CHAPTER 1: PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING AND ASSESSMENT

CHAPTER 1: PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING AND ASSESSMENT (2) some test administers dont even have to
be present
TESTING AND ASSESSMENT (a) usually administered to larger
Roots can be found in early twentieth century in France 1905 groups
Alfred Binet published a test designed to help place Paris school
(b) test takers complete tasks
children
WW1, military used the test to screen large numbers of recruits independently
quickly for intellectual and emotional problems b) Scoring and interpretation procedures
WW2, military depend more on tests to screen recruits for service (1) score: a code or summary statement,
PSYCHOLOGICAL usually (but not necessarily) numerical in
PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING
ASSESSMENT nature, that reflects an evaluation of
Process of measuring performance on a test, task, interview, or
Gathering & integration of
psychology-related
psychology-related data for some other sample of behavior
variables by means of
DEFINITION the purpose of making a (2) scoring: process of assigning such
devices/procedures
psychological evaluation with evaluative codes/ statements to
designed to obtain a
accompany of tools.
sample of behavior performance on tests, tasks, interviews,
To answer a referral question, or other behavior samples.
To obtain some gauge,
solve problem or arrive at a (3) different types of score:
OBJECTIVE usually numerical in
decision thru the use of tools (a) cut score: reference point,
nature
of evaluation
usually numerical, derived by
Testing may be
PROCESS Typically individualized judgement and used to divide
individualized or group
Key in the process of selecting Tester is not key into the a set of data into two or more
ROLE OF
tests as well as in drawing process; may be classifications.
EVALUATOR
conclusions substituted (i) sometimes reached
SKILL OF Typically requires an educated Requires technician-like without any formal
EVALUATIOR selection, skill in evaluation skills
method: in order to
Entail logical problem-solving
Typically yields a test eyeball, teachers
OUTCOME approach to answer the
score who decide what is
referral ques.
passing and what is
3 FORMS OF ASSESSMENT: failing.
1. COLLABORATIVE PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT assessor and (4) who scores it
assesse work as partners from initial contact through final feedback (a) self-scored by testtaker
2. THERAPEUTIC PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT self-discovery and
(b) computer
new understandings are encouraged throughout the assessment
process (c) trained examiner
3. DYNAMIC PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT follows a model (a) c) psychometric soundness/ technical quality
evaluation (b) intervention (a) evaluation. Provide a means for (1) psychometrics:the science of
evaluating how the assesse processes or benefits from some type of psychological measurement.
intervention during the course of evaluation. (a) referring to to how
consistently and how
Tools of Psychological Assessment
accurately a psychological test
A. The Test (a measuring device or procedure)
measures what it purports to
1. psychological test: a device or procedure designed to measure
measure.
variables related to psychology (intelligence, personality,
(2) utility: refers to the usefulness or
aptitude, interests, attitudes, or values)
practical value that a test or other tool of
2. format: refers to the form, plan, structure, arrangement, and
assessment has for a particular purpose.
layout of test items as well as to related considerations such as
B. The Interview: method of gathering information through direct
time limits.
communication involving reciprocal exchange
a) also referred to as the form in which a test is
1. interviewer in face-to-face is taking note of
administered (pen and paper, computer, etc)
a) verbal language
Computers can generate scenarios.
b) nonverbal language
b) term is also used to denote the form or structure of
(1) body language movements
other evaluative tools, and processes, such as the
(2) facial expressions in response to
guidelines for creating a portfolio work sample
interviewer
3. Ways That tests differ from one another:
(3) the extent of eye contact
a) administrative procedures
(4) apparent willingness to cooperate
(1) some test administers have an active
c) how they are dressed
knowledge
(1) neat vs sloppy vs inappropriate
(a) some test administration
2. interviewer over the phone taking note of
involves demonstration of
a) changes in the interviewees voice pitch
tasks
b) long pauses
(b) usually one-on-one
c) signs of emotion in response
(c) trained observation of
3. ways that interviews differ:
assessees performance
a) length, purpose, and nature
 CHAPTER 1: PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING AND ASSESSMENT
b) in order to help make diagnostic, treatment,
selection, etc
4. panel interview
a) an interview conducted with one interviewee with
more than one interviewer
C. The Portfolio
1. files of work products: paper, canvas, film, video, audio, etc
2. samples of ones abilities and accomplishments
D. Case History Data: records, transcripts, and other accounts in written,
pictorial or other form that preserve archival information, official and
informal accounts, and other data and items relevant to assessee
1. sheds light on an individual's past and current adjustment as
well as on events and circumstances that may have contributed
to any changes in adjustment
2. provides information about neuropsychological functioning
prior to the occurrence of a trauma or other event that results
in a deficit.
3. insight into current academic and behavioral standing
4. useful in making judgments for future class placements
5. Case history Study: a report or illustrative account concerning
person or an event that was compiled on the basis of case
history data
a) might shed light on how one individuals personality
and particular set of environmental conditions
combined to produce a successful world leader.
b) groupthink: work on a social psychological
phenomenon: contains rich case history material on
collective decision making that did not always result
in the best decisions.
E. Behavioral Observation: monitoring the actions of others or oneself by
visual or electronic means while recording quantitative and/or qualitative
information regarding those actions.
1. often used as a diagnostic aid in various settings: inpatient
facilities, behavioral research laboratories, classrooms.
2. naturalistic observation: behavioral observation that takes
place in a naturally occurring setting (as opposed to a research
laboratory) for the purpose of evaluation and information-
gathering.
3. in practice tends to be used most frequently by researchers in
settings such as classrooms, clinics, prisons, etc.
F. Role- Play Tests
1. role play: acting an improvised or partially improvised part in a
simulated situation.
2. role-play test: tool of assessment wherein assessees are
directed to act as if they were in a particular situation. Assessees
are then evaluated with regard to their expressed thoughts,
behaviors, abilities, etc
G. Computers as tools
1. local processing: on site computerized scoring, interpretation,
or other conversion of raw test data; contrast w/ CP and
teleprocessing
2. central processing: computerized scoring, interpretation, or
other conversion of raw data that is physically transported from
the same or other test sites; contrast w/ LP and teleprocessing.
3. teleprocessing: computerized scoring, interpretation, or other
conversion of raw test data sent over telephone lines by modem
from a test site to a central location for computer processing.
contrast with CP and LP
4. simple score report: a type of scoring report that provides only
a listing of scores
5. extended scoring report: a type of scoring report that provides
a listing of scores AND statistical data.
H. Other Tools
6. interpretive report: a formal or official computer-generated
account of test performance presented in both numeric and
narrative form and including an explanation of the findings;
a) the three varieties of interpretive report are
(1) descriptive
(2) screening
(3) consultive
b) some contain relatively little interpretation and
simply call attention to certain high, low, or unusual
scores that needed to be focused on.
c) consultative report: A type of interpretive report
designed to provide expert and detailed analysis of
test data that mimics the work of an expert
consultant.
d) integrative report: a form of interpretive report of
psychological assessment, usually computer-
generated, in which data from behavioral, medical,
administrative, and/or other sources are integrated
7. CAPA: computer assisted psychological assessment. (assistance
to the test user not the test taker)
a) enables test developers to create psychometrically
sound tests using complex mathematical procedures
and calculations.
b) enables test users the construction of tailor-made
test with built-in scoring and interpretive capabilities.
c) Pros:
(1) test administrators have greater access to
potential test users because of the global
reach of the internet.
(2) scoring and interpretation of test data
tend to be quicker than for paper-and-
pencil tests
(3) costs associated with internet testing tend
to be lower than costs associated with
paper-and-pencil tests
(4) the internet facilitates the testing of
otherwise isolated populations, as well as
people with disabilities for whom getting
to a test center might prove as a hardship.
(5) greener: conserves paper, shipping
materials etc.
d) Cons:
(1) test client integrity
(a) refers to the verification of the
identity of the test taker when
a test is administered online
(b) also refers to the sometimes
varying interests of the test
taker vs that of the test
administrator. The test taker
might have access to notes,
aids, internet resources etc.
(c) internet testing is only testing,
not assessment
8. CAT: computerized adaptive testing: an interactive, computer-
administered test taking process wherein items presented to
the test taker are based in part on the test taker's performance
on previous items
a) EX: on a computerized test of academic abilities, the
computer might be programmed to switch from
testing math skills to English skills after three
consecutive failures on math items.
 CHAPTER 1: PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING AND ASSESSMENT
1. DVD- how would you respond to the events that take place in
the video
a) sexual harassment in the workplace
b) respond to various types of emergencies
c) diagnosis/treatment plan for clients on videotape
2. thermometers, biofeedback, etc
TEST DEVELOPER
They are the one who create tests.
They conceive, prepare, and develop tests. They also find a way to
disseminate their tests, by publishing them either commercially or
through professional publications such as books or periodicals.
TEST USER
They select or decide to take a specific test off the shelf and use it for
some purpose. They may also participate in other roles, e.g., as
examiners or scorers.
TEST TAKER
Anyone who is the subject of an assessment
Test taker may vary on a continuum with respect to numerous
variables including:
o The amount of anxiety they experience & the degree to
which the test anxiety might affect the results
o The extent to which they understand & agree with the
rationale of the assessment
o Their capacity & willingness to cooperate
o Amount of physical pain/emotional distress they are
experiencing
o Amount of physical discomfort
o Extent to which they are alert & wide awake
o Extent to which they are predisposed to agreeing or
disagreeing when presented with stimulus
o The extent to which they have received prior coaching
o May attribute to portraying themselves in a good light
Psychological autopsy reconstruction of a deceased individuals
psychological profile on the basis of archival records, artifacts, &
interviews previously conducted with the deceased assesee
TYPES OF SETTINGS
EDUCATIONAL SETTING
o achievement test: evaluation of accomplishments or the
degree of learning that has taken place, usually with
regard to an academic area.
o diagnosis: a description or conclusion reached on the basis
of evidence and opinion though a process of distinguishing
the nature of something and ruling out alternative
conclusions.
o diagnostic test: a tool used to make a diagnosis, usually to
identify areas of deficit to be targeted for intervention
o informal evaluation: A typically non systematic, relatively
brief, and off the record assessment leading to the
formation of an opinion or attitude, conducted by any
person in any way for any reason, in an unofficial context
and not subject to the same ethics or standards as
evaluation by a professiomal
CLINICAL SETTING
o these tools are used to help screen for or diagnose
behavior problems
o group testing is used primarily for screening: identifying
those individuals who require further diagnostic
evaluation.
COUNSELING SETTING
o schools,prisons, and governmental or privately owned
institutions
o ultimate objective: the improvement of the assessee in
terms of adjustment, productivity, or some related
variable.
GERIATRIC SETTING
o quality of life: in psychological assesment, an evaluation
of variables such as perceived stress,lonliness, sources of
satisfaction, personal values, quality of living conditions,
and quality of friendships and other social support.
BUSINESS AND MILITARY SETTINGS
GOVERNMENTAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL CREDENTIALING
How are Assessments Conducted?
protocol: the form or sheet or booklet on which a testtakers
responses are entered.
o term might also be used to refer to a description of a set of
test- or assessment- related procedures, as in the
sentence , the examiner dutifully followed the complete
protocol for the stress interview
rapport: working relationship between the examiner and the
examinee
ASSESSEMENT OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITITES
Define who requires alternate assessement, how such assessment are
to be conducted and how meaningful inferences are to be drawn
from the data derived from such assessment
Accommodation adaptation of a test, procedure or situation or the
substitution of one test for another to make the assessment more
suitable for an assesee with exceptional needs.
Translate it into Braillee and administere in that form.
Alternate assessment evaluative or diagnostic procedure or process
that varies from the usual, customary, or standardized way a
measurement is derived either by virtue of some special
accommodation made to the assesee by means of alternative
methods
Consider these four variables on which of many different types of
accommodation should be employed:
o The capabilities of the assesse
o The purpose of the assessment
o The meaning attached to test scores
o The capabilities of the assessor
REFERENCE SOURCES
TEST CATALOUGES contains brief description of the test
TEST MANUALS detailed information
REFERENCE VOLUMES one stop shopping, provides detailed
information for each test listed, including test publisher, author,
purpose, intended test population and test administration time
JOURNAL ARTICLES contain reviews of the test
ONLINE DATABASES most widely used bibliographic databases
TYPES OF TESTS
INDIVIDUAL TEST those given to only one person at a time
GROUP TEST administered to more than one person at a time by
single examiner
ABILITY TESTS:
o ACHIEVEMENT TESTS refers to previous learning (ex.
Spelling)
o APTITUDE/PROGNOSTIC refers to the potential for
learning or acquiring a specific skill
o INTELLIGENCE TESTS refers to a persons general
potential to solve problems
PERSONALITY TESTS: refers to overt and covert dispositions
o OBJECTIVE/STRUCTURED TESTS usually self-report,
require the subject to choose between two or more
alternative responses
o PROJECTIVE/UNSTRUCTURED TESTS refers to all
possible uses, applications and underlying concepts of
psychological and educational tests
o INTEREST TESTS
 CHAPTER 2: HISTORICAL, CULTURAL AND LEGAL/ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
19TH CENTURY
Tests and testing programs first came into being in China
Testing was instituted as a means of selecting who, of many
applicants would obtain government jobs (Civil service)
The job applicants are tested on proficiency in endeavors such as
music, archery, knowledge and skill etc.
GRECO-ROMAN WRITINGS (Middle Ages)
World of evilness
Deficiency in some bodily fluid as a factor believed to influence
personality
Hippocrates and Galen
RENAISSANCE
Christian von Wolff anticipated psychology as a science and
psychological measurement as a specialty within that science
CHARLES DARWIN AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
Tests designed to measure these individual differences in ability and
personality among people
Origin of Species chance variation in species would be selected or
rejected by nature according to adaptivity and survival value.
survival of the fittest
FRANCIS GALTON
Explore and quantify individual differences between people.
Classify people according to their natural gifts
Displayed the first anthropometric laboratory
KARL PEARSON
Developed the product moment correlation technique.
His work can be traced directly from Galton
WILHEM MAX WUNDT
First experimental psychology laboratory in University of Leipzig
Focuses more on relating to how people were similar, not different
from each other.
JAMES MCKEEN CATELL
Individual differences in reaction time
Coined the term mental test
CHARLES SPEARMAN
Originating the concept of test reliability as well as building the
mathematical framework for the statistical technique of factor
analysis
VICTOR HENRI
Frenchman who collaborated with Binet on papers suggesting how
mental tests could be used to measure higher mental processes
EMIL KRAEPELIN
Early experimenter of word association technique as a formal test
LIGHTNER WITMER
Little known founder of clinical psychology
Founded the first psychological clinic in the U.S.
PSYCHE CATELL
Daughter of James Cattell
Cattel Infant Intelligence Scale (CIIS) & Measurement of Intelligence in
Infants and Young Children
RAYMOND CATTELL
Believed in lexical approach to defining personality which examines
human languages for descriptors of personality dimensions
20th CENTURY
- Birth of the first formal tests of intelligence
- Testing shifted to be of more understandable relevance/meaning
A. THE MEASUREMENT OF INTELLIGENCE
o Binet created first intelligence to test to identify mentally
retarded school children in Paris (individual)
o Binet-Simon Test has been revised over again
o Group intelligence tests emerged with need to screen
intellect of WWI recruits
o David Wechsler designed a test to measure adult
intelligence test
for him Intelligence is a global capacity of the
individual to act purposefully, to think rationally
and to deal effectively with his environment.
Wechsler-Bellevue Intelligence Scale
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Test was revised
several times and extended the age range of
testakers from young children through senior
adulthood.
B. THE MEASUREMENT OF PERSONALITY
o Field of psychology was being too test oriented
o Clinical psychology was synonymous to mental testing
o ROBERT WOODWORTH develop a measure of
adjustment and emotional stability that could be
administered quickly and efficiently to groups of recruits
To disguise the true purpose of the test,
questionnaire was labeled as Personal Data
Sheet
He called it Woodworth Psychoneurotic
Inventory first widely used self-report test of
personality
o Self-report test:
Advantages:
Respondents best qualified
Disadvantages:
Poor insight into self
One might honestly believe
something about self that isnt true
Unwillingness to report seemingly
negative qualities
o Projective test: individual is assumed to project onto some
ambiguous stimulus (inkblot, photo, etc.) his or her own
unique needs, fears, hopes, and motivations
Ex.) Rorschack inkblot
o
C. THE ACADEMIC AND APPLIED TRADITIONS
Culture and Assessment
Culture: the socially transmitted behavior patterns, beliefs, and products of work
f a particular population, community, or group of people
Evolving Interest in Culture-Related Issues
Goddard tested immigrants and found most to be feebleminded
-invalid; overestimated mental deficiency, even in native English-
speakers
Lead to nature-nurture debate about what intelligence tests actually measure
Needed to isolate the cultural variable
Culture-specific tests: tests designed for use with ppl from one culture, but not
from another
-minorities still scored abnormally low
ex.) loaf of bread vs. tortillas
today tests undergo many steps to ensure its suitable for said nation
-take testtakers reactions into account
Some Issues Regarding Culture and Assessment
Verbal Communication
o Examiner and examinee must speak the same language
o Especially tricky with infrequently used vocabulary or
unusual idioms employed
o Translator may lose nuances of translation or give
unintentional hints toward more desirable answer
o Also requires understanding of culture
Nonverbal Communication and Behavior
o Different between cultures
o Ex.) meaning of not making eye contact
o Body movement could even have physical cause
o Psychoanalysis: Freuds theory of personality and
psychological treatment which stated that symbolic
significance is assigned to many nonverbal acts.
o Timing tests in cultures not obsessed with speed
o Lack of speaking could be reverence for elders
Standards of Evaluation
o Acceptable roles for women differ throughout culture
o judgments as to who might be the best employee,
manager, or leader may differ as a function of culture, as
might judgments regarding intelligence, wisdom, courage,
and other psychological variables
 CHAPTER 2: HISTORICAL, CULTURAL AND LEGAL/ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
o must ask how appropriate are the norms or other
standards that will be used to make this evaluation
Tests and Group Membership
ex.) must be 54 to be police officer- excludes cultures with short
stature
ex.) Jewish lifestyle not well suited for corporate America
affirmative action: voluntary and mandatory efforts to combat
discrimination and promote equal opportunity in education and
employment for all
Psychology, tests, and public policy
Legal and Ethical Condiseration
Code of professional ethics: defines the standard of care expected of members of
a given profession.
The Concerns of the Public
Beginning in world war I, fear that tests were only testing the ability to
take tests
Legislation
o Minimum competency testing programs: formal testing
programs designed to be used in decisions regarding
various aspects of students educations
o Truth-in-testing legislation: state laws to provide testtakers
with a means of learning the criteria by which they are being
judged
Litigation
o Daubert ruling made federal judges the gatekeepers to
determining what expert testimony is admitted
o This overrode the Frye policy which only admitted scientific
testimony that had won general acceptance in the scientific
community.
The right to be informed of test findings
o Formerly test administrators told to give participants only
positive information
o No realistic information is required
o Tell test takers as little as possible about the nature of their
performance on a particular test. So that the examinee
would leave the test session feeling pleased and statisfied.
o Test takers have the right also to know what
recommendations are being made as a consequence of the
test data
The right to privacy and confidentiality
o Private right: recognizes the freedom of the individual to
pick and choose for himself the time, circumstances, and
particularly the extent to which he wishes to share or
withhold from others his attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, and
opinions
o Privileged information: information protected by law from
being disclosed in legal proceeding. Protects clients from
disclosure in judicial proceedings. Privilege belongs to the
client not the psychologist.
o Confidentiality: concerns matters of communication
outside the courtroom
Safekeeping of test data: It is not a good policy
to maintain all records in perpetuity
The right to the least stigmatizing label
o The standards advise that the least stigmatizing labels
should always be assigned when reporting test results.

