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Psych testing unit 1
Psychological Testing - ✅the process of measuring psychology-related variables by means of devices or procedures designed to obtain a sample of behavior. Psychological Assessment - ✅Combines data from different sources. Utilizes variety of different tests and observational measures. Is an inherently subjective process that makes predictions in a complex collection of data the 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 apparatuses and measurement procedures. Settings where assessments are used - ✅educational settings, clinical settings, counseling settings, geriatric settings, business and military settings, government and organizational settings, and academic settings CAT - ✅computer adaptive testing (adaptive = computer's ability to tailor the test to the testtaker's ability or test-taking pattern) CAPA - ✅computer assisted psychological assessment; assisted = assistance computers provide to the test user (not the test taker); advantages include wider reach of potential test takers by the internet, scoring and interpretation is usually faster than on paper, cost is usually less than paper, and helping/accessing isolated populations (ex. those with disabilities); disadvantages include problems with verifying the testtaker's ID and integrity (ex. did they have notes or internet sources helping?) Interview - ✅a method of gathering information through direct communication involving reciprocal exchange; includes content, body language, appearance, manner of speaking, etc.; differ in regard to purpose, length, and nature
Alfred Binet - ✅In 1905, he and a colleague published a test designed to help place Paris schoolchildren in appropriate classes. This test was the first major contemporary test/assessment and was used as a model for US school tests and military screening tests in WWI and WWII. Process of Assessment - ✅1. Referral
- Pre-Assesment
- Formal or Alternative Assesment
- Report Writing
- Feedback behavioral observation - ✅monitoring the actions of others or oneself by visual or electronic means while recording quantitative and/or qualitative information regarding those actions. Includes Naturalistic Observation, most often used in classrooms, clinics, prisons, and other facilities where observers have ready access to assesses Psychological assessment vs psychological test - ✅Assessment: The gathering and integration of psychology-related data for the purpose of making a psychological evaluation that is achieved through the use of various measurement tools. Test: The process of measuring psychology-related variables by means of devices or procedures designed to obtain a sample of behavior. psychological assessment - ✅the 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 observations, and specially designed apparatuses and measurement procedures (individual) Case History Data -
✅the adaptation of a test, procedure, or situation, or the substitution of one test for another, to make the assessment more suitable for an assessee with exceptional needs; also known as modification. educational resources information center (ERIC) - ✅widely used bibliographic databases for test-related publications, contains a wealth of resources and news about tests, testing, and assessment. (www.eric.ed.gov) Test manual - ✅detailed information concerning the development of a particular tests and technical information relating to it should be found in the test manual. Mental Measurements Yearbook - ✅compiled by Oscar Buros (1938), an authoritative compilation of test reviews updated every three years. alternate assessment - ✅An evaluative or diagnostic procedure or process that varies from the usual, customary, or standardised way a measurement is derived, either by virtue of some special accommodation made to the assessee or by means of alternative methods designed to measure the same variable(s Reference volumes-The Buros Institute, 'Tests in print' - ✅This volume, which is also updated periodically, provides detailed information for each test listed, including test publisher, test author, test purpose, intended test population, and test administration time. test manual - ✅This consists of information concerning the development of a particular test and technical information relating to it. It can usually be purchased from the test publisher, however when purchasing a ____ ______ one must provide documentation of professional training. Protocol - ✅With reference to testing and assessment, ________ typically refers to the form or sheet or booklet on which a testtaker's responses are entered. The term may also be used to refer to a description of a set of test- or assessment-related procedures. E.g., "The examiner dutifully followed the complete ________ for the stress interview.
Panel interview - ✅In this interview, more than one interviewer participates in the assessment. It is also referred to as a board interview. Cut score - ✅This is a reference point, usually numerical, derived by judgement and used to divide a set of data into two or more classifications. It is also referred to as a 'cutoff'. Score - ✅A code or summary statement, usually but not necessarily numerical in nature, that reflects an evaluation of performance on a test, task, interview, or some other sample of behaviour. Therapeutic Psychological Assessment - ✅This assessment approach involves an element of therapy as part of the process, Therapeutic self-discovery and new understandings are encouraged throughout the assessment process. Dynamic assessment - ✅An interactive approach to psychological assessment that usually follows a model of 1) evaluation, 2) intervention, 3) evaluation. These assessments are most used in educational settings, and can be a way of measuring 'learning potential' or 'learning how to learn' skills. Provides a means for evaluating how the assesee processes or benefits from some type of intervention Collaborative Psychological Assessment - ✅The assessor and assessee work as 'partners' from initial contact through to final feedback. This type of assessment is often used in clinical settings. The Tarasoff decision is important for psychologist because it clarifies the principle of ..... - ✅Duty to Warn
manditory screening for children who may be handicapped Grutter v. Bollinger - ✅affirmative action case (lost) ; race could be used as a factor in admissions as long as there was no point system and race was not a major factor; upheld Bakke case In 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court heard Grutter v. Bollinger, a case brought by a law school applicant who was denied admission at the University of Michigan. The student, who was Caucasian, believed she had been wrongfully denied admission because of the law school's admissions criteria, a composite of many academic and achievement-oriented variables. In addition, the school had a goal to achieve diversity within the student population. While the school did not set quotas for minority students, it sought to enroll what it termed a "critical mass" of under-represented or minority students. The law school claimed that to eradicate race as an admissions factor would cause the school to lose its diversity because many fewer minorities would be admitted. Barbara Grutter, the plaintiff in this case, believed that her 14th Amendment rights had been violated because the law school's use of racial preferences in student admissions violated the Equal Protection Clause. In response to this case, many organizations drafted amicus curiae briefs responding to both sides of the issue, including the American Psychological Association (APA). The APA explained that, unfortunately, prejudice and discrimination still persist and related institutional inequalities that linger require purposeful corrective action. The brief continued that minorities are under- represented in many fields where there is not a focus on increasing and maintaining diversity. What should psychologist base their opinions on? - ✅should base it on an examination of the individuals adequate to support their statements or conclusions What are the characteristics of tests/assessments used by psychologists? - ✅tests/ assessment must uphold good validity and reliability .Under what special circumstances is informed consent for assessment and diagnostic services not necessary? What should be done if consent can not be obtained? - ✅1.) when it is required by law, (mandated) 2.) when it is implied in continuous/ routine testing or for applying for a job 3.) when purpose of the test is to assess capacity to make decisions
