Psychological Assessment I

Standardized Sample

"Norms"; will provide an average performance and indicate a frequency with which different high and low scores are obtained.

Sources of measurement error?

- Item Selection - Test Administration - Test Scoring - Systematic Measurement Error

Defining Features of a Test

- Standardized procedure - Behavior sample - Scores or categories - Norms or standards - Prediction of nontest behaviors

Primary Mental Abilities (PMAs)

-Verbal Comprehension -Word Fluency -Number -Space -Associative Memory: associate pairs of unrelated items -Perceptual Speed: similarities and differences on visual details -Inductive Reasoning: finding a rule, as in a number series completion test

Luria model would be preferred in the following situations:

-child from a bilingual background -child whose nonmainstream cultural background may affect knowledge acquisition and verbal development -a child who known or suspected language disorders, whether expressive, receptive, or mixed receptive-expressive -a child with known or suspected autism -a child who is deaf or hard of hearing

Many authors suggest that reliability should be at between _________ for deccisions about individuals.

.90 and .95

5 Uses of Tests

1. Classification 2. Diagnosis and treatment planning 3. Self-knowledge 4. Program evaluation 5. Research

6 intertwined stages of test construction

1. Defining the test 2. Selecting a scaling method 3. Constructing the items 4. Testing the items 5. Revising the test 6. Publishing the test

What questions can a well trained psychometrician ask to detect conscious facking?

1. Does the client have motivation to perform deceitfully on the test? 2. Is the overall pattern of test results suspicious in light of other information known about the client?

What two factors influence test scores in the classical theory of measurement?

1. Factors that contribute to consistency (stable attributes of the individual which the examiner is trying to measure.) 2. Factors that contribute to inconsistency (characteristics of the individual, test or situation that have nothing to do with the attribute being measured, but do affect test scores)

Tests should avoid two kinds of errors, what are they?

1. False positive: predicted to succeed but fail 2. False negative: predicted to fail but suceed

7 Natural Intelligences

1. Linguistic 2. Logical-Mathematical 3. Spacial 4. Musical 5. Bodily-kinesthetic 6. Interpersonal 7. Intrapersonal

Broadly speaking the experts tend to agree that intelligence is:

1. The capacity to learn from experience 2. The capacity to adapt to one's environment

5 Factors that underly the intercorrelations for ability tests...what are they?

1. Verbal Ability 2. Numerical Ability 3. Visual-perceptual capacity 4. Measure of recognition 5. Must be analyzed on a test by test basis

Four Index Scores of Wechsler III

1. Verbal Comprehension Index 2. Perceptual Organization Index 3. Working Memory Index 4. Processing Speed Index

Three categories of accumulating validity.

1. content validity 2. criterion-related validity 3. construct validity

What is the mean for IQ and Index scores?

100

What is 1 standard deviation for IQ and Index scores?

15

When did Projective testing begin?

1910

When was the concept of IQ born?

1916 after Terman suggested multiplying the intelligence quotient by 100 to remove fractions from Stern's 1912 quotent.

When did Yoakum's Carnegie Interest Inventory develop?

1919-1920

How many levels does the APA propose a test fall into?

3 Levels of testing

What percentage of scores falls within 1 standard deviation of the mean?

34.13%; + or - 1 would be 68.26% of the scores

What percentage of scores falls within 2 standard deviations of the mean?

47.72%; + or - 2 would be 95.44%

What percentage of scores falls within 3 standard deviations of the mean?

49.86%; + or - would be 99.72%

Rapport

A comfortable, warm atmosphere that serves to motivate examinees and elicit cooperation; especially important in individual testing and particularly so when evaluating children

Real Definition

A definition that seeks to tell us the true nature of the thing being defined.

Standardization Sample

A group that must be representative of the population for whom the test is intended.

T-Score

A popular standardized score which has a mean of 50 and a standard deviation of 10. It is common for personality tests such as the MMPI.

Norm Group

A sample of examinees who are representative of the population for whom the test is intended.

Interscorer reliability

A sample of tests is independently scored by two or more examiners and scores for pairs of examiners are then correlated.

Ordinal scale

A set of categories that are organized in an ordered sequence (names and fixed order) ranked by size or magnitude. Ex - 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or small, medium, large.

