Psychological Testing by Robert M. Kaplan chapter 12 and 16 notes PDF

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Psychological Testing: Principles, Applications, and Issues by Robert M. Kaplan and Dennis P. Saccuzzo. Chapter 12 and 16 summary notes ...

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Chapter 12 – Standardized Test in Education, Civil Service and the Military  GRE is one of the most widely used tests for admission into post graduate programs o 1st applications read are above 1400 (2 standard deviations above the mean) o Those that are 1301 or below are rarely accepted o Predicts 1st year grades in grad school

Comparison of group and individual ability tests  Individual tests: requires a single examiner for a single subject o Examiner provides instructions while tester responds o Examiner evaluates and scores the subjects responses – requires considerable skill o Subjects may be praised for responding  Group tests: distributed to a group of people o No safeguards to prevent a person from receiving a low scores for reasons other than low ability

Advantages of Individual Tests  Can provide a wealth of info about a subject beyond test scores  Instructions and methods are identical o So differences observed in behavior and attitudes most likely reflect differences in the individual

 Can observe different reactions from individuals placed in same situation  Observing a person in a natural setting can provide useful info but under standard conditions can gain more info Advantages of Group Tests  Cost efficient o Require less time o Less examiner skill and training  Objective and reliable  Yields useful and meaningful info  More broad  Used for screening and selecting purposes  Assesses mental, vocation or special abilities  Assesses learning in a discipline or subject  Assesses interest and aptitudes

Overview of Group Tests Characteristics of group tests  Paper and pencil but also computerized is becoming more popular  Multiple choice with some free response (writing an essay)  Can be converted to a variety of units (percentiles or standard score) Selecting group tests  Must be well-documented and psychometrically sound  Highly used tests among researchers and practitioners that generate interest  Illustrate concepts or meet specific needs Using group tests

 Users of group tests must carefully interpret and make use of test scores o Watch out for weak, meager, or contradictory validity data  Results are more often used than individual tests Suggestions for Group Tests  Use Results With Caution o Never consider scores in isolation or absolutes o Be careful using these tests for prediction o Avoid overinterpreting or attributing  Be Especially Suspicious of Low Scores o Users must assume that subjects understand the purpose, want to do well, are well rested and free of emotional issues o Failing to fulfill these assumptions may result in artificial low score  Consider Wide Discrepancies A Warning Signal o A wide discrepancy may reflect emotional problems or severe stress  When in Doubt, Refer o With sufficient reason to doubt validity – refer subject to individual testing

Group Tests in Schools: K-12th grade  Measures educational achievement in schoolchildren Achievement Tests vs. Aptitude Tests  Achievement tests: attempt to assess what a person has learned o First type used: essays o 1930s: standardized achievement tests  More objective, reliable, and easier to score  Validity: content-related evidence  if they adequately sample the domain of the construct  Aptitude tests: attempt to evaluate a student’s potential for learning o Evaluate a wide range of experiences o Validity: ability to predict future performance  Intelligence tests predict future performance but in a more broad way than aptitude

Group achievement tests  Stanford Achievement Test (SAT) = one of the oldest o Evaluates achievement in K-12  Metropolitan Achievement Test (MAT) o Measures reading, mathematics ability, spelling, and social studies o Reflects diverse nationwide student population Group Tests of Mental Abilities (intelligence)  Four group tests of mental abilities: o Kuhlmann-Anderson Test (KAT) – 8th edition  K-12 group intelligence tests covering 8 separate levels  Nonverbal with minimal reading and writing  Results: verbal, quantitative, and total scores – deviation IQs or Percentile Bands: like a confidence interval, provides the range of percentiles that most likely represent a subjects true score  Good reliability and validity o Henmon-Nelson Test (H-NT)  Mental Abilities: obtains a quick measure of general inteligence  Two sets of norms: raw score distribution by age, raw score distribution by grade  Correlates well with intelligence but not as well with grades  Doesn’t work well for those with special needs o Cognitive Abilities Test (COGAT) Form 7  Measures fluid intelligence