The Concerns of the Profession

Test-user qualifications
o Who should be allowed to use psych tests
o Level A: tests or aids that can adequately be administered,
scored, and interpreted with the aid of the manual and a
general orientation to the kind of institution or organization
in which one is working
o Level B: tests or aids that require some technical knowledge
of test construction and use and of supporting psychological
and educational fields
o Level C: tests and aids requiring substantial understanding
of testing and supporting psych fields with experience
Testing people with disabilities
o Difficulty in transforming the test into a form that can be
taken by testtaker
o Transferring responses to be scorable
o Meaningfully interpreting the test data
Computerized test administration, scoring, and interpretation
o simple, convenient
o easily copied, duplicated
o insufficient research to compare it to pencil-and-paper
versions
o value of computer interpretation is questionable
o unprofessional, unregulated psychological testing online

The Rights of Testtakers

the right of informed consent
o right to know why they are being evaluated, how test data
will be used and what information will be released to whom
o may be obtained by parent or legal representative
o must be in written form:
general purpose of the testing
the specific reason it is being undertaken
general type of instruments to be administered
o revealing this information before the test can contaminate
the results
o deception only used if absolutely necessary
o dont use deception if it will cause emotional distress
o fully debrief participants
 CHAPTER 3: A STATISTICS REFRESHER
Why We Need Statistics
- Statistics are important for purposes of education
o Numbers provide convenient summaries and allow us to
evaluate some observations relative to others
- We use statistics to make inferences, which are logical deductions
about events that cannot be observed directly
o Detective work of gathering and displaying clues
exploratory data analysis
o Then confirmatory data analysis
- Descriptive statistics are methods used to provide a concise
description of a collection of quantitative information
- 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
SCALES OF MEASUREMENT
MEASUREMENT act of assigning numbers or symbols to
characteristics of things according to rules. The rules serves as a
guideline for representing the magnitude. It always involves error.
SCALE set of numbers whose properties model empirical properties
of the objects to which the numbers are assigned.
CONTINUOUS SCALE interval/ratio. A scale used to measure
continuous variable. Always involves error
DISCRETE SCALE nominal/ordinal used to measure a discrete
variable (ex. Female or male)
ERROR collective influence of all of the factors on a test score.
PROPERTIES OF SCALES
- Magnitude, equal intervals, and an absolute 0
Magnitude
- The property of moreness
- A scale has the property of magnitude if we can say that a particular
instance of the attribute represents more, less, or equal amounts of
the given quantity than does another instance
Equal Intervals
- A scale has the property of equal intervals if 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
- A psychological test rarely has the property of equal intervals
- When a scale has the property of equal intervals, the relationship
between the measured units and some outcome can be described by
a straight line or a linear equation in the form Y=a+bX
o Shows that an increase in equal units on a given scale
reflects equal increases in the meaningful correlates of
units
Absolute 0
- An Absolute 0 is obtained when nothing of the property being
measured exists
- This is extremely difficult/impossible for many psychological qualities
NOMINAL SCALE
Simplest form of measurement
Classification or categorization
Arithmetic operations can be performed with nominal data
Ex.) Male or female
Also includes test items
o Ex.) yes/no responses
ORDINAL SCALE
Classifies in some kind of ranking order
Individuals compared to others and assigned a rank
Imply nothing about how much greater one ranking is than another
Numbers/ranks do not indicate units of measure
No absolute zero point
Binet: believed that data derived from intelligence test are ordinal in
nature
INTERVAL SCALE
In addition to the features of nominal and ordinal scales, contain
equal intervals between numbers
No absolute zero point
Can take average
RATIO SCALE
In addition to all the properties of nominal, ordinal, and interval
measurement, ratio scale has true zero point
Equal intervals between numbers
Ex.) measuring amount of pressure hand can exert
True zero doesnt mean someone will receive a score of 0, but means
that 0 has meaning
NOTE:
Permissible Operations
- Level of measurement is important because it defines which
mathematical operations we can apply to numerical data
- For nominal data, each observation can be placed in only one
mutually exclusive category
- Ordinal measurements can be manipulated using arithmetic
- With interval data, one can apply any arithmetic operation to the
differences between scores
o Cannot be used to make statements about ratios
DESCRIBING DATA
Distribution: set of scores arrayed for recording or study
Raw Score: straightforward, unmodified accounting of performance,
usually numerical
Frequency Distributions
Frequency Distribution: All scores listed alongside the number of
times each score occurred
Grouped Frequency Distribution: test-score intervals (class intervals),
replace the actual test scores
o Highest and lowest class intervals= upper and lower limits
of distribution
Histogram: graph with vertical lines drawn at the true limits of each
test score (or class interval) forming TOUCHING rectangles- midpoint
in center of bar
Bar Graph: rectangles DONT touch
Frequency Polygon: data illustrated with continuous line connecting
the points where test scores or class intervals meet frequencies
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
o One defines all the possible scores and determines how
many people obtained each of those scores
Income is an example of a variable that has a positive skew
Whenever you draw a frequency distribution or a frequency polygon,
you must decide on the width of the class interval
Class interval: for inches of rainfall is the unit on the horizontal axis
Measures of Central Tendency
Measure of central tendency: statistic that indicates the average or
midmost score between the extreme scores in a distribution.
The Arithmetic Mean
o X bar
o sum of observations divided by number of observations
o Sigma (X/n)
o Used for interval or ratio data when distributions are
relatively normal
The Median
o The middle score
o Used for ordinal, interval, and ratio data
o Especially useful when few scores fall at extremes
The Mode
o Most frequently-occurring score
o Bimodal distribution- 2 scores both have highest
frequency
o Only common with nominal data
Measures of Variability
 CHAPTER 3: A STATISTICS REFRESHER
Variability: indication of how scores in a distribution are scattered or conversion of a raw score into a number indicating how many
dispersed standard deviation units the raw score is below or above the mean of
The Range the distribution.
o Difference between the highest and lowest scores The difference between a particular raw score and the mean divided
o Quick but gross description of the spread of scores by the standard deviation
The interquartile and semi-interquartile range Used to compare test scores with difference scales
o Distribution is split up by 3 quartiles, thus making 4
quarters each representing 25% of the scores T-score
o Q2= median Standard score system composed of a scale that ranges from 5
o Interquartile range measure of variability equal to the standard deviations below the mean to 5 standard deviations above
difference between Q3 and Q1 the mean
o Semi-interquartile range interquartile range divided by 2 No negatives
Quartiles and Deciles
o Quartiles are points that divide the frequency distribution Other Standard Scores
into equal fourths SAT
o First quartile is the 25th percentile; second quartile is the GRE
median, or 50th percentile; third quartile is the 75th Linear transformation: when a standard score retains a direct
percentile numerical relationship to the original raw score
o The interquartile range is bounded by the range of scores Nonlinear transformation: required when data are not normally
that represents the middle 50% of the distribution distributed, yet comparisons with normal distributions need to be
o Deciles are similar but use points that mark 10% rather made
than 25% intervals o Normalized Standard Scores
o Stanine system: converts any set of scores into a When scores dont fall on normal distribution
transformed scale, which ranges from 1 to 9 normalizing a distribution involves stretching
The average deviation he skewed curve into the shape of a normal
o X-mean=x curve and creating a corresponding scale of
o Average deviation= (sum of all deviation scores)/ total standard scores, a scale called a normalized
number of scores standard score scale
o Tells us on average how far scores are from the mean
The Standard Deviation
o Similar to average deviation
o But in order to overcome the (+/-) problem, each deviation
is squared
o Standard deviation: a measure of variability equal to the
square root of the average squared deviations about the
mean
o Is square root of variance
o Variance: the mean of the squares of the difference b/w
the scores in a distribution and their mean
Found by squaring and summing all the
deviation scores and then dividing by the total
number of scores
o s = sample standard deviation
o sigma = population standard deviation
Skewness
skewness: nature and extent to which symmetry is absent
POSITIVE SKEW Ex.) test was too hard
NEGATIVELY SKEWED ex.) test was too easy
can be gauges by examining relative distances of quartiles from the
median
Kurtosis
steepness of distribution
platykurtic: relatively flat
leptokurtic: relatively peaked
mesokurtic: somewhere in the middle

The Normal Curve

Normal curve: bell-shaped, smooth, mathematically defined curve, highest at
center; both sides taper as it approaches the x-axis asymptotically
-symmetrical, and thus have mean, median, mode, is same

Area under the Normal Curve

Tails and body

Standard Scores
Standard Score: raw score that has been converted from one scale to another
scale, where the latter has arbitrarily set mean and standard deviation
-used for comparison

