PSYCHOMETRIC ASSSESSMENT

INTRODUCTION:
Psychological test are specialized assessment procedures for determining such characteristic
of an individual as intellectual capacity, motive pattern, self-concept, perception of
environment, roles to be taken up, anxiety or depression, coping pattern and general
personality integration.

DEFINITION
Psychometrics is the field of study concerned with the theory and technique of educational
and psychological measurement, which includes the measurement of knowledge
(achievement), abilities, attitudes, and personality traits.
The field is primarily concerned with the study of differences between individuals. It involves
two major research tasks namely:
1. The construction of instruments and procedures for measurement; and
2. The development and refinement of theoretical approaches to measurement.
Psychometric assessment can be used by Organizations, sports bodies, educational institutes,
government bodies, research organizations for multiple needs. These tests are excellent
decision making tools.

APPLICATION OF PSYCHOMETRIC TESTS

 To assist in diagnosis:
 To assist in the formulation of psychological and identification of areas of stress and
conflict
 To determine the nature of the deficits that are present
 To assess severity of psychopathology and response to treatment:
 To assess general characteristics of the individual
CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD PSYCHOMETRIC TEST:
A psychometric test must be:
 Objective: The score must not affected by the testers’ beliefs or values
 Standardized: It must be administered under controlled conditions, A test is considered
to be standardized if it has been administered to sufficiently large and representative
sample of the target population, and if through appropriate statistical procedures the
essential elements have been retained and the unnecessary elements removed.
 Reliable: It must minimize and quantify any intrinsic errors, A good psychological test
should be reliable; that is, it should yield consistent results.
 Validity: A good psychological test should be valid; that is, it should assess what it
purports to assess, neither more nor less.
 Predictive: It must make an accurate prediction of performance
 Non Discriminatory: It must not disadvantage any group on the basis of gender, culture,
ethnicity, etc.
 Sensitivity is the avoidance of false negatives; is the ability of a test to detect what it
seeks to detect; there should be no sins of omission. A rating scale for depression, for
example should easily and completely indentify all depressive symptoms that may be
present.
 Specificity is the avoidance of false positives; it is the ability of a test to avoid
contamination with unrelated psychopathology; there should be no signs of commission.
A rating scale for depression, for example, should not be reactive to schizophrenic
psychopathology.
A good psychological test should have satisfactory reliability, validity, sensitivity,
specificity, positive and negative predictive values, and efficiency; it should be standardized.

TYPES OF PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS

1. Projective tests
2. Personality tests
3. Intelligence tests
4. Neuropsychological tests
5. Rating scales
6. Miscellaneous test
1. PROJECTIVE PERSONALITY ASSESSMENT (Free response measures)
The projective approach to personality assessment is defined by the use of
unstructured, often ambiguous test stimuli. Several semi structured situations and projective –
type stimuli have been developed, including perceiving ink blots, drawing pictures, and
telling stories on the basis of presented pictures.
Types:
A. Rorschach test == 10 stimulus cards of inkblots, some colored , others achromatic
B. Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)== 20 Stimulus cards depicting a number of scenes
of varying ambiguity
C. Sentence Completion Test == A number of different devices available, all sharing the
same format with more similarities than differences
D. Figure drawing ==Typically human forms but can involve houses or other forms
E. Make-a-picture Story (MAPS) == SIMILAR TOtat; however, stimuli can be
manipulated by the patient.

A. RORSCHACH TEST
It was devised by Hermann Rorschach, a swiss psychiatrist, who about 1910 began to
experiment with ambiguous inkblots.
The Rorschach (the “inkblot test”), composed of standard set of ten cards of inkblots
serves as a stimulus for associations; in the standard series , the blots are reproduced on cards
7 by 91/2 inches and are numbered from 1 to 10. Five of the blots are black and white; the
other 5 include colors. The cards are shown to a patient in a particular order , and the
psychologist keeps a record of the patient’s verbatim responses, along with initial reaction
times and total time spent on each card. After completion of the free association phase, the
 examiner conducts an inquiry phase to determine important aspects of each response that are
crucial to scoring.

