USESOFTESTS

Brown( 1976)i nsist

s“ t
estsser vethr
eebr oadf uncti
ons–aspr edictor
s,assampl es,
andassi gns”.At estfunct i
onsasapr edictorwhenapt itudet estpredictscoll
ege
gradesorat estofneur otici
sm predictscl i
nicalclassifi
cat i
onasaneur otic.Asa
sampl e,i
tisusedwhencl assroom examsmeasur eknowl edgei napar ti
cularsubject
.
At estservesasasi gnwheni tpointsoutt henat ureoft he( sti
ll
incompl etel
ydef i
ned)
behav i
oraldomai nbeingsampl ed.E. g.ani ntel
li
gencet esthel psdefinewhati s
meantbyi ntell
igence.I nmanyway s,theset hr
eef unctionspar all
elthenot i
onsof
cri
teri
onr elated,content,andconst ructv alidi
ty.Fur t
her mor e,theyr oughlyparall
el
threemaj ort ypesoft ests;aptit
udet estsar epr edictors,achi evementt estsar e
sampl es,andper sonali
tytestsaresigns.

Cronbach (1990) hol

ds “i
tis conv eni
entto dist
inguish fouruses of t
ests:
Classi
fi
cat
ion; pr
omot i
ng self
-underst
andi
ng; ev
aluation and modifi
cat
ion of
tr
eatmentsorprograms;andsci
entif
icenqui
ry”
.Thesef ourusesmaybeelaborat
ed
asfoll
ows:

Classificat i
on
Classificat iont akespl acewhenev eraper sonisassignedt oonecat egoryratherthan
another ( and t reated accor dingly ). Thi s assi gnment may hav e long- t
erm
consequencesormaybef ortheshor tt erm andeasi lyreversibl e.Somev ariet
iesof
cl
assi fi
cat ionsar e:
a) Sel ect ion:Ay es/Nodeci sioni tisof t
enappl i
edt oadmi ssionofst udents, hi
ri
ng
ofempl oyeeset c.
b) Scr eeni ng:Aqui cksur veyt ol ocatei ndivi
dualswhomayneedormer itspeci al
treat ment .E. g.screeningpupi l
st ol ocatepossi blehear ing– di sorder sora
‘
tal entsear ch’.Acl osercasest udyf oll
owst hescr eening.
c) Li censi ng: I tisat estconduct ed compul sor i
lybyaut hor it
iessuchast he
gov ernmentt hatenabl esani ndividuali nacer tainway .E.g. :Getti
ngal i
cense
fordr iving.
d) Cer tification:I tisav oluntaryt estwhi chenabl esani ndi viduali nacer tai
nway
e.g. :obt aining a cer ti
fi
cat i
on i n psy choanalysis,ori n a per sonal-
relati
ons
cour se.
e) Pl acement :A sor t
ing ofper sonst or eceivedi ffer
entl ev elsofser v i
cee. g.
traini ngbyt hecompanyet c.
f) Di agnosi s:Impl iesal abelalongwi thanexpl anationforacat egoryori l
lness.I t
takesmanysophi st
icatedf orms, requi r
ingexper ti
seinar elev antspecialty
.

PromotingSelf-
understandi ng
Ast hegeneralpubli
chasbecomemor eawar eofpsy chologicalt
esti
ng,therear e
manypeopl ewhot aket est sjustto“ know”t hemsel ves.Ev erypersonhasasel f-
concept–t hewayshet hinksabouther self
.Test sar eonlyoneamongt hemany
sourcesthatcontr
ibutet ot hi
sself-concept,butt estsoftent akeonspecialwei ght
becausethescoresaredef ini
te.Adescr ipt
ivepr ofi
leisperhapsbet t
erthanasi ngle
scorebecausei tcontainsmor ei
nf or
mat i
on,r arel
y‘ l
abels’aper sonandcanai d
deci
sion-makingincompl exsituat
ionsbecausei ti
sdependentonmanyf actor
s.

Pr
ogr
am Ev
aluat
ion
Often,thi
si sapar toft heoper at
ionsofani nstituti
on.A‘ pretest’anda‘ post-test
’
determinest heef fectiv
enessofat rai
ningpr ogr am,sel ecti
onpr ogr
am,t eachinga
parti
cularcourse,et c.Thet erm‘pr ogram’ref erst oapl anf orrenderingserviceofa
parti
cularkind.Howev erev aluati
onofspeci fic pr ogramsof ten shadesof fintoan
evaluati
onofi nsti
tutions,communi ties,andwhol esoci alsystems.Someev al
uations
arecloset opuresci ence,butnot hingv alue-
laden( eval
uat i
veandj udgment al)canbe
purelyscienti
fi
c.I tisthis‘social’
useoft est,whi chdomi natest heIndianscene.We
havey ettoseei ndividualtesti
ngbei ngpopul ar .

Scientif
icinqui
ry
I
nourconcer nwi t
ht heappl ieduseoft est
s,wemustnotf orgetthatt est
spl aya
maj orroleinanysciencebutpar ti
cular
lysoi npsychology .Theypr ovi
deamor e
objectiv
eandr eli
ablebasi sf orevaluati
onofbehav i
ort hanr oughi mpr essions.I n
psy chol
ogymanyabst ractconstructsaredefinedonthebasi soft ests.Perhapst he
bestexampl eisthatofi ntel
li
gence.Test sal
sobridgethegapbet weenpsy chology
asasci enceandappl iedpsy chology.Somet i
mesasci entifi
ci nvesti
gatorusest ests
thatwer epubli
shedforpr acticalpurposes,butatestinv entedt ofittheexper i
ment
oftenwor ksbett
er.

Thustestsareusedi
nmanywaysforv
ari
ouspur
poses.Somespeci
fi
cexampl
esof
theappl
icat
ionofpsy
chol
ogi
cal
test
sar
e:

SchoolTest ingPr ogr ams

Testshav ebeenmor ewi delyusedi nt hepl anningandev al uationofeducat i
onal
processest hatf oranyot herpur pose. Theygener allyanswerquest i
onssuchas
foll
ows:
1.I sachildr eadyf orf ormal education?
2.Whathasast udentl ear nt?
3.Howef fect i
vewasagi v encour seoruni tofi nstruction?
4.Whi chst udent sshoul dbesel ectedf orapar ti
cularpr ogr am/ course?
5.Whatski lls,abili
ties,i nt er
estsandper sonal i
tychar act eristicsdoest hest udent
possesst hatwi llhei mpor tantforhiseducat ional andv ocat ionalplanni ng?
6.Whatf actorsar ehi nder ingast udent ’spr ogress?
A goodt estingpr ogr am al soconsi der sf actorsl i
ket i
meandbudgetl imi t
ati
ons,
admi ni
str
ationet c.Gener al l
yacommi t
teeconsi sti
ngoft hepr incipal,seniort eachers,
studentrepresent atives,andper hapsan‘ exper t
’psy chol ogistdeci deswhi char eas
aretobecov er
edandwhi cht eststouse.Thegoali st odev el opat estingpackage
thatwil
lprov idemaxi mum usabl einformat ionwi thmi nimum t esting.Gener all
ysuch
programs use achi ev ementand i ntelli
gence t est s mor e of ten than t ests of
personali
tyandmot ivation, preferri
nggr oupt estsrathert hani ndi vidualtest s.

Usi
ngt estsinor ganizati
ons–ar medf orcesandindustr
y
Inorganizat
ions,t heuseoft estsinv olvespersonneldeci
sionspr i
maril
yr egardi
ng
sel
ecti
onandpl acement .Insuchcases, t est
smaybeusedi nt woway s:
1.To measur et he indi
vi
dual’
s abi l
i
t i
es and charact
eristics t
o pr edict hi
s
performanceont henewjob.
2.As pr ofi
ciencymeasur es to establish whetherthe i
ndividualpossesses the
knowl edgeandski l
lsoutl
i
nedinj obspeci fi
cat
ions.
UsingTest sinCounselingandCl inicalsetti
ngs:
Thi
si l
lustrat
eshow at estingpr ogr am canbet ail
oredt of i
tapar t
iculari
ndivi
dual.
Testsserv evari
ouspurposesi nt hecounsel ingprocess:
1.Testr esult
sconf i
rmt hecl ient’si deaabouthi sskil
ls,abi l
i
ties,orper sonal
it
y
characteri
sti
cs.
2.Testscor espr ovi
de an est imat e oft he counselee’spr obable successi na
part
iculareducati
onal orv ocat i
onal area.
3.Test scanbeusedt oensur et hati mpor t
antskil
ls,i
nterests,andper sonali
tytr
ait
s
are notov er
looked.Testscor es pointoutar eas t hatot herwise may be
overl
ooked.
4.Thecl ientmayuset estscor est ost imulatedi
scussionandsel f
-explorat
ion.
5.Test scanbeusedf ordi agnost icpur posesincli
nicalsetti
ngs
6.Test scanbeusedi nr esearchont hecounseli
ngpr ocess.

