CHAPTER 1

Psychological Testing and Assessment

If you are reading this now, you are probably enrolled in a course that deals with tests and measurement, and you are probably using as your primary textbook, Psychological Testing and Assessment: An Introduction to Tests and Measurement, Seventh Edition (Cohen & Swerdlik, 2010). This workbook of exercises is a companion resource to Cohen & Swerdlik (2010), one designed to assist you in learning the material. The assistance comes in many forms ranging from exercises designed to gauge comprehension of chapter material, to exercises that require creative application of that material. An effort has been made to make these exercises not only valuable from a pedagogical standpoint but also enjoyable. Many students enjoy completing crossword puzzles during leisure time, so crossword puzzles have been incorporated as a tool to both review some terms, and introduce new ones. Most students also enjoy movies and there is an exercise in each chapter that uses a movie still as a point of departure to raise a measurement-related question. To the extent possible, then, please have some fun with all of these exercises while you reinforce and expand your learning from the primary text.

Puzzle 1

Instructions Identify what is described, answer a question, or ll in the blank to complete this crossword puzzle based on material presented in Chapter 1 of Cohen & Swerdliks Psychological Testing and Assessment: An Introduction to Tests and Measurement (7th edition). Some of the clues actually contain the answers in capital letters. These items usually provide you with a sneak preview of terms you will encounter in subsequent chapters. Consider these giveaway items free spaces in the puzzle.
1 6 7 8 2 3 4 5

10

11

12

13

14 17 18 19 20

15

16

21

22

23

24 25 26 27 28

29

30

31

AN OVERVIEW

Across
2. A working relationship between the examiner and the examinee in the context of testing or assessment. 4. Common sources of it are test construction (including item or content sampling), test administration, test scoring, and test interpretation. It is error VARIANCE. 7. The process of assigning evaluative codes or statements to performance on tests, tasks, interviews, or other behavior samples. 8. A measuring device or procedure. 9. The assignment of numbers or symbols to characteristics of people or objects according to rules. 10. An online, electronic database maintained by the American Psychological Association designed to help users locate psychologically relevant journal articles and documents. 12. Its a judgment regarding how well a test or other measurement tool measures what it purports to measure. Its a reference to a tests VALIDITY. 14. An acronym for an organization that issues credentials of expertise in measurement to psychologists. 16. Records, transcripts, and other accounts made in written, pictorial, or other form, in any media, that preserve archival information, ofcial and informal accounts, and other data and items relevant to an assessee. This describes _______ history data. 17. Its a tool of assessment involving a procedure wherein assessees are instructed to act as they would if they were placed in some sort of situation. Its a(n) _______ play test. 18. The process of measuring psychology-related variables by means of devices or procedures designed to obtain a sample of behavior. 21. In the tradition of true score theory, a statistic designed to estimate the extent to which an observed score deviates from a true score is the STANDARD error of measurement. 24. It could be a psychologist, an instructor, a counselor, an individual who works in human resources, or any of a number of other people. Its a test _______ . 25. Its a set of numbers or other symbols whose properties model empirical properties of the objects or traits to which numbers or other symbols are assigned. 27. Its used to monitor the actions of others or oneself by visual or electronic means, by recording quantitative and/or qualitative information about actions. Its _______ observation. 29. Dont expect to get completely unbiased descriptions of the virtues of tests by consulting test _______ .

30. The extent to which measurements are consistent or repeatable, this actually sets a limit on a tests validity. 31. Its almost anyone who has ever lived long enough to take the vapor testthat is, breathing on a mirror and seeing if the mirror gets fogged.