 3 separate scores: verbal, quantitative and nonverbal  Designed for poor readers, poorly educated people o Developing Cognitive Abilities Test

College Entrance Tests The New 2016 SAT  Suite of Assessments  National embarrassment: decline since the 1980s  Original mean of 500  New mean of 500 S.D. of 100  Minorites were disadvantaged from this test  More of an achievement test than an aptitude  Scores range from 400-1600 points and essay from 2 to 8 points  Reduce answer choice from 5 to 4 and no penalty for guessing The American College Test (ACT)  Useful for non-native speakers of English  Content o English, math, social studies, natural science  Scores vary from 1-30 with S.D. of 5 and M of 16 (high school) 19 (college)  Predict college GPA  Highly correlated with SAT

Graduate and Profession School entrance Tests  Most widely used are GRE and Miller Analogies Test Graduate Record Exam Aptitude Test  Most common used for grad school entrance  Verbal and quantitative section  Section for major  Mean: 500 S.D: 100  The linear combination of the verbal and quantitative sections of the GRE and undergrad GPA correlated .63 with the GPA achieved in grad school Miller Analogies Test  Designed to measure scholastic aptitudes for grad studies  Strictly verbal

 Most important factor: the ability to see relationships and a knowledge of the various ways analogies can be formed  Lack predictive validity support The Law School Admission Test  Professional degree program  law schools  Require almost no specific problems  students of any major can take it without facing bias  Taken under extreme time pressure and very difficult problems  Reading comprehensions, logical reasoning, and analytical reasoning  Reliability = .90  Women and African American tend to score lower

Nonverbal Group Ability Tests  Performance tests that require test takers to do something like draw or solve maze problems, as well as paper and pencil tests that provide printed nonverbal items  Can be administered without the use of language Raven Progressive Matrices  Estimates one’s general intelligence  Administered to groups or individuals between 5 and elderly adults  60 matrices are graded in difficulty  60 items which increase in difficulty Goodenough-Harris Drawing Test  Quickest, easiest and least expensive to administer  Draw a picture of a whole man and do the best job possible  Points on given based on how much detail is drawn  Follows the principle of age differentiation  older children tend to get more points because of more accuracy and detail  Allows test administer to take a quick look at child’s intelligence  Used in conjunction with other test batteries The Culture Fair Intelligence Test  Designed to provide an estimate of intelligence relatively free of cultural and language influences  Cattel  KR reliability  .70

 Best for western European’s and austrailians  Measures fluid intelligence Standardized Tests Used in the U.S. Civil Service System  The General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB) o Reading ability test that purportedly measures aptitude for a variety of occupations o Used for making employment decisions in government agencies o Measures general intelligence (g), manual dexterity, motor coordination, form perception, clerical perception(proofread), verbal, nonverbal, numerical and special aptitudes o Controversy:  Used within-group norming prior to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1991  Meaning people were compared only with those are who like them (Ex: African Americans only compared to other African Americans) Standardized Tests in the U.S. Military  The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) o Designed for students in grades 11 and 12 and postsecondary schools o Both educational and military settings o Identifies students who potentially qualify for entry into the military and can recommend assignment to various military occupational training programs

Chapter 16 – Testing in Counseling Psychology  Psychological testing can help people select the right career  Evaluation of interests

Measuring Interests  Carnegie interest inventory

o First interest inventory in 1921  Mental Measurement’s Yearbook o 1939 o Discussed 15 different interest measures  Strong Vocational Interest Blank o 1927  Kuder Preference Survey o 1939 The Strong Vocational Interest Blank  WWI – E. K. Strong began to examine the activities that members of different professions like and dislike  Found that people in the same line of work had similar hobbies, liked the same type of entertainment, and read the same sorts of books and magazines  Criterion Keying (Criterion-group approach): a test that matches the interest of a subject to the interests and values of a criterion group of people who are happy in their careers.  Patterns of interest remain relatively stable  by testing students in college then testing them 20 years later  Interest patterns are fairly established by age 17  Critics cited a gender bias because different tests were used for men and women  Lack of theory complaint The Evolution of the Strong Measures  D.P. Campbell published newer version called the StrongCampbell Interest Inventory o Got rid of gender bias o Scales waiter and waitress were merged o Gender items were appropriately modified o Introduced more theory into measurement strategy o People can be classified into multiple interests o Occupational interests reflect personality

