Psychological Testing:
Introduction
What is Psychological Test?
Uniformity in procedure Some numerical or
in all the important categorical system is
aspects of administration, applied to test result,
scoring and interpretation according to pre-
of tests. established rules.
A psychological test is a standardized procedure to
measure quantitatively or qualitatively one or more than
one aspect of trait by means of a sample of verbal or
non-verbal behavior.
They are small
subset of a
large group.
Some important definitions
In the words of Bean (1953) a test is “ an
organized succession of stimuli designed to
measure quantitatively or to evaluate
qualitatively some mental process, trait or
characteristic.”
Likewise, Anastasi & Urbina (1997) have
defined a psychological test as “essentially an
objective and standardized measure of
sample of behavior.”
Kaplan & Saccuzzo (2001) have opined, “A
psychological test or educational test is a set
of items designed to measure characteristics
Types of Psychological Tests
Scoring
Pattern
Administrativ
e Condition
Types of Tests
Time Limit
Nature or
content of
items
I. On the basis of criterion of scoring
[Link] Tests/ Limited-answer Tests
Items are scored in such a way that no scope for
subjective judgment or opinion exists and thus, the
scoring remain ambiguous.
In such items the problem as well as its answer is
given along with distractor. A distractor answer is one
which is similar to correct answer but is actually an
incorrect one.
For ex: multiple choice, True/False.
2. Subjective Tests/ Free answer Tests
Items are scored in such a way that there exists
some scope for subjective judgment and opinion.
Such tests are used to assess a testee’s ability to
organize a comprehensive answer, recall and select
important information and present the same logically
II. On the basis of criterion of
Administrative Conditions
[Link] Tests
Administered to one person at a time.
For ex.: Kohs Block Design Test
2. Group Tests
Administered among more than one
person or in a group at a time.
For ex.: Army Alpha (verbal test) and
Beta Tests (non-verbal test).
III. On the basis of criterion of time limit in
producing the response
[Link] Tests
Assess the underlying ability of an individuals by allowing
them sufficient time.
They do not have any time limit.
Items are arranged in increasing order of difficulty.
For ex. : intelligence tests, aptitude tests.
2. Speed Tests
Assessment is done on the basis of time taken to answer
the items accurately.
There is a time limit for testee to answer the items.
All the items are of same degree of difficulty.
For ex.: clerical related tests
III. On the basis of criterion of nature or
content of items
[Link] Tests
Instructions are written or printed,
which are read by testee and answered
accordingly.
Also known as paper-pencil test.
For ex.: Stanford-Binet Scale
2. Non-verbal Tests
Use of language in instructions but in
items they don’t use language. They
are presented in the from of symbols
and figures.
For ex.: Raven’s Progressive Matrices
III. On the basis of criterion of nature or
content of items
3. Performance Tests
Testee is required to perform a task rather
than answer the items.
Occasionally, oral language is used to give
instructions, or may also be given through
gesture and pantomime.
Usually administered individually so that
tester can count the errors and can assess the
time to complete a particular task.
For ex.: Koh’s Block Design, Seguin Form
Board
4. Non-Language Tests
Instructions are given through gesture or
pantomime and responses are made by
manipulating the object such as pictures,
blocks, puzzles etc.
Characteristics of a GOOD psychological
test
1. Objectivity:
Free from personal biasness.
Here, it has two aspects:
Objectivity of items: Items should be phrased in
such a manner that they are interpreted in exactly the same way by
all the testees.
Objectivity of scoring system: Scoring method
should be standard one so that when the test is scored by different
experts at different time it should be uniform.
Characteristics of a GOOD psychological
test
2. Reliability:
Test’s consistency i.e. ability to yield the same
result under a variety of conditions
It includes:
Internal Consistency: consistency in results
obtained in a single administration
Temporal Consistence: Consistency in results
obtained upon testing and retesting
Characteristics of a GOOD psychological
test
3. Validity:
Ability to measure what it is intended to measure.
4. Norms:
Average performance of a representative sample on a given test.
gg
It helps in interpretation of scores.
It is of following types:
i. Age norms
ii. Grade norms
iii. Percentile norms
iv. Standard score norms
5. Practicability:
Practicable from the point of view of the time taken in its completion,
length, scoring pattern etc.
Brief History of Psychological Testing
I. Rudimentary forms of testing in
China in 2200BC
Rudimentary forms of testing date back to at least 2200 BC when
the Chinese emperor has his officials examined every third year to
determine their fitness for office.
