Unit 1

Introduction to Testing
and Assessment
Brief history
• All fields of human endeavor use measurement in some
form, and each fi eld has its own set of measuring tools
and measuring units like that psychology also have
measurement .
• The roots of contemporary psychological testing and
assessment can be found in early twentieth-century
France.
• In 1905, Alfred Binet and a colleague published a test
designed to help place Paris schoolchildren in
appropriate classes.
• During World War I in 1917, the military needed a
way to screen large numbers of recruits quickly for
intellectual and emotional problems. Psychological
testing provided this methodology.
• Following the war, more and more tests purporting to
measure an ever-widening array of psychological
variables were developed and used.
• There were tests to measure not only intelligence but
also personality, aspects of brain functioning,
performance at work, and many other aspects of
psychological and social functioning.
Psychological Testing
Psychological Testing

• Definition:

Psychological testing as the process of measuring

psychology-related variables by means of devices
or procedures designed to obtain a sample of
behavior.
A psychological test
The term psychological test refers to a device or
procedure designed to measure variables related to
psychology (for example, intelligence, personality,
aptitude, interests, attitudes, and values).

• Psychological test almost always involves analysis

of a sample of behavior.
• The behaviour sample could range from responses to a pencil-
and-paper questionnaire to oral responses to questions to
performance of some task.
• The behavior sample could be elicited by the stimulus of the test
itself, or it could be naturally occurring behavior (under
observation.
• Psychological tests and other tools of assessment may differ with
respect to a number of variables such as content, format,
administration procedures, scoring and interpretation procedures,
and technical quality.
Format
• The term format pertains to the form, plan, structure, arrangement,
and layout of test items as well as to related considerations such as
time limits.
• Format is also used to refer to the form in which a test is administered:
computerized, pencil-and-paper, or some other form.

Administration procedures.
• Some tests, particularly those designed for administration on a one-to-
one basis, may require an active and knowledgeable test administrator.
• Alternatively, some tests, particularly those designed for
administration to groups, may not even require the test administrator
to be present while the test-takers independently do whatever it is the
test requires.
• Scoring and Interpretation Procedures
• Score may be defined as a code or summary statement,
usually but not necessarily numerical in nature, that reflects an
evaluation of performance on a test, task, interview, or some
other sample of behavior.
• Scoring is the process of assigning such evaluative codes or
statements to performance on tests, tasks, interviews, or other
behavior samples.
• Cut score (also referred to as a cutoff score or simply a cutoff )
is a reference point, usually numerical, derived by judgment
and used to divide a set of data into two or more classifications
• Technical quality / psychometric soundness

• Psychometrics may be defi ned as the science of

psychological measurement.

• psychometric soundness of a test when referring

to how consistently and how accurately a
psychological test measures what it purports to
measure.
Psychological Assessment
 Psychological Assessment

Definition

• Psychological Assessment as the gathering and

integration of psychology - related data for the
purpose of making a psychological evaluation that
is accomplished through the use of tools such as
tests, interviews, case studies, behavioral
observation, and specially designed apparatuses
and measurement procedures.
• Psychological assessment may be conceived as a
problem-solving process that can take many different
forms.
• How psychological assessment proceeds depends on
many factors like objectives, people, and circumstances
etc.
• It may also involve other variables unique to the
particular situation.
The process of assessment
• The process of assessment begins with a referral for assessment from
a source such as a teacher, a school psychologist, a counselor, a judge,
a clinician, or a corporate human resources specialist.
• The assessor may meet with the assessee or others before the formal
assessment in order to clarify aspects of the reason for referral.
• The assessor prepares for the assessment by selecting the tools of
assessment to be used.
• Subsequent to the selection of the instruments or procedures to be
employed, the formal assessment will begins.
• After the assessment, the assessor writes a report of the
findings that is designed to answer the referral question.
• More feedback sessions with the assessee and/or interested
third parties (such as the assessee’s parents and the referring
professional) may also be scheduled.
Different approaches to
assessment
Collaborative psychological assessment

• Assessors view the process of assessment as more of a

collaboration between the assessor and the assessee.
• The assessor and assessee may work as “partners” from
initial contact through final feedback .(Fischer, 1978, 2004,
2006).
• It aims to keep dialogue, feedback, and disagreement open
throughout the assessment process in the attempt to
establish as much clarity and potential for growth as possible.
Therapeutic Psychological Assessment

• Another variety of collaborative assessment may include an element of

therapy as part of the process.

