UNIT V – TESTING AND ASSESSMENT IN ACTION

INTRODUCTION

This unit will examine assessment in various settings. Part one is all about assessment
in school setting which includes intelligence and aptitude tests. Part two is about the
clinical/hospital setting and part three discusses the industrial setting.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: At the end of this unit, you should be able to:

1. Familiarize one’s self with the various settings in testing and assessment.

2. Compare the tests from different settings and select the appropriate tests for each
setting.

COURSE MATERIALS

LESSON 11: PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT IN SCHOOL, CLINICAL, INDUSTRY AND

COMMUNITY

PART ONE: SCHOOL SETTING

Intelligence, special aptitude tests, multiple aptitude and personality tests can be found
in the repertoire of the educational counselor and the school psychologist

A. Achievement Tests

Most common tests employed in schools, achievement tests are designed to measure
the effects of a specific program of instruction or training.

Achievement vs. Aptitude Test

a. Achievement tests measure the effects of relatively standardized sets of experiences

such as a course of a subject. In contrast, aptitude tests reflect the cumulative influence
of a multiplicity of experiences in daily living.

b. Aptitude tests measure the effect of learning under relatively uncontrolled and unknown
conditions, whereas achievement tests measure the effects of learning that occurred
under partially known and controlled conditions.

c. Aptitude tests serve to predict subsequent performance. They are employed to estimate
the extent to which the individual will profit from a specified course or training, or to
forecast the quality of his/her achievements in a new situation. Achievement tests, on
the other hand, generally represent terminal evaluation of the individual’s status on the
completion of training. The emphasis is in such tests what the individual can do at the
time.
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 d. It is to be noted that no distinction between aptitude and achievement tests can be
applied rigidly

e. In an effort to avoid the excess meanings associated with the terms “aptitude” and
“achievement”, the more neutral term “ability” is being substituted to designate measures
of cognitive ability

ROLES OF ACHIEVEMENT TESTS (Anastasi, et.al)

 As an aid in the assignment of grades

 Important feature of remedial teaching programs; useful in the identification of students

with special educational abilities

 Specific Learning Disability: disorder in one or more of the basic psychological

processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, which
disorder may manifest itself in the imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write,
spell or do mathematical computation

 Examples of Learning Disabilities:

 a. Auditory Processing Disorder – Also known as Central Auditory Processing Disorder,

this is a condition that adversely affects how sound that travels unimpeded through the
ear is processed or interpreted by the brain. Individuals with APD do not recognize
subtle differences between sounds in words, even when the sounds are loud and clear
enough to be heard. They can also find it difficult to tell where sounds are coming from,
to make sense of the order of sounds, or to block out competing background noises.

 b. Dyscalculia – a specific learning disability that affects a person’s ability to understand

numbers and learn math facts. Individuals with this type of LD may also have poor
comprehension of math symbols, may struggle with memorizing and organizing
numbers, have difficulty telling time, or have trouble with counting.

 c. Dysgraphia – a specific learning disability that affects a person’s handwriting ability

and fine motor skills. Problems may include illegible handwriting, inconsistent spacing,
poor spatial planning on paper, poor spelling, and difficulty composing writing as well as
thinking and writing at the same time.

 d. Dyslexia – a specific learning disability that affects reading and related language-
based processing skills. The severity can differ in each individual but can affect reading
fluency, decoding, reading comprehension, recall, writing, spelling, and sometimes
referred to as a Language-Based Learning Disability.

 e. Language Processing Disorder – a specific type of Auditory Processing Disorder

(APD) in which there is difficulty attaching meaning to sound groups that form words,
sentences and stories. While an APD affects the interpretation of all sounds coming into
the brain, a Language Processing Disorder (LPD) relates only to the processing of
language. LPD can affect expressive language and/or receptive language.

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  f. Non-Verbal Learning Disabilities – A disorder which is usually characterized by a
significant discrepancy between higher verbal skills and weaker motor, visual-spatial and
social skills. Typically, an individual with NLD (or NLVD) has trouble interpreting
nonverbal cues like facial expressions or body language, and may have poor
coordination.

 g. Visual Perceptual/Visual Motor Deficit – A disorder that affects the understanding of

information that a person sees, or the ability to draw or copy. A characteristic seen in
people with learning disabilities in shapes or printed letters, losing place frequently,
struggles with cutting, holding pencil too tightly, or poor eye/hand coordination.