Psychometrician

A specialist in psychology or education who develops and evaluates psychological tests.

What is a test?

A standardized procedure for sampling behavior and describing it with categories or scores. Most tests have norms or standards by which the results can be used to predict other more important behaviors.

How can systematic measurement error create measurement error?

A test consistently measures something other than the trait for which the test was intended and this is unknown to the test developer.

Stanford-Binet: Fifth Edition (SB5)

A test that consists of a series of items that vary according to the age of the person being tested; has the oldest and perhaps the most prestigious pedigree of any individual intelligence test; ages 2-85 and older

Raw scores, in isolation are _______ _________.

Absolutely meaningless.

Specific Factors

According to Spearman, a factor of intelligence specific to an individual test

Mean

Adding all scores up and dividing them by the number of total scores

Who invented the first true intelligence test?

Alfred Binet in the late 1800's

Power tests

Allows enough time for takers to attempt all items but is constructed so that no test taker is able to obtain a perfect score; a mixter of speed and power components

What does APA stand for?

American Psychological Association

Method of equal appearing intervals

An attitude-scaling technique, developed by L.L. Thurstone, in which values are obtained for items on the assumption that the underlying intervals are equidistant; also called a Thurstone Scale

WAIS-III

An individual intelligence tests that yields verbal, performance and full-scale IQ scores as well as individual subtest scores and factor index scores. It is appropriate for people aged 16-89. Adult intelligence test.

Ratio Scale

Any scale of measurement possessing magnitude, equal intervals, and an absolute zero

Test Retest Reliability

As long as the first score and second score are strongly correlated, the practice and maturation, or treatment effects does not cast doubt on the test retest reliability of psycological tests.

Creativity Tests

Assess novel, original thinking and the capacity to find unusual or unexpected solutions, especially for vaguely defined problems.

Matrix Reasoning (Wechsler)

Based on nonverbal reasoning about the patterns and relationships, the examinee must infer them issing stimulus and select it from 5 choices provided at the bottom of the card.

Researchers are looking at the properties of the _________ to decern the nature of intelligence.

Brain

How could item selection create measurement error?

By test developers settling for a finite number of items from an infinate pool of questions, the ill prepared student may do better than the well prepared student based on the material given in the test.

Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test-2

Can examine ages 4-90 and can be administered in approximately 20 minutes

Rudimentary forms of testing date back to 2200 B.C. in _______. They used written exams to select officials for civil service.

China

5 Uses of Tests and Definitions

Classification: Assigning a person to one category rather than another (placement, screening, certification and selection) Diagnosis and treatment planning: Two intertwined tasks: determining the nature and source od a person's abnormal behavior and classifying the behavior pattern within an accepted diagnostic system. Diagnossi is usually a precursor to remediation or treatment of personal distress or impaired performance. Self-Knowledge:IQ, Personality, Career testing, etc. Program Evaluation: Evaluate social and development programs Research: Improve and/or better understand individuals, groups and programs

Criterion-referenced Test

Determines where the examinee stands with respect to very tightly defined educational objectives (can be interpreted without reference to norms; example-math exam...the examinee either solved the problem or did not)

What law passed by congress in 1975?

Education for All Handicapped Children Act

Similarities Subtests (Wechsler)

Examinee must possess the ability to judge when a likeness is important rather than trivial.

How can test administration create measurement error?

General environmental conditions (warm or cold room); lighting; noise; fatigue; anxiety, etc.

Correlation Coefficient

Great to measure reliabilityExpresses the degree of linear relationship between two sets of scores obtained from the same persons.

What did Lewis Terman do in 1916 that is still important today?

He released the Stanford-Binet which was well-designed andcarefully normed and placed intelligence testing on a firm footing once and for all.

How can test scoring create measurement error?

If the test administrator does not follow scoring instructions, or gives too much information to the examinee

Routing Procedure

In tests such as the Stanford-Binet : Fifth Edition, the first items or subtests administered for the purpose of determining the appropriate staring points for subsequent subtests.

What is the greatest single source of error in group test administration?

Incorrect timing of tests that require a time limit. Examiners must allot sufficient time for the entire testing process, setup, reading instructions out loud, and the actual test taking by examinees.

What law passed in 1990?

