AN INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGICAL

TESTING & ASSESSMENT

 DEFINITIONS
• Test
– Is a set of measuring device/tools designed to
measure a variable related to that modifier
• Testing
– Refers to everything, from test administration to
the interpretation of the test score
• Assessment
– is a process of active integration of test scores,
behavioral observation, and other data.
• Psychological Tests
– Refers to a device/procedure designed to measure a specific
psychological construct:
– Traits: i.e., introversion and extroversion
– Certain Conditions: i.e., depression and anxiety
– Intelligence, aptitude, and achievement: i.e., verbal intelligence and reading
achievement
– Attitudes and feelings: i.e., how individuals feel about the treatment they
received
from their therapists
– Interest: i.e., careers and activities that a person is interested in
– Specific abilities, knowledge, or skills: i.e., cognitive ability, memory, and problem
solving skills

• Psychological Testing
– Refers to the administration or process of measuring psychology
related variables using a device or procedures designed to obtain a
sample of behavior
• Psychological Assessment
– Refers to gathering and integration of psychology-related data for
the purpose of making a psychological evaluation that is
accomplished through the use of tools such as; tests, interviews,
case studies, behavioral observation, and specially designed
apparatus and measurement procedure
• Psychological tests provide a way to formally and
accurately measure different factors that can contribute
to people’s problems. Not anyone can administer a
psychological test. Each test has its own requirements
or qualification that a person must meet in order for a
person to purchase and administer the test to someone
else.
• Psychological assessment is a process that involves the
integration of information from multiple sources, such
as psychological tests, personal history, description of
current symptoms and problems by either self or
others, and collateral information
 CONTRASTING TESTING AND
ASSESSMENT
• OBJECTIVE:
– Testing is usually numeric in nature with regard to an ability or
attribute while Assessment answers a question, solve a
problem, or arrive at a decision through the use of tools of
evaluation
• PROCESS:
– Testing may be individual or group in nature, after
administration it will typically add up the number of correct
answers while Assessment is typically individualized and focuses
on how the individual processes rather than simply looking at
the results
• ROLE OF EVALUATOR:
– The Tester is not the key process, with any replacement in a
session will have it won’t affect the evaluation while the
Assessor is the key process from selection of test until the
drawing of conclusions and interpretation
• SKILL OF EVALUATOR:
– The Tester needs some technician like skills in terms
of administering the test and interpreting the results
while an Assessor requires someone who is
educated in the tools and skills of evaluation and the
organization and integration of data
• OUTCOME:
– Testing yields scores/set of test scores while
Assessment entails a logical problem solving
approach designed by a referral question
 PROCESS OF ASSESSMENT
• Referral for assessment
• Clinical interview
• Informal assessment
• Formal assessment
• Summary of assessment
 DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO
ASSESSMENT
• Collaborative
– The assessor and the assessee may work as partners from
initial contact to final feedback
• Therapeutic
– Therapeutic self discovery and new understandings are
encouraged throughout the assessment process.
• Dynamic
– An interactive approach that follows the model of
evaluation, intervention, and evaluation
 TOOLS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL
ASSESSMENT
1.) Test
– Is simply defined as a measuring device or procedure
– Psychological Test Variables differs in:
• Content- vary with the focus of the particular test
• Format- pertains to form, plan, structure, arrangement and its
administration
• Administration procedure- it can be either one-to-one or group
• Scoring and interpretation:
– Score- a code/summary statement that reflects an evaluation of
performance on a test, task, interview, or other samples of behavior
– Scoring- is the process of assigning score

• Technical Quality: psychometric soundness of a test

2.) Interview
– Conjures image of face to face talk
– It differs with regard to many variables, such as purpose,
length, and nature
– Helps to make diagnosis, treatment, selection, or other
decisions
3.) Case History Data
– Refers to records, transcripts, and other accounts written,
pictorial, or other form that preserve archival information,
official, and informal accounts, and other data and items
relevant to an assessee
4.) Behavioral Observation
– Monitoring of actions of others or oneself by visual or
electronic means while recording qualitative or quantitative
information regarding the action
• Naturalistic
• Field
5.) Portfolio
-Work products whether retained on paper, canvas, film, video,
audio, or some other mediums.
6.) Role-Play Tests
-is a tool of assessment wherein assessees are directed to act as if
they were in a particular situation
7.) Computers
scoring may be done on-site (local processing)
or conducted at some central location (central
processing) central facility by means of phone line
(teleprocessing)
the account of performance spewed out can range
from a mere
listing of scores (simple scoring report)
Extended scoring- includes statistical analyses of the testtaker’s
performance
Interpretative Report- is distinguished by its inclusion of
numerical or narrative interpretive statements in the report
Consultative reports- high ends of interpretative report
Integrative report- previously collected data into the test report
CAPA- Computer Assigned Psychological Assessment
WHO ARE THE PARTIES INVOLVED?

