COURSE NUMBER: PSY 415
COURSE NAME: Psychological Assessment
TERM: Spring I 2008
INSTRUCTOR:
Kimberly Swiss
PHONE:
EMAIL:
kswiss@argosy.edu
ALT PHONE:
REQUIRED TEXTS:
Title
Author(s)
Copyright
Publisher
ISBN
Edition
Psychological Testing: Principles, Applications, and Issues
Kaplan, R. M., & Saccuzzoo, D. P.
(2005).
Thomson/Wadsworth
0534633064
6th
This Course Requires the Purchase of a Course Packet:
YES
NO
Page 1
Argosy University
COURSE SYLLABUS
PSY415
Psychological Assessment
Faculty Information
Faculty Name: Kimberly Swiss
Campus:
Contact Information:
Office Hours:
Short Faculty Bio:
Course description: In-depth examination of assessment processes and measurement strategies for aptitudes, intelligence, interests, performance, and
personality of diverse population. Ethical, legal, and social issues in test theory, construction, and evaluation. Emphasis on psychometric properties.
Course Pre-requisites: PSY210
Required Textbook:
Kaplan, R. M., & Saccuzzoo, D. P. (2005). Psychological Testing: Principles, Applications, and Issues. 6th Edition. Thomson/Wadsworth. ISBN: 0534633064
Course length: 7.5 Weeks
Contact Hours: 45 Hours
Credit Value: 3.0
Program Outcomes:
1.
2.
Cognitive Abilities
1.1. Critical Thinking - Given a psychological issue, employ skeptical inquiry and a scientific approach to respond to the issue.
1.2. Information Literacy - Given a research question related to psychology, access information from a variety of sources and select appropriate sources to
respond to the question.
Research
Page 2
2.1. Understanding Research Methods – Given an article about research findings in the field of psychology from a scholarly journal, identify the research
methods used and the findings of the article.
2.2. Identifying Research Methods – Identify the appropriate statistical tools and basic research methods in psychology, including research design, data
analysis, and interpretation.
3. Communication Skills
3.1. Oral - Effectively present psychological concepts orally as appropriate to the audience.
3.2. Written - Effectively present psychological information, in writing, using software and style appropriate to the audience.
4. Ethics/Diversity
4.1. Ethics - Identify the issues and challenges related to ethics in the field of psychology.
4.2. Diversity - Identify the issues and challenges related to diversity in the field of psychology.
5. Knowledge of the Field
5.1. Foundations – Recognize the major concepts, theoretical perspectives, empirical findings, applications, and historical trends in psychology.
6. Knowledge of Applied Psychology
6.1. Apply psychological principles to personal, social, and/or organizational issues.
7. Interpersonal Effectiveness
Students will develop and improve positive relationship skills via effective communication, respect for others, appreciation of diversity and cultural
sensitivity, and awareness of their impact on others.
7.1 Apply active listening communication skills in interpersonal and organizational scenarios to establish empathetic, collegial relationships that facilitate
consensus building in working toward common goals and are appreciative of diversity and culture.
7.2 Analyze the importance of effective nonverbal communication skills in developing strong interpersonal and organizational relationships that are
culturally sensitive and respectful of diversity.
7. 3 Solicit and utilize feedback to develop adaptable strategies of facilitating dynamic interpersonal and organizational relationships.
7. 4 Analyze the impact of technological advances on communication within interpersonal and organizational relationships.
7. 5 Utilize effective communication and relationship skills in order to promote the growth of others and effect change.
Course Objectives:
1.
Demonstrate an understanding of the nature and use of psychological tests and the historical antecedents of modern testing practices. (Program
Outcome(s): 5)
1.1. Define the basic concepts and nature of psychological and educational tests.
1.2. Distinguish between structured personality tests and projective personality tests.
1.3. Define the terms achievement, aptitude, and intelligence, and identify a concept that can encompass all these terms.
1.4. Distinguish between ability tests and personality tests.
1.5. Explain what a normative or standardization sample is and why such a sample is important.
1.6. Identify the major developments in the history of psychological testing.
1.7. Explain the relevance of psychological tests in contemporary society.
Page 3
2.
3.
4.
5.
