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Summary Psychological Assessment Part 1
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This is a comprehensive summary of the articles used in the first half of the course Psychological Assessment at the University of Amsterdam
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Table of Contents1.1 ORIGINS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING........................................................................................2
THE ORIGINS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING....................................................................................................2
TESTING FROM THE EARLY 1900S TO THE PRESENT.......................................................................................3
1.2 THE HYPOTHESIS TESTING MODEL...............................................................................................4
THE HYPOTHESIS TESTING MODEL...............................................................................................................4
1.3 THE DIAGNOSTIC PROCESS..........................................................................................................4
STEPS IN THE DIAGNOSTIC PROCESS............................................................................................................4
FIVE BASIC QUESTIONS IN CLINICAL PSYCHODIAGNOSTICS................................................................................5
THE DIAGNOSTIC CYCLE............................................................................................................................5
THE DIAGNOSTIC PROCESS: FROM THE APPLICATION TO THE REPORT.................................................................5
2.1 CLINICAL INTERVIEWING AND HYPOTHESIS BUILDING.................................................................6
THE CLINICAL INTERVIEW..........................................................................................................................6
MENTAL STATUS EVALUATION...................................................................................................................7
HYPOTHESIS BUILDING.............................................................................................................................7
3.1 PERSONALITY ASSESSMENT: AN OVERVIEW................................................................................8
PERSONALITY AND PERSONALITY ASSESSMENT...............................................................................................8
PERSONALITY ASSESSMENT: SOME BASIC QUESTIONS.....................................................................................8
DEVELOPING INSTRUMENTS TO ASSESS PERSONALITY......................................................................................9
3.2 MEASURING PERSONALITY........................................................................................................10
QUALITY OF PERSONALITY MEASUREMENTS................................................................................................10
TYPES OF PERSONALITY TESTS..................................................................................................................11
WHEN IS A PERSONALITY ASSESSMENT USEFUL?..........................................................................................12
PROBLEMS WITH PERSONALITY ASSESSMENT...............................................................................................12
3.3 PERSONALITY ASSESSMENT METHODS......................................................................................12
OBJECTIVE METHODS.............................................................................................................................12
BEHAVIORAL ASSESSMENT METHODS........................................................................................................12
4.1 TEST ADMINISTRATION, MEASUREMENT AND SCORING...........................................................14
TESTING DAY........................................................................................................................................14
SELECTING NORM TABLES.......................................................................................................................14
SCORING.............................................................................................................................................14
4.2 INTELLIGENCE AND INTELLIGENCE TESTS...................................................................................15
INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................................15
INTELLIGENCE TESTS...............................................................................................................................15
INTELLIGENCE TESTS IN ACTUAL PRACTICE...................................................................................................17
5.1 ASSESSMENT, CAREERS, AND BUSINESS....................................................................................17
CAREER CHOICE AND CAREER TRANSITION..................................................................................................17
SCREENING, SELECTION, CLASSIFICATION, AND PLACEMENT...........................................................................18
COGNITIVE ABILITY, PRODUCTIVITY, AND MOTIVATION MEASURES...................................................................19
JOB SATISFACTION, ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT, AND ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE.......................................20
5.2 COPING: PITFALLS AND PROMISE..............................................................................................20
INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................................20
CHALLENGES FOR COPING RESEARCH.........................................................................................................20
NEW DEVELOPMENTS............................................................................................................................22
5.3 VALUES: TRANS-SITUATIONAL GOALS........................................................................................22
INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................................22
JOB CHARACTERISTICS............................................................................................................................23
PERSON-ENVIRONMENT FIT.....................................................................................................................23
5.4 BURNOUT: 35 YEARS OF RESEARCH PRACTICE...........................................................................24
,1.1 Origins of psychological testing
The origins of psychological testing
o Testing in Ancient China: Forms of testing date back to at least 2200 B.C. China ->
officials of the Chinese emperor were examined to determine their fitness -> tests
were modified and refined over time -> written exams were introduced in 200 B.C.
- Physiognomy and phrenology: While they are now largely discredited, physiognomy and
phrenology represent early forms of psychological testing.
o Physiognomy: Notion we can judge the inner character of people from their outward
appearance, the face in particular. Dates back to Aristotle who argued that changes
in a person’s soul could impact the appearance of the body, and vice versa.
o Phrenology: View that mental functions are localized in the brain and the capacity of
the function corresponds to the size of the brain part devoted to it.
- The brass instruments era of testing: Experimental psychology flourished in the late 1800s.
