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1st sem l prelims l psychological assessment: lecture 1
INTRODUCTION
BASIC CONCEPTS
Test
● measurement device or technique used to
quantify behavior or aid in the
understanding and prediction of behavior
Item
● a specific stimulus to which a person
responds overtly; this response can be
scored or evaluated (e.g., classified,
graded on a scale, or counted). They are
specific questions or problems that make
up a test.
Psychological test or educational test
● a set of items that are designed to
measure characteristics of human beings
that pertain to behavior (past or future)
TYPES OF BEHAVIOR
1. Overt behavior – an individual’s
observable activity
2. Covert behavior – takes place within an
individual and cannot be directly observed
(e.g., feelings, thoughts)
Psychological testing
● refers to all possible uses, applications,
and underlying concepts of psychological
and educational tests.
● Main use: To evaluate individual
differences or variations among
individuals.
Test administration
● the act of giving a test
Test administrator
● person giving the test
Interview
● method of gathering information through
verbal interactions, such as direct
questions
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TYPES OF TESTS
1. Individual test – given to only one
person at a time
2. Group test – given to more than one
person at a time
TYPES OF BEHAVIOR MEASURED BY TESTS
I. Ability test – measures speed, accuracy, or
both
Types of Ability:
1. Achievement – previous learning
2. Aptitude – potential for learning or
acquiring a specific skill
3. Intelligence – general potential to solve
problems, adapt to changing
circumstances, think abstractly, and profit
from experience
Human ability – encompasses all 3 concepts
II. Personality test – overt or covert
dispositions; measures typical behavior
1. Structured (objective) – self-report;
choose between alternative responses
(e.g., “true” or “false”)
2. Projective – the stimulus or required
response is ambiguous; spontaneous
response
PRINCIPLES OF PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING
● This refers to the basic concepts and
fundamental ideas that underlie all
psychological and educational tests.
● Reliability – accuracy, dependability,
consistency, or repeatability of test
results. It refers to the degree to which
test scores are free of measurement
errors.
● Validity – meaning and usefulness of test
results. It refers to the degree to which a
certain inference or interpretation based
on a test is appropriate.
● Test construction – how a test is
created or constructed
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1st sem l prelims l psychological assessment: lecture 1
HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF PSYCHOLOGICAL
TESTING
● +4000 years ago: The Chinese held
civil service testing. Oral examinations
helped determine work evaluations and
promotion decisions.
● 206-220 BCE: The Han Dynasty used
test batteries (two or more tests in
conjunction)
● 1832: The English East India Company
copied the Chinese system of selecting
employees for overseas duty
● 1859: Charles Darwin’s The Origin of
Species furthered our understanding of
individual differences
● 1879: Wilhelm Wundt set up an
experimental psychology laboratory at the
University of Leipzig
● 1883: The US established the American
Civil Service Commission for
government job applications
● 1890: James McKeen Cattell coined the
term “mental test”
● 1905: Binet-Simon Scale; determined
mental age (measurement of
performance on the test relative to other
children of that particular age group)
● 1907: Seguin Form Board Test –
evaluated mentally retarded adults; speed
of performance
● 1916: Lewis Terman – Stanford-Binet
Intelligence Scale; importance of
standardization (representative sample
– comprises individuals similar to those for
whom the test is to be used)
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● World War I: Robert Yerkes (APA
president) – Army Alpha, measured
reading ability; Army Beta, measured
intelligence of illiterate adults
● 1930s: Standardized achievement
tests – provided multiple choice questions
that are standardized on a large sample to
produce norms against which the results
of new examinees can be compared; more
efficient than essays.
● Late 30s: Wechsler intelligence
scales – performance IQ; importance of
nonverbal scales
● 1920-1940: Rise of personality tests.
Traits – relatively enduring dispositions
(tendencies to act, think, or feel in a
certain manner in any given circumstance)
that distinguish one individual from
another.
● WWI: Woodworth Personal Data
Sheet – first structured personality test
● 1921: Herman Rorschach – Rorschach
Inkblot Test; introduced to the US by
David Levy
● 1935: Henry Murray and Christiana
Morgan – Thematic Apperception Test
● 1943: Minnesota Multiphasic
Personality Inventory used factor
analysis, a method of finding the
minimum number of dimensions
(characteristics, attributes), called factors,
to account for a large number of variables
● 1949: Raymond Cattell – 16 Personality
Factor Questionnaire
● 1949: Clinical psychology and other
applied branches of psychology
SPECIAL TOPICS 1
1st sem l prelims l psychological assessment: lecture 1
blossomed; psychological testing was
provided by trained professionals
● 50s: Testing was the major function of
clinical psychologists
● Post-WWII: Psychologists began to
reject this secondary role
● 80s to the present: major branches of
applied psychology emerged and
flourished (e.g., neuropsychology, health
psychology, forensic psychology, child