Identify and explain the methodological and psychometric principles of psychological assessment instruments including test theory, test construction,
validity, and reliability. (Program Outcome(s): 3.1, & 5)
2.1. Discuss the properties of scales of measurement, descriptive statistics, and correlation.
2.2. Express the extent to which two measures are associated and the nature of the relationship by using visual graphs.
2.3. Describe how a regression line describes the relationship between two variables.
2.4. Identify how norms are created and how they are used to examine reliability and validity.
2.5. Explain what measurement error is and how it interferes with scientific studies in psychology.
2.6. Explain how reliability affects psychological testing.
2.7. Discuss different types of validity.
Articulate major theoretical, social/cultural, and ethical/legal issues in ability testing; personality testing; and assessment of interests, styles, and types.
(Program Outcome(s): 3.1, & 5)
3.1. Discuss the Stanford Binet Intelligence test and Wechsler tests, and differentiate between them and other tests of ability.
3.2. Describe at least one personality test and one interest inventory.
3.3. Describe intelligence and intelligence quotient.
3.4. Discuss social/cultural and ethical/legal issues in ability testing, personality testing, and assessment of interests, styles, and types.
Review and analyze differences among procedures and considerations for testing individuals and groups; individuals with special needs; and persons at
various developmental stages. (Program Outcome(s): 3.1, 4.2, & 5)
4.1. Explain how a researcher might identify biased results based on the notion of adverse impact.
4.2. Discuss different types of interviews and the impact an interviewer has on the assessment process.
4.3. Identify some of the characteristics of effective interviewing.
4.4. Appreciate the role of cultural, ethnic, and socioeconomic factors in the interview process.
4.5. Compare and contrast individual and group tests.
4.6. Describe group tests used for students in kindergarten through the twelfth grade.
4.7. Discuss group tests for college entrance and graduate school entrance.
4.8. Discuss modifications of administration based on an individual’s development level or special needs, such as sight and hearing impairments.
Examine and articulate differences in response-types of instruments including self-report interviews or paper/pencil tests; projective tests; and observational
assessments. (Program Outcome(s): 3.1, & 5)
5.1. Describe types of item formats commonly used in objective classroom examinations.
5.2. Evaluate the strategy used in the construction of MMPI/MMPI 2 and MMPI-A, its strengths and weaknesses, and when it is used.
5.3. Describe the projective hypothesis.
5.4. Analyze the Rorschach test, principles of its administration and scoring, and its pros and cons and appropriate usage.
5.5. Analyze the TAT stimuli, administration procedures, the factors that should be considered in its interpretation, and when it is used.
5.6. Recognize the issues surrounding observational assessment techniques.
Assignment Table
Page 4
1
Topics
 Definition of Psychological Testing
 History of Psychological Testing
 Aptitude, Achievement, and
Intelligence
 Ability and Personality Tests
 Cultural, Legal, or Ethical Issues
Readings
Kaplan & Saccuzzo
Chapter 1
Assignments
Discussion Questions:
1.
Shelley is in college studying for a degree in psychology. As part of an
assignment, she is required to create a technique that measures the
personality of others. Shelly develops a list of questions pertaining to
individual choices and attitudes. Her rationale is that by asking a person
such questions, she can gain an insight into the person’s personality.
a. Do you think that the list of questions that Shelley has come up with
constitutes a psychological test? Provide reasons for your answer.
b. Discuss the kind of test questions you would create in response to the
same assignment.
2.
Most colleges and universities have a committee dedicated to approving
human participant research. In the past, certain types of research
undertaken using human participants have been considered unethical. You
may refer to the Stanford Prison study at the following Web site:
http://www.prisonexp.org/
Based on the findings of this study and others, discuss what you consider
as important prerequisites for conducting research on human behavior by
using human participants.
3.
Gemma is an Asian-American woman studying psychology at a graduate
school in New York. She has been in the United States for only a year. As
part of her testing class, she has to develop an assessment technique — by
using a structured or unstructured format — to measure aggression in
individuals. The test must contain questions that are accurate enough to
assess different levels of aggression.
a. Based on your understanding of cultural issues in psychological
testing, answer the following questions:
b. How might Gemma’s assessment differ if she were going to measure
individuals of different cultural backgrounds, such as Asian, Latin
Americans, and Native Americans?
c. Will Gemma’s presentation of test content be different in comparison
to other students’, who is born and raised in the United States?
Provide reasons for your answer.
Page 5
Assignments:
1.
