PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING

Psychological testing is the administration of psychological tests, which are designed

to be "an objective and standardized measure of a sample of behavior". [1] The
term sample of behavior refers to an individual's performance on tasks that have usually
been prescribed beforehand. The samples of behavior that make up a paper-and-pencil
test, the most common type of test, are a series of items. Performance on these items
produce a test score. A score on a well-constructed test is believed to reflect
a psychological construct such as achievement in a school subject, cognitive
ability, aptitude, emotional functioning, personality, etc. Differences in test scores are
thought to reflect individual differences in the construct the test is supposed to measure.
The science behind psychological testing is psychometrics.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING AND ASSESSMENT

A psychological test is a systematic procedure for observing a person’s behavior or
performance, describing it with the aid of a numerical scale or category system. Mostly
tests are used as a way of measuring differences between people or differences in the
same person over time.
Measuring differences between people means that you could easily put people along
the numerical scale, stating that A has a higher result than B who has a higher result
than C and so on. But is “higher” equal to “better”? This question is a real key question
and concerns the validity of the test. A test with a validity score of around +0.5 could
certainly not exchange “higher” to “better”. C could in fact be even better than A, at least
this has to be profoundly discussed. In this sense a test could act as a rough
measurement tool, quite much alike a situation in which you would like to know the
weight of a person my measuring how tall he or she is. There is a probability that a tall
person weighs more than a short one.
The assessment process also contains a very important step: analysis and
interpretation of data. That kind of final step is of course completely dependent of the
assessor’s psychological competence and how much he/she has learned about basic
and advanced psychology. This step requires a willingness to turn every stone on the
road around and not to rush to a definitive judgement too soon.

WHY WE NEED PSYCHOLGICAL TEST

Psychological evaluations serve the same purpose. Psychologists use tests and
other assessment tools to measure and observe a client's behavior to arrive at a
diagnosis and guide treatment. ... Other tests evaluate whether clients are experiencing
emotional disorders such as anxiety or depression.
Factors to consider when selecting a psychological test for a client

Selection has important implications for an athlete and the success of a rowing
program. Therefore, coaches should consider the following criteria when planning and
implementing selection models: objectivity, validity, reliability, and economy. Any good
test procedure must be conducted with these in mind.
Objectivity
An objective test measures a variable independent of the people conducting the test
and the circumstances of the test. In other words, the test has to be fair.
Objective selection methods guarantee unbiased measures of the rower’s ability. They
all start with giving each rower the same information and encouragement. A good
example of an objective test for selecting a single is all competitors racing off over 2,000
m in singles.
Validity
A test is valid if it measures a specified ability. It is a challenge to find valid test methods
to select a crew from a group of athletes. Rowing requires a complex set of qualities
that qualify someone as a valuable crew member.
Reliability
A test is reliable if it accurately measures a quality and is repeatable. In past years,
USRowing introduced open trials in which crew selection is decided by whoever wins
two out of three events. This is done to increase the reliability of the selection process,
since crews have to demonstrate that they can repeat their performance. In this way,
their win isn’t just a random occurrence.
Economy
A test is economical if its overall costs are manageable for the program. Those costs
could be money but also include time involved, necessary equipment, and personnel.
Possible implication if not followed the outlined manual

Psychological assessment contributes important information to the understanding of

individual characteristics and capabilities, through the collection, integration, and
interpretation of information about an individual (Groth-Marnat, 2009; Weiner, 2003).
Such information is obtained through a variety of methods and measures, with relevant
sources determined by the specific purposes of the evaluation. Sources of information
may include
 Records (e.g., medical, educational, occupational, legal) obtained from the
referral source;
 Records obtained from other organizations and agencies that have been
identified as potentially relevant;
 Interviews conducted with the person being examined;
 Behavioral observations;
 Interviews with corroborative sources such as family members, friends, teachers,
and others; and
 Formal psychological or neuropsychological testing.