Response to Intervention (RTI): identify children and match them with evidence-based
intervention based on their level of responsiveness.

 Provide a means of adapting instruction to individual needs. Given early enough,

educators can take constructive steps to fill the major gaps in knowledge produced by
the test results.

 Aids in the evaluation and improvement of teaching and in the formulation of educational
goals.

Ipsative analysis (Profile Analysis): the process of drawing inferences about a student’s
cognitive abilities based on a constellation of test scores.

B. Construction versus Choice

a. Constructed-response or open-ended tasks: requires examinee to generate an answer

b. Selected-response tasks: which is the term applied to items that require the examinee
only to choose a response from among the options presented, such as multiple-choice
items and other types of questions that can be considered as “objective”.

*Critics of the multiple-choice questions argue that it promotes rote memorization and learning
of isolated facts rather than development of problem-solving skills and conceptual
understanding.

c. Proposed alternative assessment methodologies:

Performance-based assessment, authentic assessment and direct assessment. Though

these have different emphases, the central feature that they share is a marked preference
for tasks that require the examinee to generate an answer.

d. Portfolio assessment. A portfolio usually consists of a cumulative record – collected over

an extended period of time – of samples of student’s work in specific areas such as writing
or any other endeavor that can be documented.

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TYPES OF EDUCATIONAL TESTS:

A. General Achievement Batteries

- Measures general educational achievement in the areas most commonly covered by

academic curricula.

- The advantage of such batteries is that they permit horizontal or vertical comparisons
or both.

- Concurrently normed with tests if academic intelligence or scholastic abilities.

Major Examples:

a. Stanford Achievement Test Series

b. Otis-Lennon School Ability Test

c. Iowa Test Series

d. Tests of Achievement and Proficiency with the Cognitive Abilities Test

e. California Achievement Tests

d. Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills with the Test of Cognitive Skills

B. Tests of Minimum Competency in Basic Skills

- Used as a means of certifying the attainment of minimum competency and as a basis

for awarding a high school diploma.

-Typical assessment of reading, writing, and arithmetic skills

- Example: Tests of Adult Basic Education (TABE) which encompasses five graduated
levels of difficulty across five different content areas that include reading, writing, and
applied mathematics.

C. Teacher-Made Classroom Tests

- The largest number of tests covering the content of specific courses or parts of courses
prepared by instructors for use in their own classrooms.

- Development of classroom tests can be divided into 3 Major Steps:

a. Planning the test

b. Item Writing

c. Item Analysis

D. Tests for the College Level

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 - Developed for use in the admission, placement, and counseling of college students.

- Example: Scholastic Achievement Tests (SAT) which is composed of 2 components

SAT I: Reasoning Test and SAT II: Subject Tests

E. Graduate School Admission

- Most tests assigned for this purpose represent a combination of general intelligence
and achievement tests

- Example: Graduate Record Examination

PART TWO: CLINICAL/HOSPITAL SETTING

Clinical Psychology: branch of psychology concerned with the prevention, diagnosis, and
treatment of abnormal behavior. Same with counseling psychology, but the latter deals with
milder, everyday concerns.

Objectives of clinical assessment:

a. Clarify the psychological problem

b. Make diagnosis (usually based on the DSM, though some clinicians have issues with this)

c. Design a treatment plan

The Clinical Interview

- Interviews are typically part of the clinical assessment process.

- Used early in the practice to solidify a therapeutic contract: an agreement between

client and therapist setting forth goals, expectations, and mutual obligations with regards to a
course of a therapy.

Kinds/Forms of Clinical Interviews

A. Intake Interview – the purpose of the initial intake interview or admission interview is to
develop a better understanding of the patient’s symptoms and concerns in order to recommend
the most appropriate treatment or intervention plan as efficiently as possible.

B. Case History Interview – in many hospitals and clinics the intake or admission interview is
followed immediately by the personal and social history interview. The purpose of this interview
is to gather as mush information as possible needed in diagnosing and treating a condition.
Sources other than the patient can be utilized.