Z-score
 CHAPTER 4: OF TESTS AND TESTING
Some Assumptions About Psychological Testing and Assessment
- Assumption 1: Psychological Traits and States Exist
o Trait: any distinguishable, relatively enduring way in which one
individual varies from another
o States: distinguish one person from another but are relatively
less enduring
Trait term that an observer applies, as well as
strength or magnitude of the trait presumed present
based on observing a sample of behavior
o Trait and state definitions also refer to individual variation
make comparisons with respect to the hypothetical average
person
o Samples of behavior:
Direct observation
Analysis of self-report statements
Paper-and-pencil test answers
o Psychological trait covers wide range of possible
characteristics; ex:
Intelligence
Specific intellectual abilities
Cognitive style
Psychopathology
o Controversy regarding how psychological tests exist
Psychological tests exist only as constructs: an
informed, scientific concept developed or
constructed to describe or explain a behavior
Cant see, hear or touch infer existence
from overt behavior: refers to an
observable action or the product of an
observable action, including test- or
assessment-related responses
o Traits not expected to be manifested in behavior 100% of the
time
Seems to be rank-order stability in personality
traits relatively high correlations between trait
scores at different time points
o Whether and to what degree a trait manifests itself is
dependent on the strength and nature of the situation
- Assumption 2: Psychological Traits and States Can Be Quantified and
Measured
o After acknowledged that psychological traits and states do exist,
the specific traits and states to be measured need to be defined
What types of behaviors are assumed to be
indicative of trait?
Test developer has to provide test users with a clear
operational definition of the construct under study
o After being defined, test developer considers types of item
content that would provide insight into it
Ex: behaviors that are indicative of a particular trait
o Should all questions be weighted the same?
Weighting the comparative value of a tests items
comes about as the result of a complex interplay
among many factors:
Technical considerations
The way a construct has been defined (for
particular test)
Value society (and test developer) attach
to behaviors evaluated
o Need to find appropriate ways to score the test and interpret
results
Cumulative scoring: test score is presumed to
represent the strength of the targeted ability or trait
or state
The more the testtaker responds in a
particular direction (as keyed by test
manual) the higher the testtaker is
presumed to possess the targeted trait or
ability
- Assumption 3: Test-Related Behavior Predicts Non-Test-Related Behavior
o Objective of test is to provide some indication of some aspects
of the examinees behavior
Tasks on some tests mimic the actual behaviors that
the test user is attempting to understand
o Obtained behavior is usually used to predict future behavior
o Could also be used to postdict behavior to aid in the
understanding of behavior that has already taken place
o Tools of assessment, such as a diary, or case history data, might
be of great value in such an evaluation
- Assumption 4: Tests and Other Measurement Techniques Have Strengths
and Weaknesses
o Competent test users understand a lot about the tests they use
How it was developed
Circumstances under which it is appropriate to
administer the test
How test should be administered and to whom
How results should be interpreted
o Understand and appreciation limitations for tests they use
- Assumption 5: Various Sources of Error Are Part of the Assessment Process
o Everyday error= misstates and miscalculations
o Assessment error= a long-standing assumption that factors
other than what a test attempts to measure will influence
performance on a test
o Error variance: component of a test score attributable to
sources other than the trait or ability measured
Assessees themselves are sources of error variance
o Classical test theory (CTT)/ True score theory: assumption is
made that each testtaker has a true score on a test that would
be obtained but for the action of measurement error
- Assumption 6: Testing and Assessment Can Be Conducted in a Fair and
Unbiased Manner
o Court challenged to various tests and testing programs have
sensitized test developers and users to the societal demand for
fair tests used in a fair manner
Publishers strive to develop instruments that are fair
when used in strict accordance with guidelines in the
test manual
o Fairness related problems/questions:
Culture is different from people whom the test was
intended for
Politics
- Assumption 7: Testing and Assessment Benefit Society
o Many critical decisions are based on testing and assessment
procedures
WHATS A GOOD TEST?
- Criteria
o Clear instruction for administration, scoring, and interpretation
- Reliability
o A good test/measuring tool reliable
Involves consistency: the prevision with which the
test measures and the extent to which error is
present in measurements
Unreliable measurement needs to be avoided
- Validity
o Test is considered valid if it doesnt indeed measure what it
purports to measure
o If there is controversy over the definition of a construct then the
validity is sure to be criticized as well
o Questions regarding validity focus on the items that collectively
make up the test
Adequately sample range of areas to measure
construct
Individual items contribute to or take away from
tests validity
o Validity may also be questioned on grounds related to the
interpretation of test results
- Other Considerations
o Good test one that trained examiners can administer, score
and interpret with minimum difficulty
Useful
Yields actionable results that will ultimately benefit
individual testtakers or society at large
 CHAPTER 4: OF TESTS AND TESTING
o Purpose of test compare performance of testtaker with
performance of other testtakers (contains adequate norms:
normative data)
Normative data provides standard with which results
measured can be compared
NORMS
- Norm-referenced testing and assessment: method of evaluation and
a way of deriving meaning from test scored by evaluating an
individual testtakers score and comparing it to scores of a group of
testtakers
- Meaning of individual score is relative to other scores on the same
test
- Norms (scholarly context): usual, average, normal, standard, expected
or typical
- Norms (psychometric context): the test performance data of a
particular group of testtakers that are designed for use as a reference
when evaluating or interpreting individual test scores
- Normative sample: group of people whose performance on a
particular test is analyzed for reference in evaluation the performance
of individual testtakers
o Yields a distribution of scores
- Norming: refers to the process of deriving norms; particular type of
norm derivation
o Race norming: controversial practice of norming on the
basis of race or ethnic background
- Norming a test can be very expensive user norms/program norms:
consist of descriptive statistics based on a group of testtakers in a
given period of time rather than norms obtained by form sampling
methods
- Sampling to Develop Norms
- Standardization: process of administering a test to a representative
sample of testtakers for the purpose of establishing norms
o Standardized when has clear, specified procedures
- Sampling
o Developer targets defined group as population test
designed for
All have at least one common, observable
characteristic
o To obtain distribution of scores:
Test administered to everyone in targeted
population
Administer test to a sample of the population
Sample: portion of universe of
people deemed to be representative
of whole population
Sampling: process of selecting the
portion of universe deemed to be
representative of whole
o Subgroups within a defined population may differ with
respect to some characteristics and it is sometimes
essential to have these differences proportionately
represented in sample
Stratified sampling: sample reflects statistics of
whole population; helps prevent sampling bias
and ultimately aid in interpretation of findings
Purposive sampling: arbitrarily select sample
we believe to be representative of population
Incidental/convenience sampling: sample that
is convenient or available for use
Very exclusive (contain exclusionary
criteria)
- TYPES OF STANDARD ERROR:
o STANDARD ERROR OF MEASUREMENT estimate the
extent to which an observed score deviates from a true
score
o STANDARD ERROR OF ESTIMATE In regression, an
estimate of the degree of error involved in predicting the
value of one variable from another
o STANDARD ERROR OF THE MEAN a measure of sampling
error
o STANDARD ERROR OF THE DIFFERENCE estimate how
large a difference between two scores should be before
the difference is considered statistically significant
- Developing norms for a standardized test
o Establish a standard set of instructions and conditions
under which the test is given makes scores of normative
sample more comparable with scores of future testtakers
o All data collected and analyzed, test developer will
summarize data using descriptive statistics (measures of
central tendency and variability)
Test developer needs to provide precise
description of standardization sample itself
Descriptions of normative samples vary widely
in detail
Tracking
- Comparisons are usually with people of the same age
- Children at the same age level tend to go through different growth
patterns
- Pediatricians must know the childs percentile within a given age
group
- This tendency to stay at about the same level relative to ones peers is
known as tracking (ie height and weight)
- Diets may alter this track
- Faults: some believe there is an analogy between the rates of physical
growth and the rates of intellectual growth
o Some say that children learn at different rates
o This system discriminates against some children
TYPES OF NORMS
o Classification of norms ex: age, grade, national, local,
percentile, etc.
o PERCENTILES
Median= 2nd quartile: the point at or below which
50% of the scores fell and above which the remaining
50% fell
Might wish to divide distribution of scores into
deciles (instead of quartiles): 10 equal parts
The Xth percentile is equal to the score at or below
which X% of scores fall
Percentile: an expression of the percentage of
people whose score on a test or measure falls below
a particular raw score
Percentage correct: refers to the
distribution of raw scores (number of
items that were answered correctly)
multiplied by 100 and divided by the total
number of items *not same as percentile
Percentile is a converted score that refers
to a percentage of testtakers
Percentiles are easily calculated popular way of
organizing test related data
Using percentiles with normal distribution real
differences between raw scores may be minimized
near the ends of the distribution and exaggerated in
the middle (worsens with highly skewed data)
o AGE NORMS
Age-equivalent scores/age norms: indicate the
average performance of different samples of
testtakers who were at various ages at the time the
test was administered
Age norm tables for physical
characteristics
Mental age vs. physical age (need to
identify mental age)
o GRADE NORMS
Grade norms: designed to indicate the average test
performance of testtakers in a given school grade
Developed by administering the test to
representative samples of children over a
range of consecutive grades
Mean or median score for children at
each grade level is calculated
 CHAPTER 4: OF TESTS AND TESTING
Great intuitive appeal
Do not provide info as to the content or
type of items that a student could or
could not answer correctly
Developmental norms: (ex: grade norms and age
norms) term applied broadly to norms developed on
the basis of any trait, ability, skill, or other
characteristic that is presumed to develop,
deteriorate, or otherwise be affected by
chronological age, school grade, or stage of life
o NATIONAL NORMS
National norms: derived from a normative sample
that was nationally representative of the population
at the time the norming study was conducted
o NATIONAL ANCHOR NORMS
Many different tests purporting to measure the same
human characteristics or abilities
National anchor norms: equivalency tables for scores
on tests that purpose to measure the same thing
Could provide the tool for comparisons
Provides stability to test scores by
anchoring them to other test scores
Begins with the computation of percentile
norms for each test to be compared
Equipercentile method: equivalency of
scores on different tests is calculated with
reference to corresponding percentile
scores
o SUBGROUP NORMS
Normative sample can be segmented by an criteria
initially used in selecting subjects for sample
Subgroup norms: result of segmentation; more
narrowly defined
o LOCAL NORMS
Local norms: provide normative info with respect to
the local populations performance on some test
Typically developed by test users
themselves
- Fixed Reference Group Scoring Systems
o Norms provide context for interpreting meaning of a test score
o Fixed reference group scoring system: distribution of scored
obtained on the test from one group of testtakers (fixed
reference group) is used as the basis for the calculation of test
scores for future administrators on the test
Ex: SAT test (developed in 1962)
NORM-REFERENCED VERSUS CRITERION-REFERENCED EVALUATION
- Way to derive meaning from test score is to evaluate test score in
relation to other scores on same test (Norm-referenced)
- Criterion-referenced: derive meaning from a test score by evaluating
it on the basis of whether or not some criterion has been met
o Criterion: a standard on which a judgment or decision may
be based
- Criterion-referenced testing and assessment: method of evaluation
and way of deriving meaning from test scores by evaluating an
individuals score with reference to a set standard (ex: to drive must
past driving test)
o Derives from values and standards of an individual or
organization
o Also called Domain/content-referenced testing and
assessment
o Critique: if followed strictly, important info about
individuals performance relative to others can be
potentially lost
Culture and Inference
- Culture is a factor in test administration, scoring and interpretation
- Test user should do research in advance on tests available norms to
check how appropriate it is for targeted testtaker population
o Helpful to know about the culture of the testtaker
CORRELATION AND INFERENCE
CORRELATION
Degree and direction of correspondence between two things.
Correlation coefficient (r) expresses a linear relationship between
two continuous variables
o Numerical index that tells us the extent to which X and Y
are co-related
Positive correlation: high scores on Y are associated with high scores
on X, and low scores on Y correspond to low scores on X
Negative correlation: higher scores on Y are associated with lower
scores on X, and vise versa
No correlation: the variables are not related
-1 to 1
Correlation does not imply causation.
o Ie weight, height, intelligence
PEARSON r
Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient
Devised by Karl Pearson
Relationship of two variables are linear and continuous
Coefficient of Determination (r2) indication of how much variance is
shared by the X and the Y variables
SPEARMAN RHO
Rank order correlation coefficient
Developed by Charles Spearman
Used when the sample size is small and when both sets of
measurements are in ordinal form (ranking form)
BISERIAL CORRELATION
expresses the relationship between a continuous variable and an
artificial dichotomous variable
o If the dichotomous variable had been true then we would
use the point biserial correlation
o When both variables are dichotomous and at least one of
the dichotomies is true, then the association between
them can be estimated using the phi coefficient
o If both dichotomous variables are artificial, we might use a
special correlation coefficient tetrachoric correlation
REGRESSION
analysis of relationships among variables for the purpose of
understanding how one variable may predict another
SIMPLE REGRESSION: one IV (X) and one DV (Y)
- Regression line: defined as the best-fitting straight line through a set
of points in a scatter diagram
o Found by using the principle of least squares, which
minimizes the squared deviation around the regression
line
Primary use: To predict one score or variable from another
Standard error of estimate: the higher the correlation between X and
Y, the greater the accuracy of the prediction and the smaller the SEE.
MULTIPLE REGRESSION: The use of more than one score to predict Y.
Regression coefficient: (b) slope of the regression line
o Sum of squares for the covariance to the sum of squares
for X
o Sum of squares is defined as the sum of the squared
deviations around the mean
o Covariance is used to express how much two measures
covary, or vary together
Slope describes how much change is expected in Y each time X
increases by one unit
Intercept (a) is the value of Y when X is 0
o The point at which the regression line crosses the Y axis
THE BEST-FITTING LINE
The difference between the observed and predicted score (Y-Y) is
called the residual
The best-fitting line is most appropriately found by squaring each
residual
Best-fitting line is obtained by keeping these squared residuals as
small as possible
o Principle of least squares:
Correlation is a special case of regression in which the scores for both
variables are in standardized, or Z, units
 CHAPTER 4: OF TESTS AND TESTING
In correlation, the intercept is always 0 - Third variable, ie poor social adjustment, causes TV viewing and
Pearson product moment correlation coefficient is a ratio used to aggression
determine the degree of variation in one variable that can be - External influence is the third variable
estimated from knowledge about variation in the other variable Restricted Range
Testing the Statistical Significance of a Correlation Coefficient - Correlation and regression use variability on one variable to explain
- Begin with the null hypothesis that there is no relationship between variability on a second variable
variables - Restricted range problem: correlation requires variability; if the
- Null hypothesis rejected is there is evidence that the association variability is restricted, then significant correlations are difficult to
between two variables is significantly different from 0 find
- t distribution is not a single distribution, but a family of distributions, Mulvariate Analysis
each with its own degrees of freedom - Multivariate analysis considers the relationship among combinations
- Degrees of freedom are defined as the sample size minus 2, or N-2 of three of more variables
- Two-tailed test General Approach
- Linear combination of variables is a weighted composite of the
How to Interpret a Regression Plot original variables
- Regression plots are pictures that show the relationship between - Y = a+b1X1 + bkXk
variables
- Common use of correlation is to determine the criterion validity
evidence for a test, or the relationship between a test score and
some well-defined criterion
- Middle level of enjoyableness because it is the one observed most
frequently normative because it uses info gained from
representative groups
- Using the test as a predictor is not as good as perfect prediction, but
it is still better than using the normative info
- A regression line such as in 3.9 shows that the test score tells us
nothing about the criterion beyond the normative info

