CHAPTER 1: PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING AND ASSESSMENT
CHAPTER 1: PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING AND ASSESSMENT
(2)
some test administers don’t even have to
be present
TESTING AND ASSESSMENT
Roots can be found in early twentieth century in France 1905


Alfred Binet published a test designed to help place Paris school
children

WW1,
WW1, military used the test to screen large numbers of recruits
quickly for intellectual and emotional problems
WW2, military depend more on tests to screen recruits for service

PSYCHOLOGICAL
PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING
ASSESSMENT
Process of measuring
Gathering & integration of
psychology-related
psychology-related
psychology-related
psychology-related data for
variables by means of
DEFINITION the purpose of making a
devices/procedures
psychological
psychological evaluation
evaluation with
designed to obtain a
accompany of tools.
sample of behavior
To answer a referral question,
To obtain some gauge,
solve problem or arrive at a
OBJECTIVE
usually numerical in
decision thru the use of tools
nature
of evaluation
Testing may be
PROCESS Typically individualized
individualized or group
Key in the process of selecting
Tester is not key into the
ROLE OF
tests as well as in drawing
process; may be
EVALUATOR
substituted
conclusions
SKILL OF Typically requires an educated
Requires technician-like
skill in evaluation
EVALUATIOR selection, skill
skills
Entail logical problem-solving
Typically yields a test
OUTCOME approach to answer the
score
referral ques.
(a)
usually administered to larger
groups
(b)
test takers complete tasks
independently
b)
Scoring and interpretation procedures
(1)
score:
score: 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
(2)
scoring: process of assigning such
evaluative codes/ statements to
performance on tests, tasks, interviews,
or other behavior samples.
(3)
different types of score:
(a)
cut score:
score: reference point,
usually numerical, derived by
judgement and
and used
used to divide
divide
a set of data into two or more
classifications.
(i)
sometimes reached
without any formal
method: in order to
“eyeball”, teachers
who decide what is
passing and what is
3 FORMS OF ASSESSMENT:
1.
COLLABORATIVE PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT – assessor and
assesse work as partners from initial contact through final feedback
2.
THERAPEUTIC PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT – self-discovery and
new understandings are encouraged throughout the assessment
process
3.
DYNAMIC PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT – follows a model (a)
evaluation (b) intervention (a) evaluation . Provide a means for
evaluating how the assesse processes or benefits from some type of
intervention during the course of evaluation.
failing.
(4)
c)
who scores it
(a)
self-scored by testtaker
(b)
computer
(c)
trained examiner
psychometric soundness/ technical quality
(1)
psychometrics:the
psychometrics:the science of
psychological measurement.
(a)
consistently and how
Tools of Psychological Assessment
A.
accurately a psychological test
The Test (a measuring device or procedure)
1.
measures what it purports to
psychological test: a device or procedure designed to measure
measure.
variables related to psychology (intelligence, personality,
(2)
aptitude, interests, attitudes, or values)
2.
layout of test items as well as to related considerations such as
time limits.
also referred to as the form in which a test is
administered (pen and paper, computer, etc)
assessment has for a particular purpose.
B.
Interview: method of gathering information through direct
The Interview:
communication involving reciprocal exchange
1.
Computers can generate scenarios.
b)
term is also used to denote the form or structure of
interviewer in face-to-face is taking note of
a)
verbal language
b)
nonverbal language
(1)
other evaluative tools, and processes, such as the
(2)
guidelines for creating a portfolio work sample
3.
administrative procedures
(1)
some test administers have an active
c)
knowledge
(a)
some test administration
involves demonstration of
usually one-on-one
(c)
trained observation of
assessee’s performance
facial expressions in response to
(3)
the extent of eye contact
(4)
apparent willingness to cooperate
how they are dressed
(1)
2.
tasks
(b)
body language movements
interviewer
Ways That tests differ from one another:
a)
utility:
utility : refers to the usefulness or
practical value that a test or other tool of
format: refers to the form, plan, structure, arrangement, and
a)
referring to to how
3.
neat vs sloppy vs inappropriate
interviewer over the phone taking note of
a)
changes in the interviewee’s voice pitch
b)
long pauses
c)
signs of emotion in response
ways that interviews differ:
a)
length, purpose, and nature
b)
CHAPTER 1: PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING AND ASSESSMENT
interpretive report:
report: a formal or official computer-generated
in order to help make diagnostic, treatment,
6.
selection,
selection, etc
4.
account of test performance presented in both numeric and
panel interview
a)
narrative form and including an explanation of the findings;
an interview conducted with one interviewee with
a)
the three varieties of interpretive report are
more than one interviewer
C.
D.
(1)
The Portfolio
(2)
screening
1.
files of work products: paper, canvas, film, video, audio, etc
(3)
consultive
2.
samples of ones abilities and accomplishments
b)
Case History Data: records, transcripts, and other accounts in written,
scores that needed to be focused on.
informal accounts, and other data and items relevant to assessee
1.
2.
3.
some contain relatively little interpretation and
simply call attention to certain high, low, or unusual
pictorial or other form that preserve archival information, official and
c)
sheds light on an individual's past and current adjustment as
consultative report: A type of interpretive report
designed to provide expert and detailed analysis of
well as on events and circumstances that may have contributed
test data that mimics the work of an expert
to any changes in adjustment
consultant.
provides information about neuropsychological functioning
d)
integrative report:
report: a form of interpretive report of
prior to the occurrence of a trauma or other event that results
psychological assessment, usually computer-
in a deficit.
generated, in which data from behavioral, medical,
insight into current academic and behavioral standing
administrative, and/or other sources are integrated
4.
useful in making judgments for future class placements
5.
Case history Study:
Study : a report or illustrative account concerning
7.
CAPA:
CAPA: computer assisted psychological assessment. (assistance
to the test user not the test taker)
person or an event that was compiled on the basis of case
a)
history data
a)
and calculations.
b)
combined to produce a successful world leader.
b)
enables test developers to create psychometrically
sound tests using complex mathematical procedures
might shed light on how one individual’s personality
and particular set of environmental conditions
enables test users the construction of tailor-made
test with built-in scoring and interpretive capabilities.
groupthink: work on a social psychological
c)
Pros:
phenomenon: contains rich case history material on
E.
(1)
collective decision making that did not always result
potential test users because of the global
reach of the internet.
(2)
scoring and interpretation of test data
visual or electronic means while recording quantitative and/or qualitative
tend to be quicker than for paper-and-
information regarding those actions.
pencil tests
often used as a diagnostic aid in various settings: inpatient
(3)
facilities, behavioral research laboratories, classrooms.
2.
3.
naturalistic observation: behavioral observation that takes
paper-and-pencil tests
(4)
otherwise isolated populations, as well as
gathering.
people with disabilities for whom getting
in practice tends to be used most frequently by researchers in
to a test center might prove as a hardship.
settings such as classrooms, clinics, prisons, etc.
(5)
greener: conserves paper, shipping
materials etc.
role play:
play: acting an improvised or partially improvised part in a
d)
simulated situation.
2.
the internet facilitates the testing of
laboratory) for the purpose of evaluation and information-
Role- Play Tests
1.
costs associated with internet testing tend
to be lower than costs associated with
place in a naturally occurring setting (as opposed to a research
Cons:
(1)
role-play test:
test: tool of assessment wherein assessees are
test client integrity
(a)
identity of the test taker when
are then evaluated with regard to their expressed thoughts,
a test is administered online
(b)
2.
local processing:
processing: on site computerized scoring, interpretation,
taker vs that of the test
or other conversion of raw test data; contrast w/ CP and
administrator. The test taker
teleprocessing
might have access to notes,
central processing:
processing : computerized scoring, interpretation, or
aids, internet resources etc.
other conversion of raw data that is physically transported from
(c)
the same or other test sites; contrast w/ LP and teleprocessing.
3.
4.
5.
also refers to the sometimes
varying interests of the test
Computers as tools
1.
refers to the verification of the
directed to act as if they were in a particular situation. Assessees
behaviors, abilities, etc
G.
test administrators have greater access to
in the best decisions.
Behavioral Observation: monitoring the actions of others or oneself by
1.
F.
descriptive
teleprocessing:
teleprocessing: computerized scoring, interpretation, or other
internet testing is only testing,
not assessment
8.
CAT:
CAT: computerized adaptive testing: an interactive, computer-
conversion of raw test data sent over telephone lines by modem
administered test taking process wherein items presented to
from a test site to a central location for computer processing.
the test taker are based in part on the test taker's performance
contrast with CP and LP
on previous items
simple score report:
report : a type of scoring report that provides only
a)
EX: on a computerized test of academic abilities, the
a listing of scores
computer might be programmed to switch from
extended scoring report:
report : a type of scoring report that provides
testing math skills to English skills after three
a listing of scores AND statistical data.
consecutive failures on math items.
1.
2.
CHAPTER 1: PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING AND ASSESSMENT
DVD- how would you respond to the events that take place in
satisfaction, personal values, quality of living conditions,
and quality of friendships and other social support.
the video
BUSINESS AND MILITARY SETTINGS

