PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS

(PERSONALITY-I)
Lecturer

Clinical Psychologist

Ebru IPEK
 •
• One issue we should pay particular attention to in personality tests is to
comply with ethical principles.

What do we mean by being ethical in testing practices?

 1) DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL
INFORMATION

In practical psychology classes, teachers may ask students for personal information.

Multiple relationships occur!

Although practicing with other students can help prepare students to apply and score
assessment tests and techniques, students should not be asked to disclose personal
information.
 2) BASICS OF TESTS

Testers should only report their opinions in their reports after conducting su cient
investigations to support their conclusions.
BUT unfortunately there is no guide to testing whether this assessment is adequate.

IT SHOULD BE.

WHY?

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 IT SHOULD BE.

WHY?

• Is the practitioner using a reliable instrument that measures what it is intended

to measure?
• Are the assessment methods used appropriate to the culture and the individual?
• Has there been co aboration with the participant?
• Is the practitioner competent to administer and report on the test?
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 3) IMPLEMENTATION OF TESTS

The validity and reliability of assessment tests should be determined on the population in which
they will be used.
When validity and reliability are not established, these de ciencies should be explained.
The selection of assessment tests should be appropriate to the intended objectives.
Factors such as the participant's language preference and pro ciency should be taken into account.

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Practitioners who test individuals who require special testing conditions must have the skills and
knowledge required for such testing.
Testing conditions must be appropriate to standardize testing and allow individuals a reasonable
time to complete.
The practitioner must be competent to administer and report the test.
In the evaluation process, it is important to pay attention to both empirical ndings and
clinical judgment.

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 12 Minimum Competencies for the Proper Use of Tests –

Ethical Requirements

1. Avoiding errors in scoring and recording.

2. Avoiding personally derogatory terms such as “fraud” based on a test score that is not
perfectly valid.
3. Keeping scoring keys and test materials safe.
4. Ensuring that each participant understands and follows instructions correctly.
5. Using testing environments that allow for optimum performance.
6. Not educating individuals or groups on test items.
7. The desire to help an individual understand and evaluate test results is an ethical practice in
counseling settings.
8. Not photocopying copyrighted materials.
9. Not using homemade answer sheets that do not properly align with scoring keys.
10. Establishing a trusting relationship with those being evaluated.
11. It is important for examiners to answer questions within the boundaries set forth in the test
manual.
12. Not assuming that norms established for one task apply to another task or that norms
established for one group automatically apply to other groups.
 Rights of Evaluated Participants

1. To be informed about their rights and responsibilities: they should be given information
about how they will be treated, what to expect and what is expected of them.
2. The right to be treated with respect, courtesy and impartiality: individuals, regardless of
their personal characteristics such as age, disability, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation
or other personal characteristics, have the right to be treated with respect and without prejudice.
3. The right to receive explanations before a test: before any test, individuals should be given
clear information about the purpose of the test, what types of tests will be conducted, whether
their results will be communicated to them or to others, and how the results will be used.
4. The right to know in advance about test details: individuals have the right to know in
advance when a test will be conducted, when they will receive the test results and whether they
will be required to pay for testing services.
 5. The right to be assured that tests and results
will be administered by appropriately trained
individuals who follow professional ethics.
6. The right to understand that a test is optional
and to know the consequences of taking or not taking
the test, completing the test, or canceling scores.
7. The right to receive an understandable
explanation of test results.
8. The right to have test results kept con dential
to the extent permitted by law, the right to
protection of personal information.
9. The right to raise concerns about the testing
process or results and to receive information about
how those concerns will be addressed.
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 4) PUBLICATION OF TEST DATA

Sharing of test data (raw scores, scaled scores, open-ended question responses, practitioner notes).
With proper consent, test data will be provided to the individual or other persons speci ed in the
consent, regardless of their quali cations.
However, in some cases, sharing may not be allowed for data protection or risk of misuse.
Sharing of test data is often subject to legal regulations.
Without consent, data will only be provided when required by law or court order.
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 5) INTERPRETATION OF DATA

When interpreting data (including automatically interpreted test data in a computer

environment), attention should be paid to the conditions of the participant, whether there
are cultural and language barriers.
If such unfavorable conditions or barriers exist, they should be noted in the reports.
It is important to remember that automatically interpreting in a computer environment is
written about a group of people with a similar score or set of scores, so it is not about the
speci c individual being evaluated!
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6) EVALUATION BY INCOMPETENT PERSONS

