Chapter 1: The Nature of Tests Flashcards
What is a test?
Anastasi (1988)
• “Objective”
• “Standardized”
Measure of a sample of behavior
Three Elements of a Test
- Objectivity; decisions are not subjective to the examiner
- Standardization; procedures are uniform across all examiners
- Sample of behavior; from which we can draw a hypothesis
Domino & Domino propose three ways to consider tests
- As an experiment
we are forced to focus on the standardization procedures, the elimination of confliction causes, experimental control, and generation of a hypothesis that can be tested - As an interview
allows you to interview many people without discrimination - As tools
best used in the hands of a trained professional and can be used for more than just psychology
Testing versus Assessment
Assessment
• Documents (usually in measurable terms) and uses empirical data on the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and beliefs of a person
• Goal is to make improvements
• It is a procedure instead of a product
Test
• Examines a person’s knowledge of something to determine what that person knows or has learned
• Measures the level of knowledge or skill reached
• It is a product that measures a particular behavior or objective
Purposes of tests
- Classification
- Self-understanding
- Program evaluation
- Scientific inquiry
Tests in Decision Making
This may be the criteria by which our test is judged.
• High stakes versus low stakes decisions
• How predictive is our test?
• Many times we want to use our test to make an inference to something else
o Most agree that major decisions such as college acceptances, should not be decided based on one test such as the SAT but the test data is the only sources on a student’s application that is objective. Interviews, grades, and letters of recommendation are all subjective.
Ethical Standards (in your textbook): APA ethics code
Six general principles:
- Competence
- Integrity
- Professional and scientific responsibility
- Respect for people’s rights and dignity
- Concern for others’ welfare
- Social responsibility
Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct (Newer Version)
Five general principles:
Principle A: Beneficence and Nonmaleficence
Principle B: Fidelity and Responsibility
Principle C: Integrity
Principle D: Justice
Principle E: Respect for People’s Rights and Dignity
Standards for educational and psychological tests: Three most important areas
• Informed consent
• Confidentiality
• Privacy
Variables that can influence a testing situation
If a test is to be considered an experiment than we must ensure that experimental procedures are followed. Such as controlling extraneous variables and enforcing time limits.
Greater control = less extraneous variables
A multiple-choice exam is less effected by other variables than an essay exam
• Method of administration
can be altered by changing or disregarding instructions, by giving answers in a certain way, or by not following procedures
• Situational variables
subject feeling frustrated, discouraged, fatigued, hungry, etc.
• Experimenter variables
The experimenter will have certain characteristics that may affect the test such as age, gender, race, more or less sympathetic, warm or cold, more or less authoritarian, better or worse at establishing relationships, etc. This won’t affect the subject’s performance but could affect the experimenters’ interpretations. This depends on many factors and in general there does not seem to be a large influence.
• Subject variables
how warm or cold a participant acts toward the experimenter can affect the results. Masling believed that situational and interpersonal influences effect testing. Sattler and Theye (1967) concluded that: 1. Departures from procedures are more likely to affect “specialized” groups than “normal” groups, 2. Children seem to be more susceptible to situational factors, 3. Rapport is a crucial variable and experimenter experience is not important, and 4. Racial differences could have an effect.
Categories of Tests
- Is the test commercially published?
- Distinguished by their administration
- Medium – materials used
- Item structure
- Area of assessment
- Test function
- Score interpretation
- Self-report versus observer
- Maximal versus typical performance
10.Age range - Type of setting
12.Scales of measurement
- Is the test commercially published?
Aka, a propriety test
§ Some tests are able for purchase through commercial companies, such as, the Stanford-Binet and Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory
§ Once you have determined if a test is in fact commercially published, then you can consult with the Mental Measurements Yearbook (MMY) through a university. You may have to look through several versions to find the right test. Some tests are available through a computer service called the Bibliographic Retrieval Services.
- Distinguished by their administration
§ Group vs. individual tests
· Group tests are test such as the SATs that are administered to many people at once, they are preferred by researchers needing to test many people in a small amount of time
· Individual tests are tests such as the Stanford-Binet test of intelligence, they are preferred by clinicians who deal with one person at a time and want observational data in addition to the test scores
§ Speed tests vs Power tests
· Speed tests have a time limit that effects performance. The time limits are usually set up so that only 50% of the applicants can attempt every item.
· Power tests are designed to measure how well you can do and therefore do not have a time limit or give ample time as to not effect performance. Time limits are set so that 90% of applicants can attempt all items.
§ Secure test
· Most tests that are used in industry are secure tests meaning that the tests usefulness would be compromised if it was made public.
§ Invasive test
· Asking about someone’s sexuality is more invasive than a test on math skills
· A test completed by the subject is more invasive than an observer report
- Medium – materials used
§ Paper-and-pencil
§ Performance
§ Physiological (polygraph)
§ Computer
- Item structure
§ Where on the question is on the continuum objective to subjective
§ Objective is easy to score but reveals little about the individual while subjective is difficult to quantify but can be revealing and highly informative to the individual
§ Is the question verbal (vocabulary and math) or require performance?