• Test Developer
– creates test or other methods of assessment
– The APA has estimated that more than 20,000
new psychological tests are developed each year.
• Test User
– Wide range of professionals, including clinicians,
counselors, school psychologists, HR personnel,
consumer psychologists, experimental
psychologists, social psychologists, etc.
– Only chosen people are qualified
• Testtaker
– Anyone who is the subject of the assessment
– Variables that may affect the testtaker:
• Amount of test anxiety
• The extent to which they agree with the rationale for the
assessment
• Capacity and willingness to cooperate
• Physical pain or emotional distress
• The extent to which they have prior coaching
• Portraying themselves in a good or bad light

• Society at Large
– has a big impact on organizing and systematizing with
regards to uniqueness of each individual
 SETTINGS IN WHICH ASSESSMENT IS
CONDUCTED
• Educational: to help identify children who may have special
needs (i.e school ability, achievement test)
• Clinical: used to help screen for or diagnose behavior
problems
• Counseling: improvement of the assessee in terms of
adjustment, productivity, or some related variable.
• Geriatric: to determine whether the elders are enjoying as
good as a quality of life
• Business & Military: decision making about the careers of
personnel and also for promotion, demotion, and firing
• Governmental & Organizational: licensure, certification,
credentialing of professionals
 HOW IS ASSESSMENT CONDUCTED?
• BEFORE ASSSSMENT:
– Test must be stored in ways that reasonably ensures
that its content will not be exposed to testtakers
– Ensured that a “suitably-trained” person administers
the test properly
– Examiners must be familiar with the test materials and
procedures
– All materials to properly administer the test must be
present in the site (e.g., stopwatch, supply of pencils,
& sufficient number of test protocols)
– Ensures the venue is suitable and conducive for
testing
• DURING ASSESSMENT:
• Free from any distracters (such as excessive noise, heat, cold,
interruptions, glaring sunlight, crowding, inadequate ventilation,
etc), rapport (working relationship) must be present between the
examiner and the examinee
• AFTER ASSESSMENT:
– Safeguarding of the test protocols
– Scoring must be standard
– Interpretation of results must be used according to
the established procedures and ethical guidelines
– Test results must be conveyed in a clear-
understandable way
 ASSESSMENT OF PEOPLE WITH
DISABILITIES
• Assessment of people with disabilities uses alternate
assessment – done by means of some accommodation
(adapt, adjust, or make suitable)
• Accommodation - is the adaptation of the test,
procedure, or situation, or the substitution of one test for
another, to make the assessment more suitable for an
assessee with exceptional needs.
• Alternate Assessment – is an evaluative/diagnostic
procedure or process that varies from the usual way of
measurement by virtue of some special accommodation
made to the assessee or by means of alternative methods
designed to measure the same variable
 WHERE TO FIND AUTHORITATIVE
INFORMATION?
• Test Catalogue: contains brief description of the test and
seldom contain the kind of detailed technical information
that a prospective user might require
• Test Manuals: development of particular test and technical
information relating to it
• Reference Volumes: provides detailed information for each
test listed including the publisher, author, purpose,
intended population, and administration time
• Journal articles: contains review of test, updated or
independent studies of its psychometric soundness, or
examples on how the test was applied to research or an
applied context
• Online Database
 HISTORY OF TESTING AND
ASSESSMENT
• It is believed that test and testing programs first came in China as
early as 2200 B.C.E
• During the Greco-Roman period there were attempts to categorize
people in terms of personality.
• Modern sense of testing began during the Renaissance.
• Christian Von Wolff had anticipated psychology as a science and
psychological assessment as a specialty within that science.
• In 1859, Charles Darwin wrote his book entitled “On the Origin of
Species by Means of Natural Selection” which was the mark of his
attempt to study human difference.
• As Darwin emerged on the study of human differences, his half
cousin Sir Francis Galton aspired to classify people based on their
natural gifts and to ascertain their deviation from an average, and
even established his Anthropometric Laboratory.
• Galton pioneered the use of statistical techniques central to
psychological experimentation and testing: the coefficient of
correlation.
• Karl Pearson developed the product-moment correlation
technique.
• Wilhelm Wundt founded the first psychology laboratory at the
University of Leipzig in Germany, he focused on questions
relating to how people were similar
• James McKeen Cattell completed his Ph.D dissertation that
dealt with human differences, and when he returned to
University of Pennsylvania he coined the term “mental test” in
a certain publication.
• Charles Spearman is credited with originating the concept of
test reliability as well as building the mathematical framework
for the statistical technique of factor analysis.
• Victor Henri collaborated with Binet and suggested how
mental tests will be used to higher mental processes.
• Emil Kraepelin was an early experimenter with the use of
word-association technique as a formal test.
• Lightmer Witmer has been cited as the little-founder of clinical
psychology
• In 1905, Theodore Simon and Alfred Binet published a 30-item
intelligence test to help identify the mentally retarder school
children in Paris
• In 1939, David Wechsler began to design a intelligence test for
adults.
• Rober S. Woodworth was assigned to develop a measure of