C. Mental Status Exam – this interview screens for intellectual, emotional, and neurological
deficits, typically questioning or observation in the following areas of interest:

- Appearance (posture, grooming, clothes)

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 - Behavior (mannerisms, gestures, psychomotor activity, expression, eye contact,
ability to follow commands/requests, compulsions)
- Attitude (Observed. Possible descriptors: cooperative, hostile, open, secretive,
evasive, suspicious, apathetic, easily distracted, focused, defensive)
- Levels of Consciousness (Observed. Possible descriptors: vigilant, alert, drowsy,
lethargic, stuporous, asleep, comatose, fluctuating)
- Orientation (person, place, and time. Possible questions: “What is your full
name?”, “Where are we?”, “What is the date today?”, “How would you describe
the situation we are in?”
- Memory (short and long term)
- Attention (digit span, spelling backwards, calculations)
- Sensorium
- Psychomotor Activity
- Affect (appropriate or inappropriate to the situation, blunted or intense)
- Mood (Possible questions: “How are you feeling?”, “Have you been
discouraged/blue lately?”
- Personality
- Thought content (hallucination, delusion, obsession)
- Thought process (productivity, speed, connectivity of ideas)
- Intellectual Resources (information and vocabulary, abstraction of similarities,
meaning of proverbs)
- Insight
- Judgment

D. Stress Interview – any interview where the objective is to place the interviewee in a
pressured state for some particular reason. Stress maybe to test some aspect of personality.

E. Hypnotic Interview – interview conducted while one is in hypnosis.

F. Cognitive Interview – after rapport, interviewee is encouraged to use imagery and focused
retrieval to recall information.

G. Collaborative Interview – there’s wide latitude for interviewer to interact with the interviewee.

Psychological Tests Often used in the Clinical Setting

a) Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory III: 175 true or false item test that yields scores
related to enduring personality features as well as acute symptoms. Yields scores on
the different axes of DSM-IV.
b) Specific Tests for Specific Concerns e.g. Beck Depression Inventory: self-report
measure of 21 items, each tapping a specific symptom or attitude associated with
depression.
c) Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

Test Battery: group of tests administered together to gather information about an individual
from a variety of instruments

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  Personality test battery

 Projective test battery

 Standard battery (intelligence, personality, neurological deficit)

Culturally Informed Psychological Assessment: an approach to evaluation that is keenly

perceptive and responsive to issues of acculturation, values, identity, worldview, language,
and other culture interpretation of resulting data.

 Sources of cultural influence are summarized in the misspelled acronym ADDRESSING

which stands for age, disability, religion, ethnicity, social status, sexual orientation,
indigenous heritage, national origin and gender.

Neuropsychological Assessment: evaluation of the brain and nervous system functioning as

it relates to behavior. Subspecialty areas within neuropsychology include pediatric
neuropsychology, geriatric neuropsychology, forensic neuropsychology and school
neuropsychology.

 Common to all neuropsychological evaluations are history taking, a mental status exam,
and the administration of tests and procedures designed to reveal problems of
neuropsychological functioning.

Nervous system

 Composed of neurons

 Central Nervous System (brain & spinal cord)

 Peripheral Nervous System (neurons that convey messages to the rest of the body)

 Neurological damage may come in the form of a lesion (pathological alteration of tissues
such as that which could result from injury or infection) in the brain or any other site
within the central or the peripheral nervous system.

 Neurological lesions may be physical or chemical in nature, and they are characterized
as focal (relatively circumscribed at one spot) or diffuse (scattered at various sites).

 The terms brain damage, neurological damage and organicity have been unfortunately
used interchangeably. The term neurological damage is the most inclusive because it
covers not only damage to the brain but to the spinal cord and all components of the
peripheral nervous system.

 Brain Damage is a general reference to any physical or functional impairment that

results in sensory, motor, and cognitive, emotional, and/or related deficit. Organicity
came from the research of German neurologist Kurt Goldstein of brain-injured soldiers
he diagnosed as having organic brain syndrome or organicity for short.

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  Signs signaling the need for a more thorough neuropsychological work-up can be
classified as being hard or soft. A Hard Sign may be defined as a definite indicator of a
neurological deficit. Example: abnormal reflex performance. A Soft Sign is an indicator of
neurological deficit. Example is an apparent inability to copy a stimulus figure while
attempting to draw it.