When informed consent is not obtained, for those who are obligated to test or when limited/ questional capasity to consent is present regulations about the nature and purpose of the proposed assessment services should be delivered using language that is reasonably understandable to the person being assessed. What are rights of the test taker? - ✅Right to informed consent Right to be informed of test findings Right to privacy and confidentiality Right to the least stigmatizing label Confidentiality vs Privileged Information - ✅Right to privacy by Fifth Amendment Tarasoff Ruling What is the perspective on the use of ability tests held by cross-cultural psychologists? What alterations are needed to the test? - ✅The "take it with you" approach that all tests can be transported from culture to culture Test should be altered to the native language of the testee, test should be given by a native speaker, and it should have familiar items what three cultural areas must be shared in order for a test to "travel freely?" - ✅values, knowledge, and communication Kpelle population in Liberia what differed between the participants and the researchers? According to the author, what key criterion of the test was "undermined" or called into question? - ✅They had differing definitions of intelligence. validity was undermined The author states that the major factor that makes a culture different from the culture conventions of ability testing is - ✅the degree of formal education possessed by the participants.
✅Platykurtic = flat Leptokurtic = peaked Mesokurtic = in the middle (Normal) where did testing first come from? - ✅China B.C.E. for selecting people for Govt jobs Who coined the term mental test? - ✅Cattell Charles Darwin's Origin of Species did what? - ✅Increased emphasis on individual differences Sir Francis Galton's Anthropometric Lab contributed to? - ✅rating scales, questionaires, and self report inventories. Kept antrhopometric measuresment of student he was interested in psychologically related variables
- Measurement of physical traits and reaction time 2. Developed correlation techniques
- Hereditary Genius 1957: Sputnik and school-based testing - ✅About a year after the soviet union's launch of Sputnik, congress passes the National Defense Act, which provided federal money to local schools for the purpose of testing ability and aptitude to identify gifted and academically talented students Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California - ✅Therapists must reveal priviledged info if a third party is endangered. "Protective privelege ends where the public peril begins." Truth in testing legislation - ✅give testtakers a way to learn the criteria by which they are being judged. EPPP gives psychologists a 30 day reveal of the answers
privileged information - ✅Information that is protected by law from disclosure in a legal proceeding. ADA of 1990 (Americans with Disabilities Act) - ✅employers tests must be essential to job Type 2 error - ✅False negative- An error that occurs when a researcher concludes that the independent variable does not have an effect on the dependent variable when it does When can a psychologist release test data to someone other than the test taker? - ✅In accordance to a client/patient release, psychologists provide test data to the client/patient or other persons identified in the release. In the absence of a client/patient release, psychologists provide test data only as required by law or court order. Under what special circumstances is informed consent for assessment and diagnostic services not necessary? In these circumstances, what information gets conveyed to the test taker? - ✅• Informed consent is not necessary when (1) testing is mandated by law or governmental regulations; (2) informed consent is implied because testing is conducted as a routine educational, institutional, or organizational activity (e.g., when participants voluntarily agree to assessment when applying for a job); or (3) one purpose of the testing is to evaluate decisional capacity.
- Psychologists inform persons with questionable capacity to consent or for whom testing is mandated by law or governmental regulations about the nature and purpose of the proposed assessment services, using language that is reasonably understandable to the person being assessed. What are the characteristics of tests/assessments used by psychologists? - ✅Psychologists use assessment instruments whose validity and reliability have been established for use with members of the population tested. Psychologists often provide opinions in their reports, diagnostic evaluations, and testimony. What must these opinions be based on? - ✅Psychologists base their opinions on information and techniques sufficient to substantiate their findings, psychologists provide opinions of the psychological characteristics of individuals only after they have conducted an examination of the individuals adequate to support their statements or conclusions
Assumption 6: Testing and assessment can be conducted in a fair and unbiased manner Assumption 7: Testing and Assessment benefit society what is a normative sample - ✅Use that sample to create a reference or norm that group of people whose performance on a particular test is analyzed for reference when looking into evaluation the performance of individual test takers Standardization/ Test standardization - ✅Process of administering test to a representative sample for purpose of establishing norms What do norms provide? - ✅Norms provide a standard with which individual results are compared to a group to interpret your scores, you need norms How do we create norms? - ✅By sampling: process of selecting the portion of the universe deemed to be representative of the whole population. Stratified and stratified random sampling Purposive and incidental (convenience) sampling fixed reference group scoring system - ✅distribution of scores obtained on the test from one group of test takers is used as the basis for the calculation of test scores for future administrations of the test (e.g., SAT) What is a norm-referenced test? -
✅Comparing your test to a normative group...Like an IQ test Evaluate test score in relation to other scores on the same test (norm-referenced) What is criterion referenced? - ✅Establishes a pass-fail criterion - if above or below - can't determine how good or bad the score is - just that it is good enough to pass or poor enough to fail Evaluate test score in relation to whether a criterion or set standard has been met
