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Many Types of Tests Psychological Testing Flipbook PDF
1 Psychological Testing Many Types of Tests • Many are related to testing of personality types, behavior, or intelligenc
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Psychological Testing
Many Types of Tests • Many are related to testing of personality types, behavior, or intelligence.
Personality Tests • Are many types of tests. • Generally each category of tests are related to the dominant theory of the time.
Projective Tests • Are an offshoot of psychoanalytic theories.
Rorschach Inkblot Test • Consists of 10 symmetrical inkblots • Some are multicolored • Some are black and white • You are asked to see what the inkblot is. • What the inkblot might be. • Then the person is quizzed on their responses.
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Scoring •
• Content – What the subject sees, Not where or how they see it • • • • •
Is based on four categories A. Location –
Portion of the blot that is used in the response Whole dot vs. small detail
– B. Determinants Attributes of the stimulus that are the basis of the response. – Form, shading, or color that is described – Also movement
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) • In the Rorschach, the content is a secondary concern. • In the TAT, the content is the primary focus.
TAT Consists of: • 10-20 pictures examining various scenes of things, pictures, or people. • Subjects are asked to tell a story about each picture. – – – –
Describe what is happening What led up to the scene What the outcome will be What the characters are thinking or feeling
Human figures or parts, Animals or parts Blood Plants Etc.
• Popularity – Whether the person gives responses that are unusual or outside the mainstream of responses.
Emphasis is placed on the Person’s • • • • •
Motives Preoccupations Defenses Conflicts Ways of interpreting the world
Scoring and Interpretation • Look at trends emerging from all of the scenes (not just one). • Stories suggest a hypothesis. • The hypothesis is then elaborated on or discarded after additional information is obtained.
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Children’s Apperception Test • Consists of cartoons or pictures of animals or humans in in various family situations.
Sentence Completion Test • Fill in the incomplete sentences • E.g.. My mother _____________ . My father ______________ .
• Scoring is the same as TAT. My mother My father
“Washes the dishes.” “Sweeps the floor.”
Problems Advantages of Projective Tests • The subject does not know how the test provides information to the tester. – Very difficult to engage in intentional deception. – Tests may be especially sensitive to unconscious, latent features of the personality. – Often enables a client to relax due to familiarity of what psychologists do. – Is good to establish initial rapport and trust. –
Second Type of Personality Tests Self-Report Inventories
• Responses are often difficult to interpret. • Interpretations are often very subjective. • Poor reliability • Poor validity
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) • Is the most frequently used personality test by clinical psychologists. • Has been involved in more that 10,000 empirical studies. • Is designed to aid clinicians in the diagnosis of psychological disorders. – – – – –
Includes traits such as Paranoia Depression Schizophrenia Others
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Consists of • 567 true/false questions • Yields scores on 14 subscales – 9 scales measure aspects of personality – I scale measures masculinity-feminity – 4 scales are used for validity purposes • Determines if the person is lying
Problems • Many scales are intercorrelated – E.g., A person with depression • Will score high on depression • But will also score high on other scales too
• Responses change over time – Is a reliability problem – Take one day, take a couple days later – Get different scores and the scales are different.
• Gave the test to 13,000 individuals • Developed separate scores for males and females • Took mean scores for each scale • The client is then compared with the mean scores obtained from the original 13,000. • Informs the client how typical his or her answers are to the original group • Does not tell how healthy or unhealthy the client is. • Provides general information about personality traits – not used for diagnosis
California Personality Inventory CPI • Used only “Normal” individuals – Problem – What is “normal?”
• Has 15 scales that measure personality. • 3 scales used to eliminate response bias • Has 480 true-false items (178 are taken from the MMPI). • Is written at a fourth grade level.
Advantages of Self-Report Inventories • Provides objective and precise estimates of aspects of the personality. • Lots of studies have examined them (especially the MMPI). • Are easy to use
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Problems with Self-Report Inventories
More Problems
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Deception Is possible for clients to intentionally fake a particular personality trait.
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Is dependent on the person’s accurate knowledge of their attitudes, beliefs, feelings, and behavior.
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Social desirability bias Some individuals unconsciously respond to questions in ways that make them look good.
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Is dependent on a persons willingness to disclose their knowledge of beliefs and feelings.
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Response Sets Is a systematic tendency to respond to test questions in a particular way and is unrelated to the content of the test items [Some people tend to agree with almost every statement. Some people tend to disagree with almost every statement.
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Rarely assesses the reasons behind the statements.
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Has low validity; Especially predictive validity
Conclusions • First, it is hard to measure personality • Lots of tests try. – Problem: – Many tests have poor validity or reliability
• Regardless, personality tests are used in many contexts. (employment) – Problem. False Positives Say you have a problem when you actually do not. Can ruin your reputation or your life.
Behavioral Tests • Insist on measuring objective behavior
• Types of techniques a. Self-Report questionnaires Ask specific questions about a behavior
b. Self-Monitoring • Client keeps track of own behavior in specific categories – Number of foods eaten – Number of hours spent studying
• Records information on paper or uses counters
• c. Direct Observation in Natural Settings • Is often used in hospital or school settings
• d. Direct Observation in Artificial Situations • Subjects are shown scenes on a videotape and reactions are observed.
Advantages • Usually are highly reliable and valid • Can be used across a variety of settings
• e. Behavioral interviews • Ask structured questions with specific statements • Collect specific data • No interpretation is used
• Can be used to assess a variety of behaviors
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Problems • Clients may lie • Clients may inaccurately record behavior • Usually have fewer problems than other techniques
Intelligence Tests • Many different types of tests • Issues for intelligence testing, – What is intelligence
• Binet
Binet • Developed his test in response to the French Government • Differentiate between normal students and slow learners • Test assessed mental abilities such as – memory – imagination – attention
Intelligence Quotient IQ • Developed by Terman • Mental Age / Chronological Age X 100
– Used the concept of mental age developed from the test with the chronological age of the child – mental age from test = 9, • kid was 8 years old - smart • If kid was 12, kid was slow
– Test did what it was supposed to do – Separated students
Stanford Binet
• Test was adapted in the US by Stanford University • Still is used across the country • Works great with younger kids
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Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale WAIS • Most used test today • Newest test WAIS-R • Has 11-12 sub-tests – Six for Verbal – Five for non-verbal
Differences between the Tests • Binet – Has 4 sub tests • Verbal • Quantitative • Abstract Reasoning • Short term memory • WAIS – Has 12 subtests
Other Intelligence Tests • Group Tests – Army Alpha
Other Wechsler Tests • Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children • WISC - R • Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence WPPSI - R
Aptitude Tests • Tests to determine if you can do something • SAT, ACT
• Developed in WWI • Emphasized Verbal Capabilities
– Army Beta • Developed for individuals who couldn’t read or write • Emphasized Performance Capabilities
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• General Ability Tests
Workplace Tests • Tests are geared towards workplace issues • Many Types
– Shipley Institute of Living Scale – Wonderlic Personnel Test
• Multiple Aptitude Test Batteries – General Aptitude Test Battery – Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery – Employee Aptitude Survey
• Mechanical Aptitude – Bennett Mechanical Comprehension Test – Minnesota Spatial Relations Test
• Motor Ability Tests – Crawford Small Part Dexterity Test – Purdue Pegboard – Hand-tool Dexterity Test
• Clerical Tests – Minnesota Clerical Test – Clerical Abilities Battery – General Clerical Test – SRA Clerical Aptitudes
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