Down
1. Synonymous with the more antiquated term, psychometry, its the science of psychological measurement. 3. The gathering and integration of data for the purpose of making an evaluation, accomplished through the use of tools such as tests, interviews, case studies, and behavioral observation. 5. It is a reconstruction of a deceased individuals psychological prole on the basis of archival records, artifacts, and interviews previously conducted with the assessee or people who knew the assessee, and it is called a psychological _______ . 6. An evaluation or diagnostic procedure or process that varies from the usual, customary, or standardized way a measurement is derived; it is referred to as _______ assessment. 11. Its the test performance data of a particular group of testtakers designed for use as a reference for evaluating, interpreting, or otherwise placing individual test scores in context. Its the test NORMS. 13. A description or conclusion reached on the basis of evidence and opinion through a process of distinguishing the nature of something and ruling out alternative conclusions. 15. A work sample. 19. In baseball its a no-no; in measurement its expected. Its ERROR. 20. Psychologists and other professionals do it. So do talk show hosts, typically with different objectives. 22. Phonetically its pronounced like a-bep, and its an abbreviation for the American Board of Professional Psychology. 23. This party to the assessment enterprise creates a test and is called a test _______ . 26. Its a source for learning about what tests a test publisher publishes. 28. Assigning numbers in accordance with empirical properties of objects or traits. Alternatively, a term frequently used with reference to Mount Everest. 29. The abbreviation for the brainchild of Oscar Buros, and a good Consumer Reports type of reference work on tests.

PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING AND ASSESSMENT

E XE R C I S E 1-1

BACKGROUND Self-administered tests and quizzes have been a part of our popular-media landscape for as long as anyone living can remember. We note with some amusement, for example, tests published in the popular media purporting to measure a wide variety of skills and other characteristics, including the sex of ones brain (Moir & Jessel, 1992), childrens emotional IQ (Barko, 1993), psychic ability (Woolfolk, 1992), communication style (Sandwith, 1994), healthy living habits (Derrow, 1993), people smarts and other supposed forms of intelligence (Clifford, 1992; Granat, 1990). But what do such tests actually reveal, if anything? In the box on pages 4 and 5 is a test along with excerpts of its accompanying text as published in a Writers Digest article by Robyn Carr (1994) entitled Do You Have What It Takes? After you have self-administered it and tallied your score, think about what you have learned as a result of the exercise. And as you make your way through the rest of this book, think again about such self-administered tests in the popular media and the types of things their creators would have to do to make the test scores derived from them meaningful.

MOVIES AND MEASUREMENT

Feeling faint?

OBJECTIVE To verbalize some of your hopes and concerns as you begin your study of psychological testing and assessment BACKGROUND Was the overwhelmed actor in this 1926 Fritz Lang lm (Metropolis) enrolled in a measurement course? Probably not. Still, matters regarding numbers, statistics, and measurement can seem a bit overwhelming. The key to mastery is quality study time and the thoughtful completion of exercises such as the ones found in this book. YOUR TASK Write a brief essay entitled, Psychological Testing and Assessment: My Hopes and Concerns. In it, describe what knowledge and skills you hope to take away from this course. Also, describe some of your concerns and apprehensions regarding this course and how you plan to successfully deal with them.

YOUR TASK Commit to paper some of your thoughts about this test and about how much stock you think you would place in your score. Would you be in favor of using such a test as a tool in making important decisions about, say, college admission or the award of a scholarship? If you were a publisher seeking to retain authors to write books, do you think you might use such a test as a screening tool? If you were contemplating a career as a writer, how much stock would you place in such a test? Why did you answer each of the last three questions the way you did? Perhaps your answers reected some of the following concerns. This test does not measure the variety of skills people need to be writers. Is there any reason to believe that this test identies people who will be good writers? Furthermore, no information is given about how the cutoff scores are established: Why is a score of 65 rated so much more highly than a score of 64? In a related vein, if a person took several of these kinds of tests, would the result be the same each time? Or could a person receive a Nothing can stop you rating on some of these kinds of tests, for example, then score low on others? Finally, some of the questions on this test could be confusing; perhaps some people get lower scores because of confusion about the questions being asked, not because of their interest in writing. Psychometric techniques provide us with tools to address the practical questions raised above about the quality of tests. As we proceed in our study of psychometrics, we will come to view the tests published in the popular media as thought-provoking at best but seldom more than a form of entertainment.