The Campbell Interest and Skill Survey  1992 Campbell published the Campbell interest and skill survey  Asks respondents to assess their degree of interest in 200 academic and occupational topics  Assesses the degree of skill in 120 specific occupations

The Reemergence of the Strong Interest Inventory  Stanford released the Strong Interest Inventory in 2007  Represents a substantial revision of the previous measure and features a different item format o Offers a five choice likert type format rather than three choice format  Basic Interest Scale o 41 content scales to represent new areas of change in workplace and work life in modern day o Best predictors of selection of major The Kuder Occupational Interest Survey  KOIS  second most popular interest inventory  Grew out of the original Kuder Preference Survey in 1939  100 Triads

o Each triad the test taker selects the most preferred and the least preferred alternatives o Gives data on 10 general occupational interests  Developed separate norms for men and women  Separate set of scales for college majors  Divided into 4 sections o 1. Summarizes dependability of the results o 2. Rank orders interest patterns in comparison to the normative sample of men and women o 3. The core of the results  ranks the test taker in relation to men and women who are employed in different occupations and are satisfied with their career choices o 4. Matches patterns of interest to those students who have selected different college majors  Very good psychometric properties o Short term reliability  .80 - .95 o Remain stable for 30 years  High students reported greater confidence in their knowledge of themselves when they received KOIS results o Yet didn’t increase confidence in career plans  Self-efficacy: represents a person’s expectation that he or she could perform the tasks in the occupational groups  The Jackson Vocational Interest Survey (JVIS) revised in 1995 o Used for the career education and counseling of high school and college students o 289 statements describing job-related activities The Career Assessment Inventory  Developed by Charles B. Johansson  Designed for people not oriented toward careers requiring college or professional training  Designed for more illiterate people  Evaluated on Holland’s six occupational theme scales: realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising, and conventional  Second part describes person’s basic interests

 Third part a series of occupational scales o Criterion keying method  Culturally fair and no gender bias The Self-Directed Search  Attempts to simulate the counseling process by allowing respondents to list occupational aspirations, indicate occupational preferences in six area, and rate abilities and skills in these areas.  Test taker scores their own inventory and calculates sic summary scores  reflects highest areas of interest  228 items o Six scales with 11 items each o 66 items assess competencies with six scales of 11 items each Eliminating Gender Bias in Interest Measurement  Claims that early interest inventories discriminated against women  Interest inventories contributed to the policy of guiding young men and women into gender-typed careers  Strong  “a unisex interest inventory ignores the social and statistical reality that men and women have different interests”  Most recent versions, normative samples have been expanded to ensure larger and more representative samples  Gender bias have not been eliminated just reduced  Greater emphasis on egalitarianism was helping change the basic career interests of young men and women Aptitudes and Interests  Interest inventories measure interest not the odds that someone will succeed in the job they find interesting o Degree of success is not defined

Measuring Personal Characteristics For Job Placement  Employers want the right person for the job  Job hunters continually seek the job that suits their skills and interest  Some vocational guidance specialists look at job placement from many different perspectives o Focus on personal and characteristics

o Focus on work environment o focus on unique combinations of people and situations  factor analysis: to find common factors or traits that characterize different occupational groups Are There Stable Personality Traits?  Interests are relatively stable personality characteristics  Evidence that personality characteristics are stable is a little shaky o Personality traits are simply not good predictors of how people will behave in particular situations Other Uses of Interest Matching Methods: The Case of Internet Dating  Matching profiles can be done quickly and inexpensively  Internet dating: o Eharmony  Methodology: uses a self-report questionnaires to identify preferences, interest and values...