Unit 1 Essay Outline

Prompt: List the major categories of tests and give one specific example of a test within each category. 

 Instructions:  500-750+ words. MLA style.  Double spaced.  Please use attached outline for information to be included in the essay.

NOTE: THE ITEMS LISTED IN THIS OUTLINE ARE WORD FOR WORD QUOTES FROM THE TEXT. PLEASE DO NOT USE THEM AS WRITTEN.

Text: Hogan, T.P. Psychological Testing: A Practicle Introduction, 3rd ed., Wiley Publishing Company, 2015

Introduction:

·       We begin our exploration of the world of testing by identifying the major categories of tests

·       Any such classification is necessarily fuzzy around the edges.

·       Categories often blend into one another rather than being sharply different.

·       Nevertheless, an organizational schema helps us to comprehend the breadth of the field.

·       There are five major categories of tests, each with sub-divisions within the category.

·       The five major categories of tests are: Mental Health Ability Tests, Achievement Tests, Personality Tests, Interests and Attitudes Tests, and Neuropsychological Tests

Mental Health Ability Tests:

·       The first major division encompasses mental ability tests.

·       In Psychological testing, the term mental ability includes a wide variety of cognitive functions, such as memory, spatial visualization, and creative thinking.

·       Historically, the area has centered around intelligence tests.

·       This category of tests sub-divides into individually administered intelligence tests, group-administered intelligence tests, and a variety of other ability tests—other than intelligence tests.

·       An example of an individually administered intelligence test is the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale—WAIS.

·       Another example is the Standford-Binet Intelligence Scale.

·       These tests are administered to individual examinees, one-on-one, by trained psychologists to provide an index of the overall mental ability of individuals.

·       An example of a group administered intelligence test is the Otis-Lennon School Ability Test—OLSAT.

·       This test is administered to groups of students usually in classroom settings, to gauge mental ability to succeed in typical school subjects.

·       Another example of tests in this category is the SAT used to predict college success.

Achievement Tests:

·       The next major category of tests are achievement tests.

·       These tests attempt to assess a person’s level of knowledge or skill in a particular domain.

·       Achievement Tests are the most widely used of all types of tests.

·       Teachers in children’s classrooms use achievement tests every day. Weekly spelling tests, math tests, pop quizzes, and final exams are all examples of everyday achievement tests.

·       The first sub-division in this category are achievement batteries.

·       Professionally developed tests such as the Stanford Achievement Test, Metropolitan Achievement Test, and the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills are examples of achievement batteries.

·       All of these batteries consist of a series of tests in such areas as reading, mathematics, language, science, and social studies.

·       The second sub-division of achievement tests includes single-subject tests that cover only one area, such as psychology, French, or geometry. An example of this is the Graduate Record of Examinations—GRE: Psychology Test.

·       The third sub-division are achievement tests used for the purpose of certification and licensing.

·       There are certification and licensing achievement tests across nursing, teaching, physical therapy, airline piloting, and so on.

·       None of these tests in this category is a household name. But they have important consequences for people in specific vocational fields.

·       A fourth sub-division are government-sponsored programs.

·       Various government agencies sponsor certain achievement testing programs in such basic subjects as reading, writing, and mathematics. In fact, such state assessment programs have assumed enormous importance in recent years as a result of new federal laws. In some states, high school graduation depends partly on performance on these tests.  

·       Other government-sponsored programs provide information about nationwide performance in a variety of areas. The best known of these efforts are the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), both of which are the subject of frequent reports in the media.

·       The final sub-division of achievement tests are individually administered achievement tests. The first four types of achievement tests are typically group administered. However, some achievement tests are individually administered in much the same way as individually administered mental ability tests. The individually administered achievement tests aid in the diagnosis of such conditions as learning disabilities.

Personality Tests:

·       The next major category includes the variety of tests designed to yield information about the human personality.

·       The first sub-division includes what we call objective personality tests. In testing parlance, objective simply means the tests are objectively scored, based on items answered in a true-false or similar format.

·       Examples of these objective personality tests are the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI).

·       The MMPI provides a profile showing how similar the examinee’s responses are to the responses of several clinical groups. The BDI and EDI, as suggested by their titles, try to measure depression and eating disorders, respectively.

·       The second sub-division of personality tests includes projective techniques.

·       With all these techniques, the examinee encounters a relatively simple but unstructured task.

·       We hope the examinee’s responses will reveal something about his or her personality.

·       The most famous of these techniques is the Rorschach Inkblot Test. Other examples are human figure drawing, sentence completion techniques, and reactions to pictures.

·       The third sub-division is labeled “other approaches” to cover the myriad of other ways psychologists have devised to satisfy our limitless fascination with the human personality.

Interests and Attitudes:

·       The next category of tests encompasses measures of interests and attitudes.

·       The most prominent sub-division in this category includes vocational interest measures. These tests are widely used in high schools and colleges to help individuals explore jobs relevant to their interests.

·       Examples of such tests are the Strong Interest Inventory (SII) and the Kuder Career Search (KCS).

·       The second sub-division is attitude scales.

·       This category also includes numerous measures of attitudes toward topics, groups, and practices. For example, there are measures for attitudes toward capital punishment, attitude toward the elderly, and so on.

Neuropsychological tests:

·       The final category includes neuropsychological tests. These are tests designed to yield information about the functioning of the central nervous system, especially the brain

·       From some perspectives, this should not be a separate category because many of the tests used for neuropsychological testing employs ability tests and often uses personality tests, too.

·       However, we use a separate category to capture testes used specifically to assess brain functions. Of special interest are tests of memory for verbal and figural material, psychomotor conditions, and abstract thinking.

Conclusion: