PART I : An Overview
Chapter 1: PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING AND ASSESSMENT
TESTING AND ASSESSMENT
Testing and Assessment Defined
The process of assessment
THE TOOLS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT
The Test
The Interview
The Portfolio
Case History Data
Behavioral Observation
Role-Play Tests
Computers as Tools
Other tools
WHO, WHAT, WHY, HOW, AND WHERE?
Who Are the Parties?
The test developer
The test user
The testtaker
Society at large
Other parties
In What Types of Settings Are Assessments Conducted, and Why?
Educational settings
Clinical setting
Counseling settings
Geriatric settings
Business and military settings
Governmental and organizational credentialing
Other settings
How Are Assessments Conducted?
Assessment of People with Disabilities
Where To Go for Authoritative Information: Reference Sources
Test catalogues
Test manuals
Reference volumes
Journal articles
Online databases
Other sources
Close-up: Should Observers be Parties to the Assessment Process?
Everyday Psychometrics: Everyday Accommodations
Meet a Test User:Meet Dr. Barbara Pavlo
Self Assessment
Chapter 2
Historical, Cultural, and Legal/Ethical Considerations
A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
Antiquity to the Nineteenth Century
The Twentieth Century
The measurement of intelligence
The measurement of personality
The academic and applied traditions
CULTURE AND ASSESSMENT
Evolving Interest in Culture-Related Issues
Some Issues Regarding Culture and Assessment
Verbal communication
Nonverbal communication and behavior
Standards of evaluation
Tests and Group Membership
Psychology, tests, and public policy
LEGAL AND ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
The Concerns of the Public
Legislation
Litigation
The Concerns of the Profession
Test-user qualifications
Testing people with disabilities
Computerized test administration, scoring, and interpretation
The Rights of Testtakers
The right of informed consent
The right to be informed of test findings
The right to privacy and confidentiality
The right to the least stigmatizing label
Close-up: The Controversial Henry Herbert Goddard
Everyday Psychometrics: Life-or-Death Psychological Assessment
Meet A Test User: Meet Dr. Diana D. Jeffery
Self-Assessment
PART II The Science of Psychological Measurement
Chapter 3
A Statistics Refresher
SCALES OF MEASUREMENT
Nominal Scales
Ordinal Scales
Interval Scales
Ratio Scales
Measurement Scales in Psychology
DESCRIBING DATA
Frequency Distributions
Measures of Central Tendency
The arithmetic mean
The median
The mode
Measures of Variability
The range
The interquartile and the semi-interquartile ranges
The average deviation
The standard deviation
Skewness
Kurtosis
THE NORMAL CURVE
The Area Under the Normal Curve
STANDARD SCORES
z Scores
T Scores
Other Standard Scores
Normalized standard scores
Close-up: The Normal Curve and Psychological Tests
Everyday Psychometrics: Consumer (of Graphed Data), Beware!
Meet a Test User: Meet Dr. Jeff Laurent
Self-Assessment
Chapter 4OF TESTS AND TESTING
SOME ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING AND ASSESSMENT
Assumption 1: Psychological Traits and States Exist
Assumption 2: Psychological Traits and States Can Be Quantified and Measured
Assumption 3: Test-Related Behavior Predicts Non-Test-Related Behavior
Assumption 4: Tests and Other Measurement Techniques Have Strengths and Weaknesses
Assumption 5: Various Sources of Error Are Part of the Assessment Process
Assumption 6: Testing and Assessment Can Be Conducted in a Fair and Unbiased Manner
Assumption 7: Testing and Assessment Benefit Society
WHAT’S A "GOOD TEST"?
Reliability
Validity
Other Considerations
NORMS
Sampling to Develop Norms
Developing norms for a standardized test
Types of Norms
Percentiles
Age norms
Grade norms
National norms
National anchor norms
Subgroup norms
Local norms
Fixed Reference Group Scoring Systems
Norm-Referenced versus Criterion-Referenced Evaluation
CORRELATION AND INFERENCE
The Concept of Correlation
The Pearson r
The Spearman Rho
Graphic Representations of Correlation
Regression
Multiple regression
INFERENCE FROM MEASUREMENT
Meta-Analysis
Culture and Inference
Close-up: How "Standard" is Standard in Measurement?
Everyday Psychometrics: Putting Tests to the Test
Meet a Team of Test Users: Meet Dr. Howard Atlas and
Dr. Steve Julius
Self-Assessment
Chapter 5RELIABILITY
THE CONCEPT OF RELIABILITY
Sources of Error Variance
Test construction
Test administration
Test scoring and interpretation
Other sources of error
RELIABILITY ESTIMATES
Test-Retest Reliability Estimates
Parallel-Forms and Alternate-Forms Reliability Estimates
Split-Half Reliability Estimates
The Spearman-Brown formula
Other Methods of Estimating Internal Consistency
The Kuder-Richardson formulas
Coefficient alpha
Measures of Inter-Scorer Reliability
USING AND INTERPRETING A COEFFICIENT OF RELIABILITY
The Purpose of the ReliabilityCoefficient
The Nature of the Test
Homogeneity versus heterogeneity of test items
Dynamic versus static characteristics
Restriction or inflation of range
Speed tests versus power tests
Criterion-referenced tests
Alternatives to the True Score Model
Generalizability theory
Item response theory
RELIABILITY AND INDIVIDUAL SCORES
The Standard Error of Measurement
The Standard Error of the Difference Between Two Scores
Close-up: Item Response Theory
Everyday Psychometrics: The Reliability Defense and the
Breathalyzer Test
Meet a Test User: Meet Dr. Bryce B. Reeve
Self-Assessment
Chapter 6VALIDITY
THE CONCEPT OF VALIDITY
Face Validity
Content Validity
The Quantification of Content Validity
Culture and the Relativity of Content
Validity
CRITERION-RELATED VALIDITY
What Is a Criterion?
Characteristics of a criterion
Concurrent Validity
Predictive Validity
The validity coefficient
Incremental validity
Expectancy data
Decision theory and test utility
CONSTRUCT VALIDITY
Evidence of Construct Validity
Evidence of homogeneity
Evidence of changes with age
Evidence of pretest/posttest changes
Evidence from distinct groups
Convergent evidence
Discriminate evidence
Factor analysis
VALIDITY, BIAS, AND FAIRNESS
Test Bias
Rating error
Test Fairness
Close-up: Base Rates and Predictive Validity
Everyday Psychometrics: Adjustment of Test Scores by Group
Membership: Fairness in Testing or Foul Play?
Meet a Test User: Meet Dr. Adam Shoemaker
Self-Assessment
Chapter 7UTILITY
WHAT IS UTILITY?
Factors that Affect Test Utility
Psychometric soundness
Costs
Benefits
UTILITY ANALYSIS
What is a Utility Analysis?
How is a Utility Analysis Conducted?
Expectancy data
The Brogden-Cronbach-Gleser Formula
Some Practical Considerations
The pool of job applicants
The complexity of the job
The cut score in use
METHODS FOR SETTINGS CUT SCORES
The Angoff Method
The Known Groups Method
IRT-based methods
Other Methods
Close-up: Utility Analysis: An Illustration
Everyday Psychometrics: Re-thinking the Costs of Testing—and Not
Testing
Meet a Test User: Meet Dr. Erik Viirre
Self-Assessment
Chapter 8Test Development
TEST CONCEPTUALIZATION
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