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Psychological Assessment

Psychological assessment involves using a combination of techniques including psychological testing to develop hypotheses about a person's behavior, personality, and capabilities. It is performed by licensed psychologists or trainees to evaluate things like intelligence, academic achievement, interests, attitudes, neurocognitive functioning, and personality. There are several categories of psychological tests that are used for different purposes like career counseling, clinical diagnosis, and research.

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222 views5 pages

Psychological Assessment

Psychological assessment involves using a combination of techniques including psychological testing to develop hypotheses about a person's behavior, personality, and capabilities. It is performed by licensed psychologists or trainees to evaluate things like intelligence, academic achievement, interests, attitudes, neurocognitive functioning, and personality. There are several categories of psychological tests that are used for different purposes like career counseling, clinical diagnosis, and research.

Uploaded by

Fizza Ali
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Psychological Assessment

Psychological assessment — also called psychological testing.


Psychological assessment is a process of testing that uses a
combination of techniques to help arrive at some hypotheses about a
person and their behavior, personality and capabilities. Psychological
assessment is also referred to as psychological testing, or performing a
psychological battery on a person. Psychological testing is nearly always
performed by a licensed psychologist, or a psychology trainee (such as
an intern). Psychologists are the only profession that is expertly trained
to perform and interpret psychological tests.

Types
There are several broad categories of psychological tests:

IQ/Achievement Tests:
IQ tests purport to be measures of intelligence, while achievement
tests are measures of the use and level of development of use of the
ability. IQ (or cognitive) tests and achievement tests are common norm-
referenced tests. In these types of tests, a series of tasks is presented to
the person being evaluated, and the person's responses are graded
according to carefully prescribed guidelines. After the test is completed,
the results can be compiled and compared to the responses of a norm
group, usually composed of people at the same age or grade level as
the person being evaluated. IQ tests which contain a series of tasks
typically divide the tasks into verbal (relying on the use of language)
and performance, or non-verbal (relying on eye–hand types of tasks, or
use of symbols or objects). Examples of verbal IQ test tasks are
vocabulary and information (answering general knowledge questions).
Non-verbal examples are timed completion of puzzles (object assembly)
and identifying images which fit a pattern (matrix reasoning).
IQ tests (e.g., WAIS-IV, WISC-V, Cattell Culture Fair III, Woodcock-
Johnson Tests of Cognitive Abilities-IV, Stanford-Binet Intelligence
Scales V) and academic achievement tests (e.g. WIAT, WRAT,
Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement-III) are designed to be
administered to either an individual (by a trained evaluator) or to a
group of people (paper and pencil tests). The individually administered
tests tend to be more comprehensive, more reliable, more valid and
generally to have better psychometric characteristics than group-
administered tests. However, individually administered tests are more
expensive to administer because of the need for a trained
administrator (psychologist, school psychologist, or psychometrician).

Public Safety Employment Tests:


Vocations within the public safety field (i.e., fire service, law
enforcement, corrections, emergency medical services) often require
Industrial and Organizational Psychology tests for initial employment
and advancement throughout the ranks. The National Firefighter
Selection Inventory - NFSI, the National Criminal Justice Officer
Selection Inventory - NCJOSI, and the Integrity Inventory are prominent
examples of these tests.

Attitude Tests:
Attitude test assess an individual's feelings about an event, person, or
object. Attitude scales are used in marketing to determine individual
(and group) preferences for brands, or items. Typically attitude tests
use either a Thurstone scale, or Likert Scale to measure specific items.
Neuropsychological Tests:
These tests consist of specifically designed tasks used to measure a
psychological function known to be linked to a particular brain
structure or pathway. Neuropsychological tests can be used in a clinical
context to assess impairment after an injury or illness known to affect
neurocognitive functioning. When used in research, these tests can be
used to contrast neuropsychological abilities across experimental
groups.

Personality Tests:
Psychological measures of personality are often described as either
objective tests or projective tests. The terms "objective test" and
"projective test" have recently come under criticism in the Journal of
Personality Assessment. The more descriptive "rating scale or self-
report measures" and "free response measures" are suggested, rather
than the terms "objective tests" and "projective tests," respectively.

Sexological Tests:
The number of tests specifically meant for the field of sexology is quite
limited. The field of sexology provides different psychological
evaluation devices in order to examine the various aspects of the
discomfort, problem or dysfunction, regardless of whether they are
individual or relational ones.

Direct Observation Tests:


Although most psychological tests are "rating scale" or "free response"
measures, psychological assessment may also involve the observation
of people as they complete activities. This type of assessment is usually
conducted with families in a laboratory, home or with children in a
classroom. The purpose may be clinical, such as to establish a pre-
intervention baseline of a child's hyperactive or aggressive classroom
behaviors or to observe the nature of a parent-child interaction in order
to understand a relational disorder. Direct observation procedures are
also used in research, for example to study the relationship between
intrapsychic variables and specific target behaviors, or to explore
sequences of behavioral interaction.

The Parent-Child Interaction Assessment-II (PCIA) is an example of a


direct observation procedure that is used with school-age children and
parents. The parents and children are video recorded playing at a
make-believe zoo. The Parent-Child Early Relational Assessment is used
to study parents and young children and involves a feeding and a puzzle
task. The MacArthur Story Stem Battery (MSSB) is used to elicit
narratives from children. The Dyadic Parent-Child Interaction Coding
System-II tracks the extent to which children follow the commands of
parents and vice versa and is well suited to the study of children with
Oppositional Defiant Disorders and their parents.

Interest Tests:
Psychological tests to assess a person's interests and preferences.
These tests are used primarily for career counseling. Interest tests
include items about daily activities from among which applicants select
their preferences. The rationale is that if a person exhibits the same
pattern of interests and preferences as people who are successful in a
given occupation, then the chances are high that the person taking the
test will find satisfaction in that occupation. A widely used interest test
is the Strong Interest Inventory, which is used in career assessment,
career counseling, and educational guidance.
Aptitude Tests:
Psychological tests measure specific abilities, such as clerical,
perceptual, numerical, or spatial aptitude. Sometimes these tests must
be specially designed for a particular job, but there are also tests
available that measure general clerical and mechanical aptitudes, or
even general learning ability. An example of an occupational aptitude
test is the Minnesota Clerical Test, which measures the perceptual
speed and accuracy required to perform various clerical duties. Other
widely used aptitude tests include Careerscope, the Differential
Aptitude Tests (DAT), which assess verbal reasoning, numerical ability,
abstract Reasoning, clerical speed and accuracy, mechanical reasoning,
space relations, spelling and language usage. Another widely used test
of aptitudes is the Wonderlic Test. These aptitudes are believed to be
related to specific occupations and are used for career guidance as well
as selection and recruitment.

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