• Therapeutic self-discovery and new understandings are encouraged

throughout the assessment process.

• Here the assessor helps the clients to develop a more accurate,

compassionate, clear, and useful story about themselves and the world.
Dynamic assessment
Dynamic assessment refers to an interactive approach to psychological

assessment that usually follows a model of

(1) Evaluation,
(2) Intervention of some sort
(3) Evaluation.

• Dynamic assessment is most typically employed in educational settings,

although it may be employed in correctional, corporate, neuro
psychological, clinical, and most any other setting as well.
 Differences between

Psychological Testing &

Psychological Assessment
• The difference between testing and assessment
can be made in in terms of :

Objective
Process
Outcome Of An Evaluation
Role Of The Evaluator
Skill Of The Evaluator
 Objective
Testing Assessment

Typically, to obtain some Typically, to answer a

gauge, usually numerical in referral question,
nature, with regard to an solve a problem,
ability or attribute. or arrive at a decision
through the use of tools of
evaluation
 Process
Testing may be individual or Assessment is typically
group in nature. After test individualized. In contrast to
administration, testing,
the tester will typically add up assessment more typically
“the number of correct focuses on how an individual
answers or the number of processes rather than simply the
certain types of responses. results of that processing.
Role of Evaluator
The tester is not key to the The assessor is key to the
process; i.e , one tester process of selecting tests
may be substituted for and/or other
another tester without tools of evaluation as well
appreciably affecting as in drawing conclusions
the evaluation. from the entire evaluation.
 Skill of Evaluator
Testing typically requires Assessment typically
technician-like skills in requires an educated
terms of administering selection of tools of
and scoring a test as well evaluation, skill in
as in interpreting a test evaluation, and
result. thoughtful organization
and integration of data.
The Tools of Psychological Assessment
The Test
Case History Data
Behavioural Observation
Role-Play Tests
The Interview
Computers as Tools
 Case History Data
• Case history data refers to 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 an assessee.
• Case history data may include files or excerpts from files
maintained at institutions and agencies such as schools, hospitals,
employers, religious institutions, and criminal justice agencies.

• Case history data can be of critical value in neuropsychological

evaluations, where it often provides information about
neuropsychological functioning prior to the occurrence of a
trauma or other event that results in a deficit .
 Behavioural Observation
• Defined as monitoring the actions of others or oneself by visual or
electronic means while recording quantitative and/or qualitative
information regarding the actions.

• Behavioral observation is often used as a diagnostic aid in various

settings such as inpatient facilities, behavioral research laboratories,
and classrooms. In addition to diagnosis, behavioral observation may
be used for selection purposes, as in corporate.
 Role-Play Tests
• Role play may be defined as acting an improvised or partially
improvised part in a simulated situation.
• A role-play test is a tool of assessment wherein assessees are directed
to act as if they were in a particular situation.
• Assessees may then be evaluated with regard to their expressed
thoughts, behaviors, abilities, and other variables.
 The Interview
• Psychological assessment typically involves more than talk.
• In the face-to-face interview, the interviewer is probably taking
note of not only the content of what is said but also the way it is
being said.
• The interviewer is taking note of both verbal and nonverbal
behavior.
• Nonverbal behavior may include the interviewee’s “body
language,” movements and facial expressions in response to the
interviewer, the extent of eye contact, and apparent willingness
to cooperate.
Computers as Tools
• Computers can serve as test administrators
(online or off) and as highly efficient test scorers.
• Within seconds they can derive not only test
scores but patterns of test scores.
• Scoring may be done on-site ( local processing )
or conducted at some central location ( central
processing ).