INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING

DEFINITION OF A TEST
A test is a standardized procedure for sampling behaviour and describing it with categories
or scores. In addition, most tests have norms or standards by which the results can be used
to predict other, more important behaviours. Testing has been growing at an increasing
pace and it is contributing effectively in more and more areas of daily life. Today the clinical
use of test includes the examination of persons with severe emotional disorders and other
type of behavioural problems. Also at present schools are among the longest test users.
Nevertheless testing constitutes an important part of the total personnel program. The use
of the test in individual counselling has gradually broadened from a narrowly defined
guidance regarding educational and vocational plan to an involvement with all aspects of
the person’s life. Test scores are part of the information given to the individual as aids to her
or his own decision making process. A Psychological Test is essentially an objective and
standardized measure of a sample of behaviour.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Psychological Testing first began in China more than 4,000 years ago in 2200 B.C. Chinese
Emperor used to carry out testing of all officials every three years to test fitness for carrying
out official jobs. It was named Civil Service Testing Program (Chaffer, 1985; Lai, 1970; Teng,
1942-43)
Hans Dynasty (206 BCE-220 CE) introduced more formal, refined test of civil law,
agriculture, revenue, geography and military affairs.
In Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 CE), Chinese examination took its final form. It tested
proficiency in Confucian classes. It was a preliminary multi-staged exam in which only 1-7%
people passed. In 1906, this system of test was abolished by Chinese. Britons used this
testing in East India Company.
In 1885, memory drum was introduced by Hubert Von Grassley, a physician. It was used to
test brain injured people. In 1889, a German psychiatrist Conrad Rugen worked on a project
to access results of brain injury. His findings were rejected because it took 100 hours of
testing, hence it was impractical.
Wundt measured mental processes in 1862 by thought meter to study individual differences
on speed of thinking.
In late 19 century, many institutions for retarded came up in U.S.A and U.K. A lot of work
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on retardation was carried out. Esquiral (1838) published two volumes books about ‘mental
retardation’ in which he discussed about various degrees of retardation. He also mentioned
that retardation lay on a continuum and they were not discreet traits. He used language to
test intelligence. Seguin (1866) pioneered in training of mentally retarded. In 1837, first
school for mentally retarder’s education was started. Sense training and muscle training
techniques were used to educate them. Seguin also introduced performance and non-verbal
tests of intelligence under Seguin Form Board.
In early 20 century, Galton launched the testing movement. He is known as Father of
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Testing. He set up anthropometric laboratory where several statistical methods, association

techniques, methods to analyze data and rating scales were used to carry out techniques to
develop psychological tests.
Binet said that students who fail normal schooling should be examined and must be
assigned to special classes on the basis of their mental level.
Cattell and Wissler made greatest influence on early testing with a goal to predict whether
test results predict performance. Cattell who did PhD from Leipzig studied individual
differences in reaction time. He was the one to coin the term ‘mental test’.
Jastrow (1893) compared scores obtained with the norms. He introduced testing to public.
He made attempts to evaluate such tests. These tests didn’t match with teachers’ review.
Kraepleen was a psychiatrist who used testing for assessing symptoms of disorder.
Ebbinghaus (1885) worked on memory span (NSS words), arithmetic and sentence
completion.
Group testing was introduced during World War (assisted by American Psychology
Association). Yerkes carried out a research for this purpose. First group test was named Otis
Group Intelligence Test: Army alpha test (general routine test) and Army beta test (non-
verbal; for illiterate and foreigners).

CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD TEST

A good psychological test has following characteristics:
Standardization
A good test follows a standardized process. It is administered and scored according to
established criteria designed to control everything in the test environment except the test-
takers answers. The examiner should be a professional educator who strictly adheres to
procedure. The rules also include where the test is given and what people other than the
examiner are present in the room. Content of the test is also standardized.

Reliability
The reliability of a test is based on whether test scores are consistent over time. For
example, if a subject scores below average one week and well above average the next week,
the test is not reliable. Adult test scores are considered more reliable than the test scores of
children. Children, especially very young children, are more susceptible to factors such as
fatigue, hunger or whether an examiner puts them at ease. There are different ways of
finding out the reliability of a psychological test, they are-
 Test-Retest Reliability- same test is administered upon the same set of subjects twice
and correlation between the test scores gives the reliability coefficient.
 Alternate Form Reliability- here two or more parallel forms of the same test are used
on the same set of subjects, and the correlations between the test scores give the
reliability coefficient.
 Split Half Reliability- here the test is administered only once and then the it is split
into halves, either as first half and second half or odd-even halves or a combination
of both these procedures. Then correlation between the respective halves are found
out, which gives the split half reliability coefficient, which when corrected with
Spearman- Brown formula, gives the reliability of the full test.
 Homogeneity of Items- here inter item correlations are computed and the resulting
single correlation coefficient is the reliability of the test.