TERMS AND ISSUES IN THE USE OF CORRELATION

Residual
- Difference between the predicted and the observed values is called
the residual
o Y-Y
- Important property of residual is that the sum of the residuals always
equals 0
- Sum of the squared residuals is the smallest value according to the
principle of least squares
Standard Error of Estimate
- Standard deviation of the residuals is the standard error of estimate
- A measure of the accuracy of prediction
- Prediction is most accurate when the standard error of estimate is
relatively small
Coefficient of Determination
- Correlation coefficient squared is known as the coefficient of
determination
- Tells us the proportion of the total variation in scores on Y that we
know as a function of information about X
Coefficient of Alienation
- Coefficient of alienation is a measure of nonassociation between two
variables
- Square root of 1-r2 -- r is the coefficient of determination
- High value means there is a high degree of nonassociation between 2
variables
Shrinkage
- Tendency to overestimate the relationship, particularly if the sample
of subjects is small
- Shrinkage is the amount of decrease observed when a regression
equation is created for one population and then applied to another
Cross Validation
- Use regression equation to predict performance in a group of subjects
other than the ones to which the equation was applied
- Standard error of estimate obtained for relationship between the
values predicted by the equation and the values actually observed
called cross validation
The Correlation-Causation Problem
- Experiments are required to determine whether manipulation of one
variable causes changes in another variable
- A correlation alone does not prove causality, although it might lead to
other research that is designed to establish the causal relationships
between variables
Third Variable Explanation
 CHAPTER 5: RELIABILITY
RELIABILITY
- Dependability and consistent
- Error implies that there will always be some inaccuracy in our
measurements
- Tests that are relatively free of measurement error are deemed to be
reliable
- Reliability estimates in the range of .70 and .80 are good enough for
most purposes in basic research
- Reliability coefficient: an index that indicates the ratio between the
true score variance on a test and the total variance
- HISTORY OF RELIABILITY:
o Charles Spearman (1904): The Proof and Measurement of
Association between Two Things
o Then Thorndike
o Item response theory has taken advantage of computer
technology to advance psychological measurement
significantly
o Based on Spearmans ideas
- X = T + E CLASSICAL TEST THEORY
o assumes that each person has a true score that would be
obtained if there were no errors in measurement
o Difference between the true score and the observed score
results from measurement error
o Assumption here is that errors of measurement are
random
o Basic sampling theory tells us that the distribution of
TEST-RETEST RELIABILITY
random errors is bell-shaped
The center of the distribution should represent
the true score, and the dispersion around the
mean of the distribution should display the
distribution of sampling errors
o Classical test theory assumes that the true score for an
individual will not change with repeated applications of
the same test
o
o Variance: standard deviation squared. It is useful because
it can be broken into components:
o True variance: variance from true differences are
assumed to be stable
o Error variance: random irrelevant sources
- Standard error of measurement: we assume that the distribution of
random errors will be the same for all people, classical test theory
uses the standard deviation of errors as the basic measure of error
o Standard error of measurement tells us, on the average,
how much a score varies from the true score
o Standard deviation of the observed score and the
reliability of the test are used to estimate the standard
error of measurement
PARALLEL-FORM OR ALTERNATE FORMS RELIABILITY
- Reliability: proportion of the total variance attributed to true
variance.
o the greater portion of total variance attributed to true
variance, the more reliable the test
- Measurement error: refers to collectively, all of the factors associated
with the process of measuring some variable, other than the variable
being measured
o Random error: a source of error in measuring a targeted
variable caused by unpredictable fluctuations and
inconsistencies of other variables in the measurement
process
This source of error fluctuates from one testing
situation to another with no discernible pattern
that would systematically raise or lower scores
o Systematic Error:
A source of error in measuring a variable that is INTERNAL CONSISTENCY
typically constant or proportionate to what is
presumed to be true value of the variable being
measured
Error is predictable and fixable
Does not affect score consistency
SOURCES OF ERROR VARIANCE
- TEST CONSTUCTION
o Item sampling or content sampling refer to variation
among items within a test as well as to variation among
items between test\
The extent to which a test takers score is
affected by the content sampled on a test and
by the way the content is sampled (that is, the
way in which the item is constructed) is a
source of error variance
- TEST ADMINISTRATION
o may influence the test takers attention or motivation
o Environment variables, test takers variables, examiner
variables. Level of professionalism
- TEST SCORING AND INTERPRETATION
o Computer scoring and a growing reliance on objective,
computer-scorable items have virtually eliminated error
variance caused by scorer differences
o However, other tools of assessment still require scoring by
trained personnel
o If subjectivity is involved in scoring, then the scorer can be
a source of error variance
o Despite rigorous scoring criteria set forth in many of the
better known test of intelligence, examiner occasionally
still are confronted by situations where an examinees
response lies in a gray area
- Also known as time-sampling reliability
- Correlating pairs of scores from the same group on two different
administration of the same test
- Measure something that is relatively stable over time
- Sources of Error variance:
o Passage of time: the longer the time that passes, the
greater the likelihood that reliability coefficient will be
lower.
o Coefficient of stability: when the interval between testing
is greater than 6 months,
- Consider possibility of carryover effect: occurs when first testing
session influences scores from the second session
- If something affects all the test takers equally, then the results are
uniformly affected and no net errors occurs
- Practice tests may make this effect happen
- Practice can also affect tests of manual dexterity
- Time interval between testing sessions must be selected and
evaluated carefully
- Poor test-retest correlations do not always mean that a attest is
unreliable suggest that the characteristic under study has changed
- compares two equivalent forms of a test that measure the same
attribute
- Two forms should be equally constructed, both format, etc.
- When two forms of the test are available, one can compare
performance on one form versus the other equivalent forms
reliability or parallel forms
- Coefficient of equivalence: degree of relationship between various
forms of a test can be evaluated by means of an alternate-forms
- Parallel forms: each form of the test, the means and variances of
observed test scores are equal
- Alternate forms: different versions of a test that have been
constructed so as to be parallel
- (1) two test administrations with the same group are required
- (2) test scores may be affected by factors such as motivation etc.
- Problem: developing a new version of a test
- How well does each item measure the content/construct under
consideration
- How consistent the items together
- Used when tests are administered once
- If all items on a test measure the same construct, then it has a good
internal consistency
- Split-half reliability, KR20, Cronbach Alpha
 CHAPTER 5: RELIABILITY
SPLIT-HALF RELIABILITY
- Correlating two pairs of scores obtained from equivalent halves of a
single test administered once.
- This is useful when it is impractical to assess reliability with two tests
or to administer test twice
- Results of one half of the test are then compared with the results of
the other
- Rules in splitting forms into half:
o Do not divide test in the middle because it would lower
the reliability
o Different amounts of anxiety and differences in item
difficulty shall also be considered
o Randomly assign items to one or the other half of the test
o use the odd-even system: where one subscore is obtained
for the odd-numbered items in the test and another for
the even-numbered items
- To correct for half-length, apply the Spearman-Brown formula, which
allows you to estimate what the correlation between the two halves
would have been if each half had been the length of the whole test
o Use this if test user wish to shorten a test
o Used to determine the number of items needed to attain a
desired level of reliability
- Reliability increases as the test length increases
KUDER-RICHARDSON FORMULAS OR KR20/KR21
- Kuder-Richardson technique simultaneously considers all possible
ways of splitting the items
- The formula for calculating the reliability of a test in which the items
are dichotomous, scored 0 or 1, is the Kuder-Richardson 20 (see
p.114)
- Introduced KR21 uses an approximation of the sum of the pq
products the mean test score
CRONBACH ALPHA
- Cronbach developed a formula that estimates the internal
consistency of tests in which the items are not scored as 0 or 1 a
more general reliability estimate, which he called coefficient alpha
- Sum the individual item variances
o Most general method of finding estimates of reliability
through internal consistency
- Domain sampling: define a domain that represents a single trait or
characteristic, and each item is an individual sample of this general
characteristic
- Factor analysis deals with the situation in which a test apparently
measures several different characteristics
o Good for the process of test construction
- Most widely used as a measure of reliability because it requires only
one administration of the test
- Ranges from 0 to 1 bigger is always better
Other Methods of Estimating Internal Consistencies
- Inter-item consistency: refers to the degree of correlation among all
the items on a scale
o A measure of inter-item consistency is calculated from a
single administration of a single form of a test
o An index of inter-item consistency, in turn, is useful in
assessing the homogeneity of the test
o Tests are said to be homogenous if they contain items that
measure a single trait
o Definition: the degree to which a test measures a single
factor
o Heterogeneity: degree to which a test measures different
factors
o Ex: homo=test that assesses knowledge only of #-D
television repair skills vs. a general electronics repair test
(hetero)
o The more homogenous a test is, the more inter-item
consistency it can be expected to have
o Test homogeneity is desirable because it allows relatively
straightforward test-score interpretation
o Test takers with the same score on a homogenous test
probably have similar abilities in the area tested
o Test takers with the same score on a heterogeneous test
may have quite different abilities
o However, homogenous testing is often an insufficient tool
for measuring multifaceted psychological variable such as
intelligence or personality
Measures of Inter-Scorer Reliability
- In some types of tests under some conditions, the score may be more a
function of the scorer than of anything else
- Inter-scorer reliability: is the degree of agreement or consistency between
two or more scorers (or judges or rather) with regard to a particular
measure
- Coefficient of inter-scorer reliability: coefficient of correlation to
determine the degree of consistency among scorers in the scoring of a test
- Kappa statistic is the best method for assessing the level of agreement
among several observers
o Indicates the actual agreement as a proportion of the potential
agreement following the correction for chance agreement
o Cohens Kappa 2 raters
o Fleiss Kappa 3 or more raters
HOMOGENEITY VS. HETEROGENEITY OF TEST ITEMS
- Homogeneous items has high degree of reliability
DYNAMIC VS. STATIC CHARACTERISTICS
- Dynamic: trait, state, ability presumed to be ever-changing as a function of
situational and cognitive experiences
- Static: trait, state, ability relatively unchanging
RESTRICTION OR INFLATION OF RANGE
- If it is restricted, reliability tends to be lower.
- If it is inflated, reliability tends to be higher.
SPEED TESTS VS. POWER TESTS
- Speed test: test is homogenous, means that it is easy but short time
- Power test: Few items, but more complex.
CRITERION-REFERENCED TESTS
- Provide an indication of where a testtaker stands with respect to some
variable or criterion.
- Tends to contain material that has been mastered in hierarchical fashion.
- Scores here tend to be interpreted in pass-fail terms.
- Measure of reliability depends on the variability of the test scores: how
different the scores are from one another.
The Domain Sampling Model
- This model considers the problems created by using a limited number
of items to represent a larger and more complicated construct
- Our task in reliability analysis is to estimate how much error we would
make by using the score from the shorter test as an estimate of your
true ability
- Conceptualizes reliability as the ratio of the variance of the observed
score on the shorter test and the variance of the long-run true score
- Reliability can be estimated from the correlation of the observed test
score with the true score
Item Response Theory
- Classical test theory requires that exactly the same test items be
administered to each person BAD
- Item response theory (IRT) is newer computer is used to focus on
the range of item difficulty that helps assess an individuals ability
level
o More reliable estimate of ability is obtained using a
shorter test with fewer items
o Takes a lot of items and effort
Generalizability theory
- based on the idea that a persons test scores vary from testing to testing
because of variables in the testing situation
- Instead of conceiving of all variability in a persons scores as error, Cronbach
encouraged test developers and researchers to describe the details of the
particular test situation or universe leading to a specific test score
 CHAPTER 5: RELIABILITY
- This universe is described in terms of its facets: which include things like
the number of items in the test, the amount of training the test scorers
have had, and the purpose of the test administration
- According to generalizability theory, given the exact same conditions of all
the facets in the universe, the exact same test score should be obtained
- Universe score: the test score obtained and its analogous to a true score in
the true score model
- Cronbach suggested that tests be developed with the aid of a
generalizability study followed by a decision study
- Generalizability study: examines how generalizable scores from a
particular test are if the test is administered in different situations
- How much of an impact different facets of the universe have on the test
score
- Ex: is the test score affected by group as opposed to individual
administration
- Coefficients of generalizability: the influence of particular facts on the test
score is represented by this. These coefficients are similar to reliability
coefficients in the true score model
- Decision study: developers examine the usefulness of test scores in helping
the test user make decision
- The decision study is designed to tell the test user how test scores should
be used and how dependable those scores are as a basis for decisions,
depending on the context of their use

What to Do About Low Reliability

- Two common approaches are to increase the length of the test and to
throw out items that run down the reliability
- Another procedure is to estimate what the true correlation would
have been if the test did not have measurement error
Increase the Number of Items
- The larger the sample, the more likely that the test will represent the
true characteristic
o This could entail a long and costly process however
- Prophecy formula
Factor and Item Analysis
- Reliability of a test depends on the extent to which all of the items
measure one common characteristic
- Factor analysis
o Tests are most reliable if they are unidimensional: one
factor should account for considerably more of the
variance than any other factor
- Or examine the correlation between each item and the total score for
the test
o Called discriminability analysis: when the correlation
between the performance on a single item and the total
test score is low, the item is probably measuring
something different from the other items on the test