E XE R C I S E 1-2

A NEW PERSPECTIVE
OBJECTIVE To assume the role of a test user as opposed to that of a testtaker

AN OVERVIEW

D O Y O U H A V E W H AT I T TA K E S ?

A Writers Digest Article by Robyn Carr

Do you have what it takes? Put away your doubts, your worries, your fears. Take this simple quiz, and nd out once and for all if you have the potential to succeed as a writer. . . . Pick the rst answer that pops into your mind, and move on to the next question. 1. I am drawn to writing because a. I have an important message to share with the world. b. I have had many fascinating life experiences. c. I love to write, and the challenge excites me. d. I can do it in my underwear. 2. I work on my writing a. daily. b. most days. c. catch as catch can. d. I rarely have time. 3. I am writing a. a novel too complex to describe. b. the kind of novel I love to read. c. the kind of novel my mother would approve of. d. a novel that reects what is most popular in the marketplace. 4. I read a. extensively. b. occasionally. c. rarely. d. for entertainment. 5. In my writing career, I plan to a. work in my underwear. b. be isolated and solitary; I enjoy my time alone. c. write fabulous stuff, be a great author, a star. d. get used to being a glutton for punishment. 6. When my work is criticized, I frequently a. have trouble understanding the problem. b. become depressed. c. really get into nding a solution. d. get angry. 7. When feedback on my project suggests major changes, I a. write something else and try harder to get it right. b. consider the changes and see how they work. c. ignore suggestions and keep gathering opinions. d. argue and explain. 8. When I nally type The End, after much hard work, a. I send my manuscript by overnight mail to a publisher. b. I put it aside for a while, then review and revise. c. I keep working on it; it can never be too good. d. I stash it in the closet for a year or two. When I get a rejection, I a. sink into depression. b. contact the editor and ask for specics. c. shelve the manuscript and move on to the next. d. mail the manuscript to another publisher. After many rejections on a project, I a. suffer a grave depression. b. keep working on it until I nally get it right. c. put it aside and work on something else. d. take piano lessons. Once I get that rst publishing contract, I will a. drive something younger than I am. b. wave it in a few unsupportive faces around here. c. write what I really want to write. d. already have begun the next project. The best way to achieve a successful writing career is to a. attend many conferences. b. study many how-to books and magazines. c. write and read compulsively. d. get to know editors personally. I am fascinated by well-known authors a. income. b. writing style. c. lifestyle. d. work habits. I have to hurry and complete my current manuscript for a. an upcoming contest. b. an interested editor. c. extra money for something. d. I dont have to hurry for anything. When Im involved in my writing, I can be stopped by a. a call from my mother. b. my spouses annoyance. c. parental responsibilities. d. blood. Lots of it. And screams. Loud ones. Nearby.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

In Carrs (1994) scoring system, ve points are awarded for each response keyed as correct, and two points for other responses. The responses keyed correct are as follows: 1 (c), 2 (a or b), 3 (b), 4 (a), 5 (b or c), 6 (c), 7 (b), 8 (b), 9 (d), 10 (c), 11 (d), 12 (c), 13 (a, b, c, or d), 14 (d), 15 (d). (continued)

PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING AND ASSESSMENT

D O Y O U H A V E W H AT I T TA K E S ? (continued)
Summing all points yields a total score that, according to Carr (1994), can be interpreted as follows: 6575 points: You are gutsy, brazen, brave, and determined. You put the quality of your work and your learning ahead of everything else and yet are not afraid to dream, and dream big. Nothing can stop youNew York, take notice! 5564 points: You stand a good chance of pulling it together; perhaps there are areas you need to work on, like saying no or reading with a new mission to learn. You have many of the qualities of successful writers, and such shortcomings as procrastination or rushing can be cured. 4554 points: Dont worrymany writers have to learn to accept criticism, take rejection in stride, and write that sex scene even though Aunt Gladys will probably have a heart attack. Most writers are afraid of failure; many have trouble protecting their writing time. But if you want to make it as a writer, there are some things you must do; develop those disciplines and work habits required to do the job. 3044 points: Its possible you want to be a writer more than you want to write, and probable that you have illusions about how writing is done. Maybe youre not willing to take criticism and rejection, not willing to read, study, and write as much as a successful writer has to in order to make it.

