HO Individual Differences

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an absolute value as found in physical measurement. tandardi!ation ensures uniformity

and ob"ectivity in administration and makes the results interpretable.

Ca"egories o# Assess'en"s

/sychologists have developed tests to measure different human characteristics.(. $chievement tests measure what people have learnt.

+. $bility tests tell what an individual can do when he or she is at his0her best. $bility testsmeasure capacity as potential rather than achievement. Tests of intelligence and aptitude

come under this category. $ptitude refers to the ability to learn a particular kind of skill

required in a specific situation.-. /ersonality tests measure the characteristic ways of thinking, feeling or behaving.

II. NAURE !F INELLIGENCE AND IS ASSESSMEN

1ou often come across the term intelligence in everyday life. 2e generally use this term

whenever we find somebody doing something very good which goes beyond our expectation.

Intelligence is one of the psychological terms used quite frequently in various settings 3e.g.

school4. 2ho can be called 5Intelligent&6 The one who gets highest marks in exams6 Thatperson who earns many educational degrees6 Is the doctor more intelligent, or the engineer or

the lawyer or the artist6 7ne may answer these questions in different ways depending on the

meaning of intelligence. Intelligence is much more than getting degrees. Intelligence refers to

8multifaceted abilities of people9. It gets expressed in many ways. It comes in many forms.

ome people are good in studies, some are good in repairing machines, some are good in

acting and some are great in sports. /eople are very good in one sub"ect and average in some

other. The most important thing is that 5intelligence& is 5functional&. It is 5used& to do something

and to achieve something.

In psychology, the term intelligence has been defined in many ways. 7ne of the earliest

definitions of intelligence was given by Binet and imon in (:;< who defined it as the 8ability to "udge well, to understand well, and to reason well9. 7ne of the most popular definitions of

intelligence was given by 2echsler who defined it as 8the aggregate or global capacity of the

individual to act purposefully, to think rationally, and to deal effectively with the environment9.

=ardner defined intelligence as 8the ability or skill to solve problems or to fashion products

which are valued within one or more cultural settings9. >e used the term 5ultiple Intelligences&

and advocated that there are eight types of intelligences such as ?inguistic, ?ogical%

mathematical, patial, usical, Bodily%kinesthetic, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, and @aturalistic.

Though the first attempt to measure intelligence was made by ir *rancis =alton a more

systematic approach was developed by $lfred Binet, a *rench /sychologist. In (:;<, Binet gave

the concept of ental $ge 3$4 which refers to an individual&s level of mental development

relative to the environment in which he0she lives. The term Intelligence Auotient 3IA4 was first

devised by 2illiam tern, a =erman psychologist, in (:(+. IA is defined as mental age divided

by chronological age, and multiplied by (;; 3IA C $0#$ D (;;4. *or example if the mental of a

child is (+ and his0her #hronological age is then the IA of the child would be (<;. The

intelligence test developed by Binet was revised subsequently and in (:(F the test was given

the name of tanford % Binet test of intelligence. 7ne of the most popular and widely used tests

of intelligence is 2echsler cales of Intelligence. These scales have been designed for

individuals of different age groups such as 2echsler $dult Intelligence cale 32$I4 for adults

and 2echsler Intelligence cale for #hildren 32I#4 for children between the age of F and (Fyears.

Intelligence tests are of two kinds individual test and group test. $n individual test of

intelligence can be administered to a single individual at a given time whereas a group test is

administered to more than one individual at a time. 7n the basis of nature of items, intelligence

tests are Gerbal, @on%verbal, and /erformance Tests. $ verbal test requires understanding of

written words. >ence it can be administered to literate individuals only. In non%verbal test,



pictures or illustrations are used as item of the test. /erformance tests are made up of certain

concrete tasks. Both non%verbal and performance tests can be administered to literate and

illiterate individuals.

A("i")$es* In"eres"s* an$ heir Assess'en"

1ou may have come across people who are very proficient in one task but not that much

in another task. ome of your friends may be very good in mathematics but very poor in social

science. uch people possess special abilities or characteristics in a particular field but

relatively low in other field. In psychology, this is called aptitude. $n aptitude is a combination of

characteristics that indicates an individual&s capacity to acquire some specific knowledge or skill,

after training. These qualities can be harnessed by appropriate training. In other words, if a

person does not have the special abilities required to become a musician, such as

discrimination between pitch, tone, rhythm, and other aspects of musical sensitivity, he0she

would not be a good musician, even after sufficient training.

There are salient differences between intelligence, aptitude, and achievement.Intelligence relates to the ability of a person to do certain thing at a given time. $ptitude refers to

the potential ability of an individual to perform a task, which generally consists of a combination

of abilities. $chievement involves performance at any given point of time in a particular sub"ect

3e.g. mathematics4 with which you have been made familiar.

$ptitude tests are used for predicting success in a vocation such as clerical aptitude,

mechanical aptitude, musical aptitude, typing aptitude, etc. Each of these tests usually contains

a number of sub%tests. everal multiple aptitude test batteries have been developed to assess

aptitude, such as 'ifferential $ptitude Test 3'$T4, the =eneral $ptitude Test Battery 3=$TB4, and

the $rmed ervices Gocational $ptitude Battery 3$G$B4.

