitations of Psychological Testing

• Tests are not infallible in measure.
• Privacy of the candidates are invaded.
• Prediction of candidate potential are limited.
• Only economical when candidates are large in number.

Unfair Rejection of Applicants

• Candidates with the ability to cope and grow of mental disabilities are rejected.

Faking of Test Responses

• Faking is a type of response bias when respondents adjust their responses to be viewed more favorably.

Conformity

• When influenced by the work environment, this leads to data about the applicant being distorted.

Attitudes Towards Psychological Testing Programs

• It is a favorite target for dissatisfaction and some fear unfair testing.
• Unions mistrust “scientific” management, for erroneously taking this as a phase of “scientific” management.