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

Cattell-Horn-Carrol (CHC) Theory

Intelligence consists of pervasive, broad and narrow abilities that are hierarchically organized

Guttman Scales

Items are arranged in an order so that an individual who agrees with a particular item also agrees with items of lower rank-order. For example, a series of items could be (1) "I am willing to be near ice cream"; (2) "I am willing to smell ice cream"; (3) "I am willing to eat ice cream"; and (4) "I love to eat ice cream". Agreement with any one item implies agreement with the lower-order items. -threshold would be the place where participant answers no, thereby reaching their limit

Achievement Tests

Measure a person's degree of learning, success or accomlishment in a subject or task

Intelligence Tests

Measure an individual's ability to realatively global areas such as verbal, comprehension, perceptual organization or reasoning and thereby help determine potential for scholastic work or certain occupations

Neuropsychological Tests

Measure cognitive, sensory, perceptual and motor performance to determine the extent, locus, and behavioral consequences of brain damage.

Aptitude Tests

Measure the capability for a relatively specific task or type of skill; aptitude tests are, in effect, a narrow form of ability testing

Personality Tests

Measure the traits, qualities, or behaviors that determine a person's individuality; such tests include checklists, inventories and projective techniques

Reliability bears a precise statistical relationship to ____________ ________.

Measurement error

Symbol Search (Wechsler)

Measures processing speed

Temporal Stability

Measures reliability and stability over time

If the SEM=0, how much measurement error is present?

None

Psychologist perfer _______ distributions because the _______ curve has useful mathematical features that form the basis for several kinds of statistical investigations.

Normal; normal

Behavioral Procedures

Objectively describe and count the frequency of a behavior, identifying the antecedents and consequences of the behavior.

IQ Constancy

On the Wechsler tests, the axiomatic assumption that IQ must remain constant with normal aging, even though raw intellectual ability might shift or decline.

Likert Scales

Ordinal level scale containing seven points on an agree or disagree continuum.

Picture Arrangement (Wechsler)

Panels of nonverbal cartoon strips and examinee is asked to put the pieces together in orter to tell a sensible story.

APA testing Level A?

Paper and pencil measures tht can be administered, scored and interpreted with minimal training (examples: vocational proficiency and group educational achievement tests)

Block Design (Wechsler)

Placement of 3-D blocks and has the highest correlation with Performance IQ for all but a few of the standardized groups between 6-89 years old.

Expectancy table

Portrays the established relationship between test scores and expected outcome on a relevant task. Very useful with predictor tests used to forecastwell-defined criteria. Example expectancy table could depict the relationship beween scores on a scholastic aptitude test (predictor) and subsequent college grade point average (criterion).

Who is Hermann Rorschach?

Published the famous inkblot test in 1921

Ratio scale

RARE IN PSYCH TESTING: Have all characteristics (categories, ranking, equal intervals) and adds a meaningful zero point in which there is a total absence of a characteristic.

_______ is a necessary but not a sufficient precursor to validity.

Reliability

Comprehension Subtests (Wechsler)

Require explanation rather than factual knowledge; a measure of "social intelligence"

APA testing Level B?

Require knowledge of the test construction and training in statistics and psychology. These texs are available to persons who have completed an advanced level course in testing from an accredited college or university, or equivalent traning under supervision of a qualified psychologist. (example: aptitude and personality inventories applicable to normal populations)

APA testing Level C?

Require substantial understanding of testing and supporting topics. Supervised experience is essential for the proper administration, scoring and interpretation of these insturments. (examples: individual intelligence tests, projective personality tests and neuropsychological test batteries)

Duty to Warn

Responsibility of clinicians to communicate any serious threat to the potential victim, law enforcement agencies, or both

Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children II (KABC-II)

Standardized test for intelligence and achievement -preschoolers, minority groups, children with LD Does not focus on verbal IQ (sequential, simultaneous, achievement, and mental) Nonverbal scale fore hearing/speech/language impaired and ESL/ELL

The most common approach to selecting a norm group is through ________ random sampling.

Stratified

Standardized Procedure

Test administering procedures t.hat are uniform from one examiner and setting to another

Wechsler's definition of intelligence:

The aggregate or global capacity of the individual to act purposefully, to think rationally and to deal effectively with the environment.

General Factor (g)

The construct that the different abilities and skills measured on intelligence tests have in common.

Reliability is seldom an all or none matter; more comonly it is a question of _____.

