Lecture 6.

Test as a tool of psychological assessment

essential concepts.
Psychological traits.
Types of tests, brief history of testing,
ethical and legal aspects of testing.

Reference:
Murphy, K. R. & Davidshofer, C. O. (1998).
Psychological testing. Principles and
applications: International Edition (6/e).
Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice-Hall,
Inc. (Chapters: 1 - 3).

Trait Approach (to personality)

Trait an early definition

generalized and personalized
determining tendencies - consistent
and stable modes of an individuals
adjustment to his environment

Allport & Odbert (1936, p. 26)

Traits
Traits = broad dispositions to act in
specific ways

disposition = tendency (e.g., people with

high anxiety tend to avoid threatening
experiences)

broad = abstraction (not specific instance;

adjectives (helpful) rather than verbs (help)

Traits

abstractions based on common

features (e.g., extraversion)

hypothetical can not

observed/measured directly need
to translate trait into something
measurable (behavior)

Traits

Personal (internal) rather than situational (external)

Stable rather than transitory (across time)

Consistent rather than inconsistent (across similar

situations)
General rather than specific (across different
situations)
Universal dimensions: Individual differences (across
people)

Traits are:
1. Dimensional (ordering of people) not
categorical
2. Hypothetical (not observable)
3. Causal (internal) or Descriptive (summaries)
4.

Organized in a system

5. Consistent over settings and time

Trait Organisation

Comprehensive trait taxonomies

assume traits exist at varying levels
of abstraction and are organized
hierarchically
Major taxonomies
Eysenck
Cattell
Five factor model

Measurement of Traits
Hypothetical nature of trait - can not know with
absolute certainty measure is tapping intended
trait
Many measures of same trait
All with error variance not due to trait (different
types of measure have different sources of error)
Trait
Measure

Psychologial Tests as Traits Assessment

Instruments

Tests:

Reliability
Validity
Objectivity
Standarization
Norms

Responsibilities of test autor and

test user

Use of tests essential ethical principles

Informed Consent patient/client/

subject must voluntarily consent to
the assessment
Responsibility to inform about the
nature and purpose of the assessment
(understandable language)
Children/others of limited capacity
consent obtained from parent or legal
guardian

Use of tests essential ethical principles

Knowledge of results right to full disclosure

of test results (understandable language)
Confidentiality test results as confidential
information
Keeping test results in a secure manner
Not refering to these data outside the context and
purpose for which they were obtained
Exceptions required by law or court action

Test security keeping test material in secure

environment
Test items are not to be revealed in casual converstions
and public media

Use of tests essential ethical principles

Test construction and publication maintaining high standards

of test development
tests are expected to have expertise regarding validity, reliability, and
norms

Automated scoring/interpretation systems psychologist

utilizing them retains responsibility for proper interpretation of test
results
Unqualified Persons psychologist does not allow or condone
the use of tests by unqualified persons
Psychologist takes prudent actions obserwing such situations

Test user qualifications (test purchaser qualifications) three

tier system for test user qualifications (1950)
Level A minimal training (educational achievement and job
proficiency)
Level B some knowledge of technical characteristics of tests
required (group administered mental ability and interest
inventories)
Level C advanced training (individually administered
intelligence tests and personality tests)

Test administration

No matter how carefully a test is constructed, the

results are worthless unless it is administered and
scored properly!
Influence of examiniers appearance and behavior
on test results
Especially important in case of individual tests
Situation variables:
Time and place of testing
Environmental conditions (illumination, temperature,
noise leve, ventilation, distractions)

Examiners duties before a test

Scheduling taking into account

examinees activities
Right to prepare intellectually,
emotionally and physically

Informed consent
Becoming familiar with the test
careful studies on manual
taking the test oneself

Examiners duties before testing

Ensuring satisfactory testing

conditions
Minimizing cheating

Examiners duties during testing

Following test directions

Remaining alert (cheating, unnecessary noise)

Establishing rapport

effect of examiners behavior on examinees motivation

being friendly but objective

Preparing for special problems

Examinees anxiety (very young, very old, mentally disturbed

or retarded, physically handicapped or culturaly disadvanages
persons)

Flexibility

Practice on sample items

Relatively short testing periods
Giving encouragement and positive reinforcement

Being a psychologist and using tests in

Poland intro to ethical & legal issues

Psychologists Code of Professional Ethics

Towarzystwo Psychologiczne (1992). Kodeks etyczno

zawodowy psychologa. Warszawa: PTP.
[http://www.ptp.org.pl/modules.php?
name=News&file=article&sid=29]

Psychologist profession and psychologists government act

Ustawa z dnia 8 czerwca 2001 r. o zawodzie psychologa i
samorzdzie zawodowym psychologw (Dz. U. Nr 73, poz.
763) [http://www.ptp.org.pl/modules.php?
name=News&file=article&sid=47]

Tests and copyright

Contemporary customs & regulations
Standards for tests in psychology and education

Types of tests
Criterion: the form of recording the examinees
behaviour (Cattell):

Tests of performance
Behavior observations
Self-report instruments
(questionnaires/inventories)

Tests of Performance
Referred to as "Tests of Maximal Performance"
Subjects are given a well-defined task that they try to perform
successfully.
Participant must know what he/she must
do in response to the task.
The subject exerts maximal effort to
succeed.
Performance tests are designed to uncover what
an individual can do, given the specific test
conditions.
Examples
- Intelligence Tests, language proficiency
- Biology test, flight simulator

Performance tests
1). Tests in which the examinee performs some
specific tasks - test requires maximal
performance (inteligence tests, tests of
special abilities, tests of specific skills or
proficiency, tests of psychomotor
performance).
Typesmaximal performance tests power
tests, speed tests and tests with strict
time limits.

