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I: Introduction to Psychological Assessment

Overview of Psychological Assessment

The word test causes some anxiety in people - be it a math test, driving test, or a university entrance
test, it makes people feel some dread. The possibility of having endless review nights to pass and failing
the test are some of the reasons why people do not perceive the word test in a positive light. However,
we cannot deny the fact that tests are important tools in society, as they serves as means to select
people qualified for a job or measure the skills of a student to pass him/her in the next level. Imagine
if the people are selected to their jobs without some sort of tests or measurement, it would be chaos!
In this module, the importance of psychological tests and assessments will be the main focus. The basic
concepts and principles in the assessment will be explored to help better understand the nature of
psychological tests and assessments.

Basic Concepts
A test is one of the many tools used in the field of psychology. It can be either a device or a technique
that allows behavior to be quantified or predicted. Meanwhile, the term testing refers to the process
of utilizing the former such as the administration of the test. Putting a modifier before the word test,
the meaning becomes different. The term, though, had become obsolete in practice, and practitioners
prefer to use the term assessment.
When we use the term psychological testing, this refers to the systematic procedure of gathering
sample behavior in relation to cognitive or affective functioning (Urbina, 2004). The data collected
from this are used as a basis to establish the standards of the test or tool.
Psychological testing pertains to the utility of the tests to evaluate an individual. On the other hand,
psychological assessment is integrating the collected data from various assessment tools in order to
come up with an evaluation. Earlier it was mentioned that a test helps to quantify behavior, and with
quantification, there is the measurement, numbers are assigned to objects, in this case behavior and
personality traits, according to a certain set of rules (Christensen, 1991).
Psychological testing and assessment allow behavior to be scaled, something which was thought
impossible before, since these processes utilize various tests that give us an idea what a person's IQ is
or the level of one's aggression. This allows data to be objective, leading to a less biased judgment of
an individual - evaluation. This is more extensive than measurement as inferences are drawn from
various assessment procedures.
For a better understanding of the aforementioned concept, please refer to the Table below (adapted
from Cohen-Swerdlick, 2010)

Table 1. Major Differences between

Testing and Assessment

Note: Adapted from

Psychological Testing and
Assessment: An Introduction to
Tests and Measurement 7th
Edition, by Cohen−Swerdlik,
Copyright ©2009 by The
McGraw−Hill Companies, Inc.
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Brief History of Testing and Assessment

The beginning of testing was established earlier in the Eastern part of the world rather than in the
West. As early as 2200 B.C., the Chinese were using tests as means for the selection of government
officials who would serve the throne and the nation. It is a civil service exam that was deemed to be a
sophisticated method at that time due to its continuous improvement and development (Kaplan &
Saccuzzo, 2015). The West had likely adapted this selection process that it became the norm for getting
in a job or serving in the military. From there, tests and testing started to make their mark in the world.

In the 1800s, the field of psychology was blooming, but some concepts were still vague. It was in 1838
that Jean Esquirol differentiated mental illness and mental retardation, but the test that will measure
the latter only came in 1905 when Alfred Binet and his partner, Theodore Simon, developed the first
intelligence test upon the commission of the French government. Moreover, theories, empirical
studies, and measurements were still being developed at that time.
In 1904, Charles Spearman postulated that intelligence is made up of a single g factor - a general factor
and a number of s factors or specific factors. In the same year, Karl Pearson contributed correlation
measures which are an immense help in testing.

In 1916, the Binet-Simon test came to the United States and was renamed as Stanford-Binet
Intelligence Test after Lewis Terman and his team from the said university revised and reformed the
test. The following year, Army Tests were developed, and this was led by Robert Yerkes. He and his
team made the Army Alpha, a verbal test for native English-speaking recruits, and Army Beta, a non-
verbal test which was for immigrant recruits for the first world war. Given this selection process,
Robert Woodworth developed the Personal Data Sheet in 1918, which he gleaned from answers from
the questionnaires of soldiers (Cohen & Swerdlik, 2017).
Later on, he made the Woodworth Psychoneurotic Inventory for civilian test takers. This was
considered by some the first personality test (Santos & Pastor, 2009). Rorschach Inkblot Test came in
1920. It was developed by Herman Rorschach, a Swiss psychiatrist. However, it was not complete as
there was no clear scoring system as he passed away before completing this. But this did not become
a hindrance as the inkblot test is one of the popular projective tests and is widely researched. Aside
from this, Henry Murray and Christiana Morgan developed another projective technique which was
the Thematic Apperception Test.