Such testing was modified and refined over the centuries until
written exams were introduced in the Han dynasty.
The testing practices were unnecessarily grueling, and the Chinese
also failed to validate their selection procedures.
But the examination program incorporated relevant selection
criteria
II. Psychiatric Antecedent of Psychological
Testing
In 1885, the German physician Hubert Von Grashey
developed what is called antecedents of memory drum as a
means of testing brain –injured patients. His subjects were
shown words, symbols, or pictures through a slot in a sheet
of paper that was moving slowly over the stimuli. Grashey
found that many patients could recognize stimuli in their
totality but could not identify them when shown through the
moving slot.
Shortly thereafter, the German psychiatrist Conrad Rieger
developed an excessively ambitious test battery for brain
damage. His battery took over 100 hours to administer and
soon fell out of favor.
III. The Brass Instruments Era of Testing
Wilhelm Maximilian Wundt was a german physician,
physiologist, philosopher and professor, and today is known as
one of the founding figure of modern psychology.
He is widely regarded as “Father of Experimental Psychology.”
In 1879, he found first formal laboratory for psychological
reaction at University of Leipzig (now Karl Marks University).
It is less well recognized that he was measuring mental
processes years before, at least as early as 1862, when he
experimented with his thought meter (Diamond, 1980). This
device was a calibrated pendulum with needles sticking off
from each side. The pendulum would swing back and forth,
striking bells with the needles. The observer’s task was to take
note of the position of the pendulum when the bells sounded. Of
course, Wundt could adjust the needles beforehand and thereby
know the precise position of the pendulum when each bell was
struck. Wundt thought that the difference between the observed
pendulum position and the actual position would provide a
(c)
(a) Wilhelm Wundt
(b) Wundt seated and surrounded by fellow researchers and
equipment in his laboratory in Germany.
(c) Thought Meter
Sir Francis Galton (1822–1911) pioneered the new
experimental psychology in nineteenth-century Great Britain.
He attempts to measure intellect by means of reaction time
and sensory discrimination tasks are well known.
He continued the tradition of brass instruments mental
testing but with an important difference: his procedures were
much more amenable to the timely collection of data from
hundreds if not thousands of subjects. Because of his efforts
in devising practicable measures of individual
differences, historians of psychological testing usually
regard Galton as the father of mental testing
(Goodenough, 1949; Boring, 1950).
James McKeen Cattell (1860–1944) studied
with both Wundt and Galton, continued testing and
measurement programme in a scientific way.
He invented the term ‘mental test’ in his
important paper Mental tests and Measurements.
He started his own research laboratory at
Columbia University, at that time the largest
University in America. There, he developed a
series of tests that were mainly the extensions and
additions to Galton’s theory.
In fact, the physiological and sensory bias of his
various tests battery reflects strongly of its
Galtonian heritage.
Thus, Cattell tried his best to import the brass
instrument approach to America.
One of the student of J. M. Cattell, Clark
Wissler, showed some surprising results in
1901 and therefore, had the greatest
influence on the early history of testing and
measurement.
His aim was to demonstrate that the test
scores could predict academic performance.
His analysis showed virtually no tendency
for mental test scores to correlate with
academic performance, which thereby
redirected the mental testing movement
away from brass instruments.
In 1904, the Minister of Public Instruction in Paris
appointed a commission to decide upon the educational
measures that should be undertaken with those children who
could not profit from regular instruction.
The commission concluded that medical and educational
examinations should be used to identify those children who
could not learn by the ordinary methods.
Furthermore, it was determined that these children should be
removed from their regular classes and given special
instruction suitable to their more limited intellectual prowess.
This was the beginning of the special education classroom.
It was evident that a means of selecting children for such
special placement was needed, and Binet and his colleague
Simon were called upon to develop a practical tool for just this
purpose.
Thus arose the first formal scale (Binet-Simon Intelligence
Scale) for assessing the intelligence of children.
It was a 30-item measure of intelligence.
Its 1912 revision was important because in this revision
William Stern introduced the concept of IQ.
Personality assessment began with Woodworth’s
Personal Data Sheet appeared.
Group Tests like Army Alpha and Army Beta Test
were developed during the two World Wars.
Projective Testing began with the Word
Association Technique pioneered by Francis
Galton.
The advent of multiple aptitude test batteries
was made possible with the development of
factor analysis by L.L. Thurstone and others.
The assessment of vocational interest began
with Yoakum Carnegie Interest Inventory
developed in 1919-1920.