Aptitude and Achievement
Sam has two important tests on one day. One is the end-of-the-year test,
which will decide whether he passes or fails the class. The other is a test of
music, based on which the music teacher will decide whether or not Sam
has musical ability.
a. Which of Sam’s two tests is an aptitude test, and which is an
achievement test?
b. Differentiate between aptitude and achievement.
c. Identify the potential problems in using these tests in Sam’s case.
d. What would be the right kind of questions to be included in a test
assessing musical ability?
e. What would be the right kind of questions to be included in a test
assessing mathematical ability?
2.
2



Need for Statistics
Scales of Measurement
Techniques of Representing Data
Kaplan & Saccuzzo
Chapter 2
Final Project
The test is for measuring intelligence. Refer to the information provided
about the test, and perform the following tasks:
a. Provide a fictitious name to the test that best describes the nature of
the test.
b. Discuss what intelligence means to you.
c. Differentiate between intelligence and personality.
d. Differentiate clearly between ability tests and personality tests by
providing a few examples of each.
e. Compare personality, intelligence, and aptitude.
f. Differentiate between this test and educational tests. Provide reasons
for your answer.
Discussion Questions:
1.
A high school teacher wishes to tabulate and create a graph of the results
of a final exam for the 15 students in her class so that she can show the
principal their performance visually.
a. Identify the best technique to represent this data. Provide reasons for
your answer.
b. If she wanted to showcase to the principal that the performance of her
Page 6
c.
class has improved, which measure of central tendency would be the
most effective?
What factors are important in deciding the most appropriate measure
of central tendency?
2.
A high school teacher assesses the performance of her class by using mode
as the measure of central tendency. In other words, she decides that
because 10 out of 35 students in her class have scored 80%, her class on
the whole has done well.
a. How can the high school teacher better evaluate whether the class is
doing better or worse? Provide reasons for your answer.
b. Identify the measure that the teacher should use. Provide reasons for
your viewpoint.
c. Provide examples of how the mean, median, and mode might be
misused when trying to solve real-life problems.
3.
Mark Twain is credited with saying, “There are lies, damn lies, and
statistics.” What was he referring to?
a. If statistics are sometimes used to confuse or manipulate others, why
should we study them at all? Provide logical reasons to support your
views.
Assignments:
1.
Norms
Standard scores, which are the format of the results in psychological
assessment, are simply “the degree to which the observed score matches
the norming sample.” For example, a standard score of 10 when the mean
is 10 indicates that the observed score matches exactly at the 50%ile of the
norming sample.
This means that the norming sample is our ruler against which other scores
are measured.
a. Discuss the way norms are developed.
b. Analyze the mechanisms in place to ensure that the norms selected are
accurate for the test in question.
c. Address random sampling, random assignment to groups, and
Page 7
d.
e.
matching in your answers. Explain why these concepts are so
essential.
Explain the problem of using the wrong scale for certain calculations.
Analyze how misinterpreting the wrong scale can result in incorrect
interpretations.
2.
3



Correlation and Regression
Theory and Types of Reliability
Sources and Measures of Error
Kaplan & Saccuzzo
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Final Project
The test you have named is based on the ordinal scale of measurement.
The ordinal scale allows you to rank individuals or objects without
attaching any meaning to the differences between ranks.
a. Compare the ordinal scale of measurement with other scales of
measurement, providing examples of each.
b. Give reasons an intelligence test could be based on any of the other
scales of measurement.
c. Examine how scales of measurement should differ between ability
tests and personality tests.
Discussion Questions:
1.
Assume that there is a correlation of 0.80 between family discord and
obesity in adolescent girls. How would you interpret this?
a. What are some possible reasons for this correlation to exist?
b. Provide relevant examples of positive and negative correlation.
Analyze how the examples might be represented on a regression line.
2.
A research study examined the feeling of happiness two groups of students
had toward their instructor in one of two teaching formats ― online and
on-ground.
Classical Test theory tells us that “X,” the observed score, is the true (T)
score plus error (E) — X = T + E.
Explain the concepts of X, T, and E by using the aforementioned fictional
study, three sources of error, and one measure that we use statistically to
“control” for error.
3.
Often, correlation is mistaken for causation. For example, childhood
sexual abuse and dissociative personality disorder have a strong
correlation as do family dysfunction during childhood and emotional
Page 8
issues in adulthood.
a. Provide reasons why you might view these as correlation not
causation.
b. Theoretically, how should you evaluate whether or not a causal factor
truly exists?