B. THEMATIC APPERCEPTION TEST (TAT)

It was designed by Henry Murray and Christiana Morgan as part of a normal
personality study conducted at the Harvard Psychological Clinic in 1943.
The TAT consists of a series of 30 pictures and a blank card. Typically a patient is
shown 10 cards and asked to make up stories about them. The patient is asked to tell what is
going on in this picture, what was going on before the picture was taken, what the individual
in the picture are thinking and feeling, and what is likely to happen in the future.
The TAT is a projective test in that, like the Rorschach test, its assessment of the
subject is based on what he or she projects onto the ambiguous images. Therefore, to
complete the assessment, each narrative created by a subject must be carefully recorded and
analyzed to uncover underlying needs, attitudes, and patterns of reaction. Although most
clinical practitioners do not use formal scoring systems, several formal scoring systems have
been developed for analyzing TAT stories systematically and consistently. Two common
methods that are currently used in research are the:
 Defense Mechanisms Manual DMM. This assesses three defense
mechanisms: denial (least mature), projection(intermediate), and identification (most
mature). A person's thoughts/feelings are projected in stories involved.
 Social Cognition and Object Relations SCOR scale. This assesses four different
dimensions of object relations: Complexity of Representations of People, Affect-Tone of
Relationship Paradigms, Capacity for Emotional Investment in Relationships and Moral
Standards, and Understanding of Social Causality.

C.SENTENCE COMPLETION TEST (SCT)

It is designed to tap patients’ conscious associations to areas of functioning in which
clinicians may be interested. The SCT is composed of a series of sentence stems (usually 75
to 100) such as “I like …”, “sometimes I wish …”, that the patient is asked to complete in
their own words. Time pressure is usually applied; patients are instructed to write down the
first thing that comes to mind.
With the individual protocol, most clinicians use an inspection technique and note
particularly those responses that express strong affects, that tend to be given repeatitively, or
that are unusual or particularly informative in any way. Areas in which denial operates are
often revealed through omissions, bland expressions, or factual reports.

D. WORD ASSOCIATION TECHNIQUE

Carl Gustav Jung devised the word- association technique. He presented stimulus
words to patients and had them respond with the first word that came to mind. After the initial
administration of the list, some clinicians today repeat the list and ask the patient to respond
with the same words that he or she used previously, discrepancies between the two
administrations may reveal associational difficulties. Complex indicators include long
reaction times, blocking difficulties in making responses, unusual responses, repetition of the
stimulus words, apparent misunderstanding of the word, slang associations, perseveration of
 earlier responses , and ideas or unusual mannerisms or movements accompanying a response.
Because it is easily quantified, the test continues to be used as a research instrument, although
its popularity has diminished greatly over the years.
E. DRAW A PERSON TEST
This test was used as a measure of intelligence in children. It is easily administered,
usually with the instructions. After completion of the first drawing, the patient is asked to
draw a picture of a person of the sex opposite that of the figure in the drawing.
A general assumption is that the drawing a person represents the expression of self or
of the body in the environment. Most clinicians use drawing primarily as a screening
technique, particularly to detect brain damage.
The Draw-A-Person test requires the subject to draw a person. The results are based
on a psychodynamic interpretation of the details of the drawing, such as the size, shape and
complexity of the facial features, clothing and background of the figure. As with other
projective tests, the approach has very little demonstrated validity and there is evidence that
therapists may attribute pathology to individuals who are merely poor artists. A similar class
of techniques is kinetic family drawing.

