Psychological Testing (Psyc2035) 1

Unit 1

Introduction to Psychological Testing

1.1.
Nature and Meaning of Psychological Tests

Psychological tests are simply ‘tools’. A psychological test is an instrument for measuring
human behavior or traits. It is an effort to measure quantitatively the various aspects of the
behavior, personality, interest, motivation,… of an individual. These tests are like tests in any
other sciences. However, in these tests, observations are made on a small but a carefully chosen
sample of an individual's behavior. Different psychologists define psychological tests in different
ways.

is a systematic procedure for obtaining samples of behavior, relevant to cognitive or

affective functioning, and for scoring and evaluating those samples according to
standards
is a standardized instrument designed to measure objectively one or more aspects of a
total personality by means of samples verbal or nonverbal responses or by means of other
behaviors." (Freeman)
is essentially an objective and standardized measure of a sample of behavior." (Anastasi)
"a systematic procedure for measuring a sample of behavior." (Brown)
defined as a pattern of stimuli, selected and organized to elicit responses which will
reveal certain characteristics in the person who takes them." (Marshall)
is the construction and use of scales for the measurement of individual differences is
called psychological testing (Moskowitz and Orgel)". define the psychological test in
terms of its uses

Therefore, psychological tests are intended to assess various human potential abilities,
intelligence, aptitudes, interests, attitudes, achievements etc. From the above definitions, we can
draw the following conclusion about a psychological test
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 A test is a 'systematic procedure." It indicates that a test is constructed, administered, and

scored according to some prescribed rules. Using standard procedures serve to minimise
the possible influence of irrelevant personal and situational variables on test scores.
 A test is a measuring instrument.
 A psychological test is a "pattern of stimuli." It is not possible to measure psychological
characteristics directly; rather we infer the characteristics (traits) from responses to test
items.
 Every test is supposed to elicit responses to what is being measured. Every item of a test is
like a stimulus eliciting a response from an individual. Thus, test items elicit responses
which adequately mirror the characteristics being measured. If the test item does not
reflect the underlying characteristics, inferences made from test score will be incorrect.
 A test contains only a sample of 'all possible' items. It is not possible to include every
possible item that might be developed to measure the domain of behavior. So, it must be
assured that the test items included in the test are a representative sample of all possible
items.
 A test measures only test-taking behavior.

Psychological tests are often described as standardized for two reasons, both of which address
the need for objectivity (1) in the testing process. The first has to do with uniformity of procedure
in all important aspects of the administration, scoring, and interpretation of tests. Naturally, the
time and place when a test is administered, as well as the circumstances under which it is
administered and the examiner who administers it, affect test results. However, the purpose of
standardizing test procedures is to make all the variables that are under the control of the
examiner as uniform as possible, so that everyone who takes the test will be taking it in the same
way.

The second meaning of standardization concerns the use of standards (2) for evaluating test
results. These standards are most often norms derived from a group of individuals—known as
the normative or standardization sample—in the process of developing the test. The collective
performance of the standardization group or groups, both in terms of averages and variability, is
tabulated and becomes the standard against which the performance of other individuals who take
the test after it is standardized will be gauged. Strictly speaking, the term test should be used
 Psychological Testing (Psyc2035) 3

only for those procedures in which test takers’ responses are evaluated based on their correctness
or quality. Such instruments always involve the appraisal of some aspect of a person’s cognitive
functioning, knowledge, skills, or abilities. On the other hand, instruments whose responses are
neither evaluated nor scored as right-wrong or pass-fail are called inventories, questionnaires,
surveys, checklists, schedules, or projective techniques, and are usually grouped under the rubric
of personality tests. These are tools designed to elicit information about a person’s motivations,
preferences, attitudes, interests, opinions, emotional makeup, and characteristic reactions to
people, situations, and other stimuli. Typically, they use questions of the multiple-choice or true-
false type, except for projective techniques, which are open ended. They can also involve making
forced choices between statements representing contrasting alternatives, or rating the degree to
which one agrees or disagrees with various statements. Most of the time personality inventories,
questionnaires, and other such instruments are of the self-report variety but some are also
designed to elicit reports from individuals other than the person being evaluated (e.g., a parent,
spouse, or teacher). For the sake of expediency, and following common usage, the term test will
refer to all instruments, regardless of type, that fit the definition of a psychological test. Tests that
sample knowledge, skills, or cognitive functions will be designated as ability tests, whereas all
others will be referred to as personality tests.