a)
sexual harassment in the workplace

GOVERNMENTAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL CREDENTIALING
b)
respond to various types of emergencies
How
are
Assessments
Conducted?
c)
diagnosis/treatment plan for clients on videotape
thermometers, biofeedback, etc

protocol: the form or sheet or booklet on which a testtaker’s
responses are entered.
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:
The amount of anxiety they experience & the degree to
o
which the test anxiety might affect the results
The extent to which they understand & agree with the
o
rationale of the assessment
o
Their capacity & willingness to cooperate
Amount of physical pain/emotional distress they are
o
experiencing
Amount of physical discomfort
o
o
Extent to which they are alert & wide awake
Extent to which they are predisposed to agreeing or
o
disagreeing when presented with stimulus
o
The extent to which they have received prior coaching
May attribute to portraying themselves in a good light
o

Psychological autopsy – reconstruction of a deceased individual’s
psychological profile on the basis of archival records, artifacts, &
interviews previously conducted with the deceased assesee
TYPES OF SETTINGS

EDUCATIONAL SETTING
achievement test: evaluation of accomplishments or the
o
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
these tools are used to help screen for or diagnose
o
behavior problems
group testing is used primarily for screening: identifying
o
those individuals who require further diagnostic
evaluation.
COUNSELING SETTING
schools,prisons, and governmental or privately owned
o
institutions
ultimate objective: the improvement of the assessee in
o
terms of adjustment, productivity, or some related
variable.
GERIATRIC SETTING
quality of life: in psychological assesment, an evaluation
o
of variables such as perceived stress,lonliness, sources of
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 person’s 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
testakers from young children through senior
19TH CENTURY
adulthood.
THE MEASUREMENT OF PERSONALITY
B.
Tests and testing programs first came into being in China

Field of psychology was being too test oriented
o
Testing was instituted as a means of selecting who, of many

Clinical psychology was synonymous to mental testing
o
applicants would obtain government jobs (Civil service)
o
ROBERT WOODWORTH – develop a measure of
The job applicants are tested on proficiency in endeavors such as

adjustment and emotional stability that could be
music, archery, knowledge and skill etc.
administered quickly and efficiently to groups of recruits
GRECO-ROMAN WRITINGS (Middle Ages)
To disguise the true purpose of the test,

World of evilness

questionnaire was labeled as Personal Data
Deficiency in some bodily fluid as a factor believed to influence

Sheet
personality
He called it Woodworth Psychoneurotic

Hippocrates and Galen

Inventory – first widely used self-report test of
RENAISSANCE
personality

Christian von Wolff – anticipated psychology as a science and
o
Self-report
test:
psychological measurement as a specialty within that science

Advantages:
CHARLES DARWIN AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
Respondents best qualified

Tests designed to measure these individual differences in ability and

Disadvantages:

personality among people
Poor insight into self

“Origin of Species” chance variation in species would be selected or

One
might
honestly
believe

rejected by nature according to adaptivity and survival value.
something
about
self
that
isn’t
true
“survival of the fittest”
Unwillingness
to
report
seemingly

FRANCIS GALTON
negative qualities
Explore and quantify individual differences between people.

o
Projective
test:
individual
is assumed to project onto some
Classify people “according to their natural gifts”

ambiguous
stimulus
(inkblot,
photo, etc.) his or her own
Displayed the first anthropometric laboratory

unique
needs,
fears,
hopes,
and
motivations
KARL PEARSON

Ex.) Rorschack inkblot
Developed the product moment correlation technique.

o
His work can be traced directly from Galton

THE ACADEMIC AND APPLIED TRADITIONS
C.
WILHEM MAX WUNDT
First experimental psychology laboratory in University of Leipzig

Culture and Assessment
Focuses more on relating to how people were similar, not different

from each other.
Culture: ‘the socially transmitted behavior patterns, beliefs, and products of work
JAMES MCKEEN CATELL
f a particular population, community, or group of people’
Individual differences in reaction time

Coined the term mental test

Evolving Interest in Culture-Related Issues
CHARLES SPEARMAN
Goddard tested immigrants and found most to be feebleminded
Originating the concept of test reliability as well as building the

-invalid; overestimated mental deficiency, even in native Englishmathematical framework for the statistical technique of factor
speakers
analysis
Lead to nature-nurture debate about what intelligence tests actually measure
VICTOR HENRI
Needed to “isolate” the cultural variable 
Frenchman who collaborated with Binet on papers suggesting how

Culture-specific tests: tests designed for use with ppl from one culture, but not
mental tests could be used to measure higher mental processes
from another
EMIL KRAEPELIN
-minorities still scored abnormally low
Early experimenter of word association technique as a formal test

ex.) loaf of bread vs. tortillas
LIGHTNER WITMER
today tests undergo many steps to ensure its suitable for said nation
“Little known founder of clinical psychology”

-take testtakers reactions into account
Founded the first psychological clinic in the U.S.

PSYCHE CATELL
Some Issues Regarding Culture and Assessment
Daughter of James Cattell

Verbal Communication

Cattel Infant Intelligence Scale (CIIS) & Measurement of Intelligence in

Examiner and examinee must speak the same language
o
Infants and Young Children
o
Especially tricky with infrequently used vocabulary or
RAYMOND CATTELL
unusual idioms employed
Believed in lexical approach to defining personality which examines

Translator may lose nuances of translation or give
o
human languages for descriptors of personality dimensions
unintentional hints toward more desirable answer
20th CENTURY
Also requires understanding of culture
o
Birth of the first formal tests of intelligence
Nonverbal Communication and Behavior

Testing shifted to be of more understandable relevance/meaning
Different between cultures
o
A.
THE MEASUREMENT OF INTELLIGENCE
o
Ex.) meaning of not making eye contact
o
Binet created first intelligence to test to identify mentally
Body movement could even have physical cause
o
retarded school children in Paris (individual)
o
Psychoanalysis: Freud’s theory of personality and
o
Binet-Simon Test has been revised over again
psychological treatment which stated that symbolic
Group intelligence tests emerged with need to screen
o
significance is assigned to many nonverbal acts.
intellect of WWI recruits
o
Timing tests in cultures not obsessed with speed
o
David Wechsler – designed a test to measure adult
Lack of speaking could be reverence for elders
o
intelligence test
Standards of Evaluation


for him Intelligence is a global capacity of the
Acceptable roles for women differ throughout culture
o
individual to act purposefully, to think rationally
o
“judgments as to who might be the best employee,
and to deal effectively with his environment.
manager, or leader may differ as a function of culture, as

Wechsler-Bellevue Intelligence Scale 
might judgments regarding intelligence, wisdom, courage,
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Test – was revised
and other psychological variables”
several times and extended the age range of
CHAPTER 2: HISTORICAL, CULTURAL AND LEGAL/ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
must ask ‘how appropriate are the norms or other

The right to be informed of test findings
standards that will be used to make this evaluation’
o
Formerly test administrators told to give participants only
positive information
Tests and Group Membership
No realistic information is required
o
o
ex.) must be 5’4” to be police officer - excludes cultures with short
Tell test takers as little as possible about the nature of their

stature
performance on a particular test. So that the examinee
would leave the test session feeling pleased and statisfied.
ex.) Jewish lifestyle not well suited for corporate America

Test takers have the right also to know what
o
affirmative action: voluntary and mandatory efforts to combat

recommendations are being made as a consequence of the
discrimination and promote equal opportunity in education and
test data
employment for all
The right to privacy and confidentiality

Psychology, tests, and public policy

o
Private right: “recognizes the freedom of the individual to
pick and choose for himself the time, circumstances, and
Legal and Ethical Condiseration
particularly the extent to which he wishes to share or
Code of professional ethics: defines the standard of care expected of members of
withhold from others his attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, and
a given profession.
opinions”
o
Privileged information: information protected by law from
The Concerns of the Public
being disclosed in legal proceeding. Protects clients from
Beginning in world war I, fear that tests were only testing the ability to

disclosure in judicial proceedings. Privilege belongs to the
take tests
client not the psychologist.