Correction for Attenuation

- Potential correlations are attenuated, or diminished, by measurement
error
 CHAPTER 6: VALIDITY
The Concept of Validity
- Validity: as applied to a test, is a judgment or estimate of how well a test
measures what it purports to measure in a particular context
o Judgment based on evidence about the appropriateness of
inferences drawn from test scores
o Validity of test must be shown from time to time to account for
culture and advancement
- Inference: a logical result or deduction
- Acceptable or weak validity of tests and test scores
- Validation: process of gathering and evaluating evidence about validity
o Test user and testtaker both have roles in validation of test
o Test users may conduct their own validation studies: may yield
insights regarding a particular population of testtakers as
compared to the norming sample (in manual)
o Local validation studies: absolutely necessary when test user
plans to alter in some way the format, instructions, language, or
content of the test
- Types of Validity (Trinitarian view) *not mutually exclusive all contribute
to a unified picture of a tests validity/ critique approach is fragmented
and incomplete
o Content validity: measure of validity based on an evaluation of
the subjects, topics, or content covered by the items in the test
o Criterion-related validity: measure of validity obtained by
evaluating the relationship of scores obtained on the test to
scores on other tests or measures
o Construct validity: measure of validity that is arrived at by
executing a comprehensive analysis of: (umbrella validity
every other variety of validity falls under it)
How scores on test relate to other test scores and
measures
How scores on test can be understood within some
theoretical framework for understand the construct
that the test was designed to measure
- Strategies: ways of approaching the process of test validity
o Content validation strategies
o Criterion-related validation strategies
o Construct validation strategies
- Face Validity
o Face validity: relates more to what a test appears to measure to
the person being tested than to what the test actually measures
o Judgment concerning how relevant the test items appear to
be usually from testtaker, not test user
o Lack of face validity= lack of confidence in perceived
effectiveness of test which decreases testtakers
motivation/cooperation *may still be useful
- Content validity
o Content validity: a judgment of how adequately a test samples
behavior representative of the universe of behavior that the test
was designed to sample
Ideally, test developers have a clear vision of the
construct being measured clarity reflected in the
content validity of the test
o Test blueprint: structure of the evaluation; a plan regarding the
types of information to be covered by the items, the number of
items tapping each area of coverage, the organization of the
items in the test, etc.
Behavior observation is a technique frequently used
in test blueprinting
o The quantification of content validity
Important in employment settings tests used to
hire and promote
One method: method for gauging agreement among
raters or judges regarding how essential a particular
item is (C.H. Lawshe)
Is the skill or knowledge measured by
this item
o Essential
o Useful but not essential
o Not necessary
To the performance of the job?
Content validity ratio (CVR):
CVR= ne (N/2)
(N/2)
o CVR Content validity ratio
o ne Number of panelists
stating essential
o N Total number of panelists
CVR is calculated for each item
o Culture and the relativity of content validity
Tests thought of as either valid or invalid
What constitutes historical fact depends to some
extent on who is writing the history
Culture relativity
Politics (politically correct)
Criterion-Related Validity
- Criterion-related validity: judgment of how adequately a test score can be
used to infer an individuals most probable standing on some measure of
interest (measure of interest being the criterion)
- 2 types:
o Concurrent validity: index of the degree to which a test score is
related to some criterion measure obtained at the same time
(concurrently)
o Predictive validity: index of the degree to which a test score
predicts some criterion measure
- What Is a Criterion?
o Criterion: a standard on which a judgment or decision may be
based; standard against which a test or a test score is evaluated
(criterion-related validity)
o Characteristics of criterion
Relevancy pertinent or applicable to the matter at
hand
Validity (for the purpose which it is being used)
Uncontaminated Criterion contamination: term
applied to a criterion measure that has been based,
at least in part, on predictor measures
- Concurrent Validity
o Test scores are obtained at about the same time as the criterion
measures are obtained measures of the relationship between
the test scores and the criterion provide evidence of concurrent
validity
o Indicate the extent to which test scores may be used to
estimate an individuals present standing on a criterion
o Once validity of inference from test scores is established= faster,
less expensive way to offer a diagnosis or a classification
decision
o Concurrent validity of a test can be explored with respect to
another test
Prior research must have satisfactorily demonstrated
the 1st tests validity
1st test= validating criterion
- Predictive validity
o Test scores may be obtained at one time and the criterion
measures obtained at a future time, usually after some
intervening event has taken place
Intervening event training, experience, therapy,
medication, etc.
Measures of relationship between the test scores
and a criterion measure obtained at a future time
provide an indication of the predictive validity test
(how accurately scores on the test predict some
criterion measure)
o Ex: SAT test score and freshman gpa
o Judgments of criterion validity are based on 2 types of statistical
evidence:
The validity coefficient
Validity coefficient: correlation
coefficient that provides a measure of the
relationship between test scores and
scores on the criterion measure
Ex: Pearson correlation coefficient used
to determine validity between 2 measures
(r)
Affected by restriction or inflation of
range
 CHAPTER 6: VALIDITY
Is the range of scores employed
appropriate to the objective of the
correlational analysis
No rules regarding the validity coefficient
(how high or low it should/could be for
test to be valid)
Incremental validity
o More than one predictor
o Incremental validity: the
degree to which an additional
predictor explains something
about the criterion measure
that is not explained by
predictors already in use
Expectancy data
Expectancy data: provides info that can
be used in evaluating the criterion-related
validity of a test
Score obtained on expectancy
test/tables likelihood testtaker will
score within some interval of scores on a
criterion measure (passing,
acceptable, etc.)
Expectancy table: shows the percentage
of people within specified test-score
intervals who subsequently were placed
in various categories of the criterion
o May be created from
scatterplot
o Shows relationships
Expectancy chart: graphic representation
of an expectancy table
o The higher the initial rating,
the greater the probability of
job/academic success
Taylor Russell Table provide an estimate of the
extent to which inclusion pf a particular test in the
selection system will actually improve selection
Selection ratio relationship between the
number of people to be hired and the
number of people available to be hired
Base rate percentage of people under
existing system for a particular position
Relationship between predictor and
criterion must be linear
Naylor-shine Tables difference between the means
of the selected and unselected groups to derive an
index of what the test is adding to already
established procedures
o Decision theory and Test utility
Base rate extent to which a particular trait,
behavior, characteristic or attribute exists in the
population
Hit rate defined as the proportion of people a test
accurately identifies as possessing or exhibiting a
particular trait.
Miss rate proportion of people the test fails to
identify as having or not having attributes
False positive (type I error) possess
particular attribute but actually does not
have. Ex: score above cutoff score, hired
but failed the job.
False negative (type II error) does not
possess particular attribute but actually
does have. Ex. Scored below cutoff score,
not hired, but could have been successful
in the job
- Construct Validity
o Construct validity: judgment about the appropriateness of
inferences drawn from test scores regarding individual standings
on a variable called a construct
Construct: an informed, scientific idea developed or
hypothesized to describe or explain behavior
Ex: intelligence, depression, motivation,
personality, etc.
Unobservable, presupposed (underlying)
traits that a test developer invokes to
describe test behavior/criterion
performance
Viewed as unifying concept for all validity evidence
o Evidence of Construct Validity
Various techniques of construct validation that
provide evidence:
Test is homogeneous measures single
construct
Test scores increase/decrease as function
of age, passage of time, or experimental
manipulation (theoretically predicted)
Test scored obtained after some even or
passage of time differ from pretest scores
(theoretically predicted)
Test scores obtained by people from
distinct groups vary (theoretically
predicted)
Test scores correlate with scores on other
tests (theoretically predicted)
Evidence of homogeneity
Homogeneity: refers to how uniform a
test is in measuring a single concept
Evidence correlations between subtest
scores and total test scores
Item-analysis procedures have been used
in quest for test homogeneity
Desirable but not necessary
Contributes no info about how construct
being measured relates to other
constructs
Evidence of changes with age
If test purports to measure a construct
that changes over time then the test
scores, too, should show progressive
changes to be considered valid
measurement of construct
Does not in itself provide info about how
construct relates to other constructs
Evidence of pretest-posttest changes
Can be evidence of construct validity
Some more typical intervening
experiences responsible for changes in
test scores are:
o Formal education
o Therapy/medication
o Any life experience
Evidence from distinct groups/method of contrasted
groups
Method of contrasted groups: one way of
providing evidence for the validity of a
test is to demonstrate that scores on the
test vary in a predictable way as a
function of membership in some group
Rationale if a test is a valid measure of
a particular construct, test scores from
groups of people who would presumed
with respect to that construct should have
correspondingly different test scores
Convergent evidence
Evidence for the construct validity of a
particular test may converge from a
number of sources, such as tests or
measures designed to assess the
same/similar construct
 CHAPTER 6: VALIDITY
Convergent evidence: scores on a test Criterion data may be influenced by
undergo construct validity and correlate raters knowledge of ratee race,
highly in the predicted direction with gender, etc.
scores on older, more established and o Test fairness
already validated tests designed to Issues of fairness tend to be more difficult and
measure the same/similar construct involve values
Discriminant evidence Fairness: the extent to which a test is used in an
Discriminant evidence: validity coefficient impartial, just, and equitable way
showing little relationship between test Sources of misunderstanding
scores and /or other variables with which Discrimination
scores on the test being construct- Group not included in standardization
validated should not theoretically be sample
correlated Performance differences between
Provides evidence of construct validity identified groups
Multitrait-multimethod matrix: two or
more traits, two or more methods Relationship Between Reliability and Validity
matrix/table that results from correlating - A test should not correlate more highly with any other variable than it
variables (traits) within and between correlates with itself
methods - A modest correlation between the true scores on two traits may be
Factor analysis missed if the test for each of the traits is not highly reliable
Factor analysis: shorthand term for a class - We can have reliability without validity
of mathematical procedures designed to o It is impossible to demonstrate that an unreliable test is
identify factors or specific variables that valid
are typically attributes, characteristics, or
dimension on which people may differ
Frequently used as a data reduction
method in which several sets of scores
and correlations between them are
analyzed
Exploratory factor analysis: researchers
test the degree to which a hypothetical
model fits the actual data
o Factor loading: conveys
information about the extent
to which the factor determines
the test score or scores
o Complex procedures
- Validity, Bias, and Fairness
o Test Bias
Bias: a factor inherent in a test that systematically
prevents accurate, impartial measurement
Technical means to identify and remedy bias
(mathematically)
Bias implies systematic variation
Rating error
Rating: a numerical or verbal judgment
(or both) that places a person or an
attribute along a continuum identified by
a scale of numerical or word descriptions,
known as a rating scale
Rating error: judgment resulting from
intentional or unintentional misuse of a
rating scale
Leniency error/generosity error: error in
rating that arises from the tendency on
the part of the rater to be lenient in
scoring, marking, and/or grading
Severity error: rater exhibits general and
systematic reluctance to giving ratings at
either the positive or negative extreme
Overcome restriction of range rating errors is to use
rankings: procedure that requires the rater to
measure individuals against one another instead of
against an absolute scale
Rater is forced to select 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.
Halo effect: fact that for some raters, some rates can
do no wrong
Tendency to give a particular ratee a
higher rating than he or she objectively
deserves
 CHAPTER 7: UTILITY
Utility: usefulness or practical value of testing to improve efficiency
Factors that Affect a Tests Utility
Psychometric Soundness
o Reliability and validity of a test
o Gives us the practical value of both the scores (reliability
and validity)
o They tell us whether decisions are cost-effective
o A valid test is not always a useful test
especially if testtakers do not follow test
directions
Costs
o Economic and non economic
o Ex.) using a less expensive and therefore less stringent
application process for airline personnel.
Benefits
o Profits, gains, advantages
o Ex.) more stringent hiring policy more productive
employees
o Ex.) maintaining successful and academic environment of
university
Utility Analysis
What is Utility Analysis?
-a family of techniques that entail a cost-benefit analysis designed to yield
information relevant to a division about the usefulness and/or practical value of
a tool of assessment.
Utility analysis: An illustration
Whats the companies goal?
Limit the cost of selection
o Dont use FERT
Ensure that qualified candidates are not rejected
o Set a cut score that yields the lowest false negative rate
Ensure that all candidates selected will prove to be qualified
o Lowest dales positive rate
Ensure, to the extent possible, that qualified candidates will be
selected and unqualified candidates will be rejected
o False positives are no better or worse than false negatives
o Highest hit rate and lowest miss rate
How Is a Utility Analysis Conducted?
-objective: dictate what sort of information will be required as well as the
specific methods to be used
Expectancy Data
o Expectancy table provides indication of the likelihood that
a testtaker will score within some interval of scores on a
criterion measure
o Used to measure costs vs. benefits
Brogden-Cronbach-Gleser formula
o Utility gain: estimate of the benefit of using a particular
test or selection method
o Most simply is benefits-cost
o Productivity gain: estimated increase in work output
Some Practical Considerations
The Pool of Job Applicants
o There is rarely a limitless supply of potential employees
o Dependent on many factors, including economic
environment
o We assume that top scoring individuals will accept the job,
but those individuals are more likely to be the ones being
offered higher positions
The complexity of the Job
o It is questionable whether the same utility analysis
methods can be used to measure the eligibility of varying
complexities of jobs
The cut score in use
o Relative cut score: may be defines as reference point
Based on norm-related considerations rather
than on the relationship of test scores to a
criterion
Also called norm-referenced cut score
Ex.) top 10% of test scores get As
o Fixed cut score: set with reference to a judgment
concerning a minimum level of proficiency required to be
included in a particular classification.
Also called absolute cut scores
o Multiple cut scores: using two or more cut scores with
reference to one predictor for the purpose of categorizing
testtakers
Ex.) having cut score that marks an A, B, C etc.
all measuring same predictor
o Multiple hurdles: for success, requires one individual to
complete many tasks, with elimination at each level
Ex.) written application group interview
personal interview etc.
o Compensatory model of selection: assumption is made
that high scores on one attribute can compensate for low
scores on another attribute
Methods for Setting Cut Scores
The Angoff Method
Judgments of experts are averaged
The Known Groups Method
Collection of data on the predictor of interest from group known to posses and
not to possess trait, attribute, or ability
Cut score based on which test best discriminates the two groups performance
IRT-Based Method
Based on testtakers performance across all items on a test
Some portion of test items must be correct
Item-mapping method: determining difficulty level reflected by cut score (?)
Book-Mark method: test items are listed, one per page, in ascending level of
difficulty. An expert places a bookmark to mark the divide which separates
testtakers who have acquired minimal knowledge, skills, or abilities and those
that have not.
Problems include training of experts, possible floor and ceiling effects, and the
optimal length of item booklets
Other Methods
-discriminant analysis: family of statistical techniques used to shed light on the
relationship between certain variables and two or more naturally occurring
groups
ex.) the relationships between scores of tests and ppl judged to be
successful or unsuccessful at job
 CHAPTER 8: TEST DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 8: TEST DEVELOPMENT
STEPS:
1. TEST CONCEPTUALIZATION
2. TEST CONSTRUCTION
3. TEST TRYOUT
4. ITEM ANALYSIS
5. TEST REVISION
TEST CONCEPTUALIZATION
- Thoughts or stimulus that could be almost everything.