E XE R C I S E 1-3

ON MEASUREMENT
OBJECTIVE To encourage generative thinking on the subject of measurement in general

ON MEASUREMENT
Ronald Jay Cohen
Measurement? Simple. Well, not really. The rst tools used to measure distance were probably stones, branches, or parts of ones own body. For example, one widely used measure of distance was the cubit, dened as the length between an adults elbow and the outstretched middle nger. For the purposes of standardization, the length of some body part of a royal personage could be used. An Egyptian royal cubit, for example, is equal in length to seven palms and presumably was standardized on a pharaoh with very long arms. The standard measure of length in the United Statesthe footis based on the length of an English kings foot. One problem: its difcult enough to get the cable guy to come when you need him, let alone a pharaoh or a king. During the Renaissance in Italy, common units of measurement included the passo (pace), the piede (foot), and the pollice (the width of the thumb). The exact length of each of these measures might vary a bit not only from town to town but from trade to trade; an architects passo might differ from that of an engineers. The metric system simplied all of that. . . . Well, yes and no. How long is a meter? To provide a denitive, once-andfor-all answer to that (relatively simple) question, 17 nations met in 1875 to ratify a treaty at a meeting called the Convention of the Meter. The nations agreed that a meter would be equal in length to a platinum bar to be stored in a vault at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in France. End of story. At least until 1960. . . . Concerns about possible changes in an atom or two of the platinum bar standard led to a redenition of the length of a meter in 1960. Another international meeting

BACKGROUND Commodities of daily life are measured in familiar units. It is commonplace to measure, for example, gasoline by the gallon, fruit by the pound, and waistlines by the inch. Perhaps because we deal with these types of measurement so frequently, we tend to take measurement for granted. In the study of psychological testing and assessment, however, little about the process of measurement can be taken for granted. A variety of skills and knowledge must be brought to bear in the development of meaningful measures as well as in the administration and interpretation of those measures.

YOUR TASK Write a brief essay on the subject of measurement. In that essay, discuss your thoughts on the subject of measurement in generalyour essay need not relate to measurement in psychology. Give your imagination free rein, developing interesting concepts that have anything at all to do with measurement. Your essay can be well researched with references to the scholarly literature. You may choose instead to write an essay that is more informal, freewheeling, even humorous. Or, like the sample essay that follows, your essay may combine such features.

AN OVERVIEW

was convened, this one attended by representatives from 38 countries. A meter was dened as 1,650,763.73 vacuum wave-lengths of monochromatic orange light emitted by krypton atom of mass 86. The platinum bar idea was a lot simpler. No, not even the measurement of simple things is as simple as it may appear at rst blush. And measuring psychological variables such as intelligence, assertiveness, or aggressionwell, thats a whole other story.

E XE R C I S E 1-4

THE PROCESS OF ASSESSMENT

OBJECTIVE To enhance understanding of the tools of assessment as well as the roles of each of the parties in that process BACKGROUND The tools of assessment include the following: the test the interview the case study the portfolio or work sample behavioral observation computers as tools others

1. Of the tools of assessment available to you, which one (or more) do you think you would use? Which wouldnt you use? Why? 2. From what youve read in your text so far, and drawing on your own opinions and beliefs, explain the rights and responsibilities of each of the parties in the assessment process with respect to your anxiety assessment project. 3. This question, if assigned by your instructor, will require a bit of research in the university library. Using reference books, periodicals, and related sources of information about (as well as reviews of) tests and measurement procedures, decide on your top three selections for use as a measure of anxiety in your Cramway study. Explain why you chose the instruments or procedures you did.