Legislation
o
Confidentiality: concerns matters of communication
Minimum competency testing programs: formal testing
o
outside the courtroom
programs designed to be used in decisions regarding
Safekeeping of test data: It is not a good policy

various aspects of students’ educations
to maintain all records in perpetuity
Truth-in-testing legislation: state laws to provide testtakers
o
The right to the least stigmatizing label

with a means of learning the criteria by which the y are being
The standards advise that the least stigmatizing labels
o
judged
should always be assigned when reporting test results.

Litigation
o
o
o
Daubert ruling made federal judges the gatekeepers to
determining what expert testimony is admitted
This overrode the Frye policy which only admitted scientific
testimony that had won general acceptance in the scientific
community.
The Concerns of the Profession
Test-user qualifications

Who should be allowed to use psych tests
o
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
Level C: tests and aids requiring substantial understanding
o
of testing and supporting psych fields with experience
Testing people with disabilities

Difficulty in transforming the test into a form that can be
o
taken by testtaker
Transferring responses to be scorable
o
Meaningfully interpreting the test data
o

Computerized test administration, scoring, and interpretation
o
simple, convenient
easily copied, duplicated
o
insufficient research to compare it to pencil-and-paper
o
versions
value of computer interpretation is questionable
o
unprofessional, unregulated “psychological testing” online
o
The Rights of Testtakers

the right of informed consent
right to know why they are being evaluated, how test data
o
will be used and what information will be released to whom
may be obtained by parent or legal representative
o
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

revealing this information before the test can contaminate
o
the results
deception only used if absolutely necessary
o
o
don’t use deception if it will cause emotional distress
CHAPTER 3: A STATISTICS REFRESHER
No absolute zero point

Why We Need Statistics
Can take average

RATIO SCALE
Statistics are important for purposes of education
In addition to all the properties of nominal, ordinal, and interval

Numbers provide convenient summaries and allow us to
o
measurement, ratio scale has true zero point
evaluate some observations relative to others
Equal intervals between numbers

We use statistics to make inferences, which are logical deductions
Ex.) measuring amount of pressure hand can exert

about events that cannot be observed directly
True zero doesn’t mean someone will receive a scor e of 0, but means

Detective work of gathering and displaying clues –
o
that 0 has meaning
exploratory data analysis
o
Then confirmatory data analysis
NOTE:
Descriptive statistics are methods used to provide a concise
Permissible Operations
description of a collection of quantitative information
Level of measurement is important because it defines which
Inferential statistics are methods used to make inferences from
mathematical operations we can apply to numerical data
observations of a small group of people known as a sample to a larger
For nominal data, each observation can be placed in only one
group of individuals known as a population
mutually exclusive category
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
Shows that an increase in equal units on a given scale
o
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

Ex.) yes/no responses
o
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

-
Ordinal measurements can be manipulated using arithmetic
With interval data, one can apply any arithmetic operation to the
differences between scores
Cannot be used to make statements about ratios
o
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
Highest and lowest class intervals= upper and lower limits
o
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 DON’T 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
One defines all the possible scores and determines how
o
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”
sum of observations divided by number of observations
o
Sigma (X/n)
o
o
Used for interval or ratio data when distributions are
relatively normal

The Median
The middle score
o
o
Used for ordinal, interval, and ratio data
Especially useful when few scores fall at extremes
o

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
conversion of a raw score into a number indicating how many

Variability: indication of how scores in a distribution are scattered or
dispersed
standard deviation units the raw score is below or above the mean of
the distribution.
The Range
The difference between a particular raw score and the mean divided
o

Difference between the highest and lowest scores
Quick but gross description of the spread of scores
by the standard deviation
o
The interquartile and semi-interquartile range
Used to compare test scores with difference scales

Distribution is split up by 3 quartiles, thus making 4
o
T-score
quarters each representing 25% of the scores
Q2= median
o
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
Semi-interquartile range interquartile range divided by 2
o
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; s econd 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
Deciles are similar but use points that mark 10% rather
o
made
than 25% intervals
o
Normalized Standard Scores
Stanine system: converts any set of scores into a
o
When scores don’t 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
X-mean=x
o
curve and creating a corresponding scale of
Average deviation= (sum of all deviation scores)/ total
o
standard scores, a scale called a normalized
number of scores
standard score scale”
Tells us on average how far scores are from the mean
o
The Standard Deviation
Similar to average deviation
o
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
s = sample standard deviation
o
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
Samples of behavior:
o
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
Controversy regarding how psychological tests exist
o
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
Traits not expected to be manifested in behavior 100% of the
o
time
Seems to be rank-order stability in personality

traits relatively high correlations between trait
scores at different time points
Whether and to what degree a trait manifests itself is
o
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
After being defined, test developer considers types of item
o
content that would provide insight into it
Ex: behaviors that are indicative of a particular trait

Should all questions be weighted the same?
o

Weighting the comparative value of a test’s 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
Need to find appropriate ways to score the test and interpret
o
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
Objective of test is to provide some indication of some aspects
o
of the examinee’s behavi
-
-
-
-
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
Could also be used to postdict behavior  to aid in the
o
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
Competent test users understand a lot about the tests they use
o

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
Assessment  error= a long-standing assumption that factors
o
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

Classical test theory (CTT)/ True score theory: assumption is
o
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
Court challenged to various tests and testing programs have
o
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
Fairness related problems/questions:
o
Culture is different from people whom the test was

intended for
Politics

Assumption 7: Testing and Assessment Benefit Society
Many critical decisions are based on testing and assessment
o
procedures
WHAT’S A “GOOD TEST”?
Criteria
Clear instruction for administration, scoring, and interpretation
o
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
Test is considered valid if it doesn’t indeed measure what it
o
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

test’s validity
Validity may also be questioned on grounds related to the
o
interpretation of test results
Other Considerations
“Good test” one that trained examiners can administer, score
o
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
STANDARD ERROR OF THE DIFFERENCE – estimate how
Purpose of test  compare performance of testtaker with
performance of other testtakers (contains adequate norms:
large a difference between two scores should be before
normative data)
the difference is considered statistically significant
Normative data provides standard with which results

Developing norms for a standardized test
measured can be compared
Establish a standard set of instructions and conditions
o
under which the test is given  makes scores of normative
sample more comparable with scores of future testtakers
Norm-referenced testing and assessment: method of evaluation and
o
a way of deriving meaning from test scored by evaluating an
All data collected and analyzed, test developer will
individual testtaker’s score and comparing it to scores of a group of
summarize data using descriptive statistics (measures of
testtakers
central tendency and variability)

Meaning of individual score is relative to other scores on the same
Test developer needs to provide precise
test
description of standardization sample itself

Norms (scholarly context): usual, average, normal, standard, expected
Descriptions of normative samples vary widely
or typical
in detail
Norms (psychometric context): the test performance data of a
Tracking
particular group of testtakers that are designed for use as a reference
Comparisons are usually with people of the same age
when evaluating or interpreting individual test scores
Children at the same age level tend to go through different growth
Normative sample: group of people whose performance on a
patterns
particular test is analyzed for reference in evaluation the performance
Pediatricians must know the child’s percentile within a given age
of individual testtakers
group
o
Yields a distribution of scores
This tendency to stay at about the same level relative to one’s peers is
known as tracking (ie height and weight)
Norming: refers to the process of deriving norms; particular type of
norm derivation
Diets may alter this “track”
Faults: some believe there is an analogy between the rates of physical
o
Race norming: controversial practice of norming on the
basis of race or ethnic background
growth and the rates of intellectual growth
o
Norming a test can be very expensive  user norms/program norms:
Some say that children learn at different rates
consist of descriptive statistics based on a group of testtakers in a
This system discriminates against some children
o
given period of time rather than norms obtained by form sampling
methods
TYPES OF NORMS
Sampling to Develop Norms
Classification of norms  ex: age, grade, national, local,
o
percentile, etc.
Standardization: process of administering a test to a representative
sample of testtakers for the purpose of establishing norms
o
PERCENTILES
o

Standardized when has clear, specified procedures
Median= 2 nd quartile: the point at or below which
50% of the scores fell and above which the remaining
Sampling
o
Developer targets defined group as population test
50% fell
designed for
Might wish to divide distribution of scores into