Incompetent individuals may not be able to perform

such tests and techniques accurately enough due to
lack of training or experience.
Such individuals should not use assessment tests
or should instead receive appropriate training.
 8 Core Competencies in Psychological Assessment

1. A background in the foundations of psychometric theory.

2. A knowledge of the scienti c, theoretical, empirical, and contextual foundations of
psychological assessment.
3. A knowledge, skills, and techniques necessary to assess cognitive, emotional,
behavioral, and personality dimensions of human experience across individuals and systems.
4. Ability to evaluate treatment/intervention outcomes.
5. Ability to critically evaluate the multiple roles, contexts, and relationships within
which clients and psychologists function and the mutual impact of these roles, contexts,
and relationships on the assessment activity.
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 6. Establish and maintain a professional relationship.
7. Ability to understand the relationship between assessment and intervention, to think about
assessment as an intervention, and to use assessment results to plan and guide interventions.
8. Technical skills
a. Problem and/or goal identi cation and case conceptualization.
b. Identifying and using appropriate assessment tools.
c. E ectively implementing assessment procedures with participants and the various systems
in which they work.
d. Systematically collecting data.
e. Appropriately communicating ndings and developing recommendations regarding
identi ed problems.
f. Providing feedback that is understandable, useful, and responsive to the participant, regardless
of whether the person being assessed is an individual, group, organization, or referral source.
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 6) OUTDATED TESTS AND OUTDATED TEST
RESULTS

The assessor should not make assessment or intervention decisions based on data or tests that are
out of date for the current purpose.
Although it is not clear when a test becomes obsolete, an older version is considered obsolete
when a new version is available, but in some cases the new version may not be suitable
for use — e.g., there may be insu cient research on validity and reliability.
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A useful guide to determining whether a particular
assessment test or technique is outdated is recent
reviews or meta-analyses of recent research ndings
published in peer-reviewed journals.

!
As a result, it is not safe to use outdated tests, but since
there is no guideline to determine how up-to-date the new
version is, the decision is left to the experience of the
implementer.
!
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7) TEST SCORING AND INTERPRETATION

Assessors must rely on evidence of the validity of their scoring and interpretation services
when selecting them, and are responsible for ensuring that assessment instruments are
scored and interpreted accurately.
If a test is scored manually, the scoring process should be done at least twice or scored by
another person.
Interpretations made by computer programs can be used as basic building blocks for
creating psychological reports.
However, these interpretations should always be reviewed and corrected if
necessary.
Computer interpretations should be considered as hypotheses and should be con rmed
with additional information.

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 8) ANNOUNCEMENT OF RESULTS

Recommendations based on test results should use understandable language and avoid
psychological jargon that can be easily misunderstood.
Test results should be communicated appropriately and sensitively, and negative labels or
comments that may negatively impact or stigmatize the individual should be avoided.
Psychologists who communicate test scores or reports to individuals or other persons or
institutions should provide clear explanations of the nature, purposes, and results of the test
and how the scores are used.
When an error occurs in the processing or reporting of test scores, psychologists should provide
corrected test scores as soon as possible.
 9) ENSURING TEST SECURITY

Psychologists should ensure that records of test results, whether in paper or electronic form, are
accessible only to those who are entitled to access them.
Inform individuals that limited access to test results is only available to those individuals or
institutions and for those purposes noti ed to them prior to testing.
Psychologists should obtain permission from copyright holders before reprinting test items.
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 Educating Students on Personality Assessment

Before students can administer any psychological test, they must have completed the relevant
prerequisite courses in psychological testing, statistics, and psychometrics.
They must also receive detailed training in the proper application of a particular assessment
test or technique.
"read the manual, it te s you everything you need”
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 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
REGARDING DIVERSITY

ETHNIC ORIGIN

The use of standardized assessment tests and

techniques with di erent ethnic groups has been
questioned for years.
Although they provide an opportunity for
comparison, these tests and techniques are often
inadequate when used with di erent ethnic groups.
Emic approach and ethnic approach
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 Emic approach, attempts to understand the individual
uniquely within the relative context of his or her ethnic
group and requires little standardization.