E XE R C I S E 1-5

THE INTERVIEWER/INTERVIEWEE INTERACTION

OBJECTIVE To better understand how an interviewers personality can inuence the conduct of an interview BACKGROUND Think of how various interviewers you have seen or heard on television or radio conduct their interviews; two interviews conducted with the exact same objectives in mind, sometimes even with much the same questions, might yield different data due to characteristics of the interviewer. YOUR TASK One student will volunteer to play an interviewee while another will volunteer to take on the role of any well-known celebrity interviewer. The more adept the latter student is at impersonating the celebrity, the more fun this exercise will be. Different teams of students, one playing the role of the celebrity interviewer, the other playing the role of the (student) interviewee, will get up in front of the class and execute an interview. The interviewers initial prompt to the interviewee will be Tell me about the happiest time of your life, and follow-up questions will probe the who, what, where, and how of whatever is described. The role of the audience is to note the differences in the interviewers style of interviewing. If youre having difculty thinking of the role of a celebrity youd like to play, how about one of these: David Letterman, Ted Koppel, Jerry Springer, Regis Philbin, Ellen DeGeneres, Barbara Walters, Larry King, Oprah Winfrey, Katie Couric, Matt Lauer, Jay Leno, Howard Stern, or Dr. Phil.

The parties to the assessment process include the following: the test developer the test user the testtaker society at large

YOUR TASK Suppose that you are an independent distributor for a company that produces natural herbs that are represented to help students study more effectively by lessening debilitating anxiety. For the sake of example, lets call this natural herb company Cramway. As a Cramway representative who also happens to be interested in psychological measurement, you design a study to measure the effect the Cramway product has on students anxiety. Your study design is of the pre/post variety; anxiety will be measured before beginning the Cramway program and seven days after Cramway products have been ingested on the prescribed regimen. Now all you need is something to measure the construct of anxiety; something to measure how anxious a person characteristically is on any given day.1
1Technically, the construct being referred to here is the trait of anxiety this in contrast to the more transient state of anxiety.

PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING AND ASSESSMENT

E XE R C I S E 1-6

BEHAVIORAL ASSESSMENT
OBJECTIVE To enhance understanding of, and promote generative thinking about, behavioral assessment

build and operate a community child day care center. The dean has placed you in charge of hiring all of the caretakers at the center. Further, the dean wonders aloud whether all serious candidates for jobs at the new center should be screened for psychopathology with a test called the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2-RF). The dean asks you to report back with your written opinion regarding the pros and cons of using the MMPI-2-RF for this purpose. 1. What sources would you use to gather information to respond to the deans mandate? 2. What questions would you hope to have answered in your sources about the MMPI-2-RF? 3. What other types of tests or assessment procedures might you wish to include in the process of hiring day care workers? Why? 4. Write your report to the dean.

BACKGROUND Deinstitutionalization and the placement of children and adult psychiatric patients into community-based facilities created a need for a means by which staff could monitor progress made in skills necessary for independent living. Behavioral checklists, such as the Emptying Garbage scale (Roth & Hermus, 1980, p. 89) in Figure 1-1 on page 8, can provide such a means. For this scale, note that the behavior of taking out the garbage has been broken down into a series of individual behaviors. Goes to garbage can and Takes full bag from garbage can are two short-range behavior objectives that, when both are attained, meet the long-range behavior objective of Removing garbage.

E XE R C I S E 1-8

ADVENTURES IN CYBERSPACE
OBJECTIVE To become familiar with the test-related resources available on the Internet BACKGROUND A number of test-related resources exist on the World Wide Web. For example, in your textbook, reference is made to the Web sites maintained by the Educational Testing Service (http://www.ets.org). YOUR TASK Select any psychology- or education-related variable that you are personally interested in. Then, explore the Internet to nd out what tests or other assessment methodologies exist to measure that variable. Download the relevant resources, and prepare a ve-minute presentation on your ndings to share with your class.

YOUR TASK After studying the Emptying Garbage behavioral programming scale, create your own behavioral programming scale. Your scale should take some relatively simple behavior necessary for independent living and then break it up into its component behaviors.