- An emerging social phenomenon or pattern of behavior might serve
as the stimulus for the development of a new test.
- Norm referenced: An item for which high scorers on the test respond
correctly. Low scorers respond to that same item incorrectly
- Criterion referenced: high scorers on the test get a particular item
right whereas low scorers on the test get that same item wrong.
- Pilot work: pilot study or pilot research. To know whether some items
should be included in the final form of the instrument.
o the test developer typically attempts to determine how
best to measure a targeted construct
TEST CONSTRUCTION
- Scaling: process of setting rules for assigning numbers in
measurement.
- L.L. Thurstone: credited for being the forefront of efforts to develop
methodologically sound scaling methods.
TYPES OF SCALES:
- Nominal, ordinal, interval or ratio
- Age-based scale
- Grade-based scale
- Stanine scale (raw score converted to 1-9)
- Unidimensional vs. multidimensional
o Unidimensional: measuring one construct
o Multidimensional: measuring more than one construct
- Comparative vs. categorical
o Comparative scaling: entails judgments of a stimulus in
comparison with every other stimulus on the scale
o Categorical scaling: stimuli are placed into one of two or
more alternative categories that differ quantitatively with
respect to some continuum
- Rating Scale: Which can be defined as a grouping of words,
statements, or symbols on which judgments of the strength of a
particular trait, attitude, or emotion are indicated by the testtaker
- Summative scale: when final score is obtained by summing the
ratings across all the items
- Likert scale: each item presents the testtaker with five alternative
responses usually on agree-disagree, or approve-disapprove
continuum
- Method of paired comparisons: presented with two stimuli and
asked to compare
- Comparative scaling: judging of a stimulus in comparison with every
other stimulus on the scale
- Categorical scaling: testtaker places stimuli into a category; those
categories differ quantitatively on a spectrum.
- Guttman scale (Scalogram analysis): items range from sequentially
weaker to stronger expressions of attitude, belief, or feeling. A
testtaker who agrees with the stronger statement is assumed to also
agree with the milder statements
- Equal-appearing intervals (Thurstone): direct estimation because
dont need to transform testtakers response to another scale
WRITING ITEMS
- 3 Questions of test developer
o What range of content should the items cover?
o Which of the many different types of item formats should be
employed?
o How many items should be written in total and for each content
area covered?
- Item pool: reservoir from which items will not be drawn for the final
version of the test (should be about double the number of questions as
final will have)
- Item format
o Item format: variables such as the form, plan, structure,
arrangement and layout of individual test items
o 2 types
o 1.) selected-response format: testtaker selects a response from
a set of alternative responses
includes multiple choice, true-false, and matching
o 2.) constructed-response format: testtaker supplies or creates
the correct answer
includes completion item, short answer and essay
- Writing Items for computer administration
o Item bank: relatively large and easily accessible collection of
test questions
o Computerized Adaptive Testing (CAT): interactive, computer-
administered testtaking process wherein items presented to the
testtaker are based in part on testtakers performance on
previous items.
o Floor effect: the diminished utility of an assessment tool for
distinguishing testtakers at the low end of the ability, trait, or
other attribute being measured
o Ceiling effect: diminished utility of an assessment tool for
distinguishing testtakers at the high end of the ability, trait,
attribute being measured
o Item branching: ability of computer to tailor the content and
order of presentation of test items on the basis of responses to
previous items
SCORING ITEMS
- Cummulative scoring: testtakers earn cumulative credit with regard to
a particular construct
- Class/category scoring: testtaker responses earn credit toward
placement in a particular class or category with other testtakers
whose pattern of responses is presumably similar in some way
- Ipsative scoring: comparing a testtakers score on one within a test to
another scale within that same test
o ex.) Johns need for achievement is higher than his need
for affiliation
ITEM WRITING (KAPLAN BOOK)
Item Writing
- Personality and intelligence tests require different sorts of responses
- Guidelines for item writing
o Define clearly what you want to measure
o Generate an item pool
o Avoid exceptionally long items
o Keep the level of reading difficulty appropriate for those who
will complete the scale
o Avoid double-barreled items that convey two or more ideas at
the same time
o Consider mixing positively and negatively worded items
- Must be sensitive to ethnic and cultural differences
- Items that retain their reliability are more likely to focus on skills, while
those that lost reliability focused on more abstract concepts
Item Formats
- Simplest test uses dichotomous format
The Dichotomous Format
- Dichotomous format offers two alternatives for each item
o Ie. True-false examination
- Advantages:
o Simplicity
o True-false items require absolute judgment
- Disadvantages:
o True-false encourage students to memorize material
o truth often comes in shades of gray
o mere chance of getting any item correct is 50%
- Yes-no format on personality tests
- Multiple-choice = polytomous
The Polytomous Format
- Polytomous format resembles the dichotomous format except that each
item has more than two alternatives
o Multiple-choice exams
- Advantage:
o Little time for test takers to respond to a particular item
because they do not have to write
- Incorrect choices are called distractors
 CHAPTER 8: TEST DEVELOPMENT
- Disadvantages:
o How many distractors should a test have? --> 3 or 4
o Distractors hurting reliability / validity of test
o Three alternative multiple-choice items may be better than five
alternative items because they retain the psychometric value
but take less time to develop and administer
o Scoring of the MC exams? --> simply guessing should elicit
correctness
o Correcting for this though, the expected score is 0 as getting a
question wrong loses you a point
- Guessing can be good if you can narrow down a couple answers
- Students are more likely to guess when they anticipate a lower grade on a
test than when they are more confident
- Guessing threshold describes the chances that a low-ability test taker will
obtain each score
- True-false and MC tests are common to educational and achievement tests
- Likert format, category scale, and the Q-sort used for personality-attitude
tests
Likert Format
- Likert format: requires that a respondent indicate the degree of agreement
with a particular attitudinal question
o Strongly disagree ... Strongly agree
o For measurements of attitude
- Used to create Likert Scales: scales require assessment of item
discriminability
- Familiar and easy --- likely to remain popular in personality and attitude
tests
Category Format
- Category format: uses more choices than Likert; 10-point rating scale
- Disadvantage: responses to items on 10-pt scales are affected by the
groupings of the people or things being rated
- People change their ratings depending on context
o This problem can be avoided if the endpoints of the scale are
clearly defined and the subjects are frequently reminded of the
definitions of the endpoints
- Optimal number of points is 7?
o Number depends on the fineness of the discrimination that
subjects are willing to make
o When people are highly involved with some issue, they will tend
to respond best to a greater number of categories
- Increasing the number of response categories may not increase reliability
and validity
- Visual analogue scale: respondent is given a 100-millimeter line and asked
to place a mark between two well-defined endpoints
o Measures self-rate health
Checklists and Q-Sorts
- Adjective Checklist: subject receives a long list of adjectives and indicates
whether each one is characteristic of himself or herself
o Requires subjects either to endorse such adjectives or not, thus
allowing only two choices for each item
- Q-Sort: increases the number of categories
o Used to describe oneself or to provide ratings of others
Other Possibilities
- Forced-choice and Likert formats are clearly the most popular in
contemporary tests and measures
- Checklists have fallen out of favor because they are more prone to error
than are formats that require responses to every item
- Frequent advice is to not use all of the above as a response option
TEST TRYOUT
What is a good item?
o Reliable and valid
o Helps to discriminate testtakers
ITEM ANALYSIS
o The Item-Difficulty Index
o Obtained by calculating the proportion of the total number
of testtakers who answered the item correctly p
o Higher p= easier item
o Difficulty can be replaced with endorsement in non-
achievement tests
o The midpoint representing the optimal difficulty is
obtained by summing up the chance of success proportion
and 1.00 and then dividing the sum by 2
Item Reliability Index
o Indication of the internal consistency of a test
o Equal to the product of the item-score standard deviation (s) and the
correlation (r)
o Factor analysis and inter-item consistency
o Factor analysis determines whether items on a test appear
to be measuring the same thing
The Item-Validity Index
o Statistic designed to provide an indication of the degree to which a
test is measuring what it purports to measure
o Requires: item-score standard deviation, the correlation between the
item score and criterion score
The Item-Discrimination Index
o Measures how adequately an item separates or discriminates
between high scorers and low scorers
o d
o compares performance on a particular item with performance in the
upper and lower regions of a distribution of continuous test scores
o higher d means greater number of high scorers answering the item
correctly
o negative d means low-scoring examinees are more likely to answer
the item correctly than high-scoring examinees
o Analysis of item alternatives
Item-Characteristic Curves?
o Graphic representation of item difficulty and discrimination
Other Considerations in Item Analysis
o Guessing
o Usually in some direction
o Depends on individuals ability to take risks
o Item fairness
o Bias
o Speed tests
o Last items will appear to be more difficult because
not everyone got to them
Qualitative Item Analysis
Qualitative methods: techniques of data generation and analysis that
rely primarily on verbal rather than mathematical or statistical
procedures
Qualitative item analysis: various nonstatistical procedures designed
to explore how individual test items work
o Through means like interviews and group discussions
Think aloud test administration
o approach to cognitive assessment that entails respondents
vocalizing thoughts as they occur
o used to shed light on the testtkers though processes
during the administration of a test
Expert panels
o Sensitivity review: study of test items in which they are
examined for fairness to all prospective testtakers as well
as for the presence of offensive language, stereotypes, or
situations
ITEM ANALYSIS (KAPLAN BASED)
The Extreme Group Method
- Compares people who have done well with those who have done
poorly on a test
- Difference between these proportions is called the discrimination
index
The Point Biserial Method
- Find the correlation between performance on the item and
performance on the total test
- Correlation between a dichotomous variable and a continuous
variable is called a point biserial correlation
- On tests with only a few items, using this is problematic because
performance on the item contributes to the total test score
Pictures of Item Characteristics
- Valuable way to learn about items is to graph their characteristics,
which you can do with the item characteristic curve
 CHAPTER 8: TEST DEVELOPMENT
- Prepare a graph for each individual test item
o Total test score is used as an estimate of the amount of a
trait possessed by individuals
- Relationship between performance on the item and performance on
the test gives some info about how well the item is tapping the info
we want
Drawing the Item Characteristic Curve
- To draw this, we need to define discrete categories of test
performance
- If the test has been given to many people, we might choose to make
each test score a single category
- Gradual positive slope of the line demonstrates that the proportion of
people who pass the item gradually increases as test scores increase
o This means that the item successfully discriminates at all
levels of test performance
- Ranges in which the curve changes suggest that the item is sensitive,
while flat ranges suggest areas of low sensitivity
- Item analysis breaks the general rule the increasing the number of
items makes a test more reliable
- When bad items are eliminated, the effects of chance responding can
be eliminated and the test can become more efficient, reliable, and
valid
Item Response Theory
- According to classical test theory, a score is derived from the sum of
an individuals responses to various items, which are sampled from a
larger domain that represents a specific trait or ability
- New approaches consider the chances of getting particular items right
or wrong item response theory make extensive use of item
analysis
o With this, each item on a test has its own item
characteristic curve that describes the probability of
getting each particular item right or wrong given the ability
level of each test taker
o Testers can make an ability judgment without subjecting
the test taker to all of the test items
- Technical adv: builds on traditional models of item analysis and can
provide info on item functioning, the value of specific items, and the
reliability of a scale
- Two dimensions used are difficulty and discriminability
- Most attractive adv. Is that one can easily adapt the IRT tests for
computer administration
o Computer can rapidly identify the specific items that are
required to assess a particular ability level
- peaked conventional
- rectangular conventional requires that test items be selected to
create a wide range in level of difficulty
o problem: only a few items of the test are appropriate for
individuals at each ability level; many test takers spend
much of their time responding to items either considerably
below their ability level or too difficult to solve
- IRT addresses traditional problems in test construction well
- IRT can identify respondents with unusual response patterns and
offer insights into cognitive processes of the test taker
- May also reduce the biases against the people whoa re slow in
completing test problems
External Criteria
- Item analysis has been persistently plagued by researchers continued
dependence on internal criteria, or total test score, for evaluating
items
Linking Uncommon Measures
- One challenge in test applications is how to determine linkages
between two different measures
Items for Criterion-Referenced Tests
- Traditional use of tests requires that we determine how well
someone has done on a test by comparing the persons performance
to that of others
- Criterion-referenced tests compares performance with some clearly
defined criterion for learning
o Popular approach in individualized instruction programs
o Regarded as diagnostic instruments
- First step in developing these tests involves clearly specifying the
objectives by writing clear and precise statements about what the
learning program is attempting to achieve
- To evaluate the items: one should give the test to two groups of
students one that has been exposed to the learning unit and one
that has not
- Bottom of the V is the antimode the least frequent score
- This point divides those who have been exposed to the unit from
those who have not been exposed and is usually taken as the cutting
score or point, or what marks the point of decision
- When people get scores higher than the antimode, we assume that
they have met the objective of the test
Limitations of Item Analysis
- Main Problem: though statistical methods for item analysis tell the
test constructor which items do a good job of separating students,
they do not help the students learn
- Although the data are available to give the child feedback on the
bug in their thinking, nothing in the testing procedure initiates this
guidance
TEST REVISION
Test Revision in the Life Cycle of an Existing Test
Tests get old and need revision
Questions arise over equivalence of two tests
Cross-validation and Co-validation
o Cross-validation: revalidation of a test on a sample of
testtakers other than those on whom test performance
was originally found to be a valid predictor of some
criterion
o Validity shrinkage: decrease in item validities that
inevitably occurs after cross-validation of finding
o Co-validation: test validation process conducted on two or
more tests using the same sample of testtakers
o Co-norming: when co-validation is used in conjunction
with the creation of norms or the revision of existing
norms
o Quality assurance during test revision
test givers must have some degree of
qualification, training, and testing
anchor protocol: test protocol scored by a
highly authoritative scorer that is designed as a
model for scoring and a mechanism for
resolving scoring discrepancies
scoring drift: a discrepancy between scoring in
an anchor protocol and the scoring of another
protocol
The Use of IRT in Building and Revising Tests
(item response theory)
Evaluating the properties of existing tests and guiding test revision
Determining measurement equivalence across testtaker populations
o Differential item functioning (DIF): phenomenon, wherein
an item functions differently in one group of testtakers as
compared to another group of testtakers known to have
the same level of the underlying trait
Developing item banks
o Items from other instruments item pool scrutiny
preliminary item bank psychometric testingitem bank
 CHAPTER 9: INTELLIGENCE AND ITS MEASUREMENT
What is Intelligence?
Intelligence: a multifaceted capacity that manifests itself in different ways across
the lifespan. Usually includes abilities to:
Acquire and apply knowledge
Reason logically
Plan effectively
Infer perceptively
Make judgment and solve problems
Grasp and visualize concepts
Pay attention
Be intuitive
Find the right words and thoughts with facility
Cope with, adjust to, and make the most of new situations
Intelligence Defines: Views of the Lay Public
Both social and academic
Intelligence Defined: Views of Scholars and Test Professionals
Francis Galton
o First to publish on heritability of intelligence
o Most intelligent persons were those with the best sensory
abilities
Alfred Binet
o Made tests about intelligence, but didnt define it
o Components of intelligence: reasoning, judgment,
memory, abstraction