psychology). Because each of these
important areas of psychology makes
extensive use of psychological tests,
psychological testing again grew in status
and use.
● A thorough knowledge of testing will allow
practitioners to base decisions on facts
and to ensure that tests are used for the
most beneficial and constructive purposes.
PERSONALITY TESTS
Woodworth Personal Data Sheet:
● An early structured personality test that
assumed that a test response can be
taken at face value.
Rorschach Inkblot Test:
● A highly controversial projective test that
provided an ambiguous stimulus (an
inkblot) and asked the subject what it
might be.
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT):
● A projective test that provided ambiguous
pictures and asked subjects to make up a
story.
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality
Inventory (MMPI):
● A structured personality test that made no
assumptions about the meaning of a test
response. Such meaning was to be
determined by empirical research.
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California Psychological Inventory (CPI):
● A structured personality test developed
according to the same principles as the
MMPI.
Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire
(16PF):
● A structured personality test based on the
statistical procedure of factor analysis.
BASIC STATISTICS FOR TESTING
Tests are devices used to translate observations
into numbers.
WHY WE NEED STATISTICS
1. For the purposes of description. Numbers
provide convenient summaries and allow
us to evaluate some observations relative
to others. Descriptive statistics are
methods used to provide a concise
description of a collection of quantitative
information.
2. To make inferences, which are logical
deductions about events that can be
observed directly. Inferential statistics
are methods used to make inferences
from observations of a small group of
people known as a sample to a larger
group of individuals known as a
population. Typically, the psychologist
wants to make statements about the
larger group but cannot possibly make all
the necessary observations. Instead, he or
she observes a relatively small group of
subjects (sample) and uses inferential
statistics to estimate the characteristics
of the larger group.
Measurement – application of rules for
assigning numbers to objects; transform qualities
of attributes into numbers
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1st sem l prelims l psychological assessment: lecture 1
PROPERTIES OF SCALES
1. Magnitude – property of “moreness”
2. Equal Intervals – the difference
between two points at any place on the
scale has the same meaning as the
difference between two other points that
differ by the same number of scale units
3. Absolute 0 – nothing of the property
being measured exists
TYPES OF SCALES
1. Nominal – name objects
2. Ordinal – rank individuals or objects
3. Interval – has the properties of
magnitude and equal intervals (e.g.,
measure temperature in Celsius or
Fahrenheit)
4. Ratio – has all three properties (e.g.,
Kelvin scale)
FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTIONS
● A single test score means more if one
relates it to other test scores. A
distribution of scores summarizes the
scores for a group of individuals.
● Frequency distribution – displays
scores on a variable or a measure to
reflect how frequently each value was
obtained. For most distributions of test
scores, the frequency distribution is bell
shaped, with the greatest frequency of
scores toward the center of the
distribution and decreasing scores as the
values become greater or less than the
value in the center of the distribution.
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Histogram for rainfall
● The distribution is slightly skewed, or
asymmetrical. It has a positive skew
because the tail goes off toward the
higher or positive side of the X axis.
● Whenever you draw a frequency
distribution or a frequency polygon, you
must decide on the width of the class
interval (the unit for the horizontal axis
in a frequency distribution).
PERCENTILE RANKS VS. PERCENTILES
● Percentile ranks replace simple ranks
when we want to adjust for the number of
scores in a group. The proportion of
scores that fall below a particular score.
● Percentiles are the specific scores or
points within a distribution. Percentiles
divide the total frequency for a set of
observations into hundredths. Instead of
indicating what percentage of scores fall
below a particular score, as percentile
ranks do, percentiles indicate the
particular score, below which a defined
percentage of scores falls.
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1st sem l prelims l psychological assessment: lecture 1
● In summary, the percentile and the
percentile rank are similar. The percentile
gives the point in a distribution below
which a specified percentage of cases fall.
The percentile is in raw score units. The
percentile rank gives the percentage of
cases below the percentile.
DESCRIBING DISTRIBUTIONS
1. Mean
2. Standard Deviation
3. Z Score
4. Standard Normal Distribution: Percentiles
and Z Scores
5. McCall’s T
6. Quartiles and Deciles
MEAN
● Statistics are used to summarize data. If
you consider a set of scores, the mass of
information may be too much to interpret
all at once. That is why we need
numerical conveniences to help
summarize the information.
● The arithmetic average score in a
distribution is called the mean.
MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY
Measures of Central Tendency
● one number represents a whole set of
data.
