Introduction to Psychological Testing
Introduction to Psychological Testing
PSY/475
May 27, 2013
Introduction to Psychological Testing
Psychological testing plays an essential role in understanding and deriving meaning from research and studies geared toward unlocking the mysteries of human thought and behavior. Testing also facilitates assessment of tested individuals, and reveals unique and fascinating information with regard to what makes each subject unique and different in a variety of situations. Testing is most prevalent in organizational and research settings and spurs the curiosity of researchers within the entire field of psychology. Reliability and validity is the foundation that offers credibility to any test, and without it, testing takes a more experimental or curious tone leaving it no more reliable than the common myth or story. The following will define what constitutes a test, describe the major categories of tests and identify the major uses and users of tests as well as compare and contrast the concepts of reliability and validity and how they affect psychological testing.
Defining “Test”
The Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing defines test as, “an evaluative device or procedure in which a sample of an examinee’s behavior in a specified domain is obtained and subsequently evaluated and scored using a standardized process” (Hogan, 2007, p. 38). The Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing defines test as, “an evaluative device or procedure in which a sample of an examinee’s behavior in a specified domain is obtained and subsequently evaluated and scored using a standardized process” (Hogan, 2007, p. 38). With this in mind, testing also can be defined as a systematic and standardized quantification procedure or device, which imparts information with regard to specific behavior, and the cognitive processes therein. Psychological testing is aimed at measuring specific behaviors rather than the assembly of individual
PSY/475
May 27, 2013
Introduction to Psychological Testing
Psychological testing plays an essential role in understanding and deriving meaning from research and studies geared toward unlocking the mysteries of human thought and behavior. Testing also facilitates assessment of tested individuals, and reveals unique and fascinating information with regard to what makes each subject unique and different in a variety of situations. Testing is most prevalent in organizational and research settings and spurs the curiosity of researchers within the entire field of psychology. Reliability and validity is the foundation that offers credibility to any test, and without it, testing takes a more experimental or curious tone leaving it no more reliable than the common myth or story. The following will define what constitutes a test, describe the major categories of tests and identify the major uses and users of tests as well as compare and contrast the concepts of reliability and validity and how they affect psychological testing.
Defining “Test”
The Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing defines test as, “an evaluative device or procedure in which a sample of an examinee’s behavior in a specified domain is obtained and subsequently evaluated and scored using a standardized process” (Hogan, 2007, p. 38). The Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing defines test as, “an evaluative device or procedure in which a sample of an examinee’s behavior in a specified domain is obtained and subsequently evaluated and scored using a standardized process” (Hogan, 2007, p. 38). With this in mind, testing also can be defined as a systematic and standardized quantification procedure or device, which imparts information with regard to specific behavior, and the cognitive processes therein. Psychological testing is aimed at measuring specific behaviors rather than the assembly of individual