o Added that definition is complex; requires interaction of
components
o He argued that when one solves a particular problem, the
abilities used cannot be separated because they interact to
produce the solution.
David Wechsler
o Best way to measure this global ability was by measuring
aspects of several qualitatively differentiable abilities
o Complexity of intelligence
o Conceptualization as an aggregate or global capacity
Jean Piaget
o Studied children
o Believed order of maturation to be unchangeable
o With age, increased schema: organized action or mental
structure that, when applied to the world, leads to
knowing or understanding.
o Learning occurred through assimilation (actively
organizing new information so that it fits in with what
already is perceived and thought) and accommodation
(changing what is already perceived or though so that it
fits with new information)
o Sensorimotor (0-2)
o Preoperational (2-6)
o Concrete Operational (7-12)
o Formal Operational (12 and older)
All share interactionism: complex concept by which heredity and
environment are presumed to interact and influence the
development of ones intelligence
Factor-analytic theories: focus is squarely on identifying the
ability(ies) deemed to constitute intelligence
Information-processing theories: focus is on identifying the specific
mental processes that constitute intelligence.
Factor-Analytic Theories of Intelligence:
Charles Spearman: pioneered new techniques to measure
intercorrelations between tests.
o Existence of a general intellectual ability factor (g) that
tapped by all other mental abilities.
g representing the portion of the variance that all intelligence tests
have in common and the remaining portions of the variance being
accounted for either by specific components (s) or by error
components (e)
greater g = better test was thought to predict overall intelligence
group factors: neither as general as g nor as specific as s
o ex.) linguistic, mechanical, arithmetical abilities
Guilford: multiple-factor models of intelligence
o Explain mental activities by deemphasizing, any reference
to g
Thurstone: conceived intelligence as being composed of 7 primary
abilities.
Gardner: developed theory of multiple intelligences
o Question over whether emotional intelligence exists.
o Logical-mathematical, bodily-kinesthetic, linguistic,
musical, spatial, interpersonal and intrapersonal
Raymond Cattell: fluid vs. crystallized intelligence
o Crystallized intelligence: acquired skills and knowledge
and their retrieval. Retrieval of information and
application of general knowledge
o Fluid intelligence: nonverbal, relatively culture-free, and
independent of specific instruction.
Horn: added more to 7 factors
o Vulnerable abilities: decline with age and tend to return
preinjury levels following brain damage
o Maintained abilities: tend not to decline with age and may
return to preinjury levels following brain damage.
Carrol:
o Three-stratum theory of cognitive abilities: like geology
o Hierarchical model: meaning that all of the abilities listed
in a stratum are subsumed by or incorporated in the strata
above.
o Those in the first stratum are narrow abilities
CHC model (Cattell-Horn-Carroll)
o Some overlap some difference
o Doesnt use g
o Has broader abilities than Carrolls theory
McGrew: Integrated the Cattell-Horn and Carrolls model
McGrew and Flanagan: integrated McGrew-Flanagan CHC Model
o Features 10 broad stratum abilities
o 70 narrow-stratum abilities
o Makes no provision for the general intellectual ability
factor (g)
o It was omitted because it has little practical relevance to
cross-battery assessment and interpretation
The Information-Processing View
Aleksandr Luria
o How (not what) information is processed
o Simultaneous/parallel processing: integrated all at once
o Successive/sequential processing: each bit individually
processed
PASS model: (Planning, attention, simultaneous, successive)-model of
assessing intelligence
Sternberg The essence of intelligence is that it provides a means to
govern ourselves so that our thoughts and actions are organized,
coherent, and responsive to both out internally driven needs and to
the needs of the environment
Measuring Intelligence
Types of Tasks Used in Intelligence Test
Infants: test sensorimotor, interviews with parents
Older child: verbal and performance abilities
Mental Age: index that refers to chronological age equivalent to
ones test performance
Adults: retention of general information, quantitative reasoning,
expressive language and memory, and social judgment
Theory in Intelligence Test Development and Interpretation
Weschler made a dichotomous test (Performance and Verbal), but
advocated multifaceted definition
Thorndike: intelligence = social, concrete, abstract
Putting theories into test are extremely hard
Intelligence: Some Issues:
Nature vs. Nurture
Currently believed to be mix of two
 CHAPTER 9: INTELLIGENCE AND ITS MEASUREMENT
Performationism: all structures, including intelligence are had at birth
and cant be improved upon
Led to predeterminism: ones abilities are predetermined by genetic
inheritance and no learning or intervention can enhance it
Interactionist: ppl inherit certain intellectual potential
o Theres a limit to genetic abilities (i.e. cant ever have x-ray
vision)
The Stability of Intelligence
Stable pretty much throughout ones adult life
Cognitive abilities seem to decline with age
The Construct Validity of Tests of Intelligence
Having construct validity requires having unified understanding of
what intelligence is
Very difficult. Spearman says its one thing, Guilford says its many
Thorndike approach is sort of compromise
o Look for one central factor with three additional factors
representing social, concrete, and abstract intelligences
Other Issues
Flynn effect: IQ scores seem to rise every year, but not coupled with
rise in true intelligence
Personality
o High IQ: Need for achievement, competition, curiosity,
confidence, emotional stability etc.
o Low IQ: passivity, dependence, maladjustment
o Temperament (used to describe infants)
Gender
o Men usually outscore in visual spatialization tasks and
intelligence scores
o Women tend to outscore in language-skill tasks
o But differences can be bridged
Family Environment
o Divorce can have negative effects
o Begins with maternal effects in womb
Culture
o Provides specific models for thinking, acting and feeling
o Assumed that if cultural factors can be controlled then
differences between cultural groups will be lessened
o Assumed that culture can be removed by the reliance on
exclusively nonverbal tasks
Tend not to be very good at predicting success
in various academic and business settings
o Culture loading: the extent to which a test incorporates
the vocabulary, concepts, traditions, knowledge and
feelings associated with a particular culture
o No test can be culture free
o Culture-fair intelligence test: test/assessment process
designed to minimize the influence of culture with regard
to various aspects of evaluation procedure
o Another approached called for cultural-specific intelligence
tests
Ex.) BITCH measured streetwiseness
Lacked predictive validity and useful, practical
information
 CHAPTER 10: TESTS OF INTELLIGENCE
The Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales
First to have detailed administration and scoring instructions
First American test to test IQ
First to use alternate items (an item that can be used in place of
another)
Lacked minority group representation
Ratio IQ=(mental age/chronological age)x100
Deviation Ratio/test composite: performance of one individual
compared to the performance of others of the same age. Has
mean of 100 and standard deviation of 16
Age scale: items grouped by age
Point scale: items organized by category
The Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales: Fifth Edition
Measures fluid intelligence, crystallized knowledge, quantitative
knowledge, visual-processing, and short-term (working) memory
Utilizes adaptive testing: testing individually tailored to testtakers
to ensure that items are neither too difficult (frustrating) or too
easy (false hope)
Examiner establishes rapport with testtaker, then administers
routing test to direct, route examinee to test items most likely at
optimal level of difficulty
Teaching items: show testtaker what is expected, how to do it.
o Can be used for qualitative assessment, but not scoring
Subtests for verbal and nonverbal tests share same name, but
involve different tasks
Floor: lowest level of items on subtest
Ceiling: highest-level item of subtest
Basal level: base-level criterion that must be met for testing on
the subtest to continue
Ceiling level is met when testtaker fails certain number of items in
a row. Test discontinues here.
Scores: raw standard composite
Extra-test behavior: behavioral observation
The Wechsler Tests
-commonality between all versions: all yield deviation IQs with mean of 100
and standard deviation of 15
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV)
Core subtest: administered to obtain a composite score
Supplemental/Optional Subtest: provides additional clinical
information or extending the number of abilities or processes
sampled.
Yields four index scores: Verbal Comprehension Index, a Working
Memory Index, a Perceptual Reasoning Index, and a Processing
Speed Index
The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children Fourth Edition (WISC-IV)
Process score: index designed to help understand how testtakers
process various kinds of information
WISC-IV compared to the SB5
The Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-Third Edition
(WPPSI-III)
New school for children under 6
First major intelligence test which adequately sampled total
population of the United States
Subtests labeled core, supplemental, or optional
Wechsler, Binet, and the Short Form
Short form: test that has been abbreviated in length to reduce
time needed to administer, score and interpret
used with caution, only for screening
provide only estimates
reducing the number of items usually reduces reliability and thus
validity
Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence
The Wechsler Test in Perspective
Factor Analysis
o Exploratory factor analysis: summarizing data when
we are not sure how many factors are present in our
data
o Confirmatory factor analysis: used to test highly
specific factor analysis
Other Measures of Intelligence
Tests Designed for Individual Administration
Kaufman Adolescent and Adult Intelligence Test
Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test
Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children
Away from information processing and towards a distinction
between sequential and simultaneous processing
Tests Designed for Group Administration
Group Testing in the Military
o WWI need for government to test intelligence as
means of differentiating unfit and exceptionally
superior ability
o Army Alpha Test: to army recruits who could read.
Included general information questions, analogies, and
scrambled sentences to reassemble
o Army Beta Test: to foreign or illiterate recruits,
included mazes, coding, and picture completion.
o After the war, the alpha and beta test were used
rampantly, and oftentimes misused
o Screening tools: instrument of procedure used to
identify a particular trait or constellation of traits
o ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery):
administered to prospective to recruits or high school
students looked for career guidance
5 career areas: clerical, electronics,
mechanical, skill-technical, and combat
operations
Group Testing in Schools
o Useful in developing childs profile- but cannot be sole
indicator
o Groups of 10-15
o Starting in Kindergarten
o Also called traditional group testing, because more
modern forms can utilize computer. These more aptly
called individual testing
Measures of Specific Intellectual Abilities
Widely used intelligence tests only test a sampling of the many
attributable factors aiding in intelligence
Ex.) Creativity
o Commonly thought to be composed of originality,
fluency, flexibility, and elaboration
o If the focus is too heavily on whether an answer is
correct, doesnt allow for creativity
o Achievement tests require convergent thinking:
deductive reasoning process that entails recall and
consideration of facts as well as a series of logical
judgments to narrow down solutions and eventually
arrive at one solution
o Divergent thinking: a reasoning process in which
thought is free in many different directions, making
several solutions possible
Associated words, uses of rubber band etc.
Test-retest reliability for some of these tests
are near unacceptable
CHAP.11: Other Individual Tests of Ability in Education and Special
Education
Alternative Individual Ability Tests Compared with the Binet and Wechsler
Scales
- None of these are clearly superior from a psychometric
standpoint
- Some less stable, most more limited in their documented validity
- Compare poorly to Binet and Wechsler on all accounts
- They don't rely on a verbal response as much as the B and W
- Just use pointing or Yes/No responses, thus do not depend on the
complex integration of visual and motor functioning
- Contain a performance scale or subscale
- Their specificity often limits the range of functions or abilities that
they can measure
- Because they are designed for special populations, some
alternatives can be administered totally without the verbal
instructions
Specific Individual Ability Tests
- Earliest individual tests typically designed for specific purposes or
populations
- One of the first Seguin Form Board Test in 1800s produced
only a single score
o Used primarily to evaluate mentally retarded adults
and emphasized speed and performance
- After, the Healy-Fernald Test was developed as an exclusively
nonverbal test for adolescent delinquents
- Knox developed a battery of performance tests for non-English
adult immigrants to the US administered without language;
speed not emphasized
- These early individual tests designed for specific populations,
produced a single score, and had nonverbal performance scales
- Could be administered without visual instructions and used with
children as well as adults
Infant Scales
- Where mental retardation or developmental delays are
suspected, these tests can supplement observation, genetic
testing, and other medical procedures
Brazelton Neonatal Assessment Scale (BNAS)
- Individual test for infants between 3days and 4weeks
- Purportedly provides an index of a newborns competence
- Favorable reviews
- Considerable research base
- Wide use as a research tool and as a diagnostic tool for special
purposes
- Commonly used scale for the assessment of neonates
- Drawbacks:
o No norms are available
o More research is needed concerning the meaning and
implication of scores
o Poorly documented predictive and construct validity
o Test-retest reliability leaves much to be desired
Gesell Developmental Schedules (GDS)
- Infant intelligence measures
- Used as a research tool by those interested in assessing infant
intellectual development after exposure to mercury, diagnoses of
abnormal brain formation in utero and assessing infants with
autism
- Children of 2.3mth to 6.3yrs
- Obtains normative data concerning various stages in maturation
- Individuals developmental quotient (DQ) is determined
according to a test score, which is evaluated by assessing the
presence or absence of behavior associated with maturation
- Provides an intelligence quotient like that of the Binet
o (development quotient / chronological age) x 100
- But, falls short of acceptable psychometric standards
- Standardization sample not representative of the population
- No reliability or validity
- Does appear to help uncover subtle deficits in infants
Bayley Scales of Infants and Toddler Development Third Edition (BSID-III)
- Base assessments on normative maturational developmental data
- Designed for infants between 1 and 42mths
- Assesses development across 5 domains: cognitive, language,
motor, socioemotional, and adaptive
- Motor scale: assumes that later mental functions depend on
motor development
- Excellent standardization
- Generally positive reviews
- Strong internal consistency
- More validity studies needed
- Widely used in research children with Down syndrome,
pervasive developmental disorders, cerebral palsy, language
impairment, etc
- Most psychometrically sound test of its kind
- Predictive though?
Cattell Infant Intelligence Scale (CIIS)
- Based on normative developmental data
- Downward extension of Stanford-Binet scale for 2-30mth olds
- Similar to Gesell scale
- Rarely used today
- Sample is primarily based on children of parents from lower and
middle classes and therefore does not represent the general
population
- Unchanged for 60yrs
- Psychometrically unsatisfactory
Major Tests for Young Children
McCarthy Scales of Childrens Abilities (MSCA)
- Measure ability in children between 2-8yrs
- Present a carefully constructed individual test of human ability
- Meager validity
- Produces a pattern of scores as well as a variety of composite
scores
- General cognitive index (CGI): standard score with a mean of 100
and a standard deviation of 16
o Index reflects how well the child has integrated prior
learning experiences and adapted them to the
demands of the scales
- Relatively good psychometric properties
- Reliability coefficients in the low .90s
- In research studies
- Good validity? Good assessment tool
Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children - Second Edition (KABC-II)
- Individual ability test for children between 3-18yrs
- 18 subtests in 5 global scales called sequential processing,
simultaneous processing, learning, planning, and knowledge
- Intended for psychological, clinical, minority-group, preschool,
and neuropsychological assessment as well as research
- Sequential-simultaneous distinction
o Sequential processing refers to a childs ability to solve
problems by mentally arranging input in sequential or
serial order
o Simultaneous processing refers to a childs ability to
synthesize info from mental wholes in order to solve a
problem
- Nonverbal measure of ability too
- Well constructed and psychometrically sound
- Not much evidence of (good) validity
- Poorer predictive validity for school achievement smaller
differences between whites and minorities
- Test suffers from a noncorrespondence between its definition and
its measurement of intelligence
General Individual Ability Tests for Handicapped and Special Populations
Columbia Mental Maturity Scale Third Edition (CMMS)
- Purports to evaluate ability in normal and variously handicapped
children from 3-12yrs
- Requires neither a verbal response nor fine motor skills
 - Requires subject to discriminate similarities and differences by
indicating which drawing does not belong on a 6-by-9inch card
containing 3-5 drawings
- Multiple choice
- Standardization sample is impressive
- Vulnerable to random error
- Reliable instrument that is useful in assessing ability in many
people with sensory, physical, or language handicaps
- Good screening device
Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test Fourth Edition (PPVT-IV)
- 2-90yrs
- multiple choice tests that require subject to indicate Yes/No in
some manner
- Instructions administered aloud (not for the deaf)
- Purports to measure hearing or receptive vocabulary, presumably
providing a nonverbal estimate of verbal intelligence
- Can be done in 15mins, requires no reading ability
- Good reliability and validity
- Should never be used as a substitute for a Wechsler or Binet IQ
- Important component in a test battery or used as a screening
device
- Easy to administer and useful for variety of groups
- BUT: Tendency to underestimate IQ scores, and problems
inherent in the multiple-choice format are bad
Leiter International Performance Scale Revised (LIPS-R)
- Strictly a performance scale
- Aims at providing a nonverbal alternative to the Stanford-Binet
scale for 2-18yr olds
- For research, and clinical settings, where it is still widely utilized to
assess the intellectual function of children with pervasive
developmental disorders
- Purports to provide a nonverbal measure of general intelligence
by sampling a wide variety of functions from memory to
nonverbal reasoning
- Can be applied to the deaf and language-disabled
- Untimed
- Good validity
Porteus Maze Test (PMT)
- Popular but poorly standardized nonverbal performance measure
of intelligence
- Individual ability test
- Consists of maze problems (12)
- Administered without verbal instruction, thus used for a variety of
special populations
- Needs restandardization
Testing Learning Disabilities
- Major concept is that a child average in intelligence may fail in
school because of a specific deficit or disability that prevents
learning
- Federal law entitles every eligible child with a disability to a free
appropriate public education and emphasizes special education
and related services designed to meet his or her unique needs
and prepare them for further education, employment, and
independent living
- To qualify, child must have a disability and educational
performance affected by it
- Educators today can find other ways to determine when a child
needs extra help
- Processed called Response to Intervention (RTI): premise is that
early intervening services can prevent academic failure for many
students with learning difficulties
- Signs of learning problem:
o Disorganization
o Careless effort
o Forgetfulness
o Refusal to do schoolwork or homework
o Slow performance
o Poor attention
o Moodiness
Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities (ITPA-3)
- Assumes that failure to respond correctly to a stimulus can result
not only from a defective output system but also from a defective
input or information-processing system
- Stage 1: info must first be received by the senses before it can be
analyzed
- Stage 2: info is analyzed or processed
- Stage 3: with processed info, individual must make a response
- Theorizes that the child may be impaired in one or more specific
sensory modalities
- 12 subtests that measure individuals ability to receive visual,
auditory, or tactile input independently of processing and output
factors
- purports to help isolate the specific site of a learning disability
- For children 2-10yrs
- Early versions hard to administer and no reliability or validity
- Now, with revisions, ITPA-3 psychometrically sound measure of
childrens psycholinguistic abilities
Woodcock-Johnson III
- Evaluates learning disabilities
- Designed as a broad-range individually administered test to be
used in educational settings
- Assesses general intellectual ability, specific cognitive abilities,
scholastic aptitude, oral language, and achievement
- Based on the CHC three-stratum theory of intelligence
- Compares childs score on cognitive ability with sore on
achievement can evaluate possible learning problems
- Relatively good psychometric properties
- For learning disability tests, three conclusions seem warranted:
o 1. Test constructors appear to be responding to the
same criticisms that led to changes in the Binet and
Wechsler scales and ultimately to the development of
the KABC
o 2. Much more empirical and theoretical research is
needed
o 3. Users or learning disabilities tests should take great
pains to understand the weaknesses of these
procedures and not overinterpret results
Visiographic Tests
- Require a subject to copy various designs
Benton Visual Retention Test Fifth Edition (BVRT-V)
- Tests for brain damage are based on the concept of psychological
deficit, in which a poor performance on a specific task is related to
or caused by some underlying deficit
- Assumes that brain damage easily impairs visual memory ability
- For individuals 8yrs+
- Consists of geometric designs briefly presented and then removed
- Computerized version developed
Bender Visual Motor Gestalt Test (BVMGT)
- Consists of 9 geometric figures that the subject is imply asked to
copy
- By 9yrs, any child of normal intelligence can copy the figures with
only one or two errors
- Errors occur for people whose mental age is less than 9, brain
damage, nonverbal learning disabilities, emotional problems
- Questionable reliability
Memory-for-Designs (MFD) Test
- Drawing test that involves perceptual-motor coordination
- Used for people 8-60yrs
- Good split-half reliability
- Needs for validity documentation
- All these tests criticized because of their limitations in reliability
and validity documentation
- Good as screening devices though
Creativity: Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT)
- Measurement of creativity underdeveloped in psychological
testing
- Creativity: ability to be original, to combine known facts in new
ways, or to find new relationships between known facts
- Evaluating this a possible alternative to IQ
- Creativity tests in early stages of development
 - Torrance tests separately measure aspects of creative thinking
such as fluency, originality, and flexibility
- Does not meet the Binet and Wechsler scales in terms of
standardization, reliability, or validity
- Unbiased indicator of giftedness
- Inconsistent tests, but available data reflect the tests merit and
fine potential
Individual Achievement Tests: Wide Range Achievement Test-3 (WRAT-4)
- Achievement tests measure what the person has actually acquired
or done with that potential
- Discrepancies between IQ and achievement have traditionally
been the main defining feature of a learning disability
- Most achievement tests are group tests
- WRAT-4 purportedly permits an estimate of grade-level
functioning in word reading, spelling, math computation, and
sentence comprehension
- Used for children 5yrs+
- Easy to administer
- Problems:
o Inaccuracy in evaluating grade-level reading ability
o Not proven as psychometrically sound
CHAP: 12: Standardized Tests in Education, Civil Service, and the Military
- When justifying the use of group standardized tests, test users often
have problems defining what exactly they are trying to predict, or what
the test criterion is
Comparison of Group and Individual Ability Tests
- Individual tests require a single examiner for a single subject
o Examiner provides instructions
o Subject responds, examiner records response
o Examiner evaluates response
o Examiner takes responsibility for eliciting a maximum
performance
o Scoring requires considerable skill
- Those who use the results of group tests must assume that the subject
was cooperative and motivated
o Many subjects tested at a time
o Subjects record own responses
o Subjects not praised for responding
o Low scores on group tests often difficult to interpret
o No safeguards
Advantages of Individual Tests
- Provide info beyond the test score
- Allow the examiner to observe behavior in a standard setting
- Allow individualized interpretation of test scores
Advantages of Group Tests
- Are cost-efficient
- Minimize professional time for administration and scoring
- Require less examiner skill and training
- Have more objective and more reliable scoring procedures
- Have especially broad application
Overview of Group Tests
Characteristics of Group Tests
- Characterized as paper-and-pencil or booklet-and-pencil tests because
only materials needed are a printed booklet of test items, a test
manual, scoring key, answer sheet, and pencil
- Computerized group testing becoming more popular
- Most group tests are multiple choice some free response
- Group tests outnumber individual tests
o One major difference is whether the test is primarily verbal,
nonverbal, or combination
- Group test scores can be converted to a variety of units
Selecting Group Tests
- Test user need never settle for anything but well-documented and
psychometrically sound tests
Using Group Tests
- Reliable and well standardized as the best individual tests
- Validity data for some group tests are weak/meager/contradictory
Use Results with Caution
- Never consider scores in isolation or as absolutes
- Be careful using tests for prediction
- Avoid overinterpreting test scores
Be Especially Suspicious of Low Scores
- Assume that subjects understand purpose of testing, want to succeed,
and are equally rested/free of stress
Consider Wide Discrepancies a Warning Signal
- May reflect emotional problems or severe stress
When in Doubt, Refer
- With low scores, discrepancies, etc, refer the subject for individual
testing
- Get trained professional
Group Tests in the Schools: Kindergarten Through 12th Grade
- Purpose of tests is to measure educational achievement in
schoolchildren
Achievement Tests verses Aptitude Tests
- Achievement tests attempt to assess what a person has learned
following a specific course of instruction
o Evaluate the product of a course of training
o Validity is determined primarily by content-related evidence
- Aptitude tests attempt to evaluate a students potential for learning
rather than how much a student has already learned
o Evaluate effects of unknown and uncontrolled experiences
o Validity is judged primarily on its ability to predict future
performance
- Intelligence test measures general ability
- These three tests are highly interrelated
Group Achievement Tests
- Stanford Achievement Test one of the oldest of the standardized
achievement tests widely used in school system
- Well-normed and criterion-referenced, with psychometric
documentation
- Another one is the Metropolitan Achievement Test, which measures
achievement in reading by evaluating vocab, word recognition, and
reading comprehension
- Both of these are reliable and normed on big samples
Group Tests of Mental Abilities (Intelligence)
Kuhlmann-Anderson Test (KAT) 8th Edition
- KAT is a group intelligence test with 8 separate levels covering
kindergarten through 12th grade
- Items are primarily nonverbal at lower levels, requiring minimal reading
and language ability
- Suited to young children and those who might be handicapped in
following verbal procedures
- Scores can be expressed in verbal, quantitative, and total scores
- Scores at other levels can be expressed at percentile bands: like a
confidence interval; provides the range of percentiles that most likely
represent a subjects true score
- Good construction, standardization, and other excellent psychometric
qualities
- Good validity and reliability
- Potential for use and adaptation for non-English-speaking individuals or
even countries needs to be explored
Henmon-Nelson Test (H-NT)
- Of mental abilities
- 2 sets of norms available:
o one based on raw score distributions by age, the other on
raw scores distributions by grade
- reliabilities in the .90s
- helps predict future academic success quickly
- does NOT consider multiple intelligences
Cognitive Abilities Test (COGAT)
- Good reliability
- Provides three separate scores though: verbal, quantitative, and
nonverbal
- Item selection is superior to the H-NT in terms of selecting minority,
culturally diverse, and economically disadvantaged children
- Can be adopted for use outside the US
- No cultural bias
- Each of the subtests required 32-34 minutes of actual working time,
which the manual recommends to be spread out over 2-3 days
- Standard age scores averaged some 15pts lower for African American
students on the verbal battery and quantitative batteries
Summary of K-12 Group Tests
- All are sound, viable instruments
College Entrance Tests
- SAT Reasoning Test, Cooperative School and College Ability Tests, and
American College Test
SAT Reasoning Test
- Most widely used college entrance test
- Used for 1000+ private and public institutions
- Renorming of the SAT did not alter the standing of test takers relative
to one another in terms of percentile rank
- New scoring (2400) is likely to reduce interpretation errors, as
interpreters can no longer rely on comparisons with older versions
- 45mins longer 3hrs and 45mins to administer
- may disadvantage students with disabilities such as ADD
- Verbal section now called critical reading focus on reading
comprehension
- Math section eliminated much of the basic grammar school math
questions
- Weakness: poor predictive power regarding the grades of students who
score in the middle ranges
- Little doubt that the SAT predicts first-year college GPA
o But, AfricanAmericans and Latinos tend to obtain lower
scores on average
o Women score lower on SAT but higher in GPA
Cooperative School and College Ability Tests
- Falling out of favor
- Developed in 1955, not been updated
- Purports to measure school-learned abilities as well as an individuals
potential to undertake additional schooling
- Psychometric documentation not strong
- Little empirical data support its major assumption that previous
success in acquiring school-learned abilities can predict future success
in acquiring such abilities
American College Test
- Updated in 2005, particularly useful for non-native speakers of English
- Produces specific content scores and a composite
- Makes use of the Iowa Test of Educational Development Scale
- Compares with the SAT in terms of predicting college GPA alone or in
conjunction with high-school GPA
- Internal consistency coefficients are not as strong in the ACT
Graduate And Professional School Entrance Tests
Graduate Record Examination Aptitude Test
- GRE purports to measure general scholastic ability
- Most frequently used in conjunction with GPA, letters of rec, and other
academic factors
- General section with verbal and quantitative scores
- Third section which evaluates analytical reasoning now essay format
- Contains an advanced section that measures achievement in at least 20
majors
- New 130-170 scoring scale
- Standard mean score of 500, and SD of 100
- Normative sample is relatively small
- Psychometric adequacy is less than that of SAT validity and reliability
- Predictive validity not great
- Overpredicts the achievement of younger students while
underpredicting performance of older students
- Many schools have developed their own norms and psychometric
documentation and can use the GRE to predict success in their
programs
- By looking at a GRE score in conjunction with GPA, graduate success
can be predicted with greater accuracy than without the GRE
- Graduate schools also frequently complain that grades no longer
predict scholastic ability well because of grade inflation the
phenomenon of rising average college grades despite declines in
average SAT scores
o Led to corresponding restriction in the range of grades
- As the validity of grades and letters of rec becomes more questionable,
reliance on test scores increases
- Definite overall decline in verbal scores while quantitative and
analytical scores are gradually rising
Miller Analogies Test
- Designed to measures scholastic aptitudes for graduate studies
- Strictly verbal
- 60 minutes
- knowledge of specific content and a wide vocab are very useful
- most important factors appear to be the ability to see relationships and
a knowledge of the various ways analogies can be formed
- psychometric adequacy is reasonable
- does not predict research ability, creativity, and other factors important
to grad school
The Law School Admission Test
- LSAT problems require almost no specific knowledge
- Extreme time pressure
- Three types of problems: reading comprehension, logical reasoning
(~half), and analytical reasoning
- Weight given to the LSAT score is openly published for each school
approved by the American Bar Association
- Entrance into schools based on weighted sum of score and GPA
- Psychometrically sound, reliability coefficients in the .90s
- Predicts first-year GPA in law school
- Content validity is exceptional
- Bias for minority group members, as well as women
Nonverbal Group Ability Tests
Raven Progressive Matrices
- RPM one of the best known and most popular nonverbal group tests
- Suitable anytime one needs an estimate of an individuals general
intelligence
- Groups or individuals, 5yrs-adults
- Used throughout the modern world
- Uses matrices nonverbal; with or without a time limit
- Research supports RPM as a measure of general intelligence, or
Spearmans g
- Appears to minimize the effects of language and culture
- Tends to cut in half the selection bias that occurs with the Binet or
Wechsler
Goodenough-Harris Drawing Test (G-HDT)
- Nonverbal intelligence test, group or individual
- Quick, east, and inexpensive
- Subject instructed to draw a picture of a whole an and to do the best
job possible
- Details get points
- One can determine mental ages by comparing scores with those of the
normative sample
- Raw scores can be converted to standard scores with a mean of 100
and SD of 15
- Used extensively in test batteries
The Culture Fair Intelligence Test
- Designed to provide an estimate of intelligence relatively free of
cultural and language influences
- Paper-and-pencil procedure that covers three age groups
- Two parallel forms are available
- Acceptable measure of fluid intelligence
Standardized Tests Used in the US Civil Service System
- General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB) reading ability test that
purportedly measures aptitude for a variety of occupations
o Makes employment decisions in govt agencies
o Attempts to measure wide range of aptitudes from general
intelligence to manual dexterity
- Controversial because it used within-group norming prior to the
passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1991
- Today, any kind of score adjustments through within-group norming in
employment practices is strictly forbidden by law
Standardized Tests in the US Military: The Armed Services Vocational
Aptitude Battery
- ASVAB administered to more than 1.3million people a year
- Designed for students in grades 11 and 12 and in postsecondary schools
- Yields scores used in both education and military settings
- Results can help identify students who potentially qualify for entry into
the military and can recommend assignment to various military
occupational training programs
- Great psychometric qualities
- Reliability coefficients are excellent
- Through computerized format, subjects can be tested adaptively,
meaning that the questions given each person can be based on his or
her unique ability
- This cuts testing time in half