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1. Mean
2. Median – the point on the scale of
measurement above which are one half of
the scores and below which are the other
half.
3. Mode – point on the scale of
measurement with the maximum
frequency. It is the most “typical” score.
MEASURES OF VARIABILITY
● Measures of Variability – these indicate
the degree of variability (dispersion)
within a set of measurements. It includes
the range, interquartile range, semi-
quartile range, average deviation,
standard deviation, variance etc.
● The range of a distribution is equal to the
difference between the highest and the
lowest scores.
● Average Deviation – another tool used
to describe the amount of variability in a
distribution. It is rarely used mainly
because the deletion of algebraic signs
render it a useless measure for the
purposes of any further operations.
STANDARD DEVIATION
● The standard deviation is an
approximation of the average deviation
around the mean.
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1st sem l prelims l psychological assessment: lecture 1
● Variance – average squared deviation
around the mean.
● The standard deviation is thus the square
root of the average squared deviation
around the mean. Although the standard
deviation is not an average deviation, it
gives a useful approximation of how
much a typical score is above or below the
average score.
Z SCORES
● The Z score transforms data into
standardized units that are easier to
interpret.
● A Z score is the deviation of a score Xi
from the mean in standard deviation units.
If a score is equal to the mean, then its Z
score is 0.
● If the score is greater than the mean,
then the Z score is positive; if the score
is less than the mean, then the Z score is
negative.
STANDARD NORMAL DISTRIBUTION
Frequency distribution of the number of heads in
25 sets of 10 flips.
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The theoretical distribution of the number of
heads in an infinite number of coin flips.
● This is a normal distribution, or what is
technically known as a symmetrical
binomial probability distribution. It is a
distribution with the greatest frequency of
scores occurring near the arithmetic
mean. Correspondingly fewer and fewer
scores relative to the mean occur on both
sides of it. In a normal distribution, the
mean, the median, and the mode take on
the same value.
STANDARD NORMAL DISTRIBUTION
Percentiles and Z Scores
● These percentile ranks are the
percentage of scores that fall below the
observed Z score.
● Percentile – an expression of the
percentage of people whose score on a
test or measure falls below a particular
raw score. It is a converted score that
refers to a percentage of test takers.
Percentiles are a popular way of
organizing all test-related data, including
standardization sample data.
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1st sem l prelims l psychological assessment: lecture 1
EXAMPLE
● If you are in the top 15% of the class, you
will get an A (85th percentile or above);
between the 60th and the 84th
percentiles, a B; between the 20th and
the 59th percentiles, a C; between the 6
th and the 19th percentiles, a D; and in
the 5 th percentile or below, an F.
● If your Z score is 1.04 or greater, you
would receive an A; if it were greater than
.25 but less than 1.04, you would get a B;
and so on. This system assumes that the
scores are distributed normally.
● If you are in the 79th percentile, you
would have performed better on this
examination than approximately 79 out of
every 100 students.
McCall’s T
● McCall’s T – another system by which
one can transform raw scores to give
them more intuitive meaning. It is exactly
the same as standard scores (Z scores),
except that the mean is 50 (rather than
0) and the standard deviation is 10
(rather than 1).
● A Z score can be transformed to a T score
by applying the linear transformation:
T = 10Z + 50
STANDARDIZATION vs NORMALIZATION
● McCall’s T standardizes scores by applying
a linear transformation. These
transformations do not change the
characteristics of the distributions. If a
distribution of scores is skewed before the
transformation is applied, it will also be
skewed after the transformation has been
used. In other words, transformations
standardize but do not normalize.
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QUARTILES & DECILES
● Quartiles and deciles – refer to
divisions of the percentile scale into
groups. The quartile system divides the
percentage scale into four equal groups,
whereas the decile system divides the
scale into 10 groups.
NOTE:
● quartile refers to a specific point
whereas quarter refers to an interval.
An individual score may, for example, fall
at the third quartile or in the third quarter
(but not “in” the third quartile or “at” the
third quarter). The dividing points
between the four quarters in the
distribution are the quartiles.
● Quartiles are points that divide the
frequency distribution into equal fourths.
The first quartile is the 25th percentile;
the second quartile is the median, or
50th, percentile; and the third quartile is
the 75th percentile. These are abbreviated
Q1, Q2, and Q3, respectively.
● One-fourth of the cases will fall below
Q1, one-half will fall below Q2, and
three-fourths will fall below Q3. The
interquartile range is the interval of scores
bounded by the 25th and 75th percentiles.
In other words, the interquartile range
is bounded by the range of scores that
represents the middle 50% of the
distribution.
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1st sem l prelims l psychological assessment: lecture 1