As psychological tests began to gain popularity, a lot of tests were being published, and by 1921,
Psychological Corporation was founded by Cattel, Thorndike, and Woodworth, who was the first test
publisher (Santos & Pastor, 2009).
Some five years later, the SAT or Scholastic Aptitude Test was made and published by the college
examination board. This marked development of tests exclusive to the educational setting. One year
later, Vocational Interest Blank published its first edition. Over the years, the development in the field
of testing continued. Theories and ideas were researched and written, and these supplemented test
development proposals. Few notable developments were: the publication of Lauretta Bender's Bender
Visual Motor Gestalt Test in 1938, which can detect organic problems in a person; 1939, Wechsler-
Bellevue Intelligence Scale by David Wechsler which was revised to Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale
and Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children in 1949; development and publication of Minnesota
Multiphasic Personality Inventory in 1942 and introduction of the coefficient alpha to measure the
internal consistency or reliability of tests and other assessment methods.
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I: Introduction to Psychological Assessment

The history of tests and testing is a story of discovery and improvement. With the existing ideas and
theories of earlier theorists and developers, new tests and statistical measures are developed to
improve the quality of tests that society will be using.

Goals of Psychological Tests and Assessment

Tests and assessments are uniform procedures in which data from individuals/ groups are obtained.
For example, you are experiencing chills at night and experiencing fluctuating body temperature.
Worried that you are not experiencing typical flu symptoms, you consulted a doctor, and he ordered
you to take a laboratory diagnosis for dengue.
Similar to a medical doctor who uses laboratory test results (i.e., blood samples) to confirm his
diagnosis, a psychologist uses tests/assessments with a battery of psychological tests to confirm the
referral question (i.e., use of ASI-5 to measure the severity of drug abuse). Which brings us to a
practical question, what are the processes of psychological assessment?

Assessment Process
As a general practice, the process of assessment starts with a referral for assessment from a source
such as a teacher, guidance counselor, social worker, judge, or human resource recruiter. Referral
questions guide the assessor on what needs to be checked in the assessee. Some examples of referral
questions are the following: the mental age of the child, the capability of an employee to handle a
managerial position, grounds for annulment cases, and “Does this person has a substance use disorder?

The assessor will do a formal assessment in order to clarify or rule out the reason for his/her referral.
Hence, he/she will choose tools for assessment suitable for the assessee’s situation. It is important
that in sensitive cases like a referral for an annulment, the tool selection process may be informed by
some research in preparation for the assessment. After selecting appropriate instruments or
procedures to be employed, the formal assessment will begin. After the assessment, the assessor will
write a report of the findings that is designed to answer the referral question. More feedback sessions
with the assessee and/or interested third parties (such as the assessee’s parents and the referring
professional) may also be scheduled.

Evaluating Psychological Tests

Before using a psychological test, an experienced clinician will first read and understand the
theoretical orientation behind the test, the appropriateness of the standardization sample, and if there
is adequate reliability and validity.

1. Theoretical Orientation
As cited by Groth-Marnett in 2010, Haynes, Richard, & Kubany (1995) emphasized that clinicians
should study the construct that the test is supposed to measure and how the test approaches this test
construct. Usually, this information is easily found in the test manual. Careful examination of the
individual items will help the clinician to understand and obtain meaningful information about the
construct being measured. An example of psychological tests with a strong theoretical orientation will
be the Revised NEO Pi R based on the Five Factor Theory of McCrae and Costa Jr.
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2. Practical Considerations
Before using a test, a number of practical considerations about the context and manner used should be
examined. First the appropriateness of the test to the examinee's educational level (reading skills).
Imagine administering an IQ test that needs at least a high school level attainment to a group of
illiterates (especially in prison settings)! The examinee must be able to read, comprehend, and
respond appropriately to the test. Otherwise, the result of the test will be useless.
Second, the length of the test should be considered, too, as it may cause boredom, fatigue, and
frustration on the part of the examinees, which in turn will affect the quality of data gathered.
Administering short forms of the test may reduce these problems, provided these forms have been
properly developed and are treated with appropriate caution (Groth-Marnatt, 2010).
Lastly, a clinician should be honest about how knowledgeable and competent he /she is in
administering and interpreting the instrument. If further training is necessary, a method must be
developed to enroll in this training.

