Testing

Psychological TestsTests abilities, interests, creativity,

personality, behaviorMust be standardized, reliable, and validTiming, instructions, scoring standards,

and conditions should be the sameNo matter when you take it and who

scores it, the score should be the same.

Standardization & Norms Psychometrics: Measurement of mental traits, abilities, and

processes Psychometricians: focus on methods for acquiring and analyzing

psychological data; mental traits, abilities, and processes Constructs (behaviors): hypothetical abstractions related to

behavior and defined by small groups of objects of events Ideas that help summarize a group of related ideas, objects of

phenomenas (happiness, honesty, intelligence) Standardization: 2 step process

Establishes test norms from the test results of the large representative sample

Ensures that the test is both administered and scored uniformly for all test takers

Norms: Standards used to compare scores of test takers

Standardized Tests Usually Follow a Normal or Bell Curved Distribution Where Most Scores Occur in the Middle.

Ninety-five percent of all people fall within 30 points

of 100

Number of

scores

55 70 85 100 115 130 145 Wechsler intelligence score

Sixty-eight percentof people score within 15 points

above or below 100

Reliability vs. Validity (DON’T MIX THEM UP)Reliability deals with consistency (repeatability)

Asks the question: “Do I always get SIMILAR results each time the test is administered?

Interrater reliability: The extent to which two or more scorers evaluate the responses in the same way

Validity deals with accuracy or predictability. Asks the question does the test measure what it is supposed to measure?

Methods to Measure Reliability Test-Retest

Same test to same group but on different occasions then scores are compared

The closer the correlation coefficient is to 1.0 the more reliable

Split halfThe score of half the test is correlated with the score of the

other half to see if there is consitency Alternate form/Equivalent form

Two different versions of a test on the same material is given to the same test takers and scores are correlated

Methods for Measuring Validity Face Validity: A measure of extent to which the content of the test

measures all of the knowledge/skills that are supposed to be included within the domain being tested according to the test takers

Content Validity: A measure of extent to which the content of the test measures all of the knowledge/skills that are supposed to be included within the domain being tested according to expert judges

Criterion Related Validity: A measure of the extent to which a test’s results correlate with other accepted measures of what is being tested

Predictive Validity: A measure of the extent to which the test accurately forecasts a specific future result

Construct Validity: The extent to which the test actually measures the hypothetical construct or behavior it is designed to assess. Some psychologists consider this the true measure of validity Some people question whether IQ tests have construct validity

The Flynn EffectSince the advent of intelligence

tests, people’s IQ scores have been improving with time (Flynn Effect).

If standardized with today’s tests, scores 80 years ago would have an average IQ of 76.

Possible Causes?

The Flynn Effect

70

75

80

85

90

95

100

105

1910 1930 1950 1970 1990

Year

IQ scores

Low Extreme of Intelligence

Mental Retardation: condition of limited mental ability, indicated by an intelligence score of below 70 and difficulty adapting to the demands of life.

Extremes of IntelligenceDown Syndrome: condition of retardation

and associated physical disorders caused by an extra chromosome in one’s genetic makeup. Many mentally retarded people with Down

Syndrome can adapt to disorder and some have earned college degrees with accommodations…many learn how to read.

Savants: Individuals otherwise considered mentally retarded, that have a specific exceptional skill, usually math (calculating), music, or art.

Degrees of Mental Retardation Degrees of Mental Retardation

Level Typical Intelligence Scores Percentage of the Retarded Adaptation to Demands of Life

Mild 50-70 85% Most learn academic skills up to sixth-grade level. Adults may, with assistance, achieve self-supporting social and vocational skills.

Moderate 35-49 10 May progress to second-grade level. academically. Adults may contribute to their own support by labor in sheltered workshops.

Severe 20-34 3-4 May learn to talk and perform simple work tasks under close supervision but are generally unable to profit from vocational training.

Key Dynamic of Intelligence

Creativity: the ability to produce novel and valuable ideascomponents of creativity:

expertiseimaginative thinking skillsventuresome personalityintrinsic motivationcreative environment

Is Intelligence Genetic or Environmental?

Influenced by both, but the most genetically similar have the most similar scores.

0.00.10.20.30.40.50.60.70.80.91.0Similarity of

intelligencescores

(correlation)

Identicaltwinsreared together

Identicaltwinsreared apart

Fraternaltwinsreared together

Siblingsreared together

Unrelatedindividualsreared together

Genetic InfluencesWith age, genetic influences become

more apparent.Adopted children’s intelligence

scores become more like their biological parents, and identical twins similarities continue to increase as they age.

Still hard to tell what percentage of intelligence comes from genes to account for differences between people (heritability).

Genetic Influences

0.35

0.30

0.25

0.20

0.15

0.10

0.05

0.003 years 16 years

Child-parentcorrelation inverbal ability

scores

Children and theirbirth parents

Adopted childrenand their birthparents

Adopted childrenand their adoptiveparents

Group Differences in Intelligence Scores Are Probably Mostly Attributed to the Environment

Variation within group

Variation within group

Difference within group

Poor soil Fertile soil

Seeds