Introduction to Psychology Testing

Introduction to Psychology Testing Paper

PSY/475
March 5, 2013

Introduction to Psychology Testing Paper
Testing is the way that behaviors and human thought are measured and theories are created. It creates a way for the tester to give a better idea of the person being tested. Tests are being used in official research and organizational settings. Without reliability and validity of testing the test would not be worth it. This paper will define test in a psychological way. It will also describe the major categories of tests and identify the major uses and users of the tests, and compare and contrast the concepts of reliability and validity. This paper will also discuss how they affect testing in the psychology field.
Definition of Testing
The word test comes from many different origins. In the psychology field it is said to be a sophisticated way and standard of equals in procedures or the way that creates information about our cognitive ways and our behaviors. A test will measure a small sample of a behavior instead of a large variety of behaviors. The standard for Educational and Psychological testing says a test is a way behavior is specifically evaluated using a standard examination (Hogan, 2007).
Categories of Tests
There are five major categories of tests; they are personality, achievement, mental ability, neuropsychological testing and interest and attitudes. Personality testing is created to give information about the personality and is used in a lot of different tests. Mental ability testing is used to measure the cognitive roles like intelligence, spatial visualization, memory, and our creative thinking. Achievement tests are used to study expertise such as math, reading, science, or even exact achievements. These tests are used to compare for similarity in individuals responses. They could help measure eating disorders, pathological conditions and even interests to the human body.
Neuropsychological testing is created to help understand the brain and the nervous system. Some tests here could include memory tests, and abstract thinking (Hogan, 2007). Interest and attitude testing could be used to measure our attitudes toward certain groups and topics. This testing is common in colleges or high schools to test for vocational measures (Hogan, 2007).
Uses and Users of Tests
There are four major groups that use tests. They are educational, personnel, research and clinical groups (Hogan, 2007). In an educational setting tests are given to measure the students ability and the teachers ability (Hogan, 2007).People that use educational tests are teachers, parents and administrators. In a clinical outlook tests can be used to see progress in counseling, neuropsychology, and school psychology.
The personnel setting of testing is used to employ the best person for the job, or position. An example of this testing is the military where they test you and tell you where you would be best in the military. Testing can also be used to test performance while employed (Spector, 2008). In the research field testing is used in social sciences, psychology, and education and behavior purposes. Tests create the importance of different characteristics that are used in research to create a new test.
Reliability and Validity
Reliability and Validity are two major factors in testing. Reliability is how the testing is consistent, and validity is how the test measures exactly what it set out to measure. These two concepts give the test their complete value, but it cannot be valid without being reliable. The tests have to produce exact same scores, and be dependable in order to be accurate. The components that matter in testing are dependability, reliability, and constancy (Hogan, 2007).
Conclusion
Tests are a way to get efficient and useable information, especially when dealing with behaviors and thoughts. Testing is used in various fields and used to gather a lot of different information. Validity and reliability creates a norm between the testing and have to be used hand in hand.

References
Hogan, T. P. (2007). Psychological testing: a practical introduction (2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Spector, P. E. (2008). Industrial and organizational psychology: research and practice (5th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

References: Hogan, T. P. (2007). Psychological testing: a practical introduction (2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Spector, P. E. (2008). Industrial and organizational psychology: research and practice (5th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.