Assignments:
1.
Reliability
Reliability is one of the essential requirements of a psychometrically
sound test. Discuss why this is so.
a. What would it mean if a test were unreliable?
b. Identify some methods used to measure the reliability of a
psychological test.
c. Analyze how you would go about increasing the reliability of the test.
2.
4



Definitions and Types of Validity
Validity Coefficients
Reliability vs. Validity
Kaplan & Saccuzzo
Chapter 5
Final Project
To gauge the level of the test-retest reliability of the test, suppose you
administer it to a group of 10–15 year olds twice over a period of two
weeks. While administering the test, you’ll observe that the test is low on
reliability because it yields different results when you administer it at
different times to the same subjects.
a. What factors you think are responsible for low test-retest reliability?
b. Do you think the test reliability was affected by the items within the
test or other more extraneous factors?
c. What is the best way to assess the test-retest reliability of a test?
d. What do you think are the sources of error for this type of reliability?
Describe ways in which you would mold the test to make it higher on
reliability.
e. How do you think reliability affects psychological testing?
f. How do you think administering the test to a group that it was not
intended for affects the results?
Discussion Questions:
1.
The Good Guys, an electronics store, has the slogan, “The Good Guys:
We’ve Got to be Good.”
Page 9
The implication might be that “They’ve Got to be Good” because they are
named “The Good Guys.”
a. Is it necessarily true that if named “Good,” they must be “good”?
b. What is the primary issue with this slogan? Explain where the store’s
argument loses validity.
c. In addition, provide a slogan of your own for another product that
would have a high level of validity.
2.
Assume you are planning to apply to graduate school. The admissions
committee would use many selection criteria to either accept or deny you
admission.
a. What measure do you feel would be the most and which the least
valid for basing an admissions decision? Explain your choice.
3.
An eighth-grade history test is administered to sixth-grade history
students. The questions are all history-related. The students, however, soon
realize that the items on the test are not relevant to the course covered by
them that year.
A spelling test consists of 100 items. The students are required to correct
the spellings of all the 100 words. The test does not have a time limit.
A test measuring interest in art guarantees that people who score high
always end up doing exceedingly well in art competitions.
a. Describe the type of validity indicated in each example.
b. Discuss why you think the three examples indicate the three specific
types of validity?
c. Analyze any two types of validity by providing your own examples.
Assignments:
1.
Understanding Validity
Everyday, we are assaulted with truths — people trying to convince us to
do things, such as spend money or time or vote, based on their arguments
that they claim are valid.
a. Choose one of these arguments from your life, and evaluate its
validity.
b. Address the different types of validity, and discuss the skills needed to
defend against invalid arguments.
Page 10
c.
d.
Address the topics from Weeks 1–3, including psychological testing,
statistics, and reliability, and analyze how they relate to the evaluation
of validity.
Explain how reliability is connected to validity in this situation.
2.
5






Principles of Test Construction
Writing and Evaluation of Test
Items
Item Analysis
Test Administration
Interviews as a Method of Testing
Adverse Impact of Cultural Bias
Kaplan & Saccuzzo
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Final Project
The test is low on content validity, but extremely high on face validity.
Identify the issues in the test that contribute to its being low on content
validity.
a. List the advantages and disadvantages of having a test with high face
validity.
b. Create three test questions that might have both high content and face
validity for this test.
c. Discuss how norms help assess reliability and validity.
d. Suggest ways in which you would define norms for a test of
intelligence.
Discussion Questions:
1.
Dr. Gorsuch along with colleagues is conducting a study to observe men
approach women in a bar. They are unobtrusively recording the number of
times a woman makes eye contact and correlating this with when she
eventually accepts an invitation to dance ― they feel this might be an
indication of attraction. What are some strengths and weaknesses of this
method?
a. Describe some of the advantages and disadvantages associated with
behavioral observation techniques.
b. Provide examples to support your views.
2.
Assume you are a researcher interested in measuring personality attributes
associated with being an astronaut.
a. Identify the several test items and the methods for analyzing the
appropriateness or inappropriateness of including them in a test made
to screen-in or screen-out potential candidates.
3.