Validity
a test is valid if evidence shows that it succeeds in measuring what it set out to measure. In
case of intelligence test, because of a strong correlation to factual data such as academic
grades and career success, IQ tests are proven indicators of how well students will perform
in school. The most widely administered IQ tests --- the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale,
the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children --- are
considered valid and reliable instruments for measuring human intelligence. There are
several types of validity-
 Content Related Validity- the systematic examination of the test content to
determine whether it covers a representative sample of the behaviour domain to be
measured.
 Construct Related Validity- it is the extent to which the test may be said to measure
a theoretical construct or trait. It is of two types- convergent and divergent.
 Criterion Related Validity- it indicates the effectiveness of a test in predicting an
individual’s performance in specified activities. It is also further divided into two
types- concurrent and predictive.

Norm-Referenced
Norm-referenced tests compare an individual's score to others in the same age group who
are taking the same standardized test. For a test to be norm-referenced, it first must be
administered to a large group of individuals that will serve as the statistical basis for
comparing the test scores of peer groups.

Culturally Unbiased
a longstanding controversy surrounding tests is the question of cultural bias --- whether the
tests favour individuals with a Caucasian background. According to the National Centre for
Fair and Open Testing, while tests are reviewed for "obvious biases" and statistical
techniques are used to reduce bias, unconscious bias can creep into the test format, content
and administration. Psychologists generally acknowledge that it may be impossible to create
a completely culturally unbiased test.

TYPES OF TESTS
Tests can be classified on two grounds:
On the basis of administration; tests can be broadly grouped into two camps:
 Group Tests versus Individual Tests- Group tests are largely pencil-and-paper
measures suitable to the testing of large groups of persons at the same time.
Individual tests are instruments that by their design purpose must be administered
one on one. An important advantage of individual tests is that the examiners can
gauge the level of motivation of the subject and assess the relevance of other factors
(e.g., impulsiveness or anxiety) upon the test results.
 Speed versus Power Tests- In a speed test, there is a time limit within which the test
taker is required to answer all the items. Such a test evaluates the individual on the
basis of time taken to answer the items correctly. On the other hand, power test
assesses the underlying ability of the individuals by allowing them sufficient time i.e.
these tests do not have any time limit.
 Paper-pencil versus Performance Test- Performance test is non-verbal while Paper-
pencil test is verbal. Performance test is one in which tasks to be performed require
manipulation of concrete tangible objects like pictures, blocks, puzzles etc. On the
other hand, paper-pencil tests require subjects to make written responses.
 Verbal versus Non-Verbal Tests- Verbal Test involves language usage, not just for
instructions but also in response. A verbal tests demands understanding of written
words, they are criticized on grounds of not being culture fair as they place subjects
 with language handicap at a disadvantage. On the other hand, Non-verbal tests
make use of pictures or illustrations as items. They consist of items that do not make
use of language and involve only concrete items like figures, mazes and pictures.

Psychological tests, based on content, can also be classified as:

 Intelligence Tests: They measure an individual’s ability in relatively global areas such
as verbal comprehension, perceptual organization, or reasoning and thereby help
determine potential for scholastic work or certain occupations.
 Aptitude Tests: They measure the capability for a relatively specific task or type of
skill; aptitude tests are, in effect, a narrow form of ability testing.
 Achievement Tests: They measure a person’s degree of learning, success, or
accomplishment in a subject or task.
 Creativity Tests: They assess novel, original thinking and the capacity to find unusual
or unexpected solutions, especially for vaguely defined problems.
 Personality Tests: They measure the traits, qualities, or behaviours that determine a
person’s individuality; such tests include checklists, inventories, and projective
techniques.
 Interest Inventories: They measure an individual’s preference for certain activities or
topics and thereby help determine occupational choice.
 Behavioural Procedures: They objectively describe and count the frequency of
behaviour, identifying the antecedents and consequences of the behaviour.
 Neuropsychological Tests: They measure cognitive, sensory, perceptual, and motor
performance to determine the extent, locus, and behavioural consequences of brain
damage.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A TEST AND AN EXPERIMENT

 An experiment is a contrived situation (which is created in a laboratory) to establish
a relationship between variables. For example- effect of feedback on performance
etc. Test, on the other hand, are administered for the assessment of individual
differences. It has to be objective and standardized, thus the aim is to assess
person’s capacity. For example- WAIS, SPM etc.
 In experiment we reprove the hypothesis which has already been established. In a
way, it is helpful in establishing law, conducting research work. Whereas test claims
to assess a particular ability of the individual.
 We make generalizations in experiments, whereas we cannot make generalizations
in tests, as we try to assess an individual’s ability and capacity.

