Chapter 1: Introduction
 CHAPTER 1: Introduction 
Chapter One Outline
I.
Basic Concepts (text pp. 6-9)
A. What a Test Is (text pp. 6-7)
B. Types of Tests (text pp. 7-9)
II. Overview of the Book (text pp. 9-11)
A. Principles of Psychological Testing (text p. 10)
B. Applications of Psychological Testing (text pp. 10-11)
C. Issues of Psychological Testing (text p. 11)
III. Historical Perspective (text pp. 11-22)
A. Early Antecedents (text pp. 11-12)
B. Charles Darwin and Individual Differences (text p. 12)
C. Experimental Psychology and Psychophysical Measurement (text pp. 12-14)
D. The Evolution of Intelligence and Standardized Achievement Tests (text pp. 14-17)
E. Personality Tests: 1920-1940 (text pp. 17-18)
F.
The Emergence of New Approaches to Personality Testing (text pp. 18-20)
G. The Period of Rapid Changes in the Status of Testing (text pp. 20-21)
H. The Current Environment (text pp. 21-22)
CHAPTER 1 EXERCISES
I. BASIC CONCEPTS (text pp. 6-9)
A. What a Test Is (text pp. 6-7)
B. Types of Tests (text pp. 7-9)
1.
In the table on the next page, write in the term that matches each definition. The terms (and the page
numbers on which they can be found) are listed below.
Test (p. 6)
Overt behavior (p. 6)
Covert behavior (p. 6)
Scale (p. 7)
Trait (p. 7)
State (p. 7)
Individual Test (p. 7)
Group Test (p. 8)
Ability Test (p. 8)
Achievement Test (p. 8)
Aptitude Test (p. 8)
Intelligence Test (p. 8)
Structured Personality Test (p. 8)
Projective Personality Test (p. 8)
Psychological Testing (p. 9)
5
TERM
DEFINITION
This broad category of tests measures human achievement, aptitude and/or
intelligence.
This is within an individual and cannot be directly observed (e.g., thoughts,
feelings, etc.).
This relates raw test scores to some theoretical or empirical distribution.
A test that measures previous learning (e.g., a statistics exam).
All the possible uses, applications and concepts of psychological and educational
tests.
This type of test measures an individual’s potential for acquiring a certain skill.
The specific condition or status (at a single point in time) of an individual.
In this type of test, an ambiguous stimulus (e.g., an inkblot) is presented to an
examinee who must provide a spontaneous response which is believed to reflect
his or her unique characteristics.
This type of test can be given to a large group of people by one examiner or test
administrator (e.g., the SAT, an exam in class).
This type of test measures a person’s general potential to solve problems, adapt to
changing circumstances, think abstractly, and acquire new knowledge.
Enduring characteristics or tendencies to respond in a certain way across
situations.
A measurement tool or strategy used to quantify behavior or aid in the
understanding and prediction of behavior.
In this type of test, the examinee is given an objective statement about his or her
thoughts, feelings or behaviors and is required to choose a response from a limited
number of options (e.g., “Agree” or “Disagree”, “True” or “False”).
This is an observable activity (e.g., crying, fighting, sleeping, eating, etc.).
This type of test can be given to only one person at a time (e.g., a driver’s test,
some intelligence tests).
II. OVERVIEW OF THE BOOK (text pp. 9-11)
A. Principles of Psychological Testing (text p. 10)
The first section of the text covers basic principles and concepts that are central to all psychological and
educational tests.
B. Applications of Psychological Testing (text pp. 10-11)
The second section of the text explores the characteristics and uses of many different kinds of tests, including
achievement, intelligence, and personality tests.
C. Issues of Psychological Testing (text p. 11)
The third section of the text explores issues such as test bias, legal issues in testing, and the future of
psychological testing.
6
Chapter 1: Introduction
III. HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE (text pp. 11-22)
A. Early Antecedents
1.
The use of psychological tests and test batteries began in China more than 4000 years ago. How were
test batteries used during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 C.E.)? _______________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
2.
During the 1800’s, Great Britain, France, Germany and the United States all adopted China’s testing
model for what purposes? _____________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
B. Charles Darwin and Individual Differences (text p. 12)
3.
Charles Darwin’s Origin of the Species, published in 1859, exerted a tremendous influence on
scientists’ understanding of individual differences in ability and personality. According to Darwin, what is a
necessary consequence of the fact that individual members of a species differ? ___________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
4.
