UAPP 2053 Organizational Psychology - Lecture 4 Psychological Testing

UAPP 2053 Organizational Psychology

Lecture 4 Psychological Testing

Objectives

- What is psychological testing?

- Principles of psychological testing.

- Administering psychological test.

- Types of psychological test.

- Limitations of psychological testing.

What is Psychological Testing?

- Psychological testing is a field characterized by the use of samples of behavior in order to infer generalizations about a given individual.

- The technical term for the science behind psychological testing is psychometrics.

- By samples of behavior, one means observations over time of individual performing tasks that have usually been prescribed beforehand.

- These responses are often compiled into statistical tables that allow the evaluator to compare the behavior of the individual being tested to the responses of a norm group.

- Psychological testing is not the same as psychological assessment.

- Psychological assessment is a process that involves the integration of information from multiple sources, such as psychological tests, and other information such as personal and medical history, description of current symptoms and problems by either self or others, and collateral information (interviews with other persons about the person being assessed).

- Psychological test is one of the sources of data used within the process of assessment; usually more than one test is used.

- All psychologists do some levels of assessment when providing services to clients or patients.

- For example, simple checklists to assess some traits or symptoms, but psychological assessment are a more complex, detailed, in-depth process.

- Typical types of focus for psychological assessment are to provided a diagnosis, assess level of function or disability, help direct treatment, and assess treatment outcome.

- A tool used to assist with the recruitment and selection of candidates.

- Psychological tests do not, and should not stand alone as the only selection method.

- They are used in combination with a number of selection tools, such as interviews, work experience, resume, assessment centers or job application.

- Psychological tests are carefully developed for specific purposes and are designed to help fit your talents, personality and attributes to a job that suits you.

- They are not designed to reveal your innermost secrets or uncover confidential information about you.

- Reputable tests have undergone rigorous research before being released, and published technical manuals provide research evidence of their reliability and validity for specific purposes.

- Although psychological testing is on the increase, due to cost, testing may not be implemented until late in the selection process.

Principles of Psychological Testing

Reliability

- Reliability is the extent to which a test is repeatable and yields consistent scores.

- Note: In order to be valid, a test must be reliable; but reliability does not guarantee validity.

- All measurement procedures have the potential for error, so the aim is to minimize it. An observed test score is made up of the true score plus measurement error.

- The goal of estimating reliability (consistency) is to determine how much of the variability in test scores is due to measurement error and how much is due to variability in true scores.

- Measurement errors are essentially random: a person’s test score might not reflect the true score because they were sick, hung over, anxious, in a noisy room, etc.

- Reliability can be improved by:

· Getting repeated measurements using the same test.

· Getting many different measures using slightly different techniques and methods.

· E.g. consider university assessment for grades involve several sources. You would not consider one multiple-choice exam question to be a reliable basis for testing your knowledge of “individual differences”. Many questions are asked in many different formats (e.g. exam, essay, presentation) to help provide a more reliable score.

Validity

- Validity is the extent to which a test measures what is it supposed to measure.

- Validity is a subjective judgment made on the basis of experience and empirical indicators.

- Validity asks “Is the test measuring what you think it’s measuring?”

- For example, we might define “aggression” as an act intended to cause harm to anther person (a conceptual definition) but the operational definition might be seeing:

· How many times a child hits a doll.

· How often a child pushes to the front of the queue.

· How many physical scraps he/she gets into in the playground.

- Are these valid measures of aggression? i.e. how well does the operational definition match the conceptual definition?

- Remember: In order to be valid, a test must be reliable; but reliability does not guarantee validity, i.e. it is possible to have a highly reliable test which is meaningless (invalid).

Validity Generalization

- Just a brief word on generalizability. Reliability and validity are often discussed separately but sometimes you will see them both referred to as aspects of generalizability. Often we want to know whether the results of a measure or a test used with a particular group can be generalized to other tests or other groups.

- So, is the result you get with one test, lets say the WISC III, equivalent to the result you would get using the Stanford-Binet? Do both these test give a similar IQ score? And do the results you get from the people you assessed apply to other kinds of people? Are the results generalizable?

- However, I/O psychologists have concluded that tests valid in one situation may also be valid in another situation.

- In other words, once established, the validity of the test can be generalized.

Standardization

- Standardization: Standardized tests are:

· Administered under uniform conditions. i.e. no matter where, when, by whom or to whom it is given, the test is administered in a similar way.

· Scored objectively, i.e. the procedures for scoring the test are specified in detail so that any number of trained scores will arrive at the same score for the same set of responses.

· So for example, questions that need subjective evaluation (e.g. essay questions) are generally not included in standardized tests.

· Designed to measure relative performance, i.e. they are not designed to measure ABSOLUTE ability on a task. In order to measure relative performance, standardized tests are interpreted with reference to a comparable group of people, the standardization, or normative sample.

· E.g. highest possible grade in test is 100. Child scores 60 on a standardized achievement test. You may feel that the child has not demonstrated mastery of the material covered in the test (absolute ability) BUT if the average of the standardization sample was 55 the child has done quite well (RELATIVE performance).

Administering Psychological Test

- Individual and group test

· Group test – can be given to 20,200, or 2,200 applicants simultaneously.

· Individual test – administered to one person at a time.

- Computerized adaptive test

· Take a test using computer.

- Speed and power test

· Speed test – has fix time limit.

· Power test – has no time limit – more difficult items.

Types of Psychological Test

- Achievement and aptitude tests

· Are usually seen in educational or employment settings and they attempt to measure either how much you know about a certain topic (i.e. your achieved knowledge), such as mathematics or spelling, or how much of a capacity you have (i.e. your aptitude) to master material in a particular area, such as mechanical relationships.

- Intelligence tests

· Intelligence tests attempt to measure your intelligence, or your basic ability to understand the world around you, assimilate its functioning, and apply this knowledge to enhance the quality of your life.

· Or, as Alfred Whitehead said about intelligence, “it enables the individual to profit by error without being slaughtered by it.”

· Intelligence, therefore, is a measure of a potential, not a measure of what you’ve learned (as in an achievement test), and so it is supposed to be independent of culture.

· The trick is to design a test that can actually be culture-free; most intelligence tests fail in this area to some extent for one reason or another.

- Personality tests

· Attempt to measure your basic personality style and are most used in research or forensic settings to help with clinical diagnoses.

· Two of the most well-known personality tests are the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), or the revised MMPI-2, composed of several hundred “yes or no” questions, and the Rorschach (the “inkblot test”), composed of several cards of inkblots – you simply give a description of the images and feelings you experience in looking at the blots.

- Interest test

· Interest test is used to identity what you might be passionate about occupationally and is said to be the most powerful test in finding your perfect career. It is also recommended to be the first step in your career planning.

- The Situational Judgment Test (SJT)

· Assesses judgment required for solving problems in work-related situations. The SJT presents you with hypothetical and challenging situations that one might encounter at work, and that involve working with others as part of a team, interacting with others, and dealing with workplace dilemmas.

· In response to each situation, you are presented with five possible actions that one might take in dealing with the problem described. Your task on the test will be to select the one response alternative that is the most effective and the one response alternative that is the least effective in dealing with the problem described.