PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT

INTRODUCTION AND HISTORICAL

OVERVIEW
 Definition of Key Terms
Key terms in psychological assessment include:
Psychological Test
• A systematic procedure for sampling
behaviour i.e. an objective and standardized
measure of a sample of behaviour (such as
psychological attributes e.g. Cognitive ability,
emotional functioning, personality, aptitude
etc)
• Psychological Assessment –the use of
techniques and tools of psychology (such as
informal tests and surveys, interviews, school
or medical records, medical evaluation and
observational data) to learn either general or
specific facts about another person.
Psychological Testing – the administration of
psychological tests. A score on a well-
constructed test is believed to reflect a
psychological construct such as anxiety,
happiness, religiosity etc
• Psychometrics - a branch of psychology that
deals with the design, administration, and
interpretation of quantitative tests for the
measurement of psychological variables such
as intelligence, aptitude, and personality
traits”.
• What is the difference between psychological
assessment and psychological testing?
 History of Psychological
Assessment

WHY HISTORY ?
 History of Psychological
Assessment
• A review of the origins of psychological testing
helps explain current practices that might
otherwise seem arbitrary or even peculiar e.g.
Why do many intelligence tests incorporate a
seemingly non intellective capacity, namely,
short-term memory for digits? The answer is,
in part, historical inertia—intelligence tests
have always included a measure of digit span
• The strengths and limitations of testing also
stand out better when tests are viewed in
historical context.
• The reader will discover, for example, that
modern intelligence tests are exceptionally
good at predicting school failure—precisely
because this was the original and sole purpose
of the first such instrument developed in Paris,
France, at the turn of the twentieth century.
• The history of psychological testing contains
some sad and regrettable episodes that help
remind us not to be overly zealous in our
modern-day applications of testing. For
example, based on the misguided and
prejudicial application of intelligence test
results, several prominent psychologists
helped ensure passage of dehumanising laws
 History of Psychological Assessment
• Psychological assessment started in China in around
2200 B.C.
• The Emperor evaluated public officials every third
year.
• The test which were an early form of psychological
testing, assessed candidates based on their
proficiency in topics such as civil law and fiscal
policies.
• The influence of the Chinese examination system
spread to neighboring Asian countries, such as
Vietnam, Korea, Japan
• In the Western World, the Chinese examination
system was first used by the British East India
Company to select employees.
• Following the initial success in that company, the
British government adopted a similar testing system
for screening civil servants in 1855.
• Other European nations, such as France and
Germany, followed suit and so did the USA in 1883
• Psychological testing owes much to early psychiatry
• The examination of the mentally ill around the
middle of the nineteenth century resulted in the
development of numerous early tests
• Hubert Von Grashey developed the antecedent test
for brain injured patient and the German
psychiatrist Conrad Rieger developed a test battery
for brain damage which took over 100 hours.
• However most of these tests were relegated to oblivion
since most were not standardised but they were the
foundation for present day psychological assessment.
• Experimental psychology flourished in Europe in the
late 1800. key pioneers were Wilheim Wundt, Galton
Cattel and Wisler.
• For the first time psychology departed from the wholly
subjective methods and human abilities were tested in
laboratories using objective procedures that could be
replicated
• However, the early experimental psychologists
mistook simple sensory processes for intelligence
e.g. they used assorted brass instruments to
measure sensory thresholds and reaction times,
thinking that such abilities were at the heart of
intelligence.
• Hence this period is sometimes referred to as the
Brass era of psychological testing
• However the early experimentalists provided
psychological testing with an appropriate
methodology
• Wilhelm Wundt founded the first
psychological laboratory in 1879 in Leipzig,
Germany. Included among his earlier
investigations was his 1862 attempt to
measure the speed of thought with the
thought meter, a calibrated pendulum with
needles sticking off from each side
• The first reference to mental tests occurred in
1890 in a classic paper by James McKeen
Cattell, an American psychologist who had
studied with Galton. Cattell imported the
brass instruments approach to the United
States. He is credited for introducing the term
mental tests
• One of Cattell’s students, Clark Wissler,
showed that reaction time and sensory
discrimination measures did not correlate
with college grades, thereby redirecting the
mental-testing movement away from brass
instruments
• In the late 1800s, a newfound humanism
toward the mentally retarded, reflected in the
diagnostic and remedial work of French
physicians Esquirol and Seguin, helped create
the necessity for early intelligence tests
• In 1905, Binet and Simon developed the first useful
intelligence test in Paris, France. Their simple 30-item
measure of mainly higher mental functions helped identify
schoolchildren who could not profit from regular instruction..
• The development of the Binet-Simon Intelligence Scale is
largely recognized as launching a new era in measurement
• In 1908, Binet and Simon published a revised 58-item scale
that incorporated the concept of mental level. In 1911, a third
revision of the Binet-Simon scales appeared. Each age level
now had exactly five tests; the scale extended into the adult
range
• In 1912, Stern proposed dividing the mental
age by the chronological age to obtain an
intelligence quotient. In 1916, Terman
suggested multiplying the intelligence
quotient by 100 to remove fractions. Thus
was born the concept of IQ
• 1908 A.D. Frank Parsons opens the Vocational Bureau
of Boston begins offering career guidance to young
adults.
• 1914 A.D. World War I brings about a boom in
psychological testing as thousands of American
recruits are screened for intellectual and emotional
functioning.
• 1919 A.D. Robert Woodworth publishes the Personal
Data Sheet to help identify Army recruits susceptible to
‘shell shock.’ this was the first personality test
• 1921 A.D. Swiss psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach publishes
his famous monograph, Psychodiagnostics, which would
lead to the development of the Rorschach Inkblot Test, the
first projective test
• 1926 A.D. The Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) is developed
and administered for the first time.
• 1927 A.D. Carl Spearman publishes a two-factor theory of
intelligence in which he postulates the existence of a
general intellectual ability factor and specific components
of that general ability.
• 1938 A.D. Mental tests have reached the status of big
business. According to the 1938 Mental Measurements
Yearbook, at least 4,000 psychological tests are in print
• . 1939 A.D. David Wechsler introduces the
Wechsler-Bellevue Intelligence Scale which was
designed to measure adult intelligence. Today,
multiple versions of these tests are in publication
and are the most popular instruments used to
measure the intelligence of children and adults.
• 1943 A.D. Minnesota Multiphasic Personality
Inventory was published.
• 1949 A.D. The first version to the Wechsler
Intelligence Tests for children was published.
• .
• 1949 A.D. The 16PF Questionnaire, 1st Edition is
released for public use.
• 1955 A.D. The first version of the Wechsler Adult
Intelligence Tests was published.
• 1962 A.D. Katherine Briggs and Isabel Briggs Meyers
publish the Meyers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).
• 1962 A.D. Warren T. Norman publishes his first article
over the Big Five Personality Factors.
• 1970 A.D. John L. Holland publishes the first version of
the Self Directed Search (SDS) for consumer use. The
inventory was intended to help individuals identify
careers that are congruent with their personalities