Many psychologists believe that understanding and sharing the culture of a
client is necessary for proper understanding of the client.
a. If you were to interview a person of different ethnicity or culture,
Page 11
b.
c.
d.
e.
identify the difficulties that you might encounter.
Can these be overcome, or should you refer to another professional?
Discuss potential cross-ethnic, cross-cultural, and cross-class factors
that may affect interview validity.
How would you handle such an interview?
Analyze how the potential interviewee might view you.
Assignments:
1.
Item Formats and Item Analysis
Create a 10-question test on any subject of your choice, and post it in the
Discussion Area. Refer to two of your classmates’ tests, answer the
following questions based on their tests, and give them feedback:
a. What are the formats of their tests?
b. What do you think their tests seek to measure?
c. What do you view as the strengths and limitations of the type of
formats they chose to use?
d. What are your thoughts about the way their questions are worded?
e. How can the test-writers improve their questions such that they get the
information they seem to want?
f. Provide examples on how to possibly use the test data generated from
their tests.
2.
6

Intelligence: Theories and
Kaplan & Saccuzzo
Final Project
The test you have been referring to over the past few weeks is essentially a
verbal test. You feel however that the age group being targeted by the test
would be much better assessed by using a variety of presentations, rather
than by just being verbal.
a. Describe how else you might measure intelligence by using different
test formats, and explain why.
b. Compare the presented psychological test with the interview
assessment technique.
c. Provide examples of any situations in which the interview provides an
equally effective measure as a verbal test such as the one provided.
d. Examine how culture and socioeconomic factors affect the interview
process.
Discussion Questions:
Page 12




Constructs
Intelligence Quotients
Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test
David Wechsler’s Tests
Ethical Issues in Intelligence
Testing
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
1.
The Peckham Decision dictates that school psychologists in California
may not use intelligence testing on African-American children to
determine special-education placement. This is due to a cultural bias
because of which a large percentage of African-Americans were being
placed in the Educable Mentally Retarded category.
a. How might this decision help and potentially harm African-American
students with special educational needs?
2.
The Wechsler’s Adult Intelligence Scale, the Stanford-Binet Intelligence
Test, and other tests have been revised several times over the past decades.
In fact, it is considered unethical for a psychologist to use a test that has
been revised for more than one year.
a. Identify the reasons for revising these tests. Substantiate your reasons
with examples of problems that might arise if these tests were not
revised.
3.
To measure intelligence, we must transform behavior, such as defining
words or putting puzzles together under a time limit, into standard scores.
For example, Spearman advanced the concept of g, a single score that
represents overall intelligence. Others have argued that intelligence cannot
be captured by just one number.
a. Define the concept of IQ. Analyze its strengths and limitations.
b. Analyze the usefulness of knowing your own, your clients’, or your
students’ IQ.
Assignments:
1.
Intelligence
Intelligence can be broadly thought of as the ability to navigate
successfully and succeed in the world. We have all met some people we
think of as intelligent and some that might be less so.
a. Outline your own theory of intelligence. Assume you were to design a
test to measure this intelligence, and develop some representative
tasks that would gauge it. There should be at least 6 representative
tasks to gauge intelligence.
Page 13
b.
Discuss what this intelligence could do for a person in life, and how
people without it would be somewhat less well equipped.
2.
7





Constructing Personality Tests
Projective Testing vs. Objective
Testing
Projective Techniques
Personality Assessment:
Psychometrics
Ethical Issues in Personality Testing
Kaplan & Saccuzzo
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Final Project
Now, it is time for you to report all that you have learned in the previous
weeks about psychological testing. While doing so, describe the
information that any test constructor should know before setting about
creating items for a test.
a. Develop items for an intelligence test, keeping in mind the
considerations listed in previous assignments. Pay special attention to
how well your items seem to measure intelligence. Ensure that you
have created at least 10 test items.
b. Should your test items include verbal or performance items, or both?
Differentiate between the two and provide reasons for your answer.
c. Refer to any existing tests of intelligence, such as the Stanford Binet
or the Wechsler tests, to get ideas for your items.
d. List the aspects of the intelligence tests you have read about that you
feel are most appropriate for measuring intelligence. What parts of
those tests seem the weakest?
e. State the theory of intelligence that you would base this test on so that
it comprehensively measures of intelligence. Provide reasons for your
answer.
Discussion Questions:
1.
