PSYCHOMETRICS PSY410
COURSE OUTLINE
Course Aim
The course aims to:
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Familiarise students with the logic and theory behind the construction of standardized
psychological tests
Illustrate test interpretation, norms reliability and validity
Develop general intellectual skills in acquiring, evaluating knowledge and solving problems and
communicating in a scholarly and effective manner.
Objectives
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Outline the history of psychological testing
Identify the nature and uses of tests
Explain the differences between different types of tests
Discuss the tenets of measurement theory
Identify and explain the psychometric properties of tests with reference to the concepts of
reliability and validity
Depict the process of standardised test development or construction
Explore the concept of intelligence and its theoretical underpinnings.
Carry out basic calculations involved in statistics and psychological testing.
Critically examine the sources of error in testing
Evaluate the essence of item analysis and its link with classical test theory and item response
theory
Critically analyse the pros and cons of personality tests
Summary of Topics and Reading
Background Information
Introduction: General History
Ancient China
Galton
Binet
Group testing in USA
Landmarks
Lyman, H.B. (1971) Score Interpretation and what they mean. 2nd ed. Englewood Cliffs,NJ: Prentice Hall
Lyman, H.B. (1986) The Language of Testing. From test scores and what they mean? 4th ed. Engllewood
Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall
Green,B.F. (1981) A prime of testing. American psychologist, 36 1001 - 1011.
Dubois,P. H. (1988) A test-dominated society: China 1115 BC – 1905 AD In W.L.Barnette, Jr., Reading
in Psychological measures. Rev. Ed. 249-255, Honewood, II: Dorsey
Buss, A.R. (1976) Galton And the birth of differential psychology and eugenics: Journal of the history of
the behavioural sciences, 12, 47-58
Gelb, S.A. (1986) Henry, H. Goddard and the immigrants, 1910-197: The studies and their social
context, Journal of the history of the Behavioural Sciences, 22, 324- 332
Samelson, F. (1977) World war I intelligence testing and the development of psychology.
Journal of the history of Behavioural Sciences, 13, 271 282
Nature and Types of Tests
Characteristis of tests
Types of tests
Norms and test Standardisation
Carver, R.P. (1977) Dimensions of tests: psychometric and edumetric. American Psychologist, 29, 512518
The process of testing
Test Adminstration
Effects of Practice and Coaching
Bridgeman, B. (1974). Effects of test score feedback on immediately subsequent
test performance. Journal of Educational Psychology, 66, 62-66.
Lyman, H. B. (1991). What can we say? From Test scores and what they mean,
5th. ed. (pp. 131-140). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Effects of Practice and Coaching
Anastasi, A. (1981). Coaching, test sophistication, and developed abilities.
American Psychologist, 36, 1086-1093.
Kulik, J. A., Kulik, C.-L., & Bangert, R. L. (1984). Effects of practice on aptitude
and achievement test scores. American Education Research Journal, 21, 435447.
CR13. Kulik, J. A., Bangert-Downs, R. L., & Kulik, C.-L. (1984). Effectiveness of
coaching for aptitude tests. Psychological Bulletin, 95, 179-188
THEORY
Interpretive Error
Norms
Norms and test standardization.
Collecting norms
Variable Error (Reliability)
Definitions and theory. Concepts of reliability
Estimates, Standards
Concepts of reliability
Hogan, T. P., Benjamin, A., & Brezinski, K. L. (2000). Reliability methods: A
note on the frequency of use of various types. Educational and Psychological
Measurement, 60, 523-531.
Charter, R. A. (2003). A breakdown of reliability coefficients by test type and
reliability method, and the clinical implications of low reliability. The Journal of
General Psychology, 130, 290-304.
Charter, R. A. (1996). Revisiting the standard error of measurement, estimate, and
prediction and their application to test scores. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 82,
1139-1144.
Schuerger, J. M., & Witt, A. C. (1989). The temporal stability of individually
tested intelligence. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 45, 294-301 (parts).
Schuerger, J. M., Tait, E., & Tavernelli, M. (1982). Temporal stability of
personality by questionnaire. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 43,
176-182 (parts).
Schuerger, J. M., Zarrella, K. L., & Hotz, A. S. (1989). Factors that influence
temporal stability of personality by questionnaire. Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology, 56, 777-783.
Measurement
Generalizability theory: Levels of measurement (and psychological measurement)
Test construction (pp. 119-121).
Stevens, S. S. (1946). On the theory of scales of measurement. Science, 103, 677680.
Lord, F. M. (1953). On the statistical treatment of football numbers. American
Psychologist, 8, 750-751. (Replies also).
Gaito, J. (1980). Measurement scales and statistics: Resurgence of an old
misconception. Psychological Bulletin, 87, 564-567.
Constant Error (Validity)
Basic concepts of validity.
Criterion (Empirical)
Construct
Content
Critical overview of test properties
Hogan, T. P., & Agnello, J. (2004). An empirical study of reporting practices
concerning measurement validity. Educational and Psychological Measurement,
64, 802-812.
Kane, M. T. (2001). Current conceptions of validity theory. Journal of
Educational Measurement, 38, 319-342.
Test Construction (Item Analysis)
Test construction (pp. 117-121, 123-4 (Likert, Empirical), 125-135
Intelligence
Types of Intelligence
Theories of intelligence
Calculating IQ
Personality testing
History of Personality Testing
Types of Personality tests
Strengths and Weaknesses of personality measures
Basic Texts
Gregory, R. J. (2004). Psychological testing: History, principles, and applications
(4th ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Coolican, H’ (2004) Research Methods and Statistics in Psychology. $th ed.) London: Hodder and
STOUGHTON
Anastatsi, A. (1990) Psychological Testing (6th ed.) New York: Macmillan
Rust,J and Golombock,s.(1989) Modern Psychometrics:The Science of psychological assessment.
LondonRouteledge
Glunland, N.E. and Linn, R.L.(1990) Measurement and evaluation in Teaching. (6th ed.) New York:
Macmillan