Ethnic approach, adopts a more universal perspective

by comparing individuals across ethnic groups using
standardized criteria and adopts as its main goal the
discovery of the laws that govern the processes studied.
Although some argue that emic-based assessments may be more accurate for use with certain ethnic
groups, such assessments have signi cant developmental costs and may not allow comparisons across
ethnic groups (Malgady & Zayas, 2001).

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 RELIGION AND

SPIRITUALITY

In the elds of psychology and

assessment, issues of religion and
spirituality are often overlooked.

How might di erences in

religious belief a ect test results?
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For example, in some religions, self-humility may be an important virtue, which may
result in lower scores on tests of self-con dence or self-esteem.

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 SEXUAL ORIENTATION

Those conducting the assessment may be implicitly in uenced by society’s negative views of these
individuals, which may a ect their interpretation of the assessment results.
APA (2012) has published guidelines for psychological practice with lesbian, gay, and bisexual clients.
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 SUMMARY

The fundamental ethical issues involved in psychological assessment are consent, competency,
and con dentiality.
The individual being tested must be competent and of legal age and must thoroughly understand
the various stages of the test.
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SELF-REPORT SCALES ARE DIVIDED INTO TWO:

1. NARROWBAND SCALES
2. WIDEBAND SCALES
1. NARROWBAND SCALES: Scales that assess a single symptom, type of
psychopathology, or personality trait.

Beck Depression Inventory – II (Beck, Steer, & Brown, 1996)

Beck Anxiety Inventory (Beck & Steer, 1993)
Borderline Personality Inventory
Vancouever Obsessive-Compulsive Scale
Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale ….
2. WIDEBAND SCALES: Scales that provide global assessments of the type and severity
of psychopathology or dimensions of normal personality.
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2)
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent (MMPI-A)
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2-Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF)
Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI-IV)
Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI)
NEO Personality Inventory
Strategies Used in Test Development

1. Empirical strategy
2. Internal consistency strategy
3. Rational theoretical strategy
• In the empirical strategy, the subtest that an item will be included in is determined by
comparing it with a non-test reference group.
A test is created by selecting items that best distinguish a group with a speci c
characteristic that is intended to be measured from a normative group.
For example, the responses of a well-de ned group of schizophrenia patients to all items
of the test were compared with a normal group without psychiatric illness, and the items
that best distinguished the two groups from each other formed the schizophrenia subtest.
The MMPI was created using this strategy.
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• In the internal consistency strategy, the separation of the items into subtests is based
on the internal structure of the items.
The homogeneity or internal consistency of the items in the subtests is one of the methods
used to separate the items into subtests and determine the scoring direction.
Internal consistency is usually measured with statistical methods such as Cronbach's
alpha coe cient.
These methods show how compatible the items in the entire test are.
High internal consistency indicates that the items measure the same structure
or characteristic and that the test is reliable.
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 e.g., let's say we have a depression scale
and it consists of 20 items. These items
may be designed to measure di erent
dimensions of depression.

Using the internal consistency strategy,

we can divide these items into
subtests…
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Emotional Symptoms Subtest:

Item 1: "I often feel sad."

Item 5: "I no longer enjoy daily activities."

Item 9: "I often feel like crying."

Item 13: "I feel worthless."

Physical Symptoms Subtest:

Item 2: "I have trouble sleeping."

Item 6: "My appetite has decreased or increased."

Item 10: "I feel a lack of energy."

Item 14: "I have headaches or stomach aches."

Cognitive Symptoms Subtest:

Item 3: "I have trouble concentrating."

Item 7: "I have trouble making decisions."

Item 11: "I often feel forgetful."

Item 15: "I feel hopeless about the future."

In the rational-theoretical strategy, the
division of items into subtests and the scoring
direction are based on the judgment of the
test developer or a particular theory.
Test items are selected based on a particular
psychological theory or model.
It determines which psychological constructs
or symptoms the items should measure.
Anxiety Symptoms Subtest:
"I often feel nervous and tense."
"I feel uneasy in crowded places."
"I have trouble sleeping at night because I worry all the time."
Depression Symptoms Subtest:
"I often feel sad and unhappy."
"I feel hopeless about the future."
"I no longer enjoy daily activities.”
Physical Complaints Subtest:
"I often get headaches."
"I have stomach problems."
"I feel a lack of energy."
History of the Development

of the MMPI

In 1939, Hathaway, a psychologist, and

McKinley, a neuropsychiatrist, aimed to
develop an objective test to aid in the
psychiatric evaluation of adult patients.
They criticized the tests that existed up
until then for not assessing whether the
respondents were distorting their
answers, and they wanted to create a test
that would take this into account.
 As a rst step, they collected 1000 items based on previously developed tests,
psychiatric interview guides and their own clinical experiences.

