Testing

{{AssessPsy} Psychological testing is a field characterized by the use of small samples of behavior in order to infer larger generalizations about a given individual. The technical term for the science behind psychological testing is psychometrics. By samples of behavior, we mean observations of the individual over time performing tasks which have usually been prescribed beforehand. These responses are often compiled into statistical tables that allow the evaluator to compare the behavior of the individual being tested to the responses of a norm group. When multiple tests are administered, the procedure is referred to as full battery assessment.

A useful psychological measure must be both valid (actually measures what it claims to measure) and reliable (is internally consistent or give consistent results over time).

Types of psychological evaluations

Norm-referenced

IQ/achievement tests

IQ (or cognitive) tests and academic achievement tests are the most common norm-referenced tests. In either of these types of tests, a series of tasks are presented to the person being evaluated, and the person's responses are graded according to carefully prescribed guidelines. After the test is completed, the results can be compiled and compared to the responses of a norm group usually comprised of people at the same age or grade level as the person being evaluated.

IQ tests (e.g., WAIS-III, WISC-IV, K-BIT-2) and academic achievement tests (e.g., WIAT, WRAT) are designed to be administered to either an individual (by a trained evaluator) or to a group of people (paper and pencil tests). The individually-administered tests tend to be more comprehensive, more reliable, more valid and generally to have better psychometric characteristics than group-administered tests. Of course, individually-administered tests are more expensive to administer because of the need for a trained administrator (psychologist, school psychologist, or psychometrician), and the limitation of working with just one client at a time.

Neuropsychological tests

Neuropsychological tests are specifically designed tasks used to measure a psychological function known to be linked to a particular brain structure or pathway.

They are typically used to assess impairment after an injury or illness known to affect neurocognitive functioning, or when used in research, to contast neuropsychological abilities across experimental groups.

Personality tests

Psychological measures of personality are often described as either objective tests or projective tests. Objective tests have a restricted response format, such as allowing for true or false answers. Prominent examples of objective personality tests for clinical use include the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III, Child Behavior Checklist or the Beck Depression Inventory. Objective personality tests designed for use in business or on normal populations include the NEO-PI, the 16PF, and the Occupational Personality Questionnaire, all of which are based on the Big Five taxonomy. The Big Five, or Five Factor Model of normal personality has gained acceptance since the early 1990s when some influential meta-analyses (e.g., Barrick & Mount 1991) found consistent relationships between the Big Five factors (conscientiousness, openness to experience, neuroticism (emotional stability), agreeableness and extraversion) and job performance. Projective tests allow for a much freer type of response. An example of this would be the Rorschach test, in which a person states what they see in ten ink blots. The terms "objective test" and "projective test" have recently come under criticism in the Journal of Personality Assessment. The more descriptive "rating scale or self-report measures" and "free response measures" are generally preferred over the terms "objective tests" and "projective tests," respectively. There remains some controversy regarding the value and validity of projective testing which is based on Freud's concept of projecting one's own personality attributes on to a neutral stimulus. However, many practitioners continue to rely on projective testing and some testing experts (e.g., Cohen, Anastasi) suggest that these measures can be useful in developing a therapeutic rapport. The most widely used scoring system for the Rorschach is Exner's Comprehensive System. Another common projective test is the Thematic Apperception Test (Murray, 1943, which is often scored with Drew Westen's (1991) Social Cognition and Object Relations Scales and Phebe Cramer's Defense Mechanisms Manual (1991). Both self report and free response measures are used in contemporary clinical practice. Projective tests are much less commonly used for personnel selection in business settings, as they have been successfully challenged in court.

Direct observation tests

Although most psychological tests involve rating scale or free response measures, psychological assessment may also involve the observation of people as they complete activities. This type of assessment is usually conducted with families in a laboratory or at home or with children in a classroom. The purpose may be clinical, such as to establish a pre-intervention baseline of a child's hyperactive or aggressive classroom behaviors or to observe the nature of a parent-child interaction to understand a relational disorder. Direct observation procedures are also used in research, for example to study the relationship between intrapsychic variables and specific target behaviors, or to explore sequences of behavioral interaction.

The Parent-Child Interaction Assessment-II is an example of a direct observation procedure that is used with school-age children and parents. The parents and children are videotaped playing at a make-believe zoo. The [Parent-Child Early Relational Assessment] is used to study parents and infants through toddlers and involves a feeding and a puzzle task. The [MacArthur Story Stem Battery] is used to elicit narratives from children. The [Dyadic Parent-Child Interaction Coding System-II] tracks the extent to which children follow the commands of parents and vice versa and is well suited to the study of children with Oppositional Defiant Disorders and their parents.

Psychological evaluations using Data mining

An examiner may use data mining methods to draw inferences from existing records, texts, and datasets about the person. One such technique is the Abika Test. This test involves gathering data on the individual such as public records, behavior history records, consumer activities, shopping histories, memberships in various organizations and clubs, court records, demographic data, property deeds, media, public and private databases, newsgroups, opinions expressed in chat rooms, forums, message boards including other methods such as statistical comparisons with peer groups, polling and information submitted by friends, co-workers, relatives. This technique compiles personality and psychological profiles which are based on inferences developed from existing records, texts, and datasets about the person.

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