E XE R C I S E 1-7

PUTTING A TEST TO THE TEST

OBJECTIVE To experience rsthand what is involved in gathering information and making decisions about a psychological test BACKGROUND Test catalogues, test manuals, test reviews, and published research on psychological tests can help prospective users make informed decisions regarding such instruments and procedures. To answer questions such as Is this test appropriate for this use with this population? test users need more than intuition; they need facts.

E XE R C I S E 1-9

THIS TEST IS RATED PG-13

OBJECTIVE To critically evaluate a well known rating system and recommend improvements to it

YOUR TASK You are a psychologist employed in a university counseling center. The dean has decided that the university is going to

AN OVERVIEW

FIGURE 1-1 The Taking-Out-the-Garbage Checklist Deinstitutionalization and the placement of children and adult psychiatric patients into community-based facilities created a need for behavioral checklists by which the facility staff gauges the progress of developmentally disabled individuals. Rudimentary skills necessary for independent livingsuch as taking out the garbageare tracked via checklists such as the one below. This checklist came from the Housekeeping Skills section of a book of behavioral checklists, with other sections such as Personal Management, Kitchen Skills, Street Safety, Travel Training, Leisure Skills, and Community Skills. (Source: Roth & Hermus, 1980, p. 89)

BEHAVIORAL PROGRAMMING SCALE Name of Client ________________________________ Instructor _________________________ Date _____________
EMPTYING GARBAGE

LRO

SRO Behavior

Daily Recordings

M
1. Removing Garbage A. Goes to garbage can. B. Takes full bag from garbage can. 2. Disposing of Garbage C. Takes bag of garbage to trash can. D. Opens trash can. E. Places garbage in trash can. F. Closes trash can. 3. Lining Can with New Bag G. Goes to closet. H. Takes new garbage bag. I. Takes bag to garbage can. J. Places bag in can. K. Pushes bag into can. L. Overlaps bag top over can top.

Th

Weekly total

Criteria met? (Yes = +, No = )

LRO = Long-range behavior objective; SRO = Short-range behavior objective Enter 1 through 7 in appropriate box to indicate clients level of skill. Criterion is met when a score of 7 is achieved four times out of ve for two consecutive trial periods.

BACKGROUND We have all heard of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) rating system. There is, for example, PG-13 which stands for parents being strongly cautioned with respect to allowing children younger than 13 to see the movie. Theres also G for general audiences, PG for parental guidance suggested, and NC-17 for no one 17 and under admitted. Have you ever wondered who actually evaluates movies and gives them one of these ve age-based ratings? It is actually a group of 8 to 13 parents who are employed

full-time by MPAA to watch and evaluate movies. Some criteria used for rating lms PG through NC-17 are published on the MPAA Web site (http://www.mpaa.org). There you will nd, for example, that an R-rated lm may include hard language or tough violence, or nudity within sensual scenes, or drug abuse or other elements, or a combination of some of the above, so that parents are counseled, in advance, to take this advisory rating very seriously. The group of parents who do the rating sees a lm submitted by a producer, discusses the lm, and then votes on a

PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING AND ASSESSMENT

rating. A majority vote wins. Beyond that description, few details regarding the actual rating process have been provided by the MPAA. We do know that regardless how the board of paid parents votes, their rating can be overturned by the two-thirds vote of an appeals board that is made up of 14 to 18 entertainment industry members. If there is mystery about the process of rating movies, it is only the tip of the iceberg with regard to mystery about ratings in the entertainment industry in general. There are television rating systems presented with age-range recommendations and content summaries in icon form. There are rating systems for music, electronic software, and coinoperated video games. There is even a rating system for Internet content promulgated by the Internet Content Rating Association. Reviewing these systems and the literature available on them, one research team concluded:
The efforts of a variety of independent media industries have resulted in a dizzying array of ratings, icons, denitions, and procedures that are, in many cases, difcult to understand and remember. Almost all of these rating systems have been prompted by the threat of government intervention, and each industry has attempted to balance the provision of information against its own economic concerns. Although creating a rating system that works well for parents is not an easy task, it is clear that the preferences of parents have not often prevailed. (Bushman & Cantor, 2003, pp. 138139)

BACKGROUND The law mandates some form of alternate assessment when an assessee who is physically disabled requires psychological assessment and cannot be assessed by the usual means. Accommodation may take many different forms. It may take the form of a modication in the way a test is presented or in the way the assessee responds to the test. Accommodation may mean that one test or measurement procedure is substituted for another. Accommodation may take the form of extended time limits or a change in the physical or interpersonal environment in which a test is administered.

