Psychological Testing

Psychological tests are tools. Any tool can be an instrument of good or harm, depending on how it is used. The function of psychological tests has been to measure the difference between the reactions of the same individual under different circumstances.

According to Anstey (1966) – “Psychological test can be defined as devices and techniques for the quantitative assessment of psychological attitudes of an individual”

According to Anastasi (1969) – “ A psychological test is an objective and standardized measure of a sample of behavior”

Psychological tests not only include intelligence but also interpersonal attitude.

Characteristics of psychological tests

1.  It is an instrument that indicates how much a participant has of the quality being measured.
2. A test can be defined as a standardized procedure for sampling behavior and describing in with categories or scores.
3.  Psychological testing originally devised for two purposes:To measure intelligence and to detect personality disorder.

   From the above discussion we can say that there are 3 characteristics of a psychological test:

1. Psychological testing is a sample of behavior.
2. The behavior is obtained under standardized conditions.
3. There are established scoring rules for obtaining quantitative information from the behavior of the sample.

Psychological testing has been growing at an increasing pace and it is contributing effectively in more and more areas of daily life. The function of psychological tests includes has been to measure differences between individuals or between the reactions of the same individual under different circumstances. The main problem of the psychological test was the identification of mentally retarded person but nowadays psychological tests are used for various purposes. But now the main purpose is to use it for intellectual efficiency.

Tests are developed for specific purposes. These purposes are-

1. Stress tolerance
2. To identify the personal type
3. Leadership potential
4. Values on skills.

Use of tests

1.  Most psychological tests are used for clinical purposes. The main purpose is to identify: i. emotional disorder & ii. Personality problem.

2.  Psychological tests are used to measure intelligence levels to identify the intellectual efficiency of individuals.

3. Various psychological tests are used to measure the ability of class performance like class attendance outstanding results.

4.  The major use of psychological tests is to select and classify of industrial personnel representative.

5. Psychological tests are used for selecting and classifying military person.

6.  Individual counseling is another major use of psychological tests.

7. The main objective of psychological testing is emotional wellbeing and effective interpersonal relation.

8.   Psychological tests are currently employed in the solution of a wide range of practical problems

9. Psychological tests provide standardized tests/tools for investigating problems-

1. Life span development
2. The relative effectiveness
3. The outcome of psychotherapy.
4. The effect of community propaganda
5. The influence of environmental variables

We can say that it is clearly evident that psychological tests are currently being employed in the solution of a wide range of practical problems. All problems in differential psychology for example, require testing procedures as a means of gathering data. For all areas of research and for many others the precise measurement of individual differences made possible by well-constructed tests.

 

Properties of Psychological Test

The psychological test refers to the process of measuring the evaluation of psychological function.

A psychological test involves those being tested in solving problems, performing skill task or making the judgment. Psychological test procedures are characterized by standard method or administration and scoring. Results are usually quantified by means of normative or other skilling procedures but they may also be interpreted qualitatively by giving reference to psychological theory.

 Properties of Psychological Test:

1. Objective: Psychological tests tend to be objective standardized measures and require a highly controlled uniform procedure for administration and scoring.
2. Quantitative: Psychological tests remain quantitative measures. Descriptive evaluation is not followed. There are two types of measure: i. quantitative ii. Qualitative. Psychological tests always use numbers and scores.
3. Predictive and diagnostic: The diagnostic or predictive value of a psychological test depends on the degree to which it serves as an indicator of a relatively broad and significant area of behavior.
4. Standardized: A psychological test is a standardized measure. Standardization implies uniformity of procedure in administrating and scoring a test.
5. Measure a similar class of behavior: psychological tests measure a similar class of behavior. Psychological test items will be ordered in level of difficulty so that candidates can get settled into the test more easily and weaker candidate have not faced overly complex items early on, they have an opportunity to demonstrate their ability.
6. Objectivity: Psychological tests usually follow an objective rule.
7. Norm: A normative score form a normative table is not open to subjective interpretation.
8. Reliability and validity: Tests should be reliable and valid. It is the most important characteristics of Psychological tests

Tests should have manual that content scientific objective data to demonstrate how good the test is and to what extent it does, what it supposed to do.

Reference:

Anastasi, A. (1982). Psychological testing. New York: Macmillan.