Psychological Testing and Measurement (PSY-P631) VU

Lesson 03
Historical Background of Psychological Testing

We know that the Chinese were the first ones to have a formal system of assessment and evaluation of the
civil servants. However other societies also had been using some form or the other of examination and
evaluation. The Greeks for example used to use tests in the educational process. It was an important part
of the educational system.
When Europe came out of the dark ages and became enlightened, they started developing universities.
The examination system became an important part of their educational system as well. European
universities that were established in the beginning of the middle ages, developed their formal examination
system. Degrees and honors were awards awarded on the basis of examination.
Psychological tests, in the form as we see them today, began in the 19th century. As discussed earlier, the
most significant names associated with test development in that period were, those of Sir Francis Galton,
James Mc Keen Cattell, and Alfred Binet.

We remember that Alfred Binet and his associate Theodore Simon developed the first proper test to
measure intelligence. He had proposed that children who could not benefit from normal schooling, and did
not respond to education the way they should have, needed to be identified, If they were found to be
educable, they could be sent to special classes. As a result of Binet and his associates the Ministerial
Commission for the Study of Retarded Children was established. These developments ultimately led to the
development of the first intelligence test. But much before Binet, many other professionals and thinkers
had been working on the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness that developed an increased realization
of the need for diagnostic tools.

Different psychologists, psychiatrists, and medical practitioners were dealing with people with psychological
problems in different parts of the world. A lot was being done in France. In the earlier centuries, people
suffering from such problems were not treated in a humane manner; in fact they were treated inhumanly.
In the 19th century there was a greater realization of the need to detect the mentally ill, differentiate them
from the ‘normal’, to assess the extent of the problem, and to treat accordingly. A need was felt to
differentiate between the mentally retarded (now called ‘special’) and the ‘insane’ (as they used to call the
psychotics). Mentally retarded were the people who were born with intellectual deficit. Those who were
called insane were the ones who had extreme emotional problems. Some of the French scholars and
practitioners made significant contributions to the cause of rehabilitation and treatment of such persons.
Contributions of some of these practitioners led to the development of psychological tests in later years.

Esquirol: He was a French physician, published his famous two volume book in 1838. This work proved
to be a milestone in the understanding and treatment of mental retardation. He gave a comprehensive
account of such conditions and symptoms of the mentally ill that were called ‘mental retardation’ later on.
He said that mental retardation can be seen along a continuum ranging from ‘normality’ to ‘low grade
idiocy’. According to Esquirol, mental retardation was found in various degrees. His work contained more
than 100 pages on this topic. He felt that language use by the person being diagnosed for mental retardation
was the most reliable criterion for assessing intellectual level. He had proposed this notion after having tried
other procedures for the same purpose. This idea was found to have weight and most intelligence tests that
we come across today have verbal ability as a major part of their content.

Seguin: Another French physician who made similar contributions was Seguin. He was based in France
while he made his initial contributions, but then he emigrated to the U.S in 1848. His contribution to the
training of the mentally retarded persons provided a basis for the inclusion of the performance based items
or performance part of intelligence tests. He was the one to establish the first school for the mentally
retarded in 1837. He developed the ‘physiological method of training’ and tested it for many years. He did
not agree with the idea that mental retardation was incurable. He had developed a number of muscle training
and sense training techniques. His techniques were adopted by institutions for the mental retardation. One
of the techniques developed by Seguin was the ‘Seguin Form Board’. It contained a number of variously
shaped slots same shaped corresponding blocks. The subject had to insert the blocks into the corresponding
slots or holes. This type of items were adopted by psychologists and were made a part of the performance

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based tests of intelligence or performance part of intelligence tests that included both verbal and
performance parts.

As mentioned earlier, Sir Francis Galton was the main and most prominent figure in the testing movement
in the 19th century. He included a number of traits or abilities in his tests for measuring intellectual ability.
He was primarily interested in the inheritance of genius which he investigated in depth. He also developed
some sensorimotor tests. Using these tests, he collected data from over 9000 people within an age range of
5 to 80 years. He established his anthropometric lab at the International exposition of 1884. The lab was
later shifted to South Kensington Museum after the exposition closed. It remained there for another six
years. Galton was already interested in and studying the hereditary nature of human characteristics. He
would study traits/ characteristics in siblings, twins, cousins, and other relatives. He looked into
characteristics in related and unrelated people. The tests that he used involved physical traits. He believed
that: “The only information that reaches us concerning outward events appears to pass through the avenue
of our senses; and the more perceptive the senses are of difference, the larger is the field upon which our
judgment and intelligence can act” (Galton, 1883).

