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Chapter 1

History of Testing and Assessment

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Testing Vs. AssessmentAssessment includes a broad array of evaluation procedures, such as:

The Clinical Interview

Personality Testing: ObjectiveProjectiveInterest Inventories

Informal Assessment:Records and Personal DocumentsClassification TechniquesObservationRating Scales

Ability Testing:AchievementAptitude

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Historical Context: Ancient

2200 B.C. Chinese used essay examinations for civil service employees

Plato (428 – 327 B.C.E) noted: Greeks assessed intellectual and physical

ability of men when screening for state service

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Historical Context: Precursors to Modern-Day

Esquirol (1830's). Used language ability to identify intelligence. Retardation on continuum: “idiocy” to low grade

normals. Forerunner of verbal intelligence testing.

Seguin (1800's). Worked with mentally retarded to increase

motor control and sensory discrimination. Developed “Form board.” Forerunner of performance intelligence testing.

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Historical Context: Precursors to Modern-Day

Understanding uniqueness of the humans: Darwin (mid 1800s):

Theory of evolution. Set tone for others who followed

Galton: (late 1800s, Darwin’s cousin) English biologist who examined differences in sensory

motor activities. Wundt (1879).

Founded 1st psychological laboratory. Looked at sensitivity to visual, auditory, and other sensory

stimuli and reaction time. Cattell (late 1800s; Am. Psychologist)

Phrased term "mental test." Used statistical concepts to understand differences.

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Historical Context: Modern Day Ability Testing

Individual Intelligence Testing: Binet (1890's)

Hired by French Ministry of Ed. To integrate “sub-normal” children into the schools.

Developed first modern-day intelligence test. Terman (At Stanford)

Revised Binet scale-- Stanford-Binet. I.Q=MA/CA (See Box 1.1, p. 7)

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History: Modern Day Group Ability Testing

Group Testing: WWI: Army Alpha and Army Beta

Developed by Yerkes, Terman, and others Take Army Alpha—Box 1.2. p. 8 Used by Eugenics Movement: Read Box 1.3, p. 10

1923: Edward Thorndike Stanford Achievement Test

After WWII: SATs: Developed by James Bryant Conant to equalize

educational opportunities for all Vocational counseling led to special aptitude tests and

multiple aptitude tests

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Modern-Day Personality Assessment

Thorndike and Miner Early assessors of interests (early 1900s)

Strong: 1927 Strong Vocational Interest Blank

Kraeplin (1892) Word association test to study schizophrenia.

Woodworth's Personal Data Sheet (WWI). Kept “unfit” out of army. Items related to neuroticism. Forerunner to MMPI. (see Box 1.4, p. 12).

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Modern-Day Personality Assessment (Cont’d)

Galton (1879) and projective testing:“Experiments such as these allow an unexpected amount of illumination to enter into the deepest recess of the character, which are opened and bared by them like the anatomy of an animal under the scalpel of a dissector in broad daylight”. (p. 12 of text)

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Modern-Day Personality Assessment (Cont’d)

Carl Jung (1904) 100 stimulus words to which

individuals would respond—to detect mental illness

Herman Rorschach (early 1900s) Inkblot Test

Henry Murray’s Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

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Emergence of Informal Assessment Procedures

Situational Tests (1930s) Contrived naturalistic situations

Observation

Rating Scales

Personal Documents

Clinical Interview

DSM-IV-TR (1st developed in 1952)

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Graph of Ability (All of what a person can do)

COGNITIVE DOMAIN (p. 14)

ABILITY (All of What One Can Do)

ACHIEVEMENT TESTING APTITUDE TESTING (Have Learned) (Capable of Learning)

Survey Diagnostic Readiness Intelligence Cognitive Special MultipleBattery Ability Aptitude Aptitude

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Assessment of Personality

Personality Testing (p. 14)

Interest Objective Projective

Inventories

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Informal Assessment Procedures

Observation

Rating Scales

Classification Systems

Situational Tests

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Terms to Memorize

See Box 1.5, pp. 15-16

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Questions to Consider When Assessing People (p. 16)

How valid is the information gained from assessment instruments and how should that information be applied?How do assessment instruments invade one’s privacy and does the government have, at times, the right to insist an individual be assessed?Can the use of assessment instruments, in some cases, lead to labeling and what are the implications for the individuals who are “labeled.”Are assessment procedures used to foster equality for ALL people, or do they tend to create a society based on class.