Mostoft hecounseli
ngusesoft est
scanbecat egori
zedaseitherdi
agnosti
cor
hypot
hesistesti
ng.I
tisthefor
merwhenacounsel orusestest
st ounder
standa
cl
i
ent;thelat
terwhenthecl
i
entusesat estt
obuil
dhy pot
hesesandconstr
uct
sabout
hi
spersonali
tystr
uct
ureandpl
anfuturecoursesofacti
on.

Iti
simpor t
antt
onot ethatmuchoftheinf
ormat
ionprovidedbytest
sincounsel
i
ng
sit
uat
ionscanoftenbeobt ai
nedinot
herways.Howev er
,test
sareamoreobject
ive
andeffi
cientmethodofcol l
ecti
ngthesamedat a.Besi
des,theyalsoal
l
ow int
er-
i
ndivi
dualcomparisons.

Usi ngTest sinResear ch

Thepr imar ytoolofr esear chf oranypsy chologisti sat est .I tpr ov i
desamor e
object iveand r eli
abl ebasi sf orassessment .I ti sdef i
ni tel
ybet t
ert han r ough
i
mpr essi ons.Resear chi sessent iallyoft wot ypes–exper iment alandcor relational
(D’Amat o,1976) . Ther ear enumer ousexampl esofcor relationalr esear chusi ng
tests.I ndeed,i nI ndi a,mostr esear chesar eoft hist y peonl y
.Asanexampl eof
cor relationalresear chusi ngt est swemi ghtconsi dert henumer ouscor relational
studi est hathav ebeendonewi thRot ter’
sInternal -
Ext ernalScal e.Int hepr ocess, the
LocusofCont rolconcepti t
sel fhasbeenv alidated.Test scanal sobeusedf or
exper iment alr esear ch. Theycanbeusedt omeasur ethei ndependentv ar i
abl e,
dependentv ariabl
e orot herpot ential
l
yr el
ev antv ariabl
es.E. g.A psy chol ogist
i
nt erest edi nst udyingt heef fectofanxi etyonl earningmayuseTay lor’sMani fest
Anxi etyScal e( asel f-reporti nvent or y)tomeasur eanxi ety.Hemaydesi gnanot her
achi ev ementt esttomeasur el ear ning,andmayev enuseat estofi ntell
igencesuch
asRav en'’SPM t ocont rolthef act orofi ntell
igence.Test sareusedi nr esear chona
l
ar gescal ealso.I nt ernationalagenci essuchasUNI CEF,Wor ldBanket c.of tenuse
testsi nl arge-scaleassessmentpr ograms.E. g.t heI nternationalAssoci ationf ort he
Eval uat i
onofEducat ionalAchi ev ementdev elopsst andar dmeasur esofeducat ional
achi ev ementt oassesst hel evelandf act
or saffectingeducat ionalachi ev ementi n20
count ri
es.