Limitations of Psychology Test

Varying Interpretations and Uses

While psychological tests are potentially valuable resources, they are merely tools
and do not directly lead to any actions. Any decisions made as a result of the test
scores become the responsibility of the administering psychologist or others who
access the information. Two psychologists may interpret the results differently
and take different courses of action. Thus, Oxford University urges psychologists
to use other forms of data to corroborate decisions made using psychological test
scores. For example, anecdotal notes about a student’s current level of
performance in the classroom should be used alongside psychological test results
to make any decision that will affect the student.

Uncertainty of Measurements
Because psychological tests are attempting to measure things that are not directly
observable, there is always going to be a gap between what a test is attempting
to measure and what it actually measures. Developers of many widely used
psychological tests have worked hard to make them as valid as possible, but the
nature of the tests often rely on indirect measures such as an individual
responding to hypothetical situations. Decisions made in a testing situation are
not always the same actions people would take when faced with the situation in
reality. Even after extensive testing, there may be areas of uncertainty that test
results do not reveal.

Changing Circumstances
As time goes on, because of changes in psychological theories and
advancements in technology, psychological tests only remain relevant for a time.
Social or cultural changes can lead to test items becoming obsolete, or new
psychological theories may replace the founding theories of the tests. To remain
valid and reliable, psychological tests must be updated often. For example, in the
past when more people attended church, test developers expected test -takers to
be familiar with the Bible. As church attendance began to decline, using test
questions related to the Bible no longer made sense.

Cultural Bias
Because all widely used psychological test instruments in the United States were
standardized in English, test results are often not accurate for people who speak
another language. Even when tests are translated into native languages,
problems occur with words that have multiple meanings and idioms specific to
one language or culture. Once translated, the tests are no longer truly
standardized. Psychological tests often use the dominant, middle-class culture as
the standard. This limits their validity for children from a different economic or
cultural background who may not have the same experiences or language that the
test assumes as standard. It is nearly impossible to create test questions that
account for the different experiences of individuals, so psychologist Raymond
Lloyd Richmond reminds test administrators to use results with caution.

What is norms?
a standard or pattern, especially of social behavior, that is typical or expected of a
group.
 Factors can affect reliability of a test

 Test length. Generally, the longer a test is, the more reliable it is.
 Speed. When a test is a speed test, reliability can be problematic. ...
 Group homogeneity. ...
 Item difficulty. ...
 Objectivity. ...
 Test-retest interval. ...
 Variation with the testing situation.

Factors can affect validity of a test

1. Factors in the Test Itself:

Each test contains items and a close scrutiny of test items will indicate whether the test

appears to measure the subject matter content and the mental functions of the teacher
wishes to test.

Length of the test:

A test usually represents a sample of many questions. If the test is too short to become

a representative one, then validity will be affected accordingly. Homogeneous

lengthening of a test increases both validity and reliability.

Unclear direction:

If directions regarding how to respond to the items, whether it is permissible to guess

and how to record the answers, are not clear to the pupil, then the validity will tend to
reduce.

Reading vocabulary and sentence structures which are too difficult:

The complicated vocabulary and sentence structure meant for the pupils taking the test
may fail in measuring the aspects of pupil performance; thus lowering the validity.
Inappropriate level of difficulty of the test items:

When the test items have an inappropriate level of difficulty, it will affect the validity of

the tool. For example, in criterion-referenced tests, failure to match the difficulty
specified by the learning outcome will lower the validity.

Poorly constructed test items:

The test items which provide unintentional clues to the answer will tend to measure the

pupils’ alertness in detecting clues as well as the aspects of pupil performance which
ultimately affect the validity.

Characteristics of psychological test

The test should be free from subjective—judgement regarding the ability, skill,
knowledge, trait or potentiality to be measured and evaluated. 2. Reliability: This refers
to the extent to which they obtained results are consistent or reliable.