Test Administration

Question 1

The Relationship Between Examiner and Test Taker

Answer 1

behavior of the examiner and his or her relationship to the test taker can affect test scores

Ex. WISC - half under an enhanced rapport condition in which the examiner used friendly conversation and verbal reinforcement during the test administration.
The other children took the test under a neutral rapport condition in which the examiner neither initiated conversation nor used reinforcement

examiner’s rapport had little effect on the scores of the younger children

However, average IQ scores for the 5th-grade through 9th-grade students were higher for those who had received the test under the enhanced rapport condition than for those with a neutral administrator

Question 2

scores obtained by examiners who made approving comments (such as “good” or “fine”) with scores obtained by examiners who used
disapproving comments or neutral
comments.

Answer 2

Children who took the test under a disapproving examiner received lower
scores than did children exposed to a neutral or an approving examiner

Question 3

. For younger children, a familiar examiner may make a difference.

Answer 3

Reading scores were significantly lower
when the proctor was unfamiliar

Question 4

Averaged across the studies, they found that the test performance was approximately how many SDS higher when the examiner was familiar with the test taker

Answer 4

0.28 standard deviation (roughly 4 IQ points) higher when the examiner was familiar
with the test taker than when not.

In those studies that involved children from lower socioeconomic classes, familiarity accounted for approximately 7.6 IQ points.

Question 5

The Race of the Tester

Answer 5

, Sattler concluded that there is little evidence that the race of the examiner significantly affects intelligence test scores.

Sattler and Gwynne (1982) have referred to the belief that white examiners impede the test performance of African American children as a myth widely held but unsupported by scientific studies

Question 6

what might be affecting instead of race?

Answer 6

these effects may reflect individual or cultural differences.

standardized tests require a strict administration procedure, the examiner can still communicate a hostile or a friendly atmosphere, a hurried or a relaxed manner, or an inquisitorial or a therapeutic role.

Question 7

Examiner effects tend to increase when

Answer 7

examiners are given more discretion about
the use of the tests

one study in which a small effect of the examiner’s race was found, the examiners were paraprofessionals rather than psychologists. The white examiners obtained higher scores from white than from African American children, whereas scores for both groups of children were comparable when tested by African American examiners

Question 8

There may be some biases in the way items are presented.

Answer 8

African American and white preschool children on the Preschool Language Assessment Instrument.

All children completed the test in two formats during two sessions that were separated by 2 weeks.

In one session, the administration was
standard; in the other, the administrators were allowed a greater use of context and
themes in explaining the test.

The African American children obtained higher test scores when the items were administered in the thematic mode. In particular, the
researchers noted a significant increase in performance on the more complex and
difficult items

Question 9

Stereotype Threat

Answer 9

Test takers may face a double threat. First, there is personal concern about how one will be evaluated and whether they will do well on the test

For people who come from groups haunted by
negative stereotypes, there may be a second level of threat. As a member of a stereotyped group, there may be extra pressure to disconfirm inappropriate negative stereotypes.

When men and women are told
they are taking a test that captures gender differences in test performance, men score
higher than equally qualified women.

Question 10

differences can be eliminated by lowering stereotype threat.

Answer 10

This is accomplished by describing the test as one that does not identify gender differences

Question 11

Stereotype threat might have very important effects on test scores.

Answer 11

One review of the literature indicated that these threats may explain 50% to 80% of the difference between males and females on the SAT Math section.

Other analyses suggest that 25% to 41% of the differences in SAT performance between white non-Hispanic students and those of Hispanic heritage can be explained by stereotype threat while 17% to 29% of the SAT performance differences between white non-Hispanic and African American students can be explained by threat

African American college students tend
to get lower grades in college in comparison to white students who are equally prepared.

Question 12

what belief contributes to stereotype threat

Answer 12

Part of the problem is the belief that intelligence is a fixed trait that is genetically determined.

, the belief that intelligence is a fixed trait has lost credibility in recent years. Some interventions designed to change mindset have been particularly helpful in addressing this problem. In one study, students were told that intelligence is malleable and adaptable to environmental circumstances.

Question 13

variety of hypotheses about why stereotype threat affects performance.

Answer 13

stereotype threat depletes working memory

—–People who are threatened may
engage in cognitive processes that focus their attention on themselves rather than
on the test task.
====They overattend to the treat and have less attentional capacity to concentrate on the test.
====Efforts to suppress these interfering thoughts may deplete working memory

“self-handicapping.”
====Test takers, when faced with the expectation that they may not perform well, might reduce their level of effort - protect self-worth

stereotype threat causes physiological arousal. ===Arousal might facilitate performance on easy tests but can interfere with performance on more challenging assessment

Question 14

Criticism of stereotype literature

Answer 14

criticisms of the stereotype threat literature is that most of the studies were conducted in the laboratory, not in real-life situations.

Question 15

Remedies for stereotype threat

Answer 15

For example, it is common for the first section of a testing form to include information about age, race, and sex. For someone concerned about test performance, responding to these questions might activate concerns about how their group is perceived.

Asking a woman to indicate her sex just prior to beginning the Advanced Placement (AP) calculus test may stimulate her to think about negative stereotypes that incorrectly imply that women have low math aptitude

This threat could be avoided by simply moving the questions about age, race, and sex from the beginning of the test to the end

the questions that serve as stereotype triggers would be completed after the substantive
math questions on the test were done.

telling test takers that they are completing a nondiagnostic test can sometimes reduce
the amount of threat.

In one study, telling women that the math test they were about to take is not expected to show sex differences in performance resulted in women outperforming men in a math class

Question 16

one of the most damaging effects of stereotypes is the subtle communication that some groups possess a fixed trait that cannot be changed.

