Test Reliability and Validity

Test Reliability

• Refers to result consistency and stability across applications.
• A reliable test yields the same results under similar conditions.
• Types: internal consistency, test-retest, and equivalence.

Test Validity

• Indicates how well a test measures its purported target.
• Types of validity:
• Content validity means items adequately represent the measured construct.
• Criterion validity means test results correlate well with an external measure.
• Construct validity assesses how well a test measures the theoretical concept it is supposed to measure.

Interview Types

• Structured interviews follow predetermined questions without allowing for changes, often used in formal research and diagnostics.
• Semi-structured interviews include predefined questions but allow flexibility to adapt questions based on interviewee responses.
• Unstructured interviews lack a fixed script, formulating questions based on the conversation, useful for initial explorations and open clinical interviews.

Measurement Scales

• Nominal scales categorize data without specific order, such as gender, marital status, or type of disorder.
• Ordinal scales order categories from least to greatest, but do not establish precise value differences (e.g., low, medium, high anxiety levels).
• Interval scales present values with equal distances but lack an absolute zero (e.g., temperature in Celsius).
• Ratio scales are similar to interval scales but have an absolute zero, allowing for proportional comparisons (e.g., reaction time in seconds, number of therapy sessions).

Participant Observation

• Involves observing the context while participating covertly and without structure.
• The researcher actively engages within the group or setting under study, taking on a role within the community or investigated context.

Non-Participant Observation

• Researchers maintain an external, non-interactive position to observe the group.
• It seeks to be a more neutral observer, aiming to minimize the influence on the group dynamics to see participants' unaltered natural behavior.

Tests used in Evaluation

• Rorschach tests evaluate personality and thought processes, using the Exner system for scoring to analyze location, content, determinants, and formal quality.
• Thematic Apperception Tests (TAT) explore motivations, emotions, and conflicts, evaluating narrative content and themes.
• Child Apperception Tests (CAT-A and CAT-H) identify conflicts in children through narrative interpretations.
• Family tests evaluate family relationships using analysis of drawing structure and content.
• Human Figure tests by Machover study body image, self-concept, and inner conflicts through drawing proportions, details, and style.
• House-Tree-Person (HTP) tests evaluate emotional states via symbolic drawing interpretation.
• Draw-A-Person Under The Rain tests assess stress resistance through posture, elements, and line quality analysis.
• Rotter Incomplete Sentences tests identify beliefs and emotions, using thematic evaluation of responses.
• The Zulliger test is similar to the Rorschach test, as it uses the Exner system, and it assesses projective personality traits.
• Phillipson Object Relations tests evaluate interpersonal relations using narrative and content analysis.
• Animal and Story tests explore children's emotions and personality by assessing the content and structure of their stories.

Tests for Measuring Cognitive and Emotional Intelligence

• The Wechsler Intelligence Scale (WAIS-IV, WISC-V, WPPSI-IV) measures the intelligence quotient (IQ), with scores indicating levels from intellectual deficit to very superior.
• Raven's Progressive Matrices Tests assess non-verbal reasoning, categorizing results from weak to superior based on reasoning skills..
• The Binet-Simon (Stanford-Binet) Test evaluates general intelligence, categorizing results from intellectual deficit to very superior.
• The Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) evaluates cognitive abilities, classifying scores from below average to above average.
• Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2, MMPI-A) assesses psychopathology and personality, and a T-score of 65 or higher is clinically significant.
• The Big Five Inventory (NEO-PI-R, NEO-FFI) evaluates personality across five dimensions, measured in percentiles from low to high.
• The 16 Personality Factors Questionnaire (16 PF-5) evaluates personality traits and provides percentiles for each trait.
• The Cloninger Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI-R) measures temperament and personality, scoring dimensions as low, medium, or high.
• The Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) measures anxiety levels from mild to severe.
• The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) evaluates depressive symptoms, ranging from minimal to severe.
• The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale measures self-esteem. Scores range from low to high.
• The Differential Aptitude Test (DAT) evaluates specific cognitive skills through percentile rankings, from low to high.
• Bar-On Emotional Intelligence Test (EQ-i) measures emotional intelligence, using percentiles for various areas of IE.
• Bayley Scales of Infant Development (Bayley-III) assess infant development using standard deviations to classify development as delayed, normal, or advanced.

Neurological and Cognitive Tests

• The Luria-DNI Neuropsychological Battery evaluates cognitive functions, with qualitative scales indicating if someone is weak, normal, or high achieving.
• The Stroop Test evaluates attention and cognitive inhibition, where longer response times and increased errors indicate deficits.
• The Tower of London Test evaluates planning and problem-solving. More movements and time indicate lower cognitive efficiency.
• The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test assesses cognitive flexibility, with high rates of perseveration errors suggesting executive dysfunction.
• The Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test evaluates memory and visuospatial abilities, where it is lower scorers indicate cognitive impairment.
• Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS-IV) assess immediate and delayed memory skills, with people scoring 85 or lower considered with deficits.
• Mattis Dementia Rating Scale (DRS-2) evaluates cognitive deterioration, classifying scores to define the stage of their deterioration.
• Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) assesses verbal memory, where fewer remembered words indicate greater deterioration.
• The NEUROPSI Battery evaluates cognitive functions briefly, categorizing scores by low, average, and high percentiles
• The Boston Test diagnoses aphasia and language abilities, as errors in naming indicate potential aphasia.
• The Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB) evaluates executive functions. Scores ≤ 12 indicate frontal deficit and 16-18 is normal.