WESTERN UNIVERSITY
LONDON
CANADA
Department of Psychology – 2014-2015
Psychology 2080A (Section 001)
Introduction to Testing and Measurement
1.0 CALENDAR DESCRIPTION
This course examines principles of psychological assessment in an applied context
through lectures and demonstrations. Topics will include reliability and validity, legal
and ethical issues in test construction, and selected controversial questions relating to
assessment in areas such as personnel selection, standardized testing in schools, and
group differences in test performance.
Antirequisite: Psychology 3840F/G
3 lecture hours, 0.5 course
Antirequisites are courses that overlap sufficiently in content that only one can be taken for
credit. So if you take a course that is an antirequisite to a course previously taken, you will
lose credit for the earlier course, regardless of the grade achieved in the most recent course.
2.0 COURSE INFORMATION
Instructor:
Office and Phone Number:
Office Hours:
Email:
Teaching Assistant:
Office:
Office Hours:
Email:
Dr. Patrick Brown
SSC 7328 / 661-2111 Ext. 84680
Wednesdays 1:30 – 3:30
brown5@uwo.ca (NOTE: I shall not respond to
emails that ask questions the answer to which is
in this course outline)
Laura Cabral
SSC 7306
Thursday 1:00 – 3:00
lcabral@uwo.ca
Time and Location of Lectures:
Monday 7:00 – 10:00 pm / NCB 113
If you or someone you know is experiencing distress, there are several resources here at
Western to assist you. Please visit: http://www.uwo.ca/uwocom/mentalhealth/ for more
information on these resources and on mental health.
Please contact the course instructor if you require material in an alternate format or if you
require any other arrangements to make this course more accessible to you. You may also
wish to contact Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) at 519-661-2111 ext 82147 for any
specific question regarding an accommodation.
3.0 TEXTBOOK
Kaplan, R.M. & Saccuzzo, D.P. (2009) Psychological Testing Principles, Applications, and
Issues. 8th Edition. (Belmont, CA.: Wadsworth). (Note: this is a special edition of the text
printed for this course, and should have the words “Psychology 2080 A/B” on the front cover.)
4.0 COURSE OBJECTIVES
The objectives of this course are:
• to provide students with basic knowledge about psychological tests and testing in
applied areas, including neuropsychology, industrial/organizational psychology,
educational psychology, and intelligence.
• to ensure students understand important terms and concepts, with particular attention
to the concepts of reliability and validity
• to acquaint students with important pitfalls in the testing process, by describing
problems with particular tests, particular testing procedures, and inappropriate uses of
test results
• to ensure students understand ethical and legal implications of psychological testing.
Students should note that lectures are complements for text chapters, not substitutes. Some
material appearing in the text will not be covered in lectures. Equally, some material covered in
lectures will not be found in the text.
5.0 EVALUATION
Although the Psychology Department does not require instructors to adjust their course grades
to conform to specific targets, the expectation is that course marks will be distributed around
the following averages:
70% 1000-level and 2000-level courses
72% 2100-2990 level courses
75% 3000-level courses
80% 4000-level courses
The Psychology Department follows the University of Western Ontario grading guidelines,
which are as follows (see
http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/handbook/general/grades_undergrad.pdf):
A+
A
B
C
D
F
90-100
80-89
70-79
60-69
50-59
below 50
One could scarcely expect better from a student at this level
Superior work that is clearly above average
Good work, meeting all requirements, and eminently satisfactory
Competent work, meeting requirements
Fair work, minimally acceptable
Fail
Grades in this course will be based on three multiple choice exams: two in-class midterms plus
a final exam scheduled by the Registrar. Midterm #1 will be worth 25% of the final grade.
Midterm #2 will be worth 35% of the final grade. The final exam will be worth 40% of the final
grade. All material in the lectures and the assigned readings is fair game for an exam question.
Exams are not cumulative. Midterms will NOT be held in the regular classroom – they will be
held in Social Sciences 2024, 3024, and 3026. Any material covered in text chapters or lectures
is fair game for an exam question. The location of the final exam will be set by the Registrar.
6.0 TEST AND EXAMINATION SCHEDULE
Midterm 1 – September 29 – exam held in SSC 2024, 3024, and 3026
Midterm 2 – November 3 – exam held in SSC 2024, 3024, and 3026
Final exam – scheduled by Registrar’s Office for a time and date during the mid-year exam
period, December 6 – 17, 2014.
7.0 LECTURE SCHEDULE
Date
Topic
Text chapters
Sept 8
Sept 15
Sept 22
History & Basic Statistics
Reliability
Validity
1 & 2*
4*
5
Sept 29
Midterm #1 – Chapters 1, 2, 4, & 5 + lectures for Sept 8, 15, 22
Oct 6
Oct 13
Oct 20
Oct 27
Creating Tests & Interviewing
Thanksgiving – no class this evening
Intelligence (1)
Intelligence (2)
Nov 3
Midterm #2 – Chapters 6, 8, 9, 10 + lectures for Oct 6, 20, 27
Nov 10
Nov 17
Nov 24
Dec 1
Testing in the Workplace
Health
Test Bias
Ethics & Legal Issues
6&8
9*
10
16 & 18
17*
19
21*
Final exam – Scheduled by Registrar’s Office for a time during mid-year exam period,
December 6 – 17. Chapters 16, 17, 18, 19, 21 + lectures for Nov 10, 17, 24, & Dec 1
* Lecture will include material not in the chapter readings for this week
8.0 STATEMENT ON ACADEMIC OFFENCES
Students are responsible for understanding the nature and avoiding the occurrence of
plagiarism and other scholastic offenses. Plagiarism and cheating are considered very serious
offenses because they undermine the integrity of research and education. Actions constituting
a scholastic offense are described at the following link:
http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/handbook/appeals/scholoff.pdf
As of Sept. 1, 2009, the Department of Psychology will take the following steps to detect
scholastic offenses. All multiple-choice tests and exams will be checked for similarities in the
pattern of responses using reliable software, and records will be made of student seating
locations in all tests and exams. All written assignments will be submitted to TurnItIn, a service
designed to detect and deter plagiarism by comparing written material to over 5 billion pages
of content located on the Internet or in TurnItIn’s databases. All papers submitted for such
checking will be included as source documents in the reference database for the purpose of
detecting plagiarism of papers subsequently submitted to the system. Use of the service is
subject to the licensing agreement, currently between The University of Western Ontario and
Turnitin.com (http://www.turnitin.com).
Possible penalties for a scholastic offense include failure of the assignment, failure of the
course, suspension from the University, and expulsion from the University.
9.0 OTHER INFORMATION
Office of the Registrar web site: http://registrar.uwo.ca
Student Development Services web site: http://www.sdc.uwo.ca
Please see the Psychology Undergraduate web site for information on the following:
http://psychology.uwo.ca/undergradresponsibilities.htm
- Policy on Cheating and Academic Misconduct
- Procedures for Appealing Academic Evaluations
- Policy on Attendance
- Policy Regarding Makeup Exams and Extensions of Deadlines
- Policy for Assignments
- Short Absences
- Extended Absences
- Documentation
- Academic Concerns
- 2014 Calendar References
Students are not allowed to have electronic devices, including cell phones, on their person
during exams. Possession of a cell phone on your person during an exam will be taken as
evidence of cheating and dealt with according to relevant university policies.