Sir Francis Galton applied Darwin’s theory to humans by studying individual differences in which
aspects of functioning? _______________________________________________________________________
5.
James McKeen Cattell coined the term _______________ ________________ in his research based on
Galton’s work in individual differences.
C. Experimental Psychology and Psychophysical Measurement (text pp. 12-14)
6.
What important ideas about psychological testing emerged from the collective work of German
psychophysicists Herbart, Weber, Fechner, and Wundt? ____________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
7
D. The Evolution of Intelligence and Standardized Achievement Tests (text pp. 14-17)
7.
The figure below summarizes various aspects of the evolution of the Binet-Simon Scale in 1905 to the
Stanford-Binet Scale in 1916. Complete the figure.
Format/Items: 30 items increasing in difficulty
Purpose:
BINET-SIMON SCALE
1905
Standardization sample:
Format/Items:
BINET-SIMON SCALE
1908 Revision
Standardization sample:
Mental age concept:
ff
BINET-SIMON SCALE
1911 Revision
Minor revision only
Revised : By Terman for use in the United States
Format/Items:
STANFORD-BINET
SCALE
1916
8.
Standardization sample:
What need spurred the demand for the development of large-scale group tests during World War I?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
8
Chapter 1: Introduction
9.
Created by Robert Yerkes and others, Army Alpha and Army Beta were two group tests of ability.
What distinguished these tests? ___________________________________________________________
10.
Below, complete the list of benefits of standardized achievement tests, which were first developed in
the early 1920’s.
a. They were easy to administer and to score .
.
b. ________________________________________________________________________________________
c. ________________________________________________________________________________________
d. ________________________________________________________________________________________.
E. Personality Tests: 1920-1940 (text pp. 17-18)
11.
Optimism is a trait, or a relatively enduring disposition that distinguishes one person from another.
Give three more examples of traits. ______________________________________________________________
12.
What is “structured” about a structured personality test? ______________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
13.
Your text states that interpretation of the Woodworth Personal Data Sheet, the first structured
personality test, was based on a now-discredited assumption. What is this assumption, and why has it been
discredited? ________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
14.
What are the primary differences between structured and projective tests of personality? ____________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
F. The Emergence of New Approaches to Personality Testing (text pp. 18- 20)
15.
In what important way was the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) an advance over
early structured personality tests such as the Woodworth Personal Data Sheet? ___________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
16. What is factor analysis? ___________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
9
G The Period of Rapid Changes in the Status of Testing (text pp. 20-21)
17.
The “birth” of clinical psychology corresponds to a period of increased government funding providing
for the training of psychologists who could develop and use applied psychological technology (e.g.,
psychological tests). What date is given in your text for the “birth” of clinical psychology? ______________
18.
A report by Shakow et al. (1947) was the foundation of the first formal training standards in clinical
psychology. What were two important statements about psychological testing made in this report?
a. ________________________________________________________________________________________
b. ________________________________________________________________________________________
19.
Your text states that in the late 1940’s and early1950’s, testing was a major function of the clinical
psychologist. However, psychologists often played a “complementary but secondary role vis-à-vis medical
practitioners” (p. 21). In what way did psychologists play a “secondary role” to physicians? ______________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________.
20.
What prompted the “sharp decline” in the status of testing among psychologists and the public from the
1950’s through the 1970’s? __________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
H. The Current Environment (text pp. 21-22)
21.
Your text identifies several branches or specialties of applied psychology that gained prominence in the
last two decades of the 20th century. Summarize how these different specialties use psychological tests.
Specialty
Neuropsychology
Health psychology
Forensic psychology
Child psychology
10
How psychological tests are used
Chapter 1: Introduction
Key Terms, Concepts, and Names to Know from Chapter One
test
J. E. Herbart
psychological test
E. H. Weber
overt behavior
G. T. Fechner
covert behavior
Wilhelm Wundt
scale
G. Whipple
trait
Alfred Binet
state
Binet-Simon Scale(s)
individual test
standardization sample
group test
representative sample
ability test
mental age
achievement test
L. M. Terman
aptitude test
Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale
intelligence test
Robert Yerkes
structured personality test
Army Alpha
projective personality test
Army Beta
psychological testing
standardized achievement tests
reliability
Stanford Achievement Test
validity
David Wechsler
test administration
Wechsler-Bellevue Intelligence Scale
interview
Woodworth Personal Data Sheet
test batteries
Rorschach inkblot test
Han Dynasty and Ming Dynasty
Sam Beck
American Civil Service Commission
Thematic Apperception Test
individual differences
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory
Charles Darwin
Factor analysis
Sir Francis Galton
Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire
James McKeen Cattell
11
12
Chapter 1: Introduction
CHAPTER 1 QUIZ
1.