● Skewness – the nature and extent to

which symmetry is absent.

● A distribution has a positive skew when

relatively few of the scores fall at the high
end of the distribution. Positively skewed
examination results may indicate that the
test was too difficult.

● A distribution has a negative skew when

● Semi-interquartile Range – equal to relatively few of the scores fall at the low
the interquartile range divided by 2. end of the distribution. Negatively skewed
examination results may indicate that the
● Deciles – similar to quartiles except that test was too easy.
they use points that mark 10% rather
than 25% intervals. Thus, the top decile, ● Kurtosis – steepness of a distribution in
or D9, is the point below which 90% of its center.
the cases fall. The next decile (D8) marks
the 80th percentile, and so forth. ● To the root “kurtic” is added to one of the
prefixes “platy-”, “lepto-”, or “meso-” to
● Stanine system – developed in the US describe the peakedness/flatness of three
Air Force during WWII. It converts any set general types of curves.
of scores into a transformed scale, which
ranges from 1 to 9. “Standard nine”. It ● Distributions are generally described as
has a mean of 5 and a SD of platykurtic (relatively flat), leptokurtic
approximately 2. (relatively peaked), or—somewhere in the
middle—mesokurtic.
● Knowledge of the relative distances of Q1
and Q3 from Q2 (the median) provides
the seasoned test interpreter with
immediate information as to the shape of
the distribution of scores. If these
distances are unequal then there is a lack
of symmetry. This lack of symmetry is
referred to as skewness.

SKEWNESS

The Kurtosis of Curves

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1st sem l prelims l psychological assessment: lecture 1
NORMS
● Norms – the performances by defined
groups on particular tests. They are based
on the distribution of scores obtained by
some defined sample of individuals.
● The mean is a norm, and the 50th
percentile is a norm.
● Norms are used to give information about
performance relative to what has been
observed in a standardization sample.
● They are obtained by administering the
test to a sample of people and obtaining
the distribution of scores for that group.
AGE-RELATED NORMS
● Also known as age-equivalent scores or
age norms indicate the average
performance of different samples of test
takers who were at various ages at the
time the test was administered.
GRADE NORMS
● Designed to indicate the average test
performance of test takers in a given
school grade.
DEVELOPMENTAL NORMS
● A term which refers more generally to
both grade norms and age norms.
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NATIONAL NORMS
● Derived from a normative sample that was
nationally representative of the population
at the time the norming study was
conducted.
SUBGROUP NORMS
● Derived from segmentation of the criteria
initially used in selecting subjects for the
sample.
LOCAL NORMS
● Provide normative information with
respect to the local population’s
performance on some test.
The purpose of establishing norms for a test is to
determine how a test taker compares with
others.
NORM-REFERENCED TESTS vs CRITERION-
REFERENCED TESTS
● A norm-referenced test compares each
person with a norm.
● During the last two decades, interest has
grown in tests that are applied to
determine whether students know specific
information. These tests do not compare
students with one another; they compare
each student’s performance with a
criterion or an expected level of
performance.
● A criterion-referenced test describes
the specific types of skills, tasks, or
knowledge that the test taker can
demonstrate, such as mathematical skills