adjustment and emotional instability that could be
administered quickly and efficiently in the military settings,
and it lead to the classification of the 2 different types of tests:
– Self-Report- a method of assessment that would soon be employed
in a long line of succeeding personality tests
– Projective Tests- a test in which an individual is assumed to project
onto some ambiquous stimuli his or her own unique needs, fears,
hopes, and motivation.
 CULTURE AND ASSESSMENT
• Culture- the socially transmitted behavior patterns, beliefs, and
products of work of a particular population, community, or group of
people
• Culture-Specific Tests- these are tests designed for use with people
from one culture but not from another.
• Culture teaches us specific rituals
• Culture points what it means to be born
• Culture imparts what is to be valued/prized as well as what is to be
rejected and despised.
• Culture teaches people to make expectations of self and others
• Issues:
– Verbal communication
– Non verbal communication and behavior
– Standards of evaluation
 LEGAL AND ETHICAL
CONSIDERATIONS
• Laws- these are rules that individuals must
obey for the good of the society as a whole.
• Code of Professional Ethics- defines the
standard care expected of the members of
that profession.
 I. Concerns of the Public
– These are reflected in the extensive involvement of the
government through legislations in many aspects of the
assessment process.
– Dehumanization: danger of minimizing human
uniqueness.
– Litigation: court-mediated resolution of legal matters.
• Truth-in-testing-legislation- the primary objective is to give
testtakers a way to learn the criteria which they are being
judged. As well as test development information.
– REQUIREMENTS:
• Test Purpose & Subject Matter
• Knowledge & Skills on the test measures
• Procedures to ensure scoring accuracy
• Procedures in notifying testtakers in case of error in scoring
• Procedures to ensure confidentiality
 II. The Concerns of the Profession
• Theoretical Issues
– Needed in measuring a stable characteristic of the person being tested
– Differences in score over time
• Test Adequacy
– Is the test psychometrically adequate?
• Actuarial vs. Clinical Judgment
– Is it possible for us to make good judgments on a question when we
cannot articulate the basis for the judgment?
– ACTUARIAL- occurs when we feed test scores into statistical formulas
to diagnose a psychological condition of predict future performance.
We can’t make accurate predictions tailored to individuals, our
conclusions will be the same for every person with a given set of test
scores.
– CLINICAL- interpret test scores to diagnose a psychological condition
or predict future performance. The claim is “what caused what”, but it
does not improve experience
• Test-User Qualifications- APA Committee on
Ethical Standards for Psychology, entitled; Ethical
Standards for the Distribution of Psychological
Tests and Diagnostic Aids, defined 3-levels of
tests’ required knowledge of testing &
psychology:
• Level A – tests that can adequately be administered, scored, and
interpreted using manual & general orientation
• Level B – tests that require some technical knowledge of test
construction and use
• Level C – tests that require substantial understanding of testing
and supporting psychological fields together with supervised
experience
• Code of Fair Testing Practices in Education – a document
presenting standards for educational test developers in four
areas:
– developing/selecting tests,
– striving for fairness,
– interpreting scores,
– informing testtakers
• Testing people with disabilities w/c includes
transformation: a)transforming the test – can be taken;
b)transforming the responses of the testtakers – scorable;
c) meaningfully interpreting the test data request by a
terminally ill individual for assistance in quickening the
process of dying
Some major issues with regards to CAPA:
– Access to test administration, scoring, and
interpretation software (accessibility &
duplication)
– Comparability of pencil-and-paper and
computerized version of tests (insufficient
research)
– Value of computerized test interpretations
– Unprofessional, unregulated
“psychologicaltesting” online
 III. Rights of the Testtakers
A. The right of informed consent - Generally, the client/subject
must voluntarily consent, psychologist must inform client about
nature and purpose of assessment in understandable language.
• Exceptions:
– Sometimes, it is acceptable to test without getting consent
– e.g., you have given implied consent to be tested by
registering in this course, but I have never sought your
explicit consent
– Sometimes it is necessary to test without getting consent,
even when consent is explicitly refused by person to be
tested – e.g., when mandated by law

B. The right to be informed of test findings

 C. The right to privacy and confidentiality
• Informed consent
• Relevance
• Right to Results
– Regardless of scoring mechanism, counselors are
responsible to provide appropriate explanations
– Must interpret in terms that client can
understand
–
D. The right to the least stigmatizing label
• If categories are used, must be described precisely
• Sometimes diagnosis is related to treatment and even if
counselor is trying to be helpful, it is both illegal and
unethical to change a diagnosis
 ETHICS AND ASSESSMENT
• Ethics–is a body of principles of right, proper, or good
conduct. Code of professional ethics which defines the
standard of care (level at w/c a prudent professional would
provide diagnostic or therapeutic services under similar
condition) expected from members of the profession

• Sources for Ethical Decisions:

– American Counseling Association (ACA) Code of Ethics and
Practice
– Code of Fair Testing Practices in Education
– Standards for School Counselor Competence in
Assessment and
Evaluation