The degree of reliability

Phrenology

The dicredited idea, attributed to Franz joseph Gall, that cranial "bumps" signified a prominence of certain mental faculties and personality traits

What is the one major drawback to percentile scores?

The distort the underlying measurement scale, especially at the extremes.

When and why were non-verbal intelligence tests invented?

The early 1900's; these tests were able to facilitate testing for non-english-speaking immigrants.

Psychophysics

The empirical study of the functional relationship between physical stimuli and mental phenomena

Physiognomy

The historical and discredited idea that we can judge the inner character of people from their outward appearance, especially the face

Raw Score

The most basic level of information provided by a psychological test. (example: number of questions answered correctly)

WISC-IV

The most recent revision of the Wechsler Intelligence Scales for Children, a well-known IQ test developed in the United States that includes both verbal and performance (nonverbal) subtests. Ages 6-17

Lake Wobegon effect

The observation tht virtually all states of the union claim that average achievement scores for their school systems exceed the 50th percentile

Digit Symbol (Wechsler)

The only Wechsler subtest that necessitates on-the-spot learning of an unfamiliar task.

Norm-referenced Test

The performance of each person tested (examinee) is interpreted in reference to a relevant standardization sample (norms).

Standard Error of Measurement (SEM)

The standard deviation of the distribution of obtained scores.

Vocabulary Subtests (Wechsler)

Turns out to be the single best measure of overall intelligence on the Wechsler scale

Speed tests

Typically contains items of uniform and generally simple levels of difficulty; the test taker generally does not allow subjects to complete the entire test

Criterion Referenced Tests

Used to compare examinees accomplishments to a predefined performance standard. (These tests are based on a criteria "What can the test takers do?" - Rather than comparing the examinees to others.

Information items test general knowledge normally available to most persons raised in the cultural institutions and educational systems of _________ industrialized nations.

Western

When are psychological test interpretations most reliable?

When the measurements are obtained under the standardized conditions outlined in publisher's test manual.

When did personality testing begin?

Woodworth's Personal Dataa Sheet, a simple yes or no check list of symptoms used to screen WWI recruits for psychoneurosis.

Is the WAIS III reliable?

Yes

Is the WAIS III valid?

Yes

Reliability

a continuum ranging from minimal consistency of measurement (reaction time) to near perfect repeatability of results (weight)

Learning Disability

a disorder found in children of normal intelligence who have difficulties in learning specific skills

Digit Span

a measure of immediate auditory recall for numbers; facility with numbers, good attention and freedom from distractibility are required

Stratified random sampling

a selection strategy in which subjects are chosen randomly, with the constraint that the sample matches the population on relevant background variables such as race, sex, occupation and so on. (more common than actual random sampling because it is difficult to get a completely random sample)

Frequency Distribution

a small number of usually equal sized class intervals and tallying how many scores fall within each interval (ex. 4-6, 7-9, 10-12, and so on)

Operational Definition

a statement of the procedures used to define research variables

Norms

a summary of test results for a large and representative group of subjects

Decision theory stresses that...

a test must aid in accurate decision making.

Alternate formms reliability

administering both forms of the same group and correlating the two sets of scores.

It is important to use ____ norms for school aged children.

age

Method of Rational Scaling / Internal Consistancy

all scale items correlate positively with each other and also with the total score for the scale;, the extent to which the score on the items correlate with each other and are all measuring the true score; not random error.

Ordinal scale

allows for ranking the numbers (perfered order: rank cars that you prefer to own)

Content validity is easy to ensure for well defined traits such as spelling, but more difficult to specify for inexplicit traits such as ______.

anxiety

The mean is is most often used to measure _______ tendancy.

central

Split-half reliability

correlating the pairs of scores obtained from equivalent halves of a test administered only once to a representative sample of examinees

Sample size is _______ to a stable factor analysis.

crucial; Example: Sample size of 50 is Very Poor Sample size of 200 is Fair, 300 is Good and 1000 is excellent

Regression equation

describes the best fitting straight line for estimating the criterion from the test.

Content validity

determined by the degree to which the questions, tasks or items on the test are representitive of the universe of behavior the test was designed to sample.