The tests that he included the sort of:

• Galton whistle for determining the highest audible pitch
• Galton bar of visual discrimination of length
• Graduated series of weights for measuring kinesthetic discrimination

He introduced other test formats and tests also e.g. rating scales, questionnaire method, the use of free
association technique

However, the first person to use the term ‘mental tests’, in psychology, was James Mc Keen Cattell. He
used this term in 1890 in an article. Cattell had written his doctoral dissertation on reaction time in Leipzig,
Germany, under the direction of Wilhelm Wundt. In later years while he was lecturing in Cambridge, he
got in touch with Sir Francis Galton. This interaction with a popular scholar of his time, whose ideas on
individual differences appealed him, strengthened Cattell’s interest in the measurement of individual
differences. In the article where he had introduced the term ‘mental tests’, he had written about a series
of tests that were used with college students to measure their intellectual ability. These tests were
administered every year. Cattell and Galton held the common understanding that intellectual function
could be measured by measuring sensory discrimination and reaction time. The tests that he had mentioned
involved measurement of speed of movement, muscular strength, sensitivity to pain, keenness of hearing
and vision, memory, weight discrimination, reaction time etc.

Some other psychologists had also developed tests that measured similar faculties. However, these tests
were not found to be good predictors of intellectual functioning. Their results neither corresponded with
teachers’ ratings nor academic grades, or with other similar tests. Hence these tests met little popularity and
acceptance.

During the same time period, European psychologists like Emil Kraepline and Herman Ebbinghaus also
developed similar tests. More detailed discussion of these and other tests will be made in later sections.
The experimental psychologists of the 19th century also contributed to the development of psychological
tests, though indirectly. The experimental psychologists were trying to develop objective measures for
studying behavior and other phenomena of interest. The earlier experiments in the psychological
laboratories were investigating different aspects of thinking and behavior. Leipzig lab of Wundt was a
pioneer in this regard. The main focus of these labs was not on individual differences as such. They sought
to explore uniform patterns of behavior. However the experiments did generate information regarding
individual differences. It was observed that different people yielded different patterns of behavior when
tested or studied under same conditions. These experiments also generated the realization that objectivity,
success, and accuracy of psychological experiments required the use of carefully designed measuring
instruments and the use of controlled conditions, i.e., making sure that all other relevant variables were kept
under control while the effect of independent variable was being examined. As a result of these
developments, formation of standardized procedures began. The same principles and procedures were
adopted in test development and test administration.

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20th Century:
Binet’s scale, as already said, was the first formal test of intelligence. The first version appearing in 1905
consisted of 30 problems or tests. These were arranged in order of ascending difficulty. Empirical
procedures were followed for determining the difficulty level. The scale was given to 50 normal children, 3
to 11 years of age. Some mentally retarded children and adults were also included. The items covered
sensory and perceptual tests along with verbal content. The later carried more importance than the former.
Judgment, comprehension, and reasoning were specially emphasized.
In the 1908 scale, many unsatisfactory tests were removed and new ones added. This time the scale
containing many subtests was given to 300 normal children aged 3 to 13 years, and on the basis of this try
out the test was grouped into age levels. The tests that were passed by most children at a certain scale level
were placed in the scale level meant for that age group. For example the tests that were passed by 80-90%
of normal 3 year old children were kept in the three year level.
Now the scale could determine the ‘mental level’ of a child which indicated the age of normal children who
could successfully do the tests. Binet preferred to stick to the term ‘mental level’ whereas many other
psychologists used ‘mental age’ instead. Another revision was made in 1911. Many translations and
adaptations were also made. But the most significant was the one by L. M. Terman and associates at
Stanford University. This revision is called Stanford- Binet. The American psychologist Terman gave the
first Stanford revision of the scale in 1916. Further revisions were made in 1937 and 1960. Stanford- Binet
is one of the most widely used tests even today.
The idea of intelligence quotient was first used in this version. Intelligence quotient or IQ was described as
a ratio between mental age and chronological age. Mental age of a person can be different from his or her
chronological age i.e., it can be above or below that. It could reflect whether or not a child was performing
at a level at which his age mates were. BUT it gave rise to a problem. How could we compare people
belonging to different age groups? Will a 22 year old with a mental age of 25 be equally intelligent as an 7-
year old having a mental age of 10? In order to remove problems like this statistical concepts and procedures
were employed that will be discussed in the section on intelligence testing.

Group Testing:
A new concept in psychological testing emerged prominently in the early 20th century. This was about group
testing. All previously existing tests were supposed to be individually administered. Their nature was such
that the subjects had to be attended to one by one. In some tests or items the response time was also to be
measured. In that sense these tests were quite time consuming. In some cases the oral responses were also
to be recorded, or performance materials were to be individually administered. The tests required not only
one to one administration but highly skilled and trained examiners as well. These tests therefore could not
be used for group administration. A need was felt for tests that could be administered to groups of people
together so that readings were quick and available for large numbers of people.
This became significantly important in the time of World War in 1917 when the U.S became a party
involved in the war. American Psychological Association (APA) appointed a committee to examine how
psychology could be of help. The government and the army needed the psychological services in many
ways. First of all they needed to classify the recruits according to their intellectual level. There were about
1.5 million recruits whose screening and short listing required testing in large batches. On the basis of
intellectual ability testing they could be selected, retained, or discharged. This could also help in decisions
regarding allocation of specific duties, type of training and assignments.
Army psychologist were gathering tests and test items from all sourced. Arthur. S. Otis had prepared an
unpublished group intelligence test in which he had used an objective test pattern and included multiple
choice questions. He gave that test to the army. Looking into all the available tests and items, including
Otis’ test, the army psychologists developed two tests called Army Alpha and Army Beta. These were the
first group intelligence tests. After this there was no limit to test development. Tests for all purposes an
varying nature were developed, and today it is impossible to count the number of psychological tests
available for use.
Psychological tests were translated and adapted in other countries in their native language. They developed
their own indigenous tests also.
The following table describes some of the significant milestones in the history of psychological testing:

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Significant Milestones in the History of Psychological Testing:

2200 B.C Chinese emperors set up civil-service testing program in China.

A.D 1219 First formal oral examinations in law held at University of Bologna.
1575 J.Huarte publishes book, Examinen de lngenios, concerned with individual differences in mental
abilities.
1636 Oral examinations for degree certification used at Oxford University.
1795 Astronomer Maskelyne of Greenwich Observatory fires assistant Kinnebrook when their
observations of the transit time of Venus disagree.
1845 Printed examinations first used by Boston School Committee under guidance of the educator
Horace Mann.
1864 George Fisher, an English schoolmaster, constructs a series of scales consisting of sample
questions and answers as guides for evaluating students’ answers to essay test questions.
1865 Establishment of the New York State Regents’ Examination.
1869 Scientific study of individual differences begins with publication of Francis Galton’s Classification
of Men According to Their Natural Gifts.
1879 Founding of first psychological laboratory in the world by Wilhelm Wundt at University of Leipzig
in Germany.
1884 Francis Galton opens Anthropometric Laboratory fro international Health Exhibition in London.
1887 Gustav Fechner formulates first psychological law.
1888 J.M Cattell opens testing laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania.
1893 Joseph Jastrow displays sensorimotor tests at Columbian Exhibition in Chicago.
1896 Emil Kraeplin proposes new classification of mental disorders. Hermann Ebbinghaus develops
first completion test.
1897 J.M Rice publishes research findings on spelling abilities of U.S school children.
1900 College Entrance Examination Board founded.
1904 Charles Spearman describes two-factor theory of mental abilities.
First major textbook on education measurement, E.L Thorndike’s introduction to the Theory of Mental
and Social Measurement, published.
1905 First Binet-Simon intelligence Scale published.
Carl G.Jung uses word-association test for analysis of mental complexes.
1908 Revision of Binet-Simon Intelligence scale published.
1908-1909 Obejective arithmetic tests published by J.C Stone and S.A Courtis.
1908-1914 E.L Thorndike develops standardized tests of arithmetic, handwriting, language, and spelling,
including Scale for handwriting of Children (1910).
1914 Arthur Otis develops first group test of intelligence, based on Terman’s Standford Revision of the
Binet-Simon Scales.
1916 Standford-Binet Intelligence Scale published by Lewis Terman.
1917 Army Alpha and Army Beta, first group intelligence tests, constructed and administered to U.S
Army recruits.
1919 Louis Thustone’s Psychological Examination for College Freshmen published.
1920 National Intelligence Scale published.
Hermann Rorschach;s Inkblot Test first published.
1923 Standford Achievement Test first published.
Pintner- Cunningham Primary Mental Test first published.
1924 Truman Kelly’s Statistical Method published.
1925 Arthur Otis’s Statistical Method in Educational Measurment published.
1926 Scholastic Aptitude Test first administered.
1927 First edition of Strong Vocational Interest Blank for Men published.
Kuhlmann-Anderson Intelligence Tests first published.
1935 Development of the first IBM test-scoring machine.
1936 First volume of Psychometrika published.
1937 Revision of Standford-Binet Intelligence Scale published.
1938 Henry Murray publishes Explorations in Personality.

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O.K. Buros publishes first Mental Measurements Yearbook.

1939 Wechsler-Bellevue Intelligence Scale published.
1942 Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory published.
1947 Educational Testing Service founded.
1949 Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children published.
1960 Form L-M of Standford-Binet Intelligence Scale published.
1969 Arthur Jensen’s paper on racial inheritance of IQ published in Harvard Educational Review.
1970 Increasing use of computer in designing, administering, scoring, analyzing, and interpreting tests.
1971 Federal court decision requiring tests used for personnel selection purposes to be job relevant.
(Griggs v. Duke power).
1974 Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised published.
1975 Growth of behavioral assessment techniques.
1980 Development of item response theory.
1981 Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised published.
1985 Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing published.
1987 California Psychological Inventory-Revised published.
DSM-III-R published.
1989 MMPI-II published.
1990 Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-III published.
1992 Eleventh edition of The Mental Measurement Yearbook published.

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