All have at least one common, observable

deciles (instead of quartiles): 10 equal parts
characteristic
The Xth percentile is equal to the score at or below

To obtain distribution of scores:
which X% of scores fall
o
Percentile: an expression of the percentage of
Test administered to everyone in targeted


population
people whose score on a test or measure falls below
Administer test to a sample of the population
a particular raw score



Sample: portion of universe of
Percentage correct: refers to the
people deemed to be representative
distribution of raw scores (number of
of whole population
items that were answered correctly)
multiplied by 100 and divided by the total
Sampling:
process
of
selecting
the

number of items *not same as percentile
portion of universe deemed to be
representative of whole
Percentile is a converted score that refers

Subgroups within a defined population may differ with
to a percentage of testtakers
o
respect to some characteristics and it is sometimes
Percentiles are easily calculated  popular way of

essential to have these differences proportionately
organizing test related data
represented in sample
Using percentiles with normal distribution  real


Stratified sampling: sample reflects statistics of
differences between raw scores may be minimized
whole population; helps prevent sampling bias
near the ends of the distribution and exaggerated in
and ultimately aid in interpretation of findings
the middle (worsens with highly skewed data)
o

Purposive sampling: arbitrarily select sample
AGE NORMS
we believe to be representative of population

Age-equivalent scores/age norms: indicate the
Incidental/convenience sampling: sample that
average performance of different samples of

is convenient or available for use
testtakers who were at various ages at the time the
test was administered
Very exclusive (contain exclusionary

Age norm tables for physical

criteria)
TYPES OF STANDARD ERROR:
characteristics
o
STANDARD ERROR OF MEASUREMENT – estimate the
“Mental” age vs. physical age (need to

extent to which an observed score deviates from a true
identify mental age)
score
o
GRADE NORMS
o
STANDARD ERROR OF ESTIMATE – In regression, an

Grade norms: designed to indicate the average test
estimate of the degree of error involved in predicting the
performance of testtakers in a given school grade
value of one variable from another
Developed by administering the test to

o
STANDARD ERROR OF THE MEAN – a measure of sampling
representative samples of children over a
error
range of consecutive grades
Mean or median score for children at

o
NORMS
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
CHAPTER 4: OF TESTS AND TESTING
CORRELATION
Great intuitive appeal
Degree and direction of correspondence between two things.

Do not provide info as to the content or

Correlation coefficient (r) – expresses a linear relationship between
type of items that a student could or

could not answer correctly
two continuous variables
Numerical index that tells us the extent to which X and Y
o

Developmental norms: (ex: grade norms and age
norms) term applied broadly to norms developed on
are “co-related”
the basis of any trait, ability, skill, or other

Positive correlation: high scores on Y are associated with high scores
characteristic that is presumed to develop,
on X, and low scores on Y correspond to low scores on X
deteriorate, or otherwise be affected by
Negative correlation: higher scores on Y are associated with lower

chronological age, school grade, or stage of life
scores on X, and vise versa
o
NATIONAL NORMS
No correlation: the variables are not related


National norms: derived from a normative sample
-1 to 1

that was nationally representative of the population
Correlation does not imply causation.

at the time the norming study was conducted
Ie weight, height, intelligence
o
o
NATIONAL ANCHOR NORMS

Many different tests purporting to measure the same
PEARSON r
human characteristics or abilities
Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient

National anchor norms: equivalency tables for scores

Devised by Karl Pearson

on tests that purpose to measure the same thing
Relationship of two variables are linear and continuous

Could provide the tool for comparisons


Coefficient of Determination (r 2) – indication of how much variance is
Provides stability to test scores by

shared by the X and the Y variables
anchoring them to other test scores
SPEARMAN RHO
Begins with the computation of percentile

Rank order correlation coefficient

norms for each test to be compared
Developed by Charles Spearman

Equipercentile method: equivalency of

Used when the sample size is small and when both sets of

scores on different tests is calculated with
measurements are in ordinal form (ranking form)
reference to corresponding percentile
BISERIAL CORRELATION
scores
expresses the relationship between a continuous variable and an

SUBGROUP NORMS
o
artificial dichotomous variable
Normative sample can be segmented by an criteria

o
If the dichotomous variable had been true then we would
initially used in selecting subjects for sample
use the point biserial correlation

Subgroup norms: result of segmentation; more
When both variables are dichotomous and at least one of
o
narrowly defined
the dichotomies is true, then the association between
o
LOCAL NORMS
them can be estimated using the phi coefficient

Local norms: provide normative info with respect to
o
If both dichotomous variables are artificial, we might use a
the local population’s performance on some test
special correlation coefficient – tetrachoric correlation
Typically developed by test users

themselves
REGRESSION
Fixed Reference Group Scoring Systems
analysis of relationships among variables for the purpose of

Norms provide context for interpreting meaning of a test score
o
understanding how one variable may predict another
o
Fixed reference group scoring system: distribution of scored
SIMPLE REGRESSION: one IV (X) and one DV (Y)

obtained on the test from one group of testtakers (fixed
Regression line: defined as the best-fitting straight line through a set
reference group) is used as the basis for the calculation of test
of points in a scatter diagram
scores for future administrators on the test
Found by using the principle of least squares, which
o
Ex: SAT test (developed in 1962)

minimizes the squared deviation around the regression
NORM-REFERENCED VERSUS CRITERION-REFERENCED EVALUATION
line
Way to derive meaning from test score is to evaluate test score in
Primary use: To predict one score or variable from another

relation to other scores on same test ( Norm-referenced)
Standard error of estimate: the higher the correlation between X and

Criterion-referenced: derive meaning from a test score by evaluating
Y, the greater the accuracy of the prediction and the smaller the SEE.
it on the basis of whether or not some criterion has been met
MULTIPLE REGRESSION: The use of more than one score to predict Y.

o
Criterion: a standard on which a judgment or decision may
Regression coefficient : (b) slope of the regression line

be based
Sum of squares for the covariance to the sum of squares
o
Criterion-referenced testing and assessment: method of evaluation
for X
and way of deriving meaning from test scores by evaluating an
Sum of squares is defined as the sum of the squared
o
individual’s score with reference to a set standard (ex: to drive must
deviations around the mean
past driving test)
o
Covariance is used to express how much two measures
Derives from values and standards of an individual or
o
covary, or vary together
organization
Slope
describes
how much change is expected in Y each time X

Also called Domain/content-referenced testing and
o
increases
by
one
unit
assessment
(a)
is
the
value of Y when X is 0

Intercept
o
Critique: if followed strictly, important info about
The
point
at which the regression line crosses the Y axis
o
individual’s performance relative to others can be
THE
BEST-FITTING
LINE
potentially lost
The difference between the observed and predicted score (Y- Y’) is

Culture and Inference
called the residual
Culture is a factor in test administration, scoring and interpretation
The best-fitting line is most appropriately found by squaring each

Test user should do research in advance on test’s available norms to
residual
check how appropriate it is for targeted testtaker population
Best-fitting line is obtained by keeping these squared residuals as

o
Helpful to know about the culture of the testtaker
small as possible
Principle of least squares:
o
CORRELATION AND INFERENCE
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
Third variable, ie poor social adjustment, causes TV viewing and
In correlation, the intercept is always 0
aggression