INTELLIGENCE TESTS

Intelligence tests attempt to measure your intelligence, or your basic ability to

understand the world around you, assimilate its functioning, and apply this knowledge to
enhance the quality of your life. Intelligence, therefore, is a measure of a potential, not a
measure of what you’ve learned (as in an achievement test), and so it is supposed to be
independent of culture. The trick is to design a test that can actually be culture-free; most
intelligence tests fail in this area to some extent for one reason or another.
Intelligence can be defined as the ability to assimilate factual knowledge, to recall
either recent or remote events, to reason logically, to manipulate concepts (either numbers or
words), to translate the abstract to the literal and the literal to the abstract, to analyze and
synthesize forms, and to deal meaningfully and accurately with problems and priorities
deemed important in a particular setting. Intelligence varies tremendously from person to
person.
A. IQ test:
In 1905, Alfred Binet introduced the concept of the mental age (MA), which is the
average intellectual level of a particular age. The intelligence quotient (IQ) is the ratio of MA
to CA (chronological age), multiplied by 100 to eliminate the decimal point; it is represented
by the following equation:

IQ=mental age /chronological age*100

IQ tests which contain a series of tasks typically divide the tasks into verbal (relying
on the use of language) and performance, or non-verbal (relying on eye-hand types of tasks,
or use of symbols or objects). Examples of verbal IQ test tasks are vocabulary and
information (answering general knowledge questions). Non-verbal examples are timed
 completion of puzzles (object assembly), making designs out of coloured blocks (block
design).
IQ tests (e.g., WAIS-IV-Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale- 16 to 89 years of age, WISC-IV-
Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children age 5 to 15 years, Wechsler preschool and primary
Scale of Intelligence –Revised (WPPSI-R) for 4 to 6 ½ years of age, Cattell Culture Fair III,
Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Abilities-III, Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales V)
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale:
WAIS- It is the best standardized and most widely used intelligence test in clinical
practice today. It was constructed by David Wechsler at New York University Medical Center
and Bellevue Psychiatric Hospital. Designed in 1939. The latest revision is WAIS -IV. The
WAIS is composed of 11 subjects made up of six verbal subtests and five performance
subtests, which yield a verbal IQ, a performance IQ and a combined or full- scale IQ.
Intelligence levels are based on the assumption that intellectual abilities are normally
distributed (in a bell –shaped curve) throughout the population. Verbal and performance IQs
and the full-scale IQ are determined by the use of separate tablets for each of the seven age
groups (from 16 to 64 years) on which the test was standardized.
Distribution of IQ Scores:
The average, or normal, range of IQ is 90 to 110; IQ scores of at least 120 are considered
superior. According to DSM IV TR classification of Intelligence by IQ Range is :
Classification IQ Range
Profound MR below 20 or 25
Severe MR 20-25 to 35 -40
Moderate MR 35-40 to 50-55
Mild MR 50-55 to about 70
Borderline 70-79
Dull normal 80 to 90
Normal 90 to 110
Bright normal 110 to 120
Superior 120 to 130
Very superior 130 and above
B. Binet- Kamat test
Binet test is a test of general intelligence. The performance of a child on the items of this test
is compared with age-averaged norms obtained from children of various ages. This results in
a conclusion that, for example, a particular child is performing at the 8 year old level. The
age-average that matches the child’s performance defines the mental age of the child being
tested. A child with above average intelligence, therefore have a mental age, which exceeds
his chronological age.
Its Indian adaptation is called Binet- Kamat test. It helps to calculate IQ. Intelligence
Quotient is defined as the child’s mental age divided by his chronological age.

PERSONALITY TESTS
Personality tests attempt to measure your basic personality style and are most used in
research or forensic settings to help with clinical diagnoses.
Objective Personality Assessment (Rating scale or self-report measure)
The objective approach to personality assessment is characterized by the reliance on
structured, standardized measurement devices, which typically have a self –report nature. A
structured approach reflects the tendency to use straight forward test stimuli, such as direct
questions about persons’ opinions of themselves and unambiguous instructions about
completing the test. . Prominent examples of objective personality tests include the
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III,Child
Behavior Checklist, and the Beck Depression Inventory. Objective personality tests can be
designed for use in business for potential employees, such as the NEO-PI, the 16PF, and the
OPQ (Occupational Personality Questionnaire), all of which are based on the Big Five
taxonomy. The Big Five, or Five Factor Model of normal personality, has gained acceptance
since the early 1990s when some influential meta-analyses (e.g., Barrick & Mount 1991)
found consistent relationships between the Big Five personality factors and important
criterion variables.
Another personality test based upon the Five Factor Model is the Five Factor Personality
Inventory - Children (FFPI-C.)
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)
The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), a self reported inventory,
is the most widely used and most thoroughly researched objective personality assessment
instrument. The MMPI was developed in 1937 by Starke Hathaway, a psychologist, and J.
Charnley Mc Kinley, a psychiatrist. The test was eventually updated and is now called the
MMPI-2. The test consists of more than 500 statements, to which subjects must respond with
“true or false or cannot say” . The test may be used in card or booklet form, and several
computer programs exist to process responses.
The MMPI gives scores on 10 standard clinical scales, each of which was derived empirically
( ie. Homogeneous criterion groups of psychiatric patients were used in developing the
scales)