Common Neuropsychological Tests:

a. Clock Drawing Test (CDT) – the task in this test is to draw the face of the clock usually
with the hands of the clock indicating a particular time. Observed abnormalities in the
patient’s drawing may be reflective of cognitive dysfunction resulting from dementia or
other neurological or psychiatric procedures.

b. Trail-Making Item. The task is to connect circles in a logical way. This test taps many
abilities, including visuo-perceptual skills, working memory and the ability to switch
between tasks.

c. Field of Search Item. Shown a sample or a target stimulus (usually some sort of shape
or design), test taker must scan a field of various stimuli to match the sample. People
with right hemisphere lesions may exhibit deficits in visual scanning ability.

d. Confrontation Naming. Naming each stimulus presented. This seemingly simple tasks
entails 3 component operations: a perceptual component (perceiving the visual features
of the stimulus), a semantic component (accessing the underlying conceptual
representation or core meaning of whatever is pictured), and a lexical component
(accessing and expressing the appropriate name).

e. Picture Absurdity Item. Task is to identify what is wrong or silly about the picture. It can
provide insight to the test taker’s social comprehension and reasoning abilities. (Similar
to Picture Absurdity items on the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test).

f. Perceptual-Motor Tests. General reference to any instrument or procedure used to

evaluate the integration and coordination of perceptual and motor abilities. Example:
putting together a jigsaw puzzle, the Ishihara Test (test for color blindness), Wepman
Auditory Discrimination Test, and the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency.

g. Bender Visual-Motor Gestalt Test (usually refereed to as Bender Gestalt). Originally

conceived by Lauretta Bender, this test consists of nine cards on each of which is a
printed design. Instruction is simply “copy it as best as you can”.

h. Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Battery. Most widely used fixed (as opposed to

flexible battery) for neuropsychological assessment.

Forensic Psychological Assessment: a theory and application of psychological evaluation

and measurement in legal context.

Areas for Forensic Assessment:

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a. Dangerousness to self or others. Being a danger to self and others is legal cause to deprive a
person of liberty. This is assessed in relation to helping professional’s duty to warn and protect.
The duty to warn an endangered third party can override privileged communication between
psychologist and client.

b. Competency to stand trial. This refers to the defendant’s ability to understand the charges
against him and assist in his own defense. The competency requirement protects an
individual’s right to choose and assist counsel, the right to act as witness on one’s behalf, and
the right to confront opposing witnesses.

c. Criminal responsibility. The insanity defense has its roots in the idea that only blameworthy
persons should be punished. Possibly exempt from blame are children, mental incompetents,
and others who may be irresponsible, lack control of their actions, or have no conception that
what they are doing is criminal.

c.1. In 1843, Daniel M’Naghten was found not guilty for attempting to assassinate the
British Prime Minister because of “defect of reason from disease of mind”. This decision
has since became known as the “right or wrong test”, or the M’Naghten Standard.

c.2. In 1954, the US Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia opined that a defendant
is not culpable from criminal action if his “unlawful act was the product of mental disease
or defect”. This has been known as the Durham Standard.

d. Readiness for parole or probation. A person with a diagnosis of psychopathy (psychopath) is

4 times more likely to fail on release from prison.

e. Emotional injury. Or psychological harm or damage, is a term sometimes used synonymously

with mental suffering, pain and suffering, and emotional harm. In cases involving charges such
as discrimination, harassment, malpractice, stalking, and unlawful termination of employment,
psychological assessors may be responsible for evaluating alleged emotional injury.

f. Profiling. Now referred to by the FBI as “criminal investigative analysis” and by some in the
mental health field as simply “investigative psychology”, profiling may be defined as a crime-
solving process that draws upon psychological and criminological expertise applied to the
science of crime evidence.

g. Custody Evaluation. A psychological assessment of parents and guardians and their parental
capacity and/or children and their parental needs and preferences--usually undertaken for the
purpose of assisting a court in making a decision about awarding custody.

h. Assessment of Child Abuse/Child Neglect. Abuse: creation of conditions that may give rise to
abuse of a child by an adult responsible for the care of that person. Abuse may be in the form of
infliction or allowing infliction of physical injury, emotional injury and/or sexual offense.