Scholars have struggled with defining, describing, and measuring
personality. Indeed, if you were to describe yourself, how easily could you
do it?
It would probably take a book to truly describe all of your roles, desires,
strengths, needs, and other aspects of who you are. For this reason, many
personality inventories have been criticized for their potential inadequacy
or lack of validity.
a. Discuss the reasons why personality needs to be assessed.
b. How would you increase the assessment's validity?
2.
Personality can be thought of as a set of behaviors that are consistent in an
individual over time.
Page 14
a.
b.
c.
3.
What are some ethical considerations regarding personality
assessment? What pitfalls might exist?
What special considerations might you take into account when using
projective versus objective personality tests?
How effective are projective techniques in preventing ethical violation
of a client in personality testing? Provide reasons for your answer.
One way to evaluate personality is to use projective tests, which rests on
several assumptions.
a. Define the projective hypothesis, and analyze how the MMPI-2 and
Rorschach tests utilize that hypothesis to test subjects.
b. Do you think this is an accurate way of evaluating a person? Why or
why not?
Assignments:
1.
Analyzing the Rorschach Inkblot Technique
Controversy surrounds the validity of certain personality tests, including
the Rorschach Inkblot Test. Pundits argue that the Rorschach test results in
over-identifying mental problems and is unreliable and invalid. Scholars in
favor of the Rorschach test argue that it is one piece of evidence in the
whole battery, and criticisms are unfounded or controllable.
a. Construct a scenario, and present both sides of the argument where the
Rorschach test could be used to help and hurt the individual being
tested.
b. Cite relevant Web sites or journal articles in your argument, and
comment on the sources of validity.
2.
Final Project
While analyzing this test, you realize that it is not applicable to all
cultures. You also feel that the test questions are more appropriate for
certain sections of U.S. society and not for others. Keeping this situation in
mind, answer the following questions:
a. How are test results of a particular test potentially biased by assessing
ethnic groups outside of the normative sample used in the
development of the test?
b. What complications might occur in a multiethnic society such as the
Page 15
8





Developmental Stages: Ability
Tests
Ability Tests for Special Needs
Issues in Psychological Testing
Assessment vs. Testing
Future of Psychological Testing
Kaplan & Saccuzzo
Chapter 11
Chapter 21
U.S. with respect to developing tests and obtaining normative
samples?
c. What are the other issues that may occur while administering this
intelligence test to the specified age group in terms of education and
socioeconomics?
d. Are these considerations equally important in personality tests?
e. While creating and administering personality tests, is there a greater
chance of cultural differences in test-takers creating errors in
reliability and validity of the test?
f. Provide reasons for your answer.
Discussion Questions:
1.
Intelligence testing is an integral part of an assessment battery for an
individual with learning disabilities and developmental delays.
a. What considerations might you have when assessing an individual
with potential learning or developmental problems?
b. How might group versus individual or interview versus formal
formats affect the test results?
c. You would have taken group tests, such as SAT or CAT yourself;
what are your thoughts on the validity of these tests?
2.
Jeff is a Masters-level intern in a community clinic and has been asked by
his supervisor to administer an intelligence test to students of different age
groups. The three age groups he will be administering the test to are:



First graders.
Fifth graders.
Tenth graders.
a.
What suggestions would you make to Jeff regarding the choice of
test?
If there were an intelligence test available in group format, which Jeff
could administer, would you recommend that test? What would you
base your decision on?
Analyze the pros and cons of group versus individual tests in this
situation.
As students get older, do you think verbal items or performance items
b.
c.
d.
Page 16
assess their intelligence more accurately? Substantiate your answer
with reasons.
3.
Psychologists work in many fields and assess individuals in various ways.
The field of psychology has changed dramatically in the past 15 years and
continues to evolve with time.
a. Based on new technologies and changing ethics and laws, where do
you see the field of psychological testing a decade from now?
b. What are the main issues you foresee affecting the position of
psychological testing in the future?
Assignments:
1.
Final Project
The test you have been referring to over the past eight weeks needs
tremendous improvement that you have analyzed and provided
explanations for. Now, you are faced with the additional task of suggesting
changes to the test to ensure that it no longer faces the same problems.