4. Neuropsychological tests
It examines the relationship between behavior and brain functioning in the realms of
cognitive, motor, sensory, and emotional functioning. Neuropsychological assessment is
indicated to identify cognitive defects, to differentiate incipient depression from dementia., to
determine the course of an illness., to assess neurotoxic effects to evaluate the effects of
treatment( eg.surgery for epilepsy,pharmaco therapy), and to evaluate learning disorders.
The typical neuropsychological examination evaluates sensation and perception, gross and
fine motor skills, basic and complex attention, visual spatial skills, receptive and productive
language abilities, recall and recognition memory, and executive functions such as cognitive
flexibility and abstraction. Motivation and personality are often assessed as well, particularly
when clients are seeking financial compensation for injuries, or cognitive complaints are not
typical of the associated injury or illness.
Rating scales:
Rating scales are instruments used to assess the magnitude or severity of a psychological
disorder.
The scales are available for a wide range of disorders, and indeed for a wide range of
situations with in a disorder. Certain of these are self rated, while others require to be
administered by a trained rater.
Common rating scales in psychiatry are:
1. For the assessment of general mental health:
- Goldberg general health questionnaire (GHQ)
- Subjective well being inventory (SUBI)
2. For the assessment of anxiety:
- Hamilton anxiety rating scale (HARS)
- Covi anxiety scale
3. For the assessment of depression:
- Hamilton depression rating scale(HDRS)
- Beck depression inventory(BDI)
4. For the assessment of mania:
- Young’s mania rating scale (YMRS)
- Bech- Rafaelson mania scale
- Biegel mania rating sale
5. For the assessment of schizophrenia:
- Brief psychiatric rating scale
- Scale for assessment of positive symptoms (SAPS)
- Scale for assessment of negative symptoms (SANS)
-
6. For overall assessment:
- Clinicians global inventory (CGI)
- Global assessment scale (GAS)

Some neuropsychologists prefer to use fixed test batteries like the Halstead-Reitan Battery or
the Luria-Nebraska Battery for all patients. These batteries include tests of a wide range of
cognitive functions, and those who advocate their use believe that all functions must be
assessed in each patient in order to avoid diagnostic bias or failure to detect subtle problems.
The more common approach today, however, is to use a flexible battery based on hypotheses
generated through a clinical interview, observation of the patient, and review of medical
records. While this approach is more prone to bias, it has the advantage of preventing
unnecessary testing. Since patients often find neuropsychological testing stressful and
fatiguing, and these factors can negatively influence performance, advocates of the flexible
battery approach argue that tailoring test batteries to particular patients can provide more
accurate information.

Advantages of Psychometric Tests:

 It is accurate and appropriate
 Cheap to acquire
 Highly cost saving
 Unbiased approach
 Highly time-saving
 Reviews can be done
 Helps to pick the right person
 Understand the employee
 Reveals motives
 Candidates find their job
 Improves efficiency
 Tools are used
 Psychometric testing can be used in any stage of recruitment

Disadvantages of Psychometric Tests:

 Method can become a fake one
 Can make a candidate nervous
 Incompatible with others
 Not complete in the whole sense
 Squeeze the hard-earned money
 The base is a small population
 Cultural barriers are present
 False answers
 Inaccuracy
 Answers are fixed
 Depressed
 The requirement for training
 Costly