USES OF TESTS
By far the most common use of psychological tests is to make decisions about persons. For
example, educational institutions frequently use tests to determine placement levels for
students, and universities ascertain who should be admitted, in part, on the basis of test
scores. But simple decision-making is not the only function of psychological testing. It is
convenient to distinguish other uses of tests:
 Classification: The term classification encompasses a variety of procedures that
share a common purpose: assigning a person to one category rather than another.
Thus, classification can have important effects such as granting or restricting access
to a specific college or determining whether a person is hired for a particular job.
  Placement: It is the sorting of persons into different programs appropriate to their
needs or skills. For example, universities often use a mathematics placement exam
to determine whether students should enrol in calculus, algebra or remedial courses.
 Screening refers to quick and simple tests or procedures to identify persons who
have special characteristics or needs. For example, to identify children with highly
exceptional talent in spatial thinking, a psychologist might administer a 10-minute
paper-and-pencil test to every child in a school system.
 Certification: Passing a certification test confers privileges. Examples include the
right to practice psychology or to drive a car. Thus, certification typically implies that
a person has at least a minimum proficiency in some discipline or activity.
 Diagnosis: It consists of two intertwined tasks: determining the nature and source of
a person’s abnormal behaviour, and classifying the behaviour pattern within an
accepted diagnostic system. Diagnosis is usually a precursor to remediation or
treatment of personal distress or impaired performance. For example, intelligence
tests are absolutely essential in the diagnosis of mental retardation.
 Another use of psychological tests is the systematic evaluation of educational and
social programs. For example, Project Head Start is a federally funded program for
teaching underprivileged children. Using psychological testing, it was found out that
Head Start children show immediate gains in IQ, school readiness, and academic
achievement. (Cicerelli, 1969; McKey and others, 1985)
 But tests also play a major role in both the applied and theoretical branches of
behavioural research. Needleman and associates (1979) used an array of traditional
and innovative tests to conclude that low-level lead absorption causes decrements in
IQ, impairments in reaction time, and escalations of undesirable classroom
behaviours.

LIMITATIONS OF TESTING
Even though, psychological testing has many advantages, we cannot overlook its limitations.
 Uncritical use: a personnel manager may choose a test because it is new, without
investigating the test’s norms, reliability or validity. A test may continue to be used
despite negative information about its dependability because the employment office
is unaware of the research. Often there are no data to support a test because no
research has ever been conducted on it.
 Rejection of qualified applicants: even the best psychological tests are not perfectly
valid. No validity coefficients for tests reach a perfect positive correlation of +1.00.
There is always some margin for error in the prediction of job success. These errors
are considerably reduced when tests with the highest predictive validities are used.
Also, a selection program should not be based on a single technique.
 Faking: is less of a problem than previously believed and has a negligible effect on
validity.
 Attitudes toward testing: psychological tests have never been popular with people
who are required to take them and whose future is dependent on the outcome.
Many applicants experience considerable test anxiety (especially females and older
applicants).
 Effects of negative attitudes: applicants who react negatively may become so
offended that they withdraw from the application procedure and develop a hostile
attitude toward the organization. They may spread that attitude to friends and
 acquaintances, possibly causing a number of potential applicants to avoid that
company. They may even file a lawsuit against the company. Negative attitudes
toward psychological tests may also lower applicants’ motivation to perform well on
the tests, which in turn, reduces the predictive validity of the tests.
 Privacy issues: is the use of questions about personal or intimate issues appropriate?
Critics say it is an unnecessary invasion of privacy. Personal questions about sex,
religion, political beliefs and health have been successfully challenged in court as
unwarranted invasions of privacy. Even if such questions could be shown to be
related to job performance, there remains the issue of just how much of ourselves
we should be required to reveal to a potential employer.

ETHICAL ISSUES (As suggested by APA)

1. Test users: persons who administer and interpret psychological tests should be
aware of the principles of psychological measurement and validation and the
limitations of test interpretation. They must avoid bias and should always consider
more than one means of assessment. They must adhere to standardized test
administration procedures and make every effort to achieve accuracy in recording
and scoring test results.
2. Test security: actual test questions should never be reprinted in a public medium
such as a newspaper or magazine. It is permissible to publish sample questions
(similar to real questions) but not items used in the actual scoring of a test. Tests
should be sold only to professionals who will safeguard their use.
3. Test interpretation: test scores should be given only to those qualified to interpret
them. They should not be given to anyone outside the human interpret department,
such as the applicant’s potential supervisor, unless the supervisor has the training
necessary to interpret the scores. The person being tested has the right to know the
test score and what it means.
4. Test publication: tests should not be released for use without adequate background
research to support the test developers’ claims. Informative and current test
manuals containing reliability, validity and normative data should be made available.
Advertisements should describe tests accurately, without emotional or persuasive
appeals.

REFERENCES
 Anastasi, A; “Psychological Testing” 7th Edition; New Jersey, Prentice than
Publication.
 Murphy & Davidshofer, ‘Psychological Testing’ (3 edition)
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 Robert A. Baron, ‘Psychology’ (5 edition)

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 Robert J. Gregory, ‘Psychological Testing’ (4 edition)

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