Introduction

to
Psychological
testing
Psychological Tests

Psychological testing refers to the administration of psychological tests. A psychological test is

"an objective and standardized measure of a sample of behavior". The term sample of
behavior refers to an individual's performance on tasks that have usually been prescribed
beforehand.

Performance on the items produces a test score. A score on a well-constructed test is believed to
reflect a psychological construct such as achievement in a school subject, ability, aptitude,
emotional functioning, personality, etc. Differences in test scores are thought to reflect individual
differences in the construct the test is supposed to measure. The technical term for the science
behind psychological testing is psychometrics.

Types of tests

Tests have been developed to measure many different human developments. They are classified
as:

Types of Tests

Psychological tests are classified on the basis of their language, mode of administration, and
difficulty level.

Depending upon the language, we have verbal, non-verbal, and performance tests. Literacy is
required for taking verbal tests as the items have to be written in some language. In non-verbal
tests, items are made of symbols or pictures. Performance tests require movement of objects from
their respective places in a particular order.

Depending upon the mode of administration, psychological tests are divided into individual
or group tests.

An individual test is administered by the researcher to one person at a time, while group tests can
be administered to large number of persons at the same time. In individual tests, the researcher
administers the test face to face and remains seated before the test taker and notes down the
responses. In the group test, the instructions about answering the items, etc., are written on the test,
which the test taker reads and answers the questions accordingly. The test administrator explains
the instructions to the entire group. Individual tests are time consuming, but are important ways of
getting responses from children, and from those who do not know the language. Group tests are
easy to administer and are also less time consuming. However, the responses are fraught with
certain limitations. The respondent may not be motivated enough to answer the questions and may
give fake responses.

Psychological tests are also classified into speed and power tests.

In a speed test, there is a time limit within which the test taker is required to answer all the items.
Such a test evaluates the individual on the basis of time taken to answer the items accurately. In a
speed test, all the items are of the same degree of difficulty. On the other hand, power test assesses
the underlying ability (or power) of the individuals by allowing them sufficient time, i.e. these
tests do not have any time limit. In a power test, the items are generally arranged in an increasing
order of difficulty.

Fundamental Concept of Psychological Testing

Proper psychological testing is conducted after vigorous research and development in contrast to
quick web-based or magazine questionnaires that say "Find out your Personality Color," or "What's
your Inner Age?" Proper psychological testing consists of the following:

• Standardization - All procedures and steps must be conducted with consistency and
under the same environment to achieve the same testing performance from those being
tested.
• Objectivity - Scoring such that subjective judgments and biases are minimized, with
results for each test taker obtained in the same way.
• Test Norms - The average test score within a large group of people where the
performance of one individual can be compared to the results of others by establishing
a point of comparison or frame of reference.
• Reliability - Obtaining the same result after multiple testing. It refers to the
consistency of scores obtained by the same person when re-examined with the same
test with different set of questions at another time.
 • Validity - The type of test being administered must measure what it is intended to measure.

Types of Validity

Face Validity: It is a measure of how representative a research project is ‘at face value,' and

whether it appears to be a good project.

Content Validity :It is the estimate of how much a measure represents every single element of a
construct.

Criterion Validity :It assesses whether a test reflects a certain set of abilities.

• Concurrent validity measures the test against a benchmark test and highcorrelation indicates
that the test has strong criterion validity.
• Predictive validity is a measure of how well a test predicts abilities. It involves testing a group
of subjects for a certain construct and then comparing them with results obtained at some point
in the future.
Construct Validity :It defines how well a test or experiment measures up to its claims. A test
designed to measure depression must only measure that particular construct, not closely related
ideals such as anxiety or stress.

Application of Psychological testing

a. Detection of specific Behavior

Psychological test is used to measure and to detect the abilities of a person.
b. Individual Differences
A psychological test is used to measure the individual differences, that is different between
abilities of different persons and the performance of the same person at different time.
c. To diagnose by the Psychological Test
The psychological tests are usually used in clinical psychology.In clinical psychology a test's
function is to diagnose mental disorders.So tests are used in mental hospitals and coaching and
guidance centers for the assessment and diagnose of mental disorders.
d. Legal Classification
A psychological test helps in classifying a number of people into different categories For
example normal and abnormal, criminal and innocent, intellectual and mental retarded, able and
disable etc.
e. Promoting Self Understanding
A psychological test provide standardized information about the abilities, capabilities, aptitudes,
potential competencies interest, trait and states of a person which helps in understanding one's
personality and planning future prospective.
f.Program Evaluation
Effectiveness of a particular program is assessed by the applications of some kind of test. This
function is usually performed by an achievement test.
g. Scientific Inquiry or Research
Some experts use tests for research purpose which provide information about the mental level
and personality of the subject.
h. Military Selection
A closely related application of psychological testing is to be found in the selection and
classification of military personal. From simple beginnings in the World War-I, the scope and
variety of psychological tests employed in military situations underwent a phenomenal increase
during World War-II. Subsequently research on test development has been containing on a large
scale in all brands of the normed services.
i. Industry
In industry and business tests are helpful in selection and classifying personal for placement in
jobs that range from the simpler semiskilled to the highly skilled, from the selection of filling
clerks and sales-person to top management for any of these position, however test results are
only one source of information , though an important one.
Industrial and Organizational Psychology (also known as I-O psychology, industrial-
organizational psychology, work psychology, organizational psychology, work and
organizational psychology, industrial psychology, occupational psychology, personnel
psychology or talent assessment) applies psychology to organizations and the workplace.

Various definitions:
• Percentile Rank – An individual`s percentile rank on a test designates the percentage of
cases or scores lying below it. For e.g. Percentile 20 means the individual is situated above
20% of the group fall below this person`s rank.
• Percentage – A rate, number or amount in each hundred. Any proportion or share in relation
to a whole.
• Stanine scores – According to this method the standard population is divided into 9 groups.
Stanine 1 is the lowest and stanine 9 is the highest.
• Sten Scores – standard scores on a scale of ten.
• Standrard scores – It designates the individual`s position with respect to the total range and
distribution of scores. The standard score indicates, in terms of standard deviation how far
a particular score is removed from the mean of the distribution.