Neglect: failure on the part of an adult responsible for the care of the child to exercise a
minimum degree in providing the child with food, clothing, shelter, education, and medical care
and supervision.

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PART THREE: INDUSTRIAL SETTING

PURPOSES:

a. Screening – refers to a relatively superficial process of evaluation based on certain

minimal standards, criteria, or requirements.

b. Selection – a process whereby each person evaluated for a position will either be
accepted or rejected for a position.

c. Classification – rating, categorization with respect to 2 or more criteria.

d. Placement – a disposition, transfer or assignment to a group or category that ay be

made on the basis of one criterion.

INTEREST TESTS

In vocational assessment and pre-employment counseling, an interest measure is an

instrument designed to evaluate a test taker’s likes, dislikes, leisure activities, curiosities, and
involvement in various pursuits.

Strong Interest Inventory (SII)

-Longest history of continuous use published in 1907 by G. Stanley Hall. His

questionnaire was designed to assess children’s interest in various recreational pursuits.
- In 1920, Edward K. Strong, developed a 420-item test called the Strong Vocational
Interest Blank (SVIB).

- The 2 exclusive for men and women scale was merged in 1974 with the help of David
Campbell which resulted in the Strong Campbell Interest Inventory (SCII).

- Uses a 5-point Likert Scale from Strongly Like to Strongly Dislike.

Self-Directed Search

Interest assessment in the context of Holland’s theory of vocational personality types

and work environments. (RIASEC)

Integrity Tests: tests specifically designed to predict employee theft, honesty, adherence to
established procedures and/or potential for violence.

Other Methods of Assessment:

a. Resume

b. Letters of Application

c. Application Form

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 d. Portfolio

e. Letters of Recommendation

f. Job Interview

g. Performance Test

h. Physical Tests

i. Employee Appraisal and Assessment

OTHER ASSESSMENT FOR BUSINESS PURPOSES:

Consumer Psychology: that branch of psychology concerned primarily with development,

advertising, and marketing of products and services.

Implicit Attitude: non-conscious, automatic association in memory that produces a disposition to

react in some characteristic manner to a particular stimulus.

PARTS OF A PSYCHOLOGICAL REPORT

I. Identifying Information – requires the report writer to put in the name of the client, his
date of birth, date of evaluation, who referred him and the name of the examiner.

II. Reason for Referral/Chief Complaint – introduces the reader to the client and why he is
there and what questions need to be asked. This part provides focus for the report.

III. Assessments Conducted – this is simply a listing of procedures used to evaluate the
client. Tests should be written with their full names followed by their abbreviations.
Interview should also be included, detailing its degree of structure.

IV. Behavioral Observations/Mental Status Exam – based on behaviors that you have
observed. NOT to be interpreted.

V. Background Information – Introduced client to the reader, provides context for the rest of
the report and is often crucial for interpretations. May be divided into different segments.

VI. Assessment Results & Impressions – Results: Summarizes the actual results the client
received, Should be written as standard scores and not raw scores. Interpretation: Most
important and most difficult to write, includes organized and integrated interpretation of
findings.

VII. Summary & Recommendations – Reviews the essential findings, answers each referral
question and based on this information, provides suggestions that can help solve the
referral question.

VIII. Signature and Title – Report writer signs their report along with their name and title (and
their license number). The importance of this section is that the professional is
personally taking responsibility for the contents of the report.

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SUPPLEMENTAL READINGS/REFERENCES:

Cohen, R. & Swerdlik, M. (2009). Psychological Testing and Assessment: An

Introduction to Tests and Measurement 7th Ed. McGraw Hill Primis

Hilsenroth, M., Segal, D., & Hersen, M. (2004). Comprehensive Handbook of

Psychological Assessment. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Urbina, S. (2004). Essentials of Psychological Testing. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

ACTIVITIES/ASSESSMENTS: (Group Work)

Just Think:

1. How realistic is it to expect that children can be taught a variety of subjects by

classroom teachers in a way that is individually tailored to each child’s unique
processing strength as measured by a test?
2. Should a diagnostic manual provide clinicians with guidance as to what method of
treatment will be optimally effective?

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