Successive processing

each bit of information is individually processed in a sequence

If the underlying distribution of raw scores is normally distributed, it is ________ to transform standard scores, T scores, stanines and percentiles into eachother.

easy

Eastern concepts of intelligence:

empasis on benevolence, humility, freedom from conventional standards of judgment, and doing what is right

Mean, median and mode are all ______ in normal distribution.

equal

Exploratory factor analysis

estimating or extracting factors; deciding on how many factors to retain, and rotating factors to an interpretable orientation to assist in conceptualization

Forced Choice Methodology

examinee must choose between two equally desirable/undesirable options

It is important to use _____ norms for achievement tests.

grade

The difference in underlying raw score points between percentiles of 90 and 99 is far ____ than between percentiles of 50 and 59.

greater

CHC: Fluid Intelligence/Reasoning

high level of reasoning for novel tasks that can not be performed automatically. Largely nonverbal and not heavily dependent on exposure to a specific culture (culture-free); Declines in old age

Simultaneous processing

information is processed all at one time

Interest inventories

measure an individual's preference for certain activities or topics and therebby help determine occupational choice

Nominal Scale

measurements based on groups (ie: boys/girls, sports teams, etc.); categorized but not quantified distinctions between observations

If the distributions do not have the same form, standard score comparisons can be very __________.

misleading

Accommodation (Piaget)

new schemes created and old ones adjusted

Method of Absolute Scaling

obtaining a measure of absolute item difficulty based on results for different age groups of test takers

CHC: Crystalized Intelligence

one's accumulated acknowledge and verbal skills; tends fo increase with age; includes the application of verbal and cultural knowledge

Criterion-related validity is demonstrated when a test is effective in __________ on an appropriate outcome measure.

predicting performance

Measurement error reduces the _____ or repeatability of the pshychological test results.

reliability

Interval Scale

scale with equal distances between the points or values, but without a true zero

Arithmetic requires high levels of concentration and the ability to maintain intermediate calculations in _________ memory.

short-term

The SEM is regarded as a constant and ________ property of the test.

stable/inherent

Method of Empirical Keying

test items are selected for a scale based entirely on how well they contrast a criterion group from a normative sample. (Example: a depression scale could be derived from a pool of true false personality inventory questions that do not seem to be valid questions for depression testing)

Assimilation (Piaget)

the application of a schema to an object, person or event

Validity Coefficient

the correlation between test and criterion; the higher the correlation, the more accurate is the test in estimating criterion

Confirmatory factor analysis

the correlations between scores on different mental ability tests are best described in a three-level hierarchy: g at the top, group factors in the middle, and s at the bottom

Validity

the degree to which a test measures what it claims to measure

User's Manual

the manual that gives instructions for administration and also provides guidelines for test interpretation

Technical Manual

the manual that summarizes the technical data about a new instrument

Standard Error of Estimate

the margin of error to be expected in the predicted criterion score.

Equilibration (Piaget)

the mechanism by which schemas become more mature

Median

the middlemost score when all the scores have been ranked. If the number of scores is even then the median is the average of the middlemost two scores.

Mode

the most frequently occurring score; if two scores tie for the highest frequency the distribution is said to be bimodal.

Nominal scale

the numbers serve only as categories(males=1, females=2)

Informed Consent

the principle that test takers or their representatives are made aware, in language that they can understand, of thepurposes and likely consequences of testing

Education

the process of figuring things out

Item Reliability Index

the product of a test item's internal consistency as indexed by the correlation with the total score and its variability as indexed by the standard deviation

Standard of Care

the standard of care that is usual, customary or reasonable

Stereotype Threat

the threat of confirming, as self characteristic, a negative stereotype about one's group

Conservation (Piaget)

the understanding that even though the perceptual characteristics of matter may change the amount of it doesn't change if you do not add or take anything away. (ex. pouring water from a tall glass into a short wide glass); remains constant or increases slightly in old age

Sternberg's Triarchic Theory

this model of intelligence has 3 parts: analytic -which enables us to solve problems; creative -that allows us to deal with new situations; and practical -that allows us to perform everyday tasks

Most investigators have studied intelligence in the __________ manner by developing tests of intellect and correlating scores with external criteria (i.e. school grades) or other test results.

traditional

Interval scale

uses equal intervals and provides information about ranking but also supplies a metric for gauging the differences between rankings. (rate on a scale from 1-100)