Why Do Psychological Testing and Assessment?

The idea of individual differences is not something new, but rather this was remarked on even by
ancient philosophers. However, at those times, they did not have the means to measure it objectively;
thus, development was stunted until such time that practitioners in the field developed new ideas that
contributed to the concept of individual difference more. The existence of tests and other assessment
tools helped immensely to measure aspects of personality which were thought to be impossible before.

These tools are developed in a manner that is able to measure what it is supposed to measure - validity
and can give a consistent result - reliability.

Tests are used in various settings, and these tools proved to be very useful in many ways:

Clinical Setting
It is in the clinical setting where tests - psychological tests, in particular, are often heard. This is not
surprising as tests and other assessment procedures like a clinical diagnostic interview and behavior
assessment are utilized to help the clinician - psychologists and psychometricians to come up with a
proper diagnosis. These detect intellectual disabilities as well as emotional and behavioral instability,
which are important facets of one's personality. Aside from diagnosis, these tools enable the
identification of suitable interventions for the client, like counseling, psychotherapy, or behavior
therapy.

Industrial Setting
In an industrial setting, these assessment devices pave the ways for the selection process to be easier.
Tests aid the HR practitioners in finding the right person for the right job, and these also allow
promotion and training of employees to be done efficiently and objectively. As the tests are means to
measure the skills and capabilities of the employee, the system of evaluating the performance is
unbiased and more objective. The results from these tests can help the development and planning of a
good training program and see if these programs are effective.
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I: Introduction to Psychological Assessment

School Setting
Meanwhile, in a school setting, psychoeducational tests are often used. Tests in this setting are not
limited to achievement tests but rather extend to aptitude and intelligence tests, which results can help
with career and vocational counseling for students. There are also personality tests that school
psychologists can administer to help diagnose learning difficulties or adjustment problems of the
students at school. Psychoeducation tools allow understanding of students' behavior and what can
hinder them from learning effectively.

Who is involved in the Testing Process?

In the testing industry, there are several people who are involved in the process of testing.
Without these people, the testing industry would not thrive and would remain stagnant. The people in
the industry are the ones who develop, review, publish and control the tests, among others. They are
the ones who ascertain that these tests are well utilized and are not abused or misused.

Test authors and developers

They are the ones who develop new test materials based on psychological theories and phenomena.
One of their means to advertise these materials is through various studies and research, which they
publish in journals and other databases relevant to the field of psychology and testing.

Test reviewers
These are people in the same or related fields who would evaluate the developed tests based on the
tool’s theoretical, empirical and psychometric merits.

Test Users
Their role is to select a test that is appropriate for the purpose of testing. This would be a challenge
since there is a thousand test that is published annually. Also, these people can be the test
administrators, scorers as well as interpreters, depending on their qualifications and training.
Being test administrators, they are required to know the process of giving the exam, whether by group
or individually. As test scorers, they have to get the raw scores from the tests and transform these into
interpretable scores through the objective process and evaluative judgments. The scores then will have
to be interpreted in a manner that will be understandable by other professionals and disciplines. Also,
the interpretation needs to be clear and informative, based on the test results, so it can be utilized for
decision-making.

Test takers
They are the ones whom the tests are made for in order to measure a specific facet of their personality.
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Types of Psychological Tests and Assessment

In the previous topic, the uses of tests in various settings were explored. How these were used varies,
such that different types of tests and assessment procedures were developed for specific purposes and
settings.
1. Interview
This is more than just conversing as it has an objective, and that is to gather relevant information
depending on the purpose. There are several types of interviews but do not differ in the format of
question and answer. In the clinical setting, structured, semi-structured, and unstructured clinical
interviews are interchangeably utilized. Respectively, the first one has guided questions that are asked
in order. Thus, it can be conducted quickly and easy to quantify, but then it lacks details and is not as
flexible as the other two. The semi-structured is flexible though it still adheres to the guide questions.
The interviewer can stray