1. Outline 1.What is a test? 2.Why use a test? 3.History of testing A.Physical qualities B.Mental qualities 4.What tests measure 5.How tests are administered A.How results are interpreted

2. 1. What is a test? “A test is a measurement device or technique used to quantify behavior or aid in the understanding and prediction of behavior” “A psychological test is a set of items that are designed to measure characteristics of human beings that pertain to behavior.”

3. 2. Why use a test? Testing is a way of fighting fascism  our interest in testing reflects the idea that individual people are important in their own right

4. 2. Why use a test? Testing is a way of fighting fascism Empirical research improves our understanding of human psychology Testing allows us to use resources – including human resources – more productively

5. 3. History of Testing A.Physical quantities  Length “foot”, rule of thumb  Time Calendars, early clocks http://physics.nist.gov/GenInt/Time/time.html  Position on the Earth’s surface

6. 3. History of Testing B.Mental quantities Chinese civil service exams British East India Company exams 19 th century psychophysics France 1905 – Binet & Simon

7. 4. What tests measure The most common uses of psychological tests are to measure ability or personality  Ability: present competence to perform some task  Personality: enduring dispositions to behave in certain ways, consistent over the lifespan of the individual.

8. 4. What tests measure 3 types of ability test:  Achievement The result of previous learning  Aptitude Potential to acquire a particular skill  Intelligence General potential to solve problems, think abstractly, adapt to change, and learn the lessons of experience

9. 4. What tests measure Intelligence tests  1905 First Binet-Simon test  1916 First American version: Stanford-Binet Importance of military testing during WWI Growth of interest in testing reflected increasing importance of distinguishing among people  1939 First Wechsler test Distinguished between verbal and non-verbal performance

10. 4. What tests measure Personality tests  Structured  Projective  1943 – MMPI: used empirical methods to determine meaning of test items

11. 5. How tests are administered Individual administration Group administration

12. 6 How test results are interpreted Objective scoring  E.g., multiple choice exams, stats exams Subjective scoring  E.g., essay exams Projective scoring  Examiner a source of variability in test results

13. 7. Current status of testing After being attacked in the sixties and seventies, in the last two decades, testing has proven useful in many applied areas:  Neuropsychology  I/O  Health psychology  Forensic psychology  Child psychology

14. 7. Current status of testing  We are rich – we have time for testing and we can pay people to do it  We are used to approaching problems scientifically: drawing conclusions based on empirical data  Modern people have complex behaviors requiring complex learning, so individual differences are important to smooth running of society