/sychologists have constructed a number of tests to measure interest for children andadults. There are vocational interest tests which help identify the interest of a person in

particular vocational areas. There are also general interest inventories. Gocational interest tests

are paper%pencil tests that assess a person&s interest and match them with success in various

occupations.

III. NAURE !F PERS!NALI+

2e all use the term 5personality& in day%to%day life. In psychology personality is thought

as a person&s unique and relatively stable behavior pattern which remains consistent across

situations and over a period of time.

The term personality has been defined in diverse ways. $llport in (:-H gave a very

popular definition of personality which is still referred to by scholars. $ccording to him

8personality is the dynamic organi!ation within the individual of those psychophysical systems

that determine his unique ad"ustment to his environment9.

/sychologists have approached personality from different perspectives. Each of these

perspectives explains some aspects of personality. @ow let us study in brief about some of

these perspectives

(. The trait perspective tries to describe personality in terms of various traits. ometimes the

traits are grouped into clusters. These clusters are called 8types9. *or instance introversion

and extraversion are two types of personality traits.+. The psychodynamic perspective calls attention to the unconscious needs and conflicts as

well as the influence of earlier stages of development on our lives. igmund *reud, a noted

psychologist, provided the core concepts for this perspective.-. The socio-cultural perspective highlights the importance of the social and cultural

environment. In view of this theory, our personality and behavior patterns are acquired

through interaction with others and adoption of social and cultural norms.



. The humanistic perspective emphasi!es the enormous potential for freedom and growth

present in each one of us. It is a view which is optimistic and emphasi!es%on positive

aspects of life and potentialities.

echni,)es o# Personali"y Assess'en"

In the field of personality assessment the ma"or focus is on the study of the nature and

intensity of various characteristics, which are generally reflected through the behavior of the

individual in a given situation. /ersonality assessment measures are classified into three

categories.

$. 7b"ective or elf report measures of personality.

B. /ro"ective or Indirect measures of personality.

#. ituational measures of personality.

$. !%-ec"ie or Sel#/Re(or" Meas)res o# Personali"y. In measures of this kind, the person is

asked to report about himself0herself on a set of statements organi!ed in the form of aquestionnaire or inventory. The nature of the statement can be either closed ended or open

ended. In the case of closed ended statements, rating scales or optional answers are given

whereas in the case of open%ended statements, the person is free to describe himself or

herself. $ number of tests have been developed to assess different trait domains of

personality. ome of the self%report measures of personality, which are widely used to

assess personality, are being discussed below.a. Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness- Personality Inventory-Revised (NEOPI-R)

This test is currently one of the most popular personality assessment tools being

used across the world. This test has been developed by #osta and c#rae 3(::+4

and is based on *ive%*actor odel of /ersonality. The test has been developedbased on longitudinal studies over (< years. It provides scores on five ma"or

dimensions of personality. These five dimensions and facets are as follows

@euroticism, Extraversion, 7penness to Experience, $greeableness and

#onscientiousness.b. Sixteen Personality Factor uestionnaire (!" PF) This test was originally developed

by )aymond B. #attell, Jaren #attell and >eather E. /. #attell in (::. ince then,

the test has undergone four revisions in (:<F, (:F+, (:FH%F:, and (:%:-.

#urrently the fifth edition developed by #onn K )icke 3(::4 is in practice. This test

is popularly known as (F /* and is used for age group of (F and above. It yields

scores on (F primary traits such as social boldness, dominance, vigilance, emotionalstability and rule consciousness. It also measures five global factors, which are

Extraversion, $nxiety, Tough%indedness, Independence and elf%control.B. Pro-ec"ie or In$irec" Meas)res o# Personali"y. /ro"ective or indirect measures of

personality are widely used personality assessment tools. Lnlike the self%report measures

where the individual is provided with structured test stimuli, in pro"ective tests the individual

has to respond to unstructured or ambiguous stimuli. The basic assumption behind using

unstructured test stimuli in pro"ective tests is that the individual pro"ects his0her latent or

unconscious feelings, needs, emotions, motives etc. on to the ambiguous stimulus. The

responses of the individual in the form of pro"ection reflect the nature of his0her personality.

ome popular /ro"ective Technique are )orschach Ink Blot Test, Thematic $pperceptionTest and )otter Incomplete entences Blank.

C. Si")a"ional or !%sera"ion Meas)res o# Personali"y. $nother technique to assess

personality is to observe the behavior of the individual in purposefully designed situation.

uch tests are more effective in the assessment of leadership, dominance, responsibility,

extraversion%introversion etc. 7ne of the first situational tests was developed by

>artshorne, ay, and their associates 3(:+, (:+:, (:-;4 for the #haracter Education



Enquiry 3#EE4. This test measures traits like altruism, honesty and self%control. >owever,

situational measures of personality came into light during 2orld 2ar II when the Lnited

tate 7ffice of trategic ervices 374 used situational tests for selection of military

personnel for critical overseas assignments. 7ne of the variants of this test is ituational

tress Test in which the individual has to react to various stressful, frustrating, or

emotionally disruptive situations where his helpers are obstructive and uncooperative.

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