Pearson product moment correlation coefficient is a ratio used to
External influence is the third variable
determine the degree of variation in one variable that can be
Restricted Range
estimated from knowledge about variation in the other variable
Correlation and regression use variability on one variable to explain
Testing the Statistical Significance of a Correlation Coefficient
variability on a second variable
Begin with the null hypothesis that there is no relationship between
Restricted range problem: correlation requires variability; if the
variables
variability is restricted, then significant correlations are difficult to
Null hypothesis rejected is there is evidence that the association
find
between two variables is significantly different from 0
Mulvariate Analysis
t distribution is not a single distribution, but a family of distributions,
Multivariate analysis considers the relationship among combinations
each with its own degrees of freedom
of three of more variables
Degrees of freedom are defined as the sample size minus 2, or N-2
General Approach
Two-tailed test
Linear combination of variables is a weighted composite of the
original variables
How to Interpret a Regression Plot
Y’ = a+b1X1 + … bkXk
Regression plots are pictures that show the relationship between
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-r 2 –-- 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
TEST CONSTUCTION
Dependability and consistent
o
Item sampling or content sampling – refer to variation
Error implies that there will always be some inaccuracy in our
among items within a test as well as to variation among
measurements
items between test\
Tests that are relatively free of measurement error are deemed to be
The extent to which a test takers score is

reliable
affected by the content sampled on a test and
Reliability estimates in the range of .70 and .80 are good enough for
by the way the content is sampled (that is, the
way in which the item is constructed) is a
most purposes in basic research
source of error variance
Reliability coefficient: an index that indicates the ratio between the
TEST ADMINISTRATION
true score variance on a test and the total variance
o
may influence the test takers attention or motivation
HISTORY OF RELIABILITY:
Environment variables, test taker’s variables, examiner
o
o
Charles Spearman (1904): The Proof and Measurement of
variables. Level of professionalism
Association between Two Things
TEST SCORING AND INTERPRETATION
o
Then Thorndike
Computer scoring and a growing reliance on objective,
o
Item response theory has taken advantage of computer
o
computer-scorable items have virtually eliminated error
technology to advance psychological measurement
variance caused by scorer differences
significantly
However, other tools of assessment still require scoring by
o
Based on Spearman’s ideas
o
trained personnel
X=T+E
CLASSICAL TEST THEORY
If subjectivity is involved in scoring, then the scorer can be
o
assumes that each person has a true score that would be
o
a source of error variance
obtained if there were no errors in measurement
Despite rigorous scoring criteria set forth in many of the
o
o
Difference between the true score and the observed score
better known test of intelligence, examiner occasionally
results from measurement error
still are confronted by situations where an examinees
o
Assumption here is that errors of measurement are
response lies in a gray area
random
o
Basic sampling theory tells us that the distribution of
TEST-RETEST RELIABILITY
random errors is bell-shaped
Also known as time-sampling reliability
The center of the distribution should represent

Correlating pairs of scores from the same group on two different
the true score, and the dispersion around the
administration of the same test
mean of the distribution should display the
Measure something that is relatively stable over time
distribution of sampling errors
Sources of Error variance:
Classical test theory assumes that the true score for an
o
Passage of time: the longer the time that passes, the
o
individual will not change with repeated applications of
greater the likelihood that reliability coefficient will be
the same test
lower.
o
o
Coefficient of stability : when the interval between testing
o
Variance: standard deviation squared. It is useful because
is greater than 6 months,
it can be broken into components:
Consider possibility of carryover effect: occurs when first testing
are
o
True variance: variance from true differences
session influences scores from the second session
assumed to be stable
If something affects all the test takers equally, then the results are
o
Error variance: random irrelevant sources
uniformly affected and no net errors occurs
Standard error of measurement: we assume that the distribution of
Practice tests may make this effect happen
random errors will be the same for all people, classical test theory
Practice can also affect tests of manual dexterity
uses the standard deviation of errors as the basic measure of error
Time interval between testing sessions must be selected and
Standard error of measurement tells us, on the average,
o
evaluated carefully
how much a score varies from the true score
Poor test-retest correlations do not always mean that a attest is
Standard deviation of the observed score and the
o
unreliable – suggest that the characteristic under study has changed
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
compares two equivalent forms of a test that measure the same
variance.
attribute
the greater portion of total variance attributed to true
o
Two forms should be equally constructed, both format, etc.
variance, the more reliable the test
When two forms of the test are available, one can compare
Measurement error: refers to collectively, all of the factors associated
performance on one form versus the other – equivalent forms
with the process of measuring some variable, other than the variable
reliability or parallel forms
being measured
Coefficient of equivalence: degree of relationship between various
o
Random error: a source of error in measuring a targeted
forms of a test can be evaluated by means of an alternate-forms
variable caused by unpredictable fluctuations and
Parallel forms: each form of the test, the means and variances of
inconsistencies of other variables in the measurement
observed test scores are equal
process
Alternate forms: different versions of a test that have been
This source of error fluctuates from one testing

constructed so as to be parallel
situation to another with no discernible pattern
(1) two test administrations with the same group are required
that would systematically raise or lower scores
(2) test scores may be affected by factors such as motivation etc.
o
Systematic Error:
Problem: developing a new version of a test

A source of error in measuring a variable that is
INTERNAL CONSISTENCY
typically constant or proportionate to what is
How well does each item measure the content/construct under
presumed to be true value of the variable being
consideration
measured
How consistent the items together
Error is predictable and fixable

Used when tests are administered once

Does not affect score consistency
If all items on a test measure the same construct, then it has a good
SOURCES OF ERROR VARIANCE
internal consistency
Split-half reliability, KR20, Cronbach Alpha
CHAPTER 5: RELIABILITY
o
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:
Do not divide test in the middle because it would lower
o
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
use the odd-even system: where one subscore is obtained
o
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
Use this if test user wish to shorten a test
o
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
Most general method of finding estimates of reliability
o
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
Good for the process of test construction
o
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
A measure of inter-item consistency is calculated from a
o
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
Definition: the degree to which a test measures a single
o
factor
o
Heterogeneity: degree to which a test measures different
factors
Ex: homo=test that assesses knowledge only of #-D
o
television repair skills vs. a general electronics repair test
(hetero)
The more homogenous a test is, the more inter-item
o
consistency it can be expected to have
Test homogeneity is desirable because it allows relatively
o
straightforward test-score interpretation
Test takers with the same score on a homogenous test
o
o
Test takers with the same score on a heterogeneous test
may have quite different abilities
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
Indicates the actual agreement as a proportion of the potential
o
agreement following the correction for chance agreement
o
Cohen’s 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 individual’s 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
Tests are most reliable if they are unidimensional : one
o
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
Called discriminability analysis: when the correlation
o
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
(N/2)
CVR Content validity ratio
o
Validity: as applied to a test, is a judgment or estimate of how well a test
o
measures what it purports to measure in a particular context
ne  Number of panelists
Judgment based on evidence about the appropriateness of
stating “essential”
o
inferences drawn from test scores
N Total number of panelists
o
o
Validity of test must be shown from time to time to account for
CVR is calculated for each item

culture and advancement
o
Culture and the relativity of content validity
Inference: a logical result or deduction
Tests thought of as either valid or invalid

“Acceptable” or “weak” validity of tests and test scores
What constitutes historical fact depends to some

Validation: process of gathering and evaluating evidence about validity
extent on who is writing the history
o
Test user and testtaker both have roles in validation of test
Culture relativity

Test users may conduct their own validation studies: may yield
o
Politics (politically correct)

insights regarding a particular population of testtakers as
Criterion-Related Validity
compared to the norming sample (in manual)
Criterion-related validity: judgment of how adequately a test score can be
o
Local validation studies: absolutely necessary when test user
used to infer an individual’s most probable standing on some measure of
plans to alter in some way the format, instructions, language, or
interest (measure of interest being the criterion)
content of the test
2 types:
Types of Validity (Trinitarian view) *not mutually exclusive  all contribute
o
Concurrent validity: index of the degree to which a test score is
to a unified picture of a test’s validity/ critiq ue approach is fragmented
related to some criterion measure obtained at the same time
and incomplete
(concurrently)
o
Content validity: measure of validity based on an evaluation of
o
Predictive validity: index of the degree to which a test score
the subjects, topics, or content covered by the items in the test
predicts some criterion measure
o
Criterion-related validity: measure of validity obtained by
What Is a Criterion?
evaluating the relationship of scores obtained on the test to
o
Criterion: a standard on which a judgment or decision may be
scores on other tests or measures
based; standard against which a test or a test score is evaluated
o
Construct validity: measure of validity that is arrived at by
(criterion-related validity)
executing a comprehensive analysis of: (umbrella validity 
Characteristics of criterion
o
every other variety of validity falls under it)

Relevancy pertinent or applicable to the matter at
How scores on test relate to other test scores and

hand
measures

Validity (for the purpose which it is being used)
How scores on test can be understood within some