Battery is another term often used in test titles. A battery is a group of several tests, or subtests,
that are administered at one time to one person. When several tests are packaged together by a
publisher to be used for a specific purpose, the wordbatteryusually appears in the title and the
entire group of tests is viewed as a single, whole instrument. Several examples of this usage
occur in neuropsychological instruments (such as the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological
Battery) where many cognitive functions need to be evaluated, by means of separate tests, in
order to detect possible brain impairment. The term batteryis also used to designate any group of
individual tests specifically selected by a psychologist for use with a given client in an effort to
answer a specific referral question, usually of a diagnostic nature.

1.2.
Types of Psychological Tests

Here are the major nine types of Psychological tests:

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1. Personality Tests
2. Achievement Tests
3. Attitude Tests
4. Aptitude Tests
5. Emotional Intelligence Tests
6. Intelligence Tests
7. Neuropsychological Tests
8. Projective Tests
9. Observation (Direct) Tests

According to Anastasi, there are three criteria of classification of the psychological tests:
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1. On the basis of Contents: on this basis, psychological tests can be divided into two types:
Cognitive and Non-cognitive

(i) Cognitive test:

Cognitive tests are those tests which are used to measure different abilities and capacities. It is
also called Ability test. Some of it’s examples are as follows(a) Test of general intelligence:
these tests are designed to measure general intelligence of people. For example, an adult’s ability
to cope with general intellectual problems.

(b) Test of creative intelligence: these tests are designed to measure creative capacity.

(c) Test of aptitude: Aptitude usually refers to the ability to learn a particular kind of skill
required in a specific situation. Test of aptitude is designed to measure it, such as, musical
aptitude test, mechanical aptitude test, clerical aptitude test, etc. (d) Test of achievement: these
tests are designed to measure the capacity or ability to achieve the goal. These tests help in the
prediction of the people’s achievement in their field.

(ii) Non- Cognitive test:

Non-cognitive tests are those tests which are used to measure different aspects of personality. It
is also called Personality test. Some of it’s examples are as follows

(a) Test of personality: these tests are designed to reveal an individual’s personality which
includes characteristics patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving.

(b) Test of traits and temperaments: these tests are the deep study of the traits and temperaments
of a person, i.e. the way a person responds emotionally and cognitively to another person, thing
and/or situation.

(c) Test of values and interests: these tests focused on the personality attributes of interests and
values. For example, vocational interest.

2. On the basis of Purpose: on this basis, psychological tests can be divided into two types:
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(i) Descriptive test: these are those tests in which the mode of the answer will be descriptive, i.e.
the testee has to give his response in a descriptive manner. Descriptive test may be (a) Cognitive
test or (b) Non-Cognitive test or the mixture of both the types.

(ii) Selection test: in selection test the testee has to choose or select the right choice from the
multiple choice questions. Selection test may also be (a) Cognitive test or (b) Non-Cognitive test.

3. On the basis of Form: on this basis, psychological tests can be divided into five types

(i) Oral test: the mode of this type of test is oral, i.e. spoken. There is a lack of written work.

(ii) Paper-pencil test: in this type of test, a test booklet and an answer sheet is provided to the
testee and he perform written work using paper, pencil, etc.

(iii) Speed test: in this type the questions of the test booklet are arranged in such a manner that it
can’t be completely solved within that time limit. There is a lot of questions in the test booklet
and the testee has to solve it in a short timelimit. The scoring is done on the basis of speed, i.e.
number of the solved questions.

(iv) Power test: In this type of test, a test booklet and an answer sheet is provided to the testee
and there is also the time limitation but the scoring is done on the basis of correctness, i.e.
accuracy of the answers.

(v) Performance test: performance tests are those tests in which the language is either used to
direct or may not be used when pantomime and gesture is used for the direction but in the items
the language is never used. There are few objects kept physically in front of the testee and they
are asked to manipulate and/or disentangle. These tests are both, individual as well as group. One
of the performance test which is widely used for the measurement of intelligence is Alexander’s
Battery of Performance test.

Although the psychological testing movement started with the construction of an intelligence
test, yet at present, we have a large number of psychological tests. Psychological tests have been
devised and used primarily for the study of individual differences in general intelligence, specific
aptitude, educational achievement, vocational fitness, and non-intellectual personality traits.
Thus, there are various types of psychological test which are used to measure various
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psychological dimensions. Different psychologists classify these tests from a different point of
view. Some of them are discussed below:

1. Classification on the basis of traits to be measured:

The classification of the test on the basis of trait measured is the most popular and appropriate
classification. On the basis of traits, psychological tests are classified as follows:

A. Intelligence Test: These tests measure the general mental ability of an individual from
childhood to adulthood. Generally, a measure of intelligence is expressed in terms of I.Q. There
are different intelligence tests, such as the Stanford Binet Test, Wechsler test etc. Intelligence
tests may be of four types - (i) Verbal Intelligence test, (ii) Nonverbal and performance tests of
intelligence, (iii) Individual tests of Intelligence, (iv) Group tests of Intelligence. These tests may
be individual verbal and individual nonverbal or performance tests similarly group verbal and
group nonverbal or performance tests.

B. Special Aptitude Test: Special ability is the present ability of an individual to work
successfully on a particular task. Thus, special aptitude tests are intended to measure an
individual's ability to perform a task of a limited or specific kind. These tests predict the
possibilities of success and failure of an individual in a particular area if trained. There are
various types of aptitude tests to predict educability and performance of an individual in different
areas, such as artistic, musical, clerical, mechanical, linguistic etc.

However, instead of employing the specialized aptitude tests for measuring specific aptitudes the
present trend is to use multiple aptitude test batteries. These batteries assess the suitability of a
person for a particular task on the basis of scores in the relevant aptitude tests in the batteries.
These batteries measure a number of abilities but instead of a total score (like intelligence tests)
provide sectional scores. Such batteries enable us to study and interpret intra-individual
differences in different abilities. The General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB) and Differential
Aptitude Test (DAT) are two examples of such tests

C. Achievement Test: Achievement tests are employed for measuring the amount of success or
achievement of an individual in a specific area of accomplishment. These are not designed
primarily for prediction. They help in ascertaining quantity and quality of learning attained in a
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subject of study or group of subjects after a period of instruction by measuring the present ability
of the individual. They are valuable in the determination of individual difficulties in learning, in
the discovery of scholastic interests, special abilities or disabilities and in plotting the educational
career of the individual. Generally, there are two types of achievement tests. - (i) Standardised
tests and (ii) Teacher-made tests. These tests may be in the format of written paper-pencil test or
oral or practical test.

D. Personality Test: Personality testing refers to the various measures of a nonintellectual

aspect of behaviour, such as adjustment, motivation, social relations, interests etc. A large
number of tests are included in this category, for example, rating scale, word association,
inventories and questionnaire, projective tests, interview, situational tests etc.

2. Classification on the basis of administration of the Test:

Psychological tests are classified on the basis of administration as Individual and Group test.
Individual tests are administered on one person at a time. Bhatia Battery, Standford-Binet etc. are
an example of individual tests. On the other hand, group tests are designed primarily for mass
testing. These tests eliminate one to one relationship between test takers and the testees. They
ensure more uniformity of procedure.

3. Classification on the basis of nature of Test items:

Psychological tests are classified as verbal or paper-pencil test and nonverbal or performance test
on the basis of the nature of test items used. Verbal tests make use of language. Here,
instructions are given in words either in written or oral form or both. Individuals are required to
use language, as well as, paper-pencil for giving the responses. Nonverbal tests involve such
activities in which the use of language is not necessary. In these tests, the use of language is
eliminated from test contents and responses except in giving direction. On the other hand,
performance tests are a typical example of a complete nonverbal test. In these tests, the content
and responses are in formof performances. Language is not at all used even for giving direction.

4. Classification on the basis of scoring (as age scales and point scales) Test:
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Age scale test is one in which scoring is done on the basis of age unit. Here, test items are
selected on the basis of success at various ages in age scale. The mental maturity and
development are expressed on the basis of relative development of the children of same age. Age
scales provide qualitative evaluations. Binet-Simon Scale, Standford-Binet Scale etc. are an age-
scale test in which scoring is done on the basis of mental age referred to as Intelligence Quotient
(I.Q.) A Point Scale is one which gives a point score and which is not related to mental age. In
point scale, there is a single homogeneous graded scale. Here, test items are selected on the basis
of the functions measured. Point scale test provides a quantitative evaluation. Thus in point scale
age wise organisation of items is dropped, but it may, however, be converted into age scale and
vise-versa. Generally, for the measurement of mental ability or intelligence of adolescents and
adults, a point scale instead of age scale is required. An important point scale test was developed
in 1916 by Yerkes and Bridges for measurement of intelligence. Other examples of point scale
test are -"Wechsler Adult Intelligence Test", Herring revision of the Binet-Simon Scale etc.

5. Classification as speed and power test:

Another type of Psychological tests on our list is the speed and power tests. It is a test where
the performance is being measured based primarily upon the speed with which one works. The
example can be tests of clerical ability. The other alternative can be where the test is difficult
and the applicant or the person is given as much time as he/she wants. This type of tests where
the person’s score is based exclusively upon his/her ability to answer the question correctly
irrespective of the time he/she has taken is known as power test. An example can be of tests
like Tweezers Dexterity Test etc.

Speed tests are those in which individual differences depend entirely on the speed of
performance. Items in such tests are uniformly of low difficulty level. Items are within the ability
of the testees. A large number of items are included in these tests. The time limit is short. No
individual is capable of solving all the items within the given time limit. Hence, the scores reflect
the speed of each individual with which he or she works. On the other hand, power tests provide
enough time to permit everyone to attempt all items. In these tests, items are arranged in
ascending order of difficulty i.e. the test starts with the easiest item and ends with the most
difficult one. The test includes some items too difficult for anyone tosolve. Hence, nobody can
get a perfect score in power tests. The scores reflect the performance level of an individual with
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which he or she works. Most of the psychological tests depend on both power and speed. Thus,
psychological tests are classified on the basis of standardisation and scoring also. Among the
various classifications, the classification on the basis of a measured trait is the most appropriate
classification. To have a clear picture of different types of psychological tests, we have to take
into account the different ways of classification as mentioned above. However, it is worth
mentioning that it is difficult to measure one aspect of human behaviour in isolation. One kind of
test unavoidably measures traits and characteristics of another kind and thus, they overlap with
one another.

To sum up, rapid development and popular use of the intelligent test in the first quarter of the
20th century has opened up a new chapter of psychological testing bearing a promising future. At
present, psychologists have laid on constructing various test series and on making an objective
study of human nature and behaviour.

Emotional Intelligence Test

Have you ever felt like you impulsively shout at someone or cry without any reason? These
emotions of anger and sadness is what we need to control and monitor. We need to identify our
emotions and regulate them without being influenced by others. An Emotional Intelligence test
taps various emotions through situations presented to the test-taker. An emotional intelligence 
test requires a person’s honesty in it to accurately evaluate a person’s EQ [Emotional Quotient]
and suggest ways to improve it. It is often noted that people who have higher EQ are much
more content and successful than people otherwise. Even though emotional intelligence can
overlap with other aspects like personality or genetic compositions, Emotional Intelligence of a
person tends to fluctuate or change. It often requires constant consciousness in your actions
and evaluation of its consequences. 

Neuropsychological Tests
Now scroll up to the beginning of the blog where we mentioned different perceptions.
These perceptions are due to the different neurological structures and pathways our
brain has. These tests are designed to measure the cognitive workings of a person.
How would you test if you have a strong or a weak memory? Neuropsychological tests
are the most essential form among the many types of psychological tests used for
assessing diseases like Alzheimer’s, Brain injury, Emotional disorders, such as
depression or anxiety. It is important for doctors to know the core of the problem to cure
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it. Neurological tests assess factors like Memory, Language, Executive functioning,
Dementia, Visuospatial Function, etc.

Essay and Objectives Tests

The essay tests are probably one of the oldest methods of psychological tests that are
created to check the candidate’s ability to organise and articulate his or her thoughts
clearly and of course logically. It is Lord Macaulay who has been credited with
introducing this concept for the Indian Administrative Services or IAS. On the other
hand, the objective test has one correct answer and does not require or ask for any sort
of long extensive answers/explanation from the candidates. These tests are generally
used to check the mental ability or mental power of the candidate and reasoning and
clarity of the concepts above all. 

1.3. CHARACTERISTICS, Asssumptions, Principles, and Limitations of Psychological TESTs

(Individual Assignment)

1.4. Historical Roots of Psychological Tests

Originally created by Francis Baton as a group of tests, Psychological testing methods can be
traced way back to 2200 B.C in China when an emperor tested his officials to know whether
they were suitable for his office. Since then many Chinese dynasties have seen such tests
unfold into more formal ones with various levels.

The roots of contemporary psychological testing and assessment can be found in early 20 th C in
France. In 1905, Alfred Binet and a colleague published a test designed to help place Paris
schoolchildren in appropriate classes. Binet’s test would have consequences well beyond the
Paris school district. Within a decade, an English language version of Binet’s test was prepared
for use in schools in the United States.

When the United States declared war on Germany and entered World War I in 1917, the military
needed a way to screen large numbers of recruits quickly for intellectual and emotional
problems. During World War I, the process of testing aptly described the group screening of
thousands of military recruits. Psychological testing provided this methodology. Many types of
psychological tests were designed to evaluate soldiers for the army and to filter soldiers who
were suffering from ‘shellshock’ or PTSD. Such intense screenings might come off as archaic in
 Psychological Testing (Psyc2035) 12

today’s world, but it was a landmark in psychology because it gave rise to the World’s first
Personality Test.

During World War II, the military would depend even more on psychological tests to screen
recruits for service. Following the war, more and more tests purporting to measure an ever-
widening array of psychological variables were developed and used. There were tests to measure
not only intelligence but also personality, aspects of brain functioning, performance at work, and
many other aspects of psychological and social functioning.

D uring World War II, the U.S. Offi ce of Strategic Services (OSS) used a variety of procedures
and measurement tools—psychological tests among them—in selecting military personnel for
highly specialized positions involving espionage, intelligence gathering, and the like. Military,
clinical, educational, and business settings are but a few of the many contexts that entail
behavioral observation and active integration by assessors of test scores and other data. In such
situations, the term assessment may be preferable to testing. The term assessment acknowledges
that tests are only one type of tool used by professional assessors and that a test’s value is
intimately linked to the knowledge, skill, and experience of the assessor.

The measurement of intelligence

As early as 1895, Alfred Binet (1857–1911) and his colleague Victor Henri published several
articles in which they argued for the measurement of abilities such as memory and social
comprehension. Ten years later, Binet and collaborator Theodore Simon published a 30-item
“measuring scale of intelligence” designed to help identify mentally retarded Paris
schoolchildren (Binet & Simon, 1905). The Binet test would go through many revisions and
translations—and, in the process, launch both the intelligence testing movement and the clinical
testing movement.

Before long, psychological tests were being used with regularity in such diverse settings as
schools, hospitals, clinics, courts, reformatories, and prisons (Pintner, 1931). I n 1939, D avid
Wechsler, a clinical psychologist at Be llevue Hospital in New York City, introduced a test
designed to measure adult intelligence. For Wechsler, intelligence was “the aggregate or global
capacity of the individual to act purposefully, to think rationally, and to deal effectively with his
 Psychological Testing (Psyc2035) 13

environment” (1939, p. 3). Originally christened the Wechsler-Bellevue Intelligence Scale, the
test was subsequently revised and renamed the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS). The
WAIS has been revised s everal times since then, and versions of Wechsler’s test have been
published that extend the age range of testtakers from young children through senior adulthood.
These tests will be discussed in greater detail in the chapters that deal with the assessment of
intelligence. A natural outgrowth of the individually administered intelligence test devised by
Binet was the group intelligence test. Group intelligence tests came into being in the United
States in response to the military’s need for an effi cient method of screening the intellectual
ability of World War I recruits. This same need again became urgent as the United States
prepared for entry into the Second World War. Psychologists would again be called upon by the
government service to develop group tests, administer them to recruits, and interpret the test
data. A fter the war, psychologists returning from military service brought back a wealth of
applied testing skills that would be useful in civilian as well as governmental applications.
Psychological tests were increasingly used in diverse settings, including large corporations and
private organizations. New tests were being developed at a brisk pace to measure various
abilities and interests as well as personality.

The measurement of personality

Public receptivity to tests of intellectual ability spurred the development of many other types of
tests (Garrett & Schneck, 1933; Pintner, 1931). Only eight years after the publication of Binet’s
scale, the fi eld of psychology was being criticized for being too test oriented (Sylvester, 1913).
By the late 1930s, approximately four thousand different psychological tests were in print
(Buros, 1938), and “clinical psychology” was synonymous with “mental testing” (Institute for
Juvenile Research, 1937; Tulchin, 1939). W orld War I had brought with it not only the need to
screen the intellectual functioning of recruits but also the need to screen for recruits’ general
adjustment. A government Committee on Emotional Fitness chaired by psychologist R obert S.
Woodworth was assigned the task of developing a measure of adjustment and emotional
stability that could be administered quickly and effi ciently to groups of recruits. The committee
developed several experimental versions of what were, in essence, paper-and-pencil psychiatric
interviews. To disguise the true purpose of one such test, the questionnaire was labeled as a
“Personal Data Sheet.” Draftees and volunteers were asked to indicate
 Psychological Testing (Psyc2035) 14

yes or no to a series of questions that probed for the existence of various kinds of
psychopathology. For example, one of the test questions was “Are you troubled with the idea
that people are watching you on the street?” The Personal Data Sheet developed by Woodworth
and his colleagues never went beyond the experimental stages, for the treaty of peace rendered
the development ofthis and other tests less urgent. After the war, Woodworth developed a
personality test for civilian use that was based on the Personal Data Sheet. He called it the
Woodworth Psychoneurotic Inventory. This instrument was the fi rst widely used self-report test
of personality—a method of assessment that would soon be employed in a long line of
succeeding personality tests. Personality tests that employ self-report methodologies have both
advantages and disadvantages. On the face of it, respondents are arguably the best-qualifi ed
people to provide answers about themselves. However, there are also compelling arguments
against respondents supplying such information. For example, respondents may have poor
insight into themselves. One might honestly believe something about oneself that in reality is not
true. Regardless of the quality of insight, some respondents are unwilling to reveal anything
about themselves that is very personal or that could put them in a negative light. Given these
shortcomings of the self-report method of personality assessment, a need existed for alternative
types of personality tests. Filling the need for measures of personality that did not rely on self-
report were various methods. One such method or approach to personality assessment came to be
described as projective in nature. As we will see later in this book, a projective test is one in
which an individual is assumed to “project” onto some ambiguous stimulus his or her own
unique needs, fears, hopes, and motivation. The ambiguous stimulus might be an inkblot, a
drawing, a photograph, or something else. Perhaps the best known of all projective tests is the
Rorschach, a series of inkblots developed by the Swiss psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach. The
use of pictures as projective stimuli was popularized in the late 1930s by Henry A. Murray,
Christiana D. Morgan, and their colleagues at the Harvard Psychological Clinic. When pictures
or photos are used as projective stimuli, respondents are typically asked to tell a story about the
picture they are shown. The stories told are then analyzed in terms of what needs and
motivations the respondents may be projecting onto the ambiguous pictures. Projective and many
other types of instruments used in personality assessment will be discussed in a subsequent
chapter devoted to that subject.

1.5. Functions of Psychological Testing

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Psychological Tests are mainly used to analyse the mental abilities and attributes of an
individual, including personality, achievement, ability and neurological functioning.
Generally, psychological tests used for Describing, Understanding, Predicating, and Modifying
individual behaviors. The central and most important uses of Psychological Testing is for:

1. Detection of Specific Behavior

2. Organizational Development
3. Identification of persons with mental health problems
4. Personnel Recruitment and Selection
 Assessing the mental and/or behavioral characteristics of an individual and his selection
for a particular job or post is done, where he can perform his/her best.
 For hiring, job assignment, termination, transfer, promotion,…
5. Counseling in
 Education, vacation, emotional wellbeing,
6. Academic Placements
 Using psychological tests of education (e.g., Binet Intelligence Test)
7. Description and Prediction: for describing the current behavior and predicting the future
behavioral patterns in:
 Clinical field: for assessment and prediction about any individual, a clinical psychologist
generally conducts psychological tests. For example, if he conducts test of emotional
adjustment on a person and he finds that the score of that person is very less than the
average score of that test, i.e. poor emotional adjustment. Then he can easily predict that
the person may suffer from some mental illness if not helped.
 Field of academic achievements: For example, in schools, the intelligence is measured of
the student by using psychological tests and prediction is done about the probability of
his future achievements on the basis of his scores.

 Screening Job Candidates /f selection for employment: tests are also used to select the
appropriate person for a particular job. By the help of the score obtained the prediction is
done about the performance. The selection of best employee is done on the basis of this
prediction, which is based on the psychological tests.

8. Psychological Diagnosis and treatment: the psychological tests play an important role in the
interpretation and analysis of the individual behavior. There is an analysis of different aspects
of behavior. For example, a school counselor can easily conclude that why a student who is
of high I.Q. fails to perform better in his class, on the basis of the psychological tests. A
 Psychological Testing (Psyc2035) 16

clinical psychologist can easily diagnose any patient suffering from any mental disease on
the basis of psychological testing. The treatment is carried out further after the diagnosis.
9. Research: Tests are often used in research in the fields of differential, developmental,
abnormal, educational, social, and vocational psychology, among others. They provide a
well-recognized method of studying the nature, development, and inter relationships of
cognitive, affective, and behavioral traits. In fact, although a number of tests that originated
in the course of psychological investigations have become commercially available, many
more instruments remain archived in dissertations, journals, and various compendiums of
experimental measures. Psychological tests are important to research about the new theories
and techniques. They used widely now a day in the field of research. According to Gulliken
(1954), there is mutual relationship between the psychological test and the research. Many
psychological tests are the result of the research works and many researches are going on the
theories which are the product of the psychological tests. In this way it is clear that, the
psychological tests are widely used for the various purposes such as for clinical diagnosis,
guidance, personnel selection, placement, training, etc.
10. Decision Making: The primary use of psychological tests is as decision-making tools. This
particular application of testing invariably involves value judgments on the part of one or
more decision makers who need to determine the bases upon which to select, place, classify,
diagnose, or otherwise deal with individuals, groups, organizations, or programs. Naturally,
this use of testing is often fraught with controversy since it often results in consequences that
are unfavorable for one or more parties. In many situations in which tests are used to make
decisions and people disagree with the decisions made, the use of tests itself is attacked
regardless of whether or not it was appropriate. When tests are used for making significant
decisions about individuals or programs, testing should be merely a part of a thorough and
well-planned decisionmaking strategy that takes into account the particular context in which
the decisions are made, the limitations of the tests, and other sources of data in addition to
tests. Unfortunately, very often—for reasons of expediency, carelessness, or lack of
information—tests are made to bear the responsibility for flawed decision-making processes
that place too much weight on test results and neglect other pertinent information. A number
of decisions made by educational, governmental, or corporate institutions on a routine basis,
usually involving the simultaneous evaluation of several people at once, have been and still
 Psychological Testing (Psyc2035) 17

are made in this fashion. Although they carry important consequences—such as employment,
admission to colleges or professional schools, graduation, or licensure to practice a
profession—for the individuals involved, decisions are based almost exclusively on test
scores. This practice, a legacy of the way in which testing originated, is one that testing
professionals, as well as some government agencies, are trying to change. One of several
important steps in this direction is the publication of a resource guide for educators and
policymakers on the use of tests as part of high-stakes decision making for students (U.S.
Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, 2000).
11. Self awareness, Understanding and Personal Development: Most humanistic psychologists
and counselors have traditionally perceived the field of testing, often justifiably, as
overemphasizing the labeling and categorization of individuals in terms of rigid numerical
criteria. Starting in the 1970s, a few of them, notably Constance Fischer (1985/1994), began
to use tests and other assessment tools in an individualized manner, consonant with
humanistic and existential-phenomenological principles. This practice, which views testing
as a way to provide clients with information to promote self-understanding and positive
growth, has evolved into the therapeutic model of assessment espoused by Finn and Tonsager
(1997). Obviously, the most pertinent application of this model is in counseling and
psychotherapeutic settings in which the client is the main and only user of test results.
12.

Activity Questions

1. What is a psychological test?

2. Classify test on the basis of traits measured?
3. What are the special aptitude tests?
4. Classify the tests on the basis of administration?
5. Classify on the basis of nature of the test items used?
6. State the difference between power test and speed test?