Human abilities were tested in laboratories instead of by subjective and introspective
methods. Objective procedures that were capable of replication were used.
o Brass (copper) instruments: To measure sensory thresholds and reaction times,
copper instruments were used -> Brass Instruments era of psychological testing.
o Wundt: He measured mental processes when he tried to measure the speed of
thought -> believed speed differed between persons.
o Galton: Pioneered the new experimental psychology.
Seemed to believe that everything was measurable -> demonstrated
individual differences exist and are objectively measurable.
While he continued to use brass instruments, his procedures were much
more flexible to collecting data from many of subjects.
o Cattell: Developed tests that were extensions to Galton -> invented term mental
test.
o Wissler: Obtained mental test scores and academic grades to demonstrate test
results could predict academic performance -> almost no correlations ->
experimental psychologists largely turned away from the brass instruments
approach.
- Rating scales and their origins: Rating scales are used in psychology as a means of
quantifying subjective variables. The first numerical rating scale originates in Galen in the
2nd-century.
- Changing conceptions of mental retardation in the 1800s: People began to acknowledge a
distinction between individuals with emotional disabilities (which could be temporary) and
mental retardation (which was permanent). Before, all of them were given similar treatment.
o Esquirol & Seguin: Esquirol placed emphasis on language skills in diagnosis mental
retardation. Seguin developed programs for persons with mental retardation.
- Binet and testing for higher mental processes: Invented the first intelligence test in. It was
first used to identify children with mental retardation who wouldn’t likely profit from
ordinary schooling. It was heavily weighted to verbal skills, in which we can see the influence
of Esquirol.
o Binet and Simon didn’t offer a precise method for arriving at a total score -> still, the
approach was successful in selecting candidates for special classes.
- The revised scales and the advent of IQ:
o Revised scales: In 1908, Binet and Simon published a revision of the 1905 scale
where more than half the items had been designed for the very retarded. In 1911,
the test was revised another time and extended into the adult range.
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, o Mental level: The most important adjustment in 1908 was the introduction of
‘mental level’ -> allowed the order of the test to be according to the age level. Soon,
‘mental level’ was being called ‘mental age’ and compared to a child’s chronological
age.
o Terman: Revised the scales and was the first person to use the abbreviation ‘IQ’. The
number of items was increased to 90, and it was suitable for those with mental
retardation, children, and both normal and ‘superior’ adults.
Testing from the early 1900s to the present
Psychologists realized their inventions could have pragmatic significance for many segments of
society.
- Early uses and abuses of tests in the US: IQ tests was first used for testing giftedness.
o Goddard: Translated the Binet-Simon tests to make the examination of immigrants
more accurate. Many authors ignored Goddard because of his misuse the testing.
Based on this flawed method, Goddard concluded that the intelligence of the
average immigrant is low.
o Wechsler scales: The Wechsler scales became a quite popular alternative because
they provided more than just a global IQ score -> also verbal and performance IQ.
- Group tests and the classification of WWI army recruits: For more efficiency, researchers
sought to develop group mental tests to supplement the time-consuming individual tests.
o Yerkes: When the US entered WWI, Yerkes convinced the Army that all of its recruits
should be given intelligence tests for classification and assignment.
Army Alpha: Verbally loaded test for average and high-functioning recruits.
Army Beta: Nonverbal group test for illiterates and recruits whose first
language wasn’t English.
The Army testing provided psychologists with a lot of experience in
the psychometrics of test construction.
o Educational testing: The Army tests were released for general use and quickly
became prototypes for a large family of group tests.
- The development of aptitude tests: Aptitude tests measure more specific ability areas than
intelligence tests, which assess more global constructs.
o Lacking behind: Development of aptitude tests lagged behind on intelligence tests:
Statistical: A new technique was needed to discern which aptitudes were
distinct from each other.
Social: There was an absence of a practical application for such refined
instruments.
o Spearman & Thurstone: Spearman came with factor analysis which led Thurstone to
conclude there were specific factors of primary mental ability -> the global
intelligence tests were not as useful determining intellectual strengths and
weaknesses.
o World War II: A need arose to select candidates that were highly qualified for very
difficult and specialized tasks -> a specialized aptitude battery was developed.
- Personality and vocational testing after WWI: Personality testing began when Woodworth
tried to develop an instrument for detecting recruits who were susceptible to
psychoneurosis.
o Woodworth’s Personal Data Sheet (1919): Consisted of 116 questions that had to be
answered by underlining Yes or No.
o Thurstone Personality Schedule: Developed as an inventory of neurosis; it was the
first test to use the method of internal consistency.
o Minnesota Multiphasic personality Inventory (MMPI): Introduced the use of validity
scales to determine response patterns.
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