Uncontaminated  Criterion contamination: term

theoretical framework for understand the construct
applied to a criterion measure that has been based,
that the test was designed to measure
at least in part, on predictor measures
Strategies: ways of approaching the process of test validity
Concurrent Validity
o
Content validation strategies
o
Test scores are obtained at about the same time as the criterion
Criterion-related validation strategies
o
measures are obtained  measures of the relationship between
Construct validation strategies
o
the test scores and the criterion provide evidence of concurrent
Face Validity
validity
o
Face validity: relates more to what a test appears to measure to
Indicate the extent to which test scores may be used to
o
the person being tested than to what the test actually measures
estimate an individuals present standing on a criterion
Judgment concerning how relevant the test items appear to
o
Once validity of inference from test scores is established= faster,
o
be usually from testtaker, not test user
less expensive way to offer a diagnosis or a classification
o
Lack of face validity= lack of confidence in perceived
decision
effectiveness of test which decreases testtaker’s
Concurrent validity of a test can be explored with respect to
o
motivation/cooperation *may still be useful
another test
Content validity
Prior research must have satisfactorily demonstrated

o
Content validity: a judgment of how adequately a test samples
the 1st test’s validity
behavior representative of the universe of behavior that the test
1st test= validating criterion

was designed to sample
Predictive validity

Ideally, test developers have a clear vision of the
Test scores may be obtained at one time and the criterion
o
construct being measured clarity reflected in the
measures obtained at a future time, usually after some
content validity of the test
intervening event has taken place
o
Test blueprint: structure of the evaluation; a plan regarding the
Intervening event training, experience, therapy,

types of information to be covered by the items, the number of
medication, etc.
items tapping each area of coverage, the organization of the

Measures of relationship between the test scores
items in the test, etc.
and a criterion measure obtained at a future time
Behavior observation is a technique frequently used

provide an indication of the predictive validity test
in test blueprinting
(how accurately scores on the test predict some
The quantification of content validity
o
criterion measure)
Important in employment settings  tests used to

o
Ex: SAT test score and freshman gpa
hire and promote
Judgments of criterion validity are based on 2 types of statistical
o
One method: method for gauging agreement among

evidence:
raters or judges regarding how essential a particular
The validity coefficient

item is (C.H. Lawshe)
Validity coefficient: correlation

“Is the skill or knowledge measured by

coefficient that provides a measure of the
this item…
relationship between test scores and
o
Essential
scores on the criterion measure
Useful but not essential
o
Ex: Pearson correlation coefficient  used

o
Not necessary
to determine validity between 2 measures
To the performance of the job?”

(r)

Content validity ratio (CVR) :
Affected by restriction or inflation of

CVR= n (N/2)
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
May be created from
o
scatterplot
Shows relationships
o
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
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:
Formal education
o
o
Therapy/medication
Any life experience
o
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


o
CHAPTER 6: VALIDITY
Criterion data may be influenced by

Convergent evidence: scores on a test
undergo construct validity and correlate
rater’s knowledge of ratee  race,
highly in the predicted direction with
gender, etc.
scores on older, more established and
Test fairness
o

already validated tests designed to
Issues of fairness tend to be more difficult and
measure the same/similar construct
involve values
Fairness: the extent to which a test is used in an
Discriminant evidence


impartial, just, and equitable way

Discriminant evidence: validity coefficient
Sources of misunderstanding

showing little relationship between test
Discrimination

scores and /or other variables with which
scores on the test being constructGroup 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
Relationship Between Reliability and Validity
more traits”, “two or more methods” 
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

We can have reliability without validity
Factor analysis: shorthand term for a class

o
It is impossible to demonstrate that an unreliable test is
of mathematical procedures designed to
valid
identify factors or specific variables that
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
Complex procedures
o
Validity, Bias, and Fairness
Test Bias
o

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 1 st, 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 Test’s Utility
Psychometric Soundness

o
Reliability and validity of a test
Gives us the practical value of both the scores (reliability
o
and validity)
They tell us whether decisions are cost-effective
o
A valid test is not always a useful test
o

especially if testtakers do not follow test
directions
Costs

Economic and non economic
o
o
Ex.) using a less expensive and therefore less stringent
application process for airline personnel.
Benefits

o
Profits, gains, advantages
Ex.) more stringent hiring policy  more productive
o
employees
o
Ex.) maintaining successful and academic environment of
university

o
o
o
o
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 A’s

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

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
Multiple hurdles: for success, requires one individual to
complete many tasks, with elimination at each level
Ex.) written application group interview 

personal interview etc.
Compensatory model of selection: assumption is made
that high scores on one attribute can compensate for low
scores on another attribute
Utility Analysis
Methods for Setting Cut Scores
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.
The Angoff Method
Judgments of experts are averaged
Utility analysis: An illustration
What’s the companies goal?
Limit the cost of selection

Don’t use FERT
o
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
False positives are no better or worse than false negatives
o
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
Most simply is benefits-cost
o
o
Productivity gain: estimated increase in work output
Some Practical Considerations
The Pool of Job Applicants

There is rarely a limitless supply of potential employees
o
o
Dependent on many factors, including economic
environment
We assume that top scoring individuals will accept the job,
o
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
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 testtaker’s 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.
2.
3.
4.
5.
TEST CONCEPTUALIZATION
TEST CONSTRUCTION
TEST TRYOUT
ITEM ANALYSIS
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
don’t need to transform testtaker’s response to another scale
WRITING ITEMS
3 Questions of test developer
o
What range of content should the items cover?
Which of the many different types of item formats should be
o
employed?
How many items should be written in total and for each content
o
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
-
Item format: variables such as the form, plan, structure,
arrangement and layout of individual test items
o
2 types
1.) selected-response format: testtaker selects a response from
o
a set of alternative responses

includes multiple choice, true-false, and matching
2.) constructed-response format: testtaker supplies or creates
o
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, computeradministered testtaking process wherein items presented to the
testtaker are based in part on testtaker’s 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 testtaker’s score on one within a test to
another scale within that same test
ex.) “John’s need for achievement is higher than his need
o
for affiliation”
ITEM WRITING (KAPLAN BOOK)
Item Writing
Personality and intelligence tests require different sorts of responses
Guidelines for item writing
Define clearly what you want to measure
o
Generate an item pool
o
Avoid exceptionally long items
o
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
Consider mixing positively and negatively worded items
o
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
Ie. True-false examination
o
Advantages:
Simplicity
o
o
True-false items require absolute judgment
Disadvantages:
o
True-false encourage students to memorize material
“truth” often comes in shades of gray
o
mere chance of getting any item correct is 50%
o
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
Multiple-choice exams
o
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
o
CHAPTER 8: TEST DEVELOPMENT
o
Disadvantages:
The midpoint representing the optimal difficulty is
How many distractors should a test have? --> 3 or 4
obtained by summing up the chance of success proportion
o
o
Distractors hurting reliability / validity of test
and 1.00 and then dividing the sum by 2
Three alternative multiple-choice items may be better than five
o
Item Reliability Index
alternative items because they retain the psychometric value
Indication of the internal consistency of a test
o
o
but take less time to develop and administer
Equal to the product of the item-score standard deviation (s) and the
Scoring of the MC exams? --> simply guessing should elicit
correlation (r)
o
o
correctness
Factor analysis and inter-item consistency
Correcting for this though, the expected score is 0 – as getting a
Factor analysis determines whether items on a test appear
o
o
question wrong loses you a point
to be measuring the same thing
The Item-Validity Index
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
Statistic designed to provide an indication of the degree to which a
o
test than when they are more confident
test is measuring what it purports to measure
Guessing threshold describes the chances that a low-ability test taker will
Requires: item-score standard deviation, the correlation between the
o
obtain each score
item score and criterion score
The Item-Discrimination Index
True-false and MC tests are common to educational and achievement tests
Likert format, category scale, and the Q-sort used for personality-attitude
Measures how adequately an item separates or discriminates
o
tests
between high scorers and low scorers
“d”
o
Likert Format
o
Likert format: requires that a respondent indicate the degree of agreement
compares performance on a particular item with performance in the
with a particular attitudinal question
upper and lower regions of a distribution of continuous test scores
Strongly disagree ... Strongly agree
higher d means greater number of high scorers answering the item
o
o
o
For measurements of attitude
correctly
Used to create Likert Scales: scales require assessment of item
negative d means low-scoring examinees are more likely to answer
o
discriminability
the item correctly than high-scoring examinees
o
Familiar and easy --- likely to remain popular in personality and attitude
Analysis of item alternatives
tests
Item-Characteristic Curves?
o
Category Format
Graphic representation of item difficulty and discrimination
Category format: uses more choices than Likert; 10-point rating scale
Other Considerations in Item Analysis
Disadvantage: responses to items on 10-pt scales are affected by the
groupings of the people or things being rated
o
Guessing
People change their ratings depending on context
Usually in some direction
o
o
o
This problem can be avoided if the endpoints of the scale are
Depends on individuals ability to take risks
clearly defined and the subjects are frequently reminded of the
o
Item fairness
o
definitions of the endpoints
Bias
Optimal number of points is 7?
o
Speed tests
Number depends on the fineness of the discrimination that
Last items will appear to be more difficult because
o
o
subjects are willing to make
not everyone got to them
When people are highly involved with some issue, they will tend
o
Qualitative Item Analysis
to respond best to a greater number of categories
Increasing the number of response categories may not increase reliability

