8 Assumptions in Psychological Testing and Assessment PDF

9/3/24 8 Assumptions in Psychological Testing and Assessment PSYB311: Psychological Assessment 1 Psychological traits and states exist Observed (manifest) vs. latent Can you study something invisible? Logical positivism, Behaviorism Assumption 1...

9/3/24 8 Assumptions in Psychological Testing and Assessment PSYB311: Psychological Assessment 1 Psychological traits and states exist Observed (manifest) vs. latent Can you study something invisible? Logical positivism, Behaviorism Assumption 1 © 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 2 1  9/3/24 Psychological traits and states can be quantified and measured Can you really assign a numeric value to everything? Assumption 2 © 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 3 Test-related behavior predicts non–test-related behavior Time pressure – persistence; urgency Assumption 3 © 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 4 2  9/3/24 Tests and other measurement techniques have strengths and weaknesses Assumption 4 © 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 5 Various sources of error are part of the assessment process Assumption 5 © 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 6 3  9/3/24 Sources of error Measurement error Sampling error Types of error Bias: Systematic e.g. self-report height and weight Variance: Random Error is everywhere! © 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 7 Testing and assessment can be conducted in a fair and unbiased manner Assumption 6 © 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 8 4  9/3/24 Present-day behavior sampling predicts future behavior Academically adrift: Limited learning on college campuses -- After 4 years, 36% college graduates showed no gains in higher order thinking skills. Corporations complain that college graduates don’t have the critical thinking skill required by the jobs. Assumption 7 © 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 9 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 Assumption 8 © 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 10 5