Answer 16

the suggestion that IQ is inherited and is not subject to environmental influence may lead some groups to develop a fixed mindset that they will not do well on tests

this mindset might result in reduced effort.

Providing African American students with well-documented evidence that intelligence is not
a trait and that it can be changed with experience may result in better academic
performance and higher grade point averages

Other interventions help test takers cope with stress while others help students move
from a fixed mindset that underscores that tests are evaluating immovable traits to a
growth mindset that emphasizes capacity for improvement

Question 17

Language of Test Taker

Answer 17

linguistic demand can put non-English speakers at a disadvantage.

Even for tests that do not require verbal responses, it is important to consider the
extent to which test instructions assume that the test taker understands English

some tests are inappropriate for people whose knowledge of the language is questionable.

Translating tests is difficult, and it cannot be assumed that the validity and reliability of the translation are comparable to the English version.
Concern about the internal validity of research studies often compromises external
validity

Question 18

Training of Test Administrators

Answer 18

Many behavioral assessment procedures require training and evaluation but not a formal degree or diploma.
Psychiatric diagnosis is sometimes obtained using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-V - . Typical SCID users are licensed psychiatrists or psychologists with additional training on the test. There are no standardized protocols for training people to administer complicated tests such as the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised

Question 19

Expectancy Effects

Answer 19

expectancy effects, often called Rosenthal
effects - In a typical experiment, Rosenthal employed a large number of student experimenters to help collect data on a task such as rating human faces for success or failure.

e. Half of the student experimenters were led
to believe that the average response would fall toward the success side of the scale,
and the other half were told that the average response would fall on the failure side.

The results of these experiments have consistently demonstrated that the subjects
actually provide data that confirm the experimenter’s expectancies. However, the
magnitude of the effects is small—approximately a 1-point difference on a 20-point scale

Question 20

expectancy effect - experimenter’s influence is not limited to human subjects

Answer 20

rats that are expected to be “maze bright” will
learn to run through a maze more quickly than will rats that are expected to be “maze
dull.”

In reality, all of the rats were from the same litter and they were randomly assigned to be labeled as maze bright or maze dull

Question 21

Two aspects of the expectancy effect relate to the use of standardized tests.

Answer 21

First, the expectancy effects observed in Rosenthal’s experiments were obtained
when all of the experimenters followed a standardized script.
Although gross forms of bias are possible, Rosenthal argued that the expectancy effect results from subtle nonverbal communication between the experimenter and the subject.
experimenter may not even be aware of his or her role in the process

Question 22

A variety of interpersonal and cognitive process variables have been shown to affect our judgment of others

Answer 22

physician’s voice can affect the way patients rate their doctors

These biases may also affect test scoring.
Donahue and Sattler (1971) demonstrated
that students who scored the WAIS would most likely give credit for selected items
to examinees they liked or perceived to be warm

examiners must remain aware that their relationships with examinees can affect their objectivity when they score certain types of tests.

Question 23

Effects of Reinforcing Responses

Answer 23

reinforcement affects behavior, testers should always administer tests under controlled conditions. Several studies have shown that reward can significantly affect test performance. For example, incentives can help improve performance on IQ tests for specific subgroups of children.

6- to 13-year-olds received tokens they could exchange for money each time they gave a correct response on the WISC verbal scale. This incentive improved the performance of white children from lower-income families but not for children from middle-income families or African
American children from lower-income homes

Question 24

Some of the most potent effects of reinforcement arise in attitudinal studies.

Answer 24

the answer given by a respondent is not necessarily right or wrong but rather an expression of how someone feels about something. Repeated studies have demonstrated that the way an interviewer responds affects the content of responses in
interview studies

respondents in a household survey were asked if they suffered from certain physical
symptoms

For half of the subjects, the interviewer gave an approving nod each time a symptom was reported. For the other half, the interviewer remained expressionless. The number of symptoms reported increased significantly with such approval. In a similar study, two symptoms that no one should report were added to the list: “Are your intestines
too long?” and “Do the ends of your hair itch?” More people reported these symptoms if
they had been reinforced for reporting other symptoms than if they had not.

Question 25

Inexperienced test administrators often do not fully appreciate the importance of

Answer 25

standardization in administration. Whether they give a test or supervise others
who do, they must consider that the test may not remain reliable or valid if they
deviate from the specified instructions.

Question 26

Computer-Assisted Test Administration

Answer 26

can also be programmed to instruct the test taker and to provide instruction when
parts of the testing procedure are not clear

advantages:
excellence of standardization,
▶ individually tailored sequential administration,
▶ precision of timing responses,
▶ release of human testers for other duties,
▶ patience (test taker not rushed), and
▶ control of bias.

advantages in test administration, scoring, and
interpretation, including ease of application of complicated psychometric issues and
the integration of testing and cognitive psychology

e items can be given in any order or in a unique random order for every test taker. Computers are objective and cost-effective. Furthermore, they allow more experimental control than do other methods of administration.

Question 27

One of the most interesting findings concerns the use of computers to obtain sensitive information.

Answer 27

162 college students were assessed on the
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and questionnaires that
concerned with drinking and other personal information.

The information was obtained
in one of three ways: computer, questionnaire, or interview.

The results suggested that students were less likely to disclose socially undesirable information during a personal interview than on a computer

Question 28

Mode of Administration

Answer 28

Studies on health, for example, have shown that measures administered by an interviewer are more likely to show people in good health than are measures that are self-completed.

Particularly for younger people, more distress and disability are reported in self-completed questionnaires compared with questionnaires completed using an interviewer

Question 29

Subject Variables

Answer 29

test anxiety- . Such students often have difficulty focusing attention on the test items and are distracted by other thoughts such as, “I am not doing well” or “I am running out of time”