Qualitative methods: techniques of data generation and analysis that
and validity
rely primarily on verbal rather than mathematical or statistical
Visual analogue scale: respondent is given a 100-millimeter line and asked
procedures
to place a mark between two well-defined endpoints
Qualitative item analysis: various nonstatistical procedures designed

o
Measures self-rate health
to explore how individual test items work
Checklists and Q-Sorts
o
Through means like interviews and group discussions
Adjective Checklist: subject receives a long list of adjectives and indicates
“Think aloud” test administration

whether each one is characteristic of himself or herself
approach to cognitive assessment that entails respondents
o
Requires subjects either to endorse such adjectives or not, thus
o
vocalizing thoughts as they occur
allowing only two choices for each item
used to shed light on the testtker’s though processes
o
Q-Sort: increases the number of categories
during the administration of a test
Used to describe oneself or to provide ratings of others
o
Expert panels

Other Possibilities
Sensitivity review: study of test items in which they are
o
Forced-choice and Likert formats are clearly the most popular in
examined for fairness to all prospective testtakers as well
contemporary tests and measures
as for the presence of offensive language, stereotypes, or
Checklists have fallen out of favor because they are more prone to error
situations
than are formats that require responses to every item
ITEM ANALYSIS (KAPLAN BASED)
Frequent advice is to not use “all of the above” as a response option
The Extreme Group Method
Compares people who have done well with those who have done
TEST TRYOUT
poorly on a test
What is a good item?
Difference between these proportions is called the discrimination
Reliable and valid
o
index
o
Helps to discriminate testtakers
The Point Biserial Method
Find the correlation between performance on the item and
ITEM ANALYSIS
performance on the total test
o
The Item-Difficulty Index
Correlation between a dichotomous variable and a continuous
Obtained by calculating the proportion of the total number
o
variable is called a point biserial correlation
of testtakers who answered the item correctly “p”
On tests with only a few items, using this is problematic because
Higher p= easier item
o
performance on the item contributes to the total test score
o
Difficulty can be replaced with endorsement in nonPictures of Item Characteristics
achievement tests
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
First step in developing these tests involves clearly specifying the
Total test score is used as an estimate of the amount of a
objectives by writing clear and precise statements about what the
o
‘trait’ possessed by individuals
learning program is attempting to achieve
Relationship between performance on the item and performance on
To evaluate the items: one should give the test to two groups of
the test gives some info about how well the item is tapping the info
students – one that has been exposed to the learning unit and one
we want
that has not
Bottom of the V is the antimode – the least frequent score
Drawing the Item Characteristic Curve
To draw this, we need to define discrete categories of test
This point divides those who have been exposed to the unit from
performance
those who have not been exposed and is usually taken as the cutting
If the test has been given to many people, we might choose to make
score or point , or what marks the point of decision
each test score a single category
When people get scores higher than the antimode, we assume that
Gradual positive slope of the line demonstrates that the proportion of
they have met the objective of the test
Limitations of Item Analysis
people who pass the item gradually increases as test scores increase
This means that the item successfully discriminates at all
Main Problem: though statistical methods for item analysis tell the
o
levels of test performance
test constructor which items do a good job of separating students,
Ranges in which the curve changes suggest that the item is sensitive,
they do not help the students learn
while flat ranges suggest areas of low sensitivity
Although the data are available to give the child feedback on the
Item analysis breaks the general rule the increasing the number of
“bug” in their thinking, nothing in the testing procedure initiates this
items makes a test more reliable
guidance
TEST REVISION
When bad items are eliminated, the effects of chance responding can
Test Revision in the Life Cycle of an Existing Test
be eliminated and the test can become more efficient, reliable, and
valid
Tests get old and need revision

Item Response Theory
Questions arise over equivalence of two tests

According to classical test theory, a score is derived from the sum of
Cross-validation and Co-validation

an individual’s responses to various items, which are sampled from a
o
Cross-validation: revalidation of a test on a sample of
larger domain that represents a specific trait or ability
testtakers other than those on whom test performance
New approaches consider the chances of getting particular items right
was originally found to be a valid predictor of some
or wrong – item response theory – make extensive use of item
criterion
analysis
o
Validity shrinkage: decrease in item validities that
With this, each item on a test has its own item
o
inevitably occurs after cross-validation of finding
characteristic curve that describes the probability of
o
Co-validation: test validation process conducted on two or
getting each particular item right or wrong given the ability
more tests using the same sample of testtakers
level of each test taker
o
Co-norming: when co-validation is used in conjunction
Testers can make an ability judgment without subjecting
o
with the creation of norms or the revision of existing
the test taker to all of the test items
norms
Technical adv: builds on traditional models of item analysis and can
o
Quality assurance during test revision
provide info on item functioning, the value of specific items, and the

test givers must have some degree of
reliability of a scale
qualification, training, and testing
Two dimensions used are difficulty and discriminability

anchor protocol: test protocol scored by a
Most attractive adv. Is that one can easily adapt the IRT tests for
highly authoritative scorer that is designed as a
computer administration
model for scoring and a mechanism for
Computer can rapidly identify the specific items that are
o
resolving scoring discrepancies
required to assess a particular ability level

scoring drift: a discrepancy between scoring in
“peaked conventional”
an anchor protocol and the scoring of another
“rectangular conventional” – requires that test items be selected to
protocol
create a wide range in level of difficulty
The Use of IRT in Building and Revising Tests
problem: only a few items of the test are appropriate for
o
(item response theory)
individuals at each ability level; many test takers spend
Evaluating the properties of existing tests and guiding test revision

much of their time responding to items either considerably
Determining measurement equivalence across testtaker populations

below their ability level or too difficult to solve
o
Differential item functioning (DIF): phenomenon, wherein
IRT addresses traditional problems in test construction well
an item functions differently in one group of testtakers as
IRT can identify respondents with unusual response patterns and
compared to another group of testtakers known to have
offer insights into cognitive processes of the test taker
the same level of the underlying trait
May also reduce the biases against the people whoa re slow in
Developing item banks

completing test problems
Items from other instruments  item pool  scrutiny
o
External Criteria
preliminary item bank  psychometric testing item bank
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 person’s performance
to that of others
Criterion-referenced tests compares performance with some clearly
defined criterion for learning
Popular approach in individualized instruction programs
o
o
Regarded as diagnostic instruments
-
CHAPTER 9: INTELLIGENCE AND ITS MEASUREMENT
What is Intelligence?

group factors: neither as general as g nor as specific as s
Intelligence: a multifaceted capacity that manifests itself in different ways across
o
ex.) linguistic, mechanical, arithmetical abilities
the lifespan. Usually includes abilities to:
Guilford: multiple-factor models of intelligence

Acquire and apply knowledge

o
Explain mental activities by deemphasizing, any reference
Reason logically

to g
Thurstone: conceived intelligence as being composed of 7 primary
Plan effectively


abilities.
Infer perceptively


Gardner: developed theory of multiple intelligences
Make judgment and solve problems

o
Question over whether emotional intelligence exists.
Grasp and visualize concepts

Logical-mathematical, bodily-kinesthetic, linguistic,
o
Pay attention

musical, spatial, interpersonal and intrapersonal
Be intuitive

fluid vs. crystallized intelligence

Raymond
Cattell:
Find the right words and thoughts with facility

o
Crystallized
intelligence: acquired skills and knowledge
Cope with, adjust to, and make the most of new situations

and
their
retrieval.
Retrieval of information and
Intelligence Defines: Views of the Lay Public
application
of
general
knowledge
Both social and academic

nonverbal,
relatively culture-free, and
o
Fluid
intelligence:
Intelligence Defined: Views of Scholars and Test Professionals
independent
of
specific
instruction.