Behaviour Observation
Naturalistic observation
Involves observing the subjects behaviour and responses
in a particular context.
Differs from performance tests in that the subject does
not have a single, well defined task.
The observer can record duration &
intensity
Examples
- Examiner might observe children interacting
or an individual having a conversation or some other social interaction.
- Companies recruit observers to pose as salespeople to observe

Self Report Instruments

- Participant is asked to report his or her feelings,
attitudes, beliefs, values.
When self-report makes sense:
Self-report relies upon the test takers awareness and
honesty.
It is the best method to measure internal states - things
only the person themselves can be aware of and judge.

People are not always good judges of their ability

Provides an estimate

Self Report Instruments

Many personality inventories such as the MMPI and the

16PF measures are based on self-report.

Clinicians include self-report measures as part of their

initial examinations of presenting clients.

Self-Report measures are frequently subject to selfcensorship.

People know their responses are being measured and

wish to be seen in a favorable light. (self-serving bias)

Items are frequently included to measure the extent to

History of Test Development

circa 1000 BC. : Chinese introduced written tests to help fill civil
service positions Civil Laws, Military Affairs, Agriculture, Geography
1850 : The United States begins civil service examinations.
1885 : Germans tested people for brain damage
1890 : James Cattell develops a "mental test" to assess college students .
Test includes measures of strength, resistance to pain, and reaction time.
1905 : Binet-Simon scale of mental development used to classify
mentally retarded children in France.
1914 : World War I produces need in U.S. to quickly classify incoming
recruits. Army Alpha test and Army Beta test developed. Looked at
psychopathology.
1916 : Terman develops Stanford - Binet test and develops the idea of
Intelligence Quotient

History of Test Development (cont.)

1920 - 1940 : factor analysis, projective tests, and personality inventories
first appear.
1941-1960 : vocational interest measures developed
1961-1980 : item response theory and neuropsychological testing
developed
1980 - Present : Wide spread adaptation of computerized testing.
"Smart" Tests which can give each individual different test items develop

Formal classification of tests

One-dimensional tests (one-scale

instruments) interpretation in terms of trait
intensity (quantitative diagnosis) or
typological (qualitative diagnosis).
Multi-dimensional tests (multi-scales
instruments) interpretation in terms of
profile (model of parallel or hierarchical
traits), which may lead to the typological or
differential (within subject) diagnosis.

Fig 1. The test scores, assessing the trait

intensity

Average score moderate trait intensity

Low score low trait intensity

High score high trait intensity

Fig. 2. One-scale test scores, serving for

typological diagnosis
Test score similar to the lower group

Test score similar to the upper group

Typological diagnosis of one-scales

scores

Typological (one-scale diagnosis) refers to

the special one-type.
Typological diagnosis may refer also to twotypes classification:
abnormal (type I) normal abnormal (type
II, opposite to type I)
Blocks concept of personality types, based
on the dimension of self-control:
overcontrolled (inhibited) type vs
underconstrolled (impulsive) type (normal
type of personality is between clinical types).

Fig. 3. Multi-scale test scores, serving for

profile diagnosis (parallel traits)

Fig. 4. Multi-scale test scores (hierarchical

model with parallel subtraits)

General Sensation Seeking

Boredom Susceptibility

Thrill and Adventure Seeking

Experience seeking

Disinhibition

Differential diagnosis of the test

profile

Comparisons of the scales within one

subject, like comparison between verbal IQ
and nonverbal IQ (strictly quantitative
assessment).

Typological diagnosis of the test

profile

On the basis of OCEAN traits:

Overcontrolled type: neuroticism &
introversion (high N & low E);
Undercontrolled type: low
agreeableness and conscientiousness
(low A & C);
Resilient type: extraversion,
agreeableness, conscientiousness &
low neuroticism (high E, A, C & low N).

The history of well-known tests

1905: Binet & Simon the first intelligence

scale
1906: Heymans & Wiersma the first
personality assessment (peer-rating);
1917: Woodworth the first personality
inventory (psychopathology);
1927-1934: Strong/Kuder the first
vocational inventories;

The history of well-known tests

1939: Wechsler Wechsler-Bellevue

Intelligence Scale (1997 - WAIS-III);
1943: Hathaway & McKinley Minnesota
Multiphasic Personality Inventory (1989 MMPI 2);
1949: Cattell 16 PF (Personality Factors);
1950 - 1990 - Eysenckian inventories;
1990 2000 Big Five inventories (Costa &
McCrae).

Present status of tests

Thousands of tests in different fields (even in

Poland);
Test market: In Poland - Laboratory of Tests
from Polish Psychological Society.

Information about tests

Standards for Educational and

Psychological Testing (1985 and 1999);
Mental Measurements Yearbook and Test
Critiques;

Journals presenting tests (and

psychometric problems)

Psychometrika
Educational and Psychological Measurement
Applied Psychological Measurement
Journal of Educational Measurement
Journal of Educational Psychology
Journal of Applied Psychology
Personnel Psychology
Journal of Consulting and Clinical
Psychology.

Advantages and disadvantages of

the tests
Tests represent the best, fairest, and the
most accurate technology available for
making many important decisions about
individuals, but at a time the
psychological testing is highly
controversial (Murphy & Davidshofer,
1989, p. 2).

Ethical (controversial) aspects of

testing

The impact of testing on society (artificial or

real differences, efficiency or equity, helping
or hurting people);
Invasion of privacy (information about
private life, problem of confidentiality and
informed consent);
The fair use of tests (the equal availability of
the test material testing disabled
examinees).