YOUR TASK Prepare a presentation on how a paper-and-pencil test of academic achievement might be administered in some alternate way to persons who are (a) visually impaired, (b) hearing impaired, and (c) motor-impaired (with no voluntary use of arms). Your presentation may include drawings, photos, or other visual aids.

REFERENCES
Barko, N. (1993, August). Whats your childs emotional IQ? Working Mother, 16, 3335. Bushman, B.J. & Cantor, J. (2003). Media Ratings for violence and sex. Implications for Policymakers and Parents. American Psychologists, 58, 130141. Carr, R. (1994, April). Do you have what it takes? Writers Digest, 74, 2023. Clifford, C. (1992, Spring). What kind of intelligence do you have? YM, pp. 3439. Derrow, P. (1993, June). Are your habits healthy? Weight Watchers Magazine, 26, 1820. Granat, D. (1990, September). What make you so smart? Washingtonian, 25, 134141. Moir, A., & Jessel, D. (1992, January). Discover your brains sex. Readers Digest (Canadian English Edition), 140, 8991. Roth, M. R., & Hermus, G. P. (1980). Developmental plan handbook for community skills training (2nd ed.). New York: Developmental Press. Sandwith, P. (1994, January). Building quality into communications. Training and Development, 48(1), 5559. Woolfolk, J. M. (1992, Spring). Are you psychic? YM, pp. 6064.

YOUR TASK As a student of psychological testing and assessment, it is instructive to contrast the MPAA movie rating system with evaluation using psychological tests. Write an essay comparing the MPAA movie rating system with evaluation in psychology. In your essay, be sure to include reference to some of the relevant issues. For example, think about issues of denition. How clearly is whatever is being measured by a psychological test dened? What about the clarity of the denition of terms in the MPAA system? Conclude your essay by developing an MPAA-like rating scale for psychological tests. Come up with 3 or 4 rating scales to guide test use decisions of test users, much like ratings such as PG-13 and R are designed to guide ticket-buying decisions of parents.

THE 4-QUESTION CHALLENGE

In general, this self-administered test samples material from the beginning, middle, and end of each chapter in your textbook. The questions are very straightforward and in some instances represent verbatim excerpts from the book. This Challenge may help to serve as a rough gauge of how well you are attending to all of the material in each chapter. After reading a chapter in your textbook, take the corresponding 4-Question Challenge. Give yourself one point for each correct answer. If all four items are answered correctly, your score will be 4. Do your best on these tests over the

E XE R C I S E 1-10

ACCOMMODATING A PERSON WITH A DISABILITY

OBJECTIVE To consider ways in which accommodations may be made for physically disabled testtakers

10

AN OVERVIEW

course of the term. Then note how your nal grade in this course corresponds to your 4-Question Challenge average. Here is your rst 4-Question Challenge: 1. Which does NOT belong? a. dynamic assessment b. vocational assessment c. therapeutic assessment d. collaborative assessment 2. A television producer hires a director for a new show after viewing samples of the directors work on other television shows. Using the language of psychometrics, we could say that the director was hired on the basis of a. a portfolio assessment. b. a behavioral assessment. c. a case study evaluation. d. an interview.

3. Which is BEST associated with on-site scoring and interpretation of computer-administered tests? a. central processing b. teleprocessing c. local processing d. photo processing 4. If you needed a current, unbiased evaluation of a wellknown psychological test, which would be the best source to consult? a. Whos Who in Psychological Assessment? b. the tests published manual c. the current edition of the test publishers catalogue d. the current edition of the Mental Measurements Yearbook