Francis Galton

Horn: added more to 7 factors
o
First to publish on heritability of intelligence
o
Vulnerable abilities: decline with age and tend to return
Most intelligent persons were those with the best sensory
o
preinjury levels following brain damage
abilities
o
Maintained abilities: tend not to decline with age and may

Alfred Binet
return to preinjury levels following brain damage.
Made tests about intelligence, but didn’t define it
o

Carrol:
Components of intelligence: reasoning, judgment,
o
o
Three-stratum theory of cognitive abilities: like geology
memory, abstraction
Hierarchical model: meaning that all of the abilities listed
o
o
Added that definition is complex; requires interaction of
in a stratum are subsumed by or incorporated in the strata
components
above.
o
He argued that when one solves a particular problem, the
Those in the first stratum are narrow abilities
o
abilities used cannot be separated because they interact to

CHC
model
(Cattell-Horn-Carroll)
produce the solution.
o
Some
overlap some difference

David Wechsler
Doesn’t
use g
o
o
Best way to measure this global ability was by measuring
o
Has
broader
abilities than Carroll’s theory
aspects of several “qualitatively differentiable” abilities
Integrated
the
Cattell-Horn and Carroll’s model

McGrew:
Complexity of intelligence
o

McGrew and Flanagan: integrated McGrew-Flanagan CHC Model
Conceptualization as an “aggregate” or “global” capacity
o
o
Features 10 broad stratum abilities
Jean Piaget

70 narrow-stratum abilities
o
Studied children
o
o
Makes no provision for the general intellectual ability
o
Believed order of maturation to be unchangeable
factor (g)
o
With age, increased schema: organized action or mental
It was omitted because it has little practical relevance to
o
structure that, when applied to the world, leads to
cross-battery assessment and interpretation
knowing or understanding.
The Information-Processing View
Learning occurred through assimilation (actively
o
Aleksandr Luria

organizing new information so that it fits in with what
How (not what) information is processed
o
already is perceived and thought) and accommodation
o
Simultaneous/parallel processing: integrated all at once
(changing what is already perceived or though so that it
o
Successive/sequential processing: each bit individually
fits with new information)
processed
o
Sensorimotor (0-2)

PASS model: (Planning, attention, simultaneous, successive)-model of
assessing intelligence
o
Preoperational (2-6)
Sternberg ‘The essence of intelligence is that it provides a means to

govern ourselves so that our thoughts and actions are organized,
o
Concrete Operational (7-12)
coherent, and responsive to both out internally driven needs and to
the needs of the environment”
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 one’s 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.
Existence of a general intellectual ability factor (g) that
o
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

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

one’s 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 can’t be improved upon
Led to predeterminism: one’s abilities are predetermined by genetic

inheritance and no learning or intervention can enhance it
Interactionist: ppl inherit certain intellectual potential

Theres a limit to genetic abilities (i.e. can’t ever have x-ray
o
vision)
The Stability of Intelligence
Stable pretty much throughout one’s 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

Look for one central factor with three additional factors
o
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

High IQ: Need for achievement, competition, curiosity,
o
confidence, emotional stability etc.
Low IQ: passivity, dependence, maladjustment
o
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
But differences can be bridged
o
Family Environment

Divorce can have negative effects
o
o
Begins with “maternal effects” in womb
Culture

o
Provides specific models for thinking, acting and feeling
Assumed that if cultural factors can be controlled then
o
differences between cultural groups will be lessened
Assumed that culture can be removed by the reliance on
o
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
Other Measures of Intelligence
Tests Designed for Individual Administration
First to have detailed administration and scoring instructions

Kaufman Adolescent and Adult Intelligence Test

First American test to test IQ

Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test

First to use alternate items (an item that can be used in place of

Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children

another)
Lacked minority group representation
Away from information processing and towards a distinction


between sequential and simultaneous processing

Ratio IQ=(mental age/chronological age)x100
Tests Designed for Group Administration

Deviation Ratio/test composite: performance of one individual
Group Testing in the Military

compared to the performance of others of the same age. Has
o
WWI need for government to test intelligence as
mean of 100 and standard deviation of 16
means of differentiating “unfit” and “exceptionally
Age scale: items grouped by age

superior ability”
Point
scale:
items organized by category

o
Army Alpha Test: to army recruits who could read.
The Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales: Fifth Edition
Included general information questions, analogies, and
Measures fluid intelligence, crystallized knowledge, quantitative

scrambled sentences to reassemble
knowledge, visual-processing, and short-term (working) memory
o
Army Beta Test: to foreign or illiterate recruits,
Utilizes adaptive testing: testing individually tailored to testtakers

included mazes, coding, and picture completion.
to ensure that items are neither too difficult (frustrating) or too
o
After the war, the alpha and beta test were used
easy (false hope)
rampantly, and oftentimes misused
Examiner establishes rapport with testtaker, then administers

o
Screening tools: instrument of procedure used to
routing test to direct, route examinee to test items most likely at
identify a particular trait or constellation of traits
optimal level of difficulty
ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery):
o

Teaching items: show testtaker what is expected, how to do it.
administered to prospective to recruits or high school
Can be used for qualitative assessment, but not scoring
o
students looked for career guidance
Subtests for verbal and nonverbal tests share same name, but

5 career areas: clerical, electronics,

involve different tasks
mechanical, skill-technical, and combat
Floor: lowest level of items on subtest

operations

Ceiling: highest-level item of subtest
Group Testing in Schools


Basal level: base-level criterion that must be met for testing on
Useful in developing child’s profile - but cannot be sole
o
the subtest to continue
indicator

Ceiling level is met when testtaker fails certain number of items in
Groups of 10-15
o
a row. Test discontinues here.
o
Starting in Kindergarten
Scores: raw standard  composite

Also called traditional group testing, because more
o
Extra-test behavior: behavioral observation

modern forms can utilize computer. These more aptly
The Wechsler Tests
called individual testing
-commonality between all versions: all yield deviation IQ’s with mean of 100
Measures of Specific Intellectual Abilities
and standard deviation of 15
Widely used intelligence tests only test a sampling of the many

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV)
attributable factors aiding in intelligence
Core subtest: administered to obtain a composite score

Ex.) Creativity

Supplemental/Optional Subtest: provides additional clinical

o
Commonly thought to be composed of originality,
information or extending the number of abilities or processes
fluency, flexibility, and elaboration
sampled.
o
If the focus is too heavily on whether an answer is
Yields four index scores: Verbal Comprehension Index, a Working

correct, doesn’t allow for creativity
Memory Index, a Perceptual Reasoning Index, and a Processing
Achievement tests require convergent thinking:
o
Speed Index
deductive reasoning process that entails recall and
The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children –Fourth Edition (WISC-IV)
consideration of facts as well as a series of logical

Process score: index designed to help understand how testtakers
judgments to narrow down solutions and eventually
process various kinds of information
arrive at one solution
WISC-IV compared to the SB5

Divergent thinking: a reasoning process in which
o
The Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-Third Edition
thought is free in many different directions, making
(WPPSI-III)
several solutions possible
New school for children under 6


Associated words, uses of rubber band etc.
First major intelligence test which adequately sampled total

Test-retest reliability for some of these tests

population of the United States
are near unacceptable
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
Confirmatory factor analysis: used to test highly
o
specific factor analysis
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 newborn’s 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
More research is needed concerning the meaning and
o
implication of scores
o
Poorly documented predictive and construct validity
Test-retest reliability leaves much to be desired
o
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
Individual’s 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
(development quotient / chronological age) x 100
o
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 Children’s 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
Index reflects how well the child has integrated prior
o
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 child’s ability to solve
problems by mentally arranging input in sequential or
serial order
o
Simultaneous processing refers to a child’s 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
Careless effort
o
o
Forgetfulness
Refusal to do schoolwork or homework
o
Slow performance
o
Poor attention
o
Moodiness
o
-
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 individual’s abil ity 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
children’s 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 child’s 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:
1. Test constructors appear to be responding to the
o
same criticisms that led to changes in the Binet and
Wechsler scales and ultimately to the development of
the KABC
2. Much more empirical and theoretical research is
o
needed
3. Users or learning disabilities tests should take great
o
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
Examiner provides instructions
o
Subject responds, examiner records response
o
Examiner evaluates response
o
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
Subjects record own responses
o
Subjects not praised for responding
o
Low scores on group tests often difficult to interpret
o
No safeguards
o
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
One major difference is whether the test is primarily verbal,
o
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 12 th 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
Evaluate the product of a course of training
o
o
Validity is determined primarily by content-related evidence
Aptitude tests attempt to evaluate a student’s potential for learning
rather than how much a student has already learned
o
Evaluate effects of unknown and uncontrolled experiences
Validity is judged primarily on its ability to predict future
o
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 12 th 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 subject’s 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:
one based on raw score distributions by age, the other on
o
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
Women score lower on SAT but higher in GPA
o
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 individual’s
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 individual’s 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
Spearman’s 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
Makes employment decisions in govt agencies
o
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
-