These items were sorted according to their ease of reading, repetition, simplicity,
and degree of discrimination between the norm and abnormal groups (empirical
strategy), leaving 504 items.

In addition to these items, a total of 112 more items were added to examine the
participants' test-taking attitudes (L test, K test, F test).
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 MMPI VS. MMPI-2

Clinicians and researchers revised the rst version of the MMPI because it was very old-fashioned,
used sexist language, and was more suitable for use in psychiatric settings, and developed
the MMPI-2.
1943 vs 1989
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The standardization study of MMPI-2 was conducted with a larger population (2400
people living in di erent states of the USA).
The MMPI-2 o ers a wide range of uses, exceeding the limitations of the original MMPI.
It is used not only in clinical settings, but also in hiring processes, court decisions, medical
evaluations and other areas.
The clinical subtests and validity subtests are the same, but some questions have been
removed, new questions have been added and the language of some questions has been
modernized.
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 MMPI

It consists of 566 questions answered as true or false.

It is a personality inventory that aims to objectively evaluate
the individual's social and individual adaptation.
It has 10 personality and 3 validity subscales.
Each subtest is not expected to measure separate prognostic
(course of the disease) or etiological (causality) features.
For example, an individual with a certain increase in the
schizophrenia subtest is not diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Broad-band personality and psychopathology assessment instruments include validity subtests.

These subtests are used to ensure the accuracy of responses and the validity of test results.

MMPI validity subtests help determine whether participants are responding honestly,
consciously manipulating their responses, or randomly responding to questions.
 1. I Can't Say Anything Subtest
Questions left blank.
Inability to make decisions, resistance to the
test, the individual's intelligence level,
di culty reading, the test being too long.
Leaving 10 or fewer items blank on the MMPI
does not a ect the validity of the test result.
Leaving more items blank is an indication that
this pro le is controversial.
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2. L Subscale/ Lie Scale:
It consists of 15 items that include behaviors that are not socially acceptable but are done
by almost everyone.
It determines whether the participant presents himself/herself in a positive way with the
desire to be socially acceptable.
If the items are answered incorrectly, the validity of the pro le is questioned.
Sample Items=
• 225) Sometimes I gossip a little. F
• 90) I sometimes put o until tomorrow things that I should do today. F
• 15) Sometimes I think of things that are too shameful to say. F
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3. Frequency (F) Scale:
Determines whether the participant gives rare or atypical answers.
High scores may indicate psychopathology or a tendency to invalidate the test.
Contains items related to behaviors or thoughts that are rare in society.
The F subtest was developed to measure whether the individual responds di erently than
everyone else on the test.

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 The items cover various areas such as strange a ect, thought disorders, alienation
from family, society and other institutions.
21 of the 64 items are similar to the items in the psychotic subtests (subtests 6, 7, 8 and 9).
Therefore, the increase in F is together with the increase in the psychotic subtests.
Sample Items=
• 35) I would be more successful if others did not hinder me. T
• 121) I believe that some plots were set up against me. T
• 54) Most of the people I know like me. F
• 112) I have often had to resist for things I knew were right. F
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4. Correction Scale:
Measures the tendency to present oneself as better and healthier than one actually is.
Contains items that measure the tendency not to accept personal weaknesses or problems.
Sample Items=
• 30) Sometimes I feel like cursing. F
• 117) Many people exaggerate their misfortunes to gain the attention and help of others. F
 • Did he/she give inconsistent answers to questions that
were similar in meaning but asked in di erent ways?

• Did he/she give inconsistent answers to questions that

were opposite in meaning but asked in similar ways?

• Did he/she give inconsistent answers in the second half

of the test because of fatigue or loss of attention?

• Were there rare signs of serious psychopathology or

exa erated responses?
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