STUDY NOTES 4 for PYC4807

Theme 2 Types of psychological assessment measures

Introduction

You have now been introduced to the general principles of psychometric theory that apply to
all tests. In the second theme you will learn to distinguish between different types of tests based
on the nature and purpose of the tests. Two broad categories of tests are discussed in the second
theme, namely tests to assess cognitive functioning (based on theories of intelligence) and tests
to assess personality (based on theories of personality). It will help (in the beginning a least) if
you focus on one broad category (cognitive or personality) at a time. In each category there is
further division into subtypes of tests and you should make sure that you understand how these
subtypes are defined. You need not know all the tests discussed in the prescribed book in detail,
but you should know some examples of tests for each subtype. Please use the full name of a test
where possible.

Exercise: In how much detail should you know a specific test? In sufficient detail to decide
if the test is suitable to form part of the assessment process to help a client with a specific
problem in a specific context. Consult the introduction to Theme 2 in Tutorial letter 102 and
list the characteristics of a test that you need to consider when selecting a test as part of an
assessment battery1 for a specific context of assessment and reason for testing.

To be continued …
Study notes 5 will be on Topic 2.1 Assessment of cognitive functioning. In Tutorial Letter 102
an overview of the topic is provided. For more detail on each aspect, specific resources are
noted where relevant. The chapters in the prescribed book provide you with the theoretical
knowledge on the topic. Once you have studied these, you will be able to understand the
application of the theory as described in the articles. As students of psychological assessment,
you will find the articles interesting and we recommend that you read the whole article to
broaden your knowledge of the field. However, we have indicated what part of each article you
need to focus on for the purpose of this module.

Now study
Topic 2.1 in Tutorial Letter 102;
Chapters 10 and 15 (section 15.3) in the prescribed book; and
The article by Bar-On (2006).

1
Note that we use the term here to indicate a combination of independent tests used together
for the same purpose. However, it also often used to indicate the combination of subtests in a
single test in the same way as the term ‘Scale’ is used (e.g. the Senior South African
Individual Scale).