Psychological Testing
Psychological Testing Heather Kramer University Of Phoenix PSY/475 Psychological Tests and Measurements John Papazafiropoulos 3/9/2009
Psychological Testing Hogan (2003, pg. 15) offer four central assumptions that are made by individuals in regard to psychological testing they are as follows, “people differ in important traits, we can quantify these traits, the traits are reasonable stable, and measures of the traits relate to actual behavior.” The following will review and discus the major assumptions and fundamental questions associated with psychological testing. Discussed as well will be the definition of the term test, the major categories of tests, and the major uses and users of these tests. Finally, the concepts of validity and reliability will be discussed, as well as review how these concepts have impacted the field of psychology. Assumptions and Fundamental Questions When looking at the major assumptions of psychological testing the first problem therein lies is whether or not the trait held by the individual is truly important or if it is inconsequential and does not affect the individual’s attitude or behavior. “Second, we assume that we can quantify these traits” (Hogan, 2003, pg. 16). When quantifying one is placing individuals into different categories depending on the characteristic displayed however, by doing so the researcher may miss more important traits the individuals has, not place them in an accurate category, or may even oversimplify the categories making it harder to collect accurate and useful data. Next by assuming that individual’s traits continue to stay the same however, people are not programmed constantly to stay the same and individuals do experience variations in their personalities and dominate
Psychological Testing Hogan (2003, pg. 15) offer four central assumptions that are made by individuals in regard to psychological testing they are as follows, “people differ in important traits, we can quantify these traits, the traits are reasonable stable, and measures of the traits relate to actual behavior.” The following will review and discus the major assumptions and fundamental questions associated with psychological testing. Discussed as well will be the definition of the term test, the major categories of tests, and the major uses and users of these tests. Finally, the concepts of validity and reliability will be discussed, as well as review how these concepts have impacted the field of psychology. Assumptions and Fundamental Questions When looking at the major assumptions of psychological testing the first problem therein lies is whether or not the trait held by the individual is truly important or if it is inconsequential and does not affect the individual’s attitude or behavior. “Second, we assume that we can quantify these traits” (Hogan, 2003, pg. 16). When quantifying one is placing individuals into different categories depending on the characteristic displayed however, by doing so the researcher may miss more important traits the individuals has, not place them in an accurate category, or may even oversimplify the categories making it harder to collect accurate and useful data. Next by assuming that individual’s traits continue to stay the same however, people are not programmed constantly to stay the same and individuals do experience variations in their personalities and dominate