Introduction to Psychological Testing Essay

psychological shows argon common tools apply by schools, hospitals, companies, and other institutions in tell apart to assess the character of a particular proposition person. Such renders apprise individuals of their personalities, including their behaviors and what they are capable of doing. The history of personality assessment is very long. It might be possible that assessing personality had been of existence since the time a man time- tryed to assess the personality of a stranger for the first time. However, formally assessing personality first became popular in the beginning and the end of World contend II.The first tests were paper-and-pencil mathematical group tests which consisted of multiple choice and true-or-false questions administered to a large group (Kaplan, et al, 2005). What is a Test? According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a test is a circumstantial evaluation or observation. It is also a procedure wherein a logical argument is being submitted and s ubjected for acceptance or rejection. Basically, it is a procedure. As related to psychology, it is employ to mea surely skill, intelligence, capacities, or aptitudes of an individual or a group (Test, n. d. ). Categories of psychological TestingSee more how to write an academic introductionBasically, there are two categories of psychological tests. According to a book entitled, psychological Testing A practical Introduction, the two categories are nonemal Personality Traits, and Clinical Instruments (Hogan, 2007). The similarities between these two categories involve the nature of the test items and the response formats. Both tests intention simple statements as test items, as well as response items. Basically, these items burn down easily be answered by a simple response much(prenominal) as yes or no. The second similarity is that these categories are subcategorized into comprehensive instruments and specific domain instruments.The generate of the comprehensive clinical in struments is to survey all potential areas of difficulty. In bless to do so, these tests produce numerous scores. The specific domain instruments however, focus in only one particular area such as depression, anxiety, or eating disorders. These tests produce only one type of score or a few number of closely related scores. Both radiation diagram personality traits and clinical instruments also involve similar strategies for development such as criterion-keying and both be possessed of the same stand on faking and responses. parenthesis from similarities, the two categories of psychological tests also have a number of differences. Firstly, typical personality traits focus on the normal range of personality go clinical instruments focus on the psychopathological aspects or some psychological difficulty. Most of the time, clinical instruments are administered individually, while normal personality traits are administered in a group setting. Clinical instruments are commonly used f or diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up evaluation. Normal personality traits such as the NEO PI-R do not have that kind of characteristic (Hogan, 2007). reliability and Validity Reliability of a psychological test means that the results should be consistent. If a person, for example, takes a test, the result of that specific test should be consistent for a extensive period of time. If in any way the result of a test is not the same with an already proven reliable test for a particular person, then that test is not reliable. Thus, reliability is proven with the use of a coefficient correlation between the test scores of the first examen and the second testing.The correlation coefficient (r) is a numerical summary of the relationship indicated in a bivariate distribution. This is computed by defining first the formula for r and computing its raw score (Hogan, 2007). The coefficient for a perfect reliability is +1. 0 while a coefficient of 0. 0 means no reliability. Reliability can a lso be determined by comparing two psychological measures (McCurley, et al. , 2005). The difference of reliability from inclemency is that rigor is determined whether a particular test is appropriate for the condition to be measured.It is important that an intelligence test should measure and intelligence and a personality test measure personality. The American Psychological Association issued a book entitled, Educational and Psychological Tests and Manuals in order to help practitioners in the field of testing determine the cogency of a certain test (McCurley, et al. , 2005). It should be noted that it would be distant to refer to the validity of a test in itself. Rather, what should be referred to be the interlingual rendition of the scores, whether it fits the particular purpose.A test whitethorn be adequate for a particular condition, but not to another. The question should be asked is if the interpretation of scores of a test fully addressed the level of the condition. Als o, validity is not a matter of degree, as according to Hogan. It is necessary that what should be known is the extent of the validity for a particular condition, since some tests may have no validity at all (Hogan, 2007). Reliability and validity have their own significance in psychological testing. Reliability makes sure that tests are consistent and can be used universally to a large number of population.It also makes comparing test results easier since these are exchangeable and their relationships are already proven appropriate. A test may have reliability without having validity. However, both are essential in determining accurately every individuals psychological condition. Validity requires that the test is in truth measures the entity it intends to measure. It is difficult to determine validity (McCurley, et al. , 2005). However, it is important that each test accurately measures what it intends to measure. Validity and reliability are interdependent in establishhing a tru lly stiff psychological test.