To ensure that the test is psychometrically sound, answer the following
questions:
a. List the considerations you would have to ensure the test is better than
before? How you might improve validity and reliability of the test.
b. Keeping in mind that this is a verbal test of intelligence, what
improvements might you make in the administration of the test?
c. If you were to renorm the test for different ages and developmental
stages, what considerations must you take into account while
modifying the test items and changing the normative sample? List the
considerations you would adhere to while modifying the test items
and norming sample, if you were creating the same test as the fictional
test for different developmental stages.
d. How might you improve the test’s ability to appropriately assess
different ethnic and cultural groups?
Page 17
Grading Criteria
Grading Scale
Grading requirements
A
100 -93
A-
92 – 90
B+
89 – 88
B
87 – 83
B-
82 – 80
C+
79 – 78
C
77 – 73
C-
72 – 70
D+
69 – 68
D
67 – 63
D-
62 – 60
F
59 and below
Attendance/participation
Weekly Assignments
Final paper
Optional
Optional
25%
20%
35%
10%
10%
100%
Library:
All resources in Argosy University’s online collection are available through the Internet. The campus librarian will provide students with links, user IDs, and
passwords.
Library Resources: Argosy University’s core online collection features nearly 21,000 full-text journals and 23,000 electronic books and other content covering
all academic subject areas including Business & Economics, Career & General Education, Computers, Engineering & Applied Science, Humanities, Science,
Medicine & Allied Health, and Social & Behavior Sciences. Many titles are directly accessible through the Online Public Access Catalog at
http://library.argosy.edu. Detailed descriptions of online resources are located at http://library.argosy.edu/misc/onlinedblist.html.
In addition to online resources, Argosy University’s onsite collections contain a wealth of subject-specific research materials searchable in the Online Public
Access Catalog. Catalog searching is easily limited to individual campus collections. Alternatively, students can search combined collections of all Argosy
University Libraries. Students are encouraged to seek research and reference assistance from campus librarians.
Information Literacy: Argosy University’s Information Literacy Tutorial was developed to teach students fundamental and transferable research skills. The
tutorial consists of five modules where students learn to select sources appropriate for academic-level research, search periodical indexes and search engines, and
Page 18
evaluate and cite information. In the tutorial, students study concepts and practice them through interactions. At the conclusion of each module, they can test their
comprehension and receive immediate feedback. Each module takes less than 20 minutes to complete. Please view the tutorial at http://library.argosy.edu/infolit/
Academic Policies
Academic Dishonesty/Plagiarism: In an effort to foster a spirit of honesty and integrity during the learning process, Argosy University requires that the
submission of all course assignments represent the original work produced by that student. All sources must be documented through normal scholarly
references/citations and all work must be submitted using the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th Edition (2001). Washington
DC: American Psychological Association (APA) format. Please refer to Appendix A in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5 th
Edition for thesis and paper format. Students are encouraged to purchase this manual (required in some courses) and become familiar with its content as well as
consult the Argosy University catalog for further information regarding academic dishonesty and plagiarism.
Scholarly writing: The faculty at Argosy University is dedicated to providing a learning environment that supports scholarly and ethical writing, free from
academic dishonesty and plagiarism. This includes the proper and appropriate referencing of all sources. You may be asked to submit your course assignments
through “Turnitin,” (www.turnitin.com), an online resource established to help educators develop writing/research skills and detect potential cases of academic
dishonesty. Turnitin compares submitted papers to billions of pages of content and provides a comparison report to your instructor. This comparison detects
papers that share common information and duplicative language.
Americans with Disabilities Act Policy
It is the policy of Argosy University to make reasonable accommodations for qualified students with disabilities, in accordance with the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA). If a student with disabilities needs accommodations, the student must notify the Director of Student Services. Procedures for
documenting student disability and the development of reasonable accommodations will be provided to the student upon request.
Students will be notified by the Director of Student Services when each request for accommodation is approved or denied in writing via a designated form. To
receive accommodation in class, it is the student’s responsibility to present the form (at his or her discretion) to the instructor. In an effort to protect student
privacy, the Department of Student Services will not discuss the accommodation needs of any student with instructors. Faculty may not make accommodations
for individuals who have not been approved in this manner.
The Argosy University Statement Regarding Diversity
Argosy University prepares students to serve populations with diverse social, ethnic, economic, and educational experiences. Both
the academic and training curricula are designed to provide an environment in which students can develop the skills and attitudes
essential to working with people from a wide range of backgrounds.
Page 19