As part of her scholarship application for a summer dramatic arts program, twelve-year-old
Sharon completed a test that assessed her potential for acquiring acting skills. Sharon has taken a(n)
_____________test.
a.
b.
c.
d.
personality
intelligence
aptitude
achievement
2.
Evidence suggests that ______________ developed the earliest systematic program of
psychological testing.
a.
b.
c.
d.
China
Great Britain
Germany
the United States
3.
________________ applied the concept of “survival of the fittest” to the study of individual
differences among human beings in his book, Hereditary Genius.
a.
b.
c.
d.
James McKeen Cattell
Charles Darwin
Wilhelm Wundt
Frances Galton
4.
In his research on individual differences in human functioning, Galton examined all of the
following except
a.
b.
c.
d.
visual acuity.
reaction time.
verbal comprehension.
physical strength.
5.
Which of the following is true with regard to the work of German psychophysicists Herbart,
Weber, Fechner and Wundt?
a.
b.
c.
d.
These researchers were primarily interested in the measurement of individual differences.
This body of work established the idea that psychological testing requires rigorous experimental
control.
These researchers argued that human consciousness was too complex to be studied through the
scientific method.
This body of work culminated in the development of the first intelligence test.
13
6.
The score of a child who took the 1908 revision of the Binet-Simon scale would probably be
reported as a(n)
a.
b.
c.
d.
7.
mental age.
intelligence quotient.
chronological age.
performance IQ.
A standardization sample is
a.
b.
c.
d.
8.
typically not representative of the population.
a set of deviant test scores.
a comparison group.
often unnecessary.
For what primary reason were group tests of ability and personality developed?
a.
b.
c.
d.
to evaluate school children
to identify career options for unemployed workers
to assess mental patients
to screen military recruits
9.
The __________________________ , a structured personality test, was developed through factor
analysis.
a.
b.
c.
d.
16PF
MMPI
TAT
SAT
10.
Which of the following statements best captures the reason why the use of psychological testing
declined among psychologists beginning in the 1950’s through the 1970’s?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
14
The U.S. government failed to provide political or financial support for the development of
psychological testing programs after World War II.
Increasingly, the public criticized the potentially intrusive nature of psychological testing and feared the
misuse of tests.
Many psychologists rejected psychological testing because they associated the use of tests with a
secondary role of technician in service of medical professionals.
Both a. and b. are correct.
Both b. and c. are correct.
Both a. and c. are correct.
Chapter 1: Introduction
Student Workbook Assignment 1.1
 Constructing a Timeline of Major Events in the History of Testing 
 DESCRIPTION OF THE ASSIGNMENT
In this assignment you will create a timeline depicting significant events in the history of testing.
 DIRECTIONS
 Before beginning this assignment, make sure you have read Chapter 1.
(1) First, you will need to get a large sheet of blank legal-sized (8 ½” x 17”) paper. Draw a line across the
middle of the paper, length-wise. This will be the timeline you fill in with names, dates, and events.
(2) Begin by deciding on the units of time you will use. Centuries will probably work best, until you get to
the 19th century. Then you should consider using decades as the time unit. If you change time units in
the middle of your time line, simply draw a short double-slash through the time line at the point of
change.
(3) Write the dates of historical events on your timeline first, to provide context for the testing-related dates
and events. Some examples of selected historical events between 1850 and 1950 are provided below.
(4) Then go to Chapter 1 and identify important testing-related dates and events (e.g., 1923: publication of
the Stanford Achievement Test). Write these on the timeline.
Selected Historical Events Between 1850 and 1950.
1861 American Civil War begins
1865 American Civil War ends
1912 Titanic sinks
1914 World War I begins
1918 World War I ends
1927 Charles Lindbergh crosses the Atlantic
1929 Stock Market Crash/Great Depression begins
1939 World War II begins
1945 World War II ends
15
16