SELECTIONANDEVALUATI ONOFTESTS
I
nt hisway,vari
oust y
pesoft est
sar eusedindiff
erentcombinat
ionsinmany
pract
ical
sit
uat
ions.Testscanbebroadl
ycat
egor
izedas:I
ntel
l
igencet
ests,
Apt
it
ude
tests,Achi ev ementt est s,Per sonal ityt est s,Test sofAt ti
tudesandVal ues,Test sof
i
nt erest s.Sel ect i
on and Ev aluation oft estsf r
om amongstt hese v ariouski nds
dependsuponwhat( const ruct)i st obemeasur edandf orwhatpur pose.Asecond
consi der at i
oni st henat ur eoft hegr oupt est ed.Pr acticall i
mi tati
onsoft ime, money
and per sonnelar e al so consi der ed.The i nformat i
on r egar di
ng v ari
ous t estsi s
avai l
abl ef rom v arioussour ces.Anef f
icientpr ocedurei stost artwithTesti nPr i
ntor
Ment alMeasur ementYear booksbot hedi tedbyOscar .K.Bur osandt hengot o
j
our nal s,t extbooks,ori ndi vi
dualaut hor s.I nI ndia,basici nformat i
onaboutt estsis
avai l
abl ei nHandbookofPsy chol ogi caland Soci alI nst rument s,f i
rstedi tionby
Par eekandRao( 1974)andsecondbyPest onjee( 1988) .Af t
ert hesear chf orat est
i
sov er ,itmustbeev aluat edusi ngi nfor mat ioni nthemanualandot hersour ces.The
rel
iabi li
ty ,v alidity,andpr esenceofnor msmustbechecked.Abov eal ltheuni que
requir ement sofy ourpar t
icularsi tuat ionmustbekepti nmi nd.Br own( 1976)hol d
thatt hepr ocessofsel ect i
ngandev aluatingt estsisasy stemat i
c,rati
onalpr ocess
i
nv olv i
ngt hef ollowi ngst eps:
1. Out li
net hepur poseoft est i
ng,char act eri
sti
csoft hegr oupbei ngt esting,and
pr act i
cal consi der at i
ons.
2. Det ermi newhi cht est sar eav ai l
abl e.
3. Obt aini nf ormat i
onaboutt het est sandsel ectsev eral promi singtest s.
4. Obt ainspeci menset soft heset est s.
5. Doy ourowndet ailedev aluation,keepi ngi nmi nduni quer equirement sofy our
ownsi tuat i
on.
6. Sel ectt het estort est st obeused.
7. I fpossi ble, conductanexper iment al tryout .
8. Putt het estt ouse.Ev aluat eitsef fect i
veness.
If,
atanypoi nt,thet estpr ocedur ef ailst omeety ourcr i
teria, discontinuei tsuse.

ETHICALCONSI DERATI ONSI NTHEUSEOFTESTS:

Testscanbeusedi nav arietyofway sbyav arietyofpeopl e.School s,colleges,
i
ndust ry
,clinicians,counsel or s,armedf orces,gov ernment ,internationalagenci es,
andofcour ser esear chpsy chologists,uset est
s.I nanysi t
uation,t herear emany
practi
calconst r
ai nts–f i
nanci al
,per sonnel,andi nv olvi
ngt i
me.Conf l
ictsmayar i
se
becausepsy chol ogistsareser vi
ngt womast ers–t hei ndivi
dualbei ngt estedandt he
organizati
on/ author i
tydoingt het esting.I ncounsel ingandt herapy ,concernf orthe
cl
ientisclear lypar amount .Buti nsel ect
ionandpl acement ,thismaynotal way sbe
so.I nmanycases, thesituationcanbest r
ucturedsot hatbot hpar ti
esbenef it
.Our
goalshoul dal way sbet ouset hebestpossi blemet hodsi nt hebestpossi bleway ,
gi
v enthepr actical constr
aints.

Whenwear ei nvol
vedintesti
ng,wemov ef r
om thehy pot
het icalrealm ofthet ext
-
bookintother ealworl
d.Thuset hi
calissuesneedt obeconf ronted.Ther emustbe
aconst antconcernwithther esponsibleuseoft est
s.Br own( 1976)stressest he
fol
l
owingpoi nts:
1. Theuseoft est
sshouldbebasedonempi r
icaldata.At estshoul dnotbeused
asadeci si
on-makingaidunt i
lv ali
dit
ystudieshav eindicatedt hatthet estis
validinapar ti
cul
arsit
uat i
on.I ncasesuchdat aisnotav ail
able,oneshoul d
concurrentl
ybegincol l
ecting vali
ditydata;and ifatanypoi nt,itbecomes
evidentt hatthe testis notdoi ng the intended job,i ts use should be
disconti
nued.
2. Whent estsareapplied,t het estusermustr emembert hatev enwit
hahi ghly
val
idpr edictor
,incor
rectdeci si
onsmi ghtbemadef oranumberofi ndi
viduals.
Vali
ditydat aar ebasedongr oups,noti ndividuals.Thedi rectimpactoft he
deci
si on( basedonat est )ont heindividual,demandsaf ai
r,humane,and
considerateatti
tudetowar dsal ltest–takers.
Thet est-
usermustbeawar eofandconcer nedwi tht hesocialconsequencesoft he
testi
ngpr ogram.Hemustbeal erttothepossi bil
it
yt hatanappar entlyv
ali
dtestmay
unfairl
ydi scri
mi nateagainstcer taingr oupsorper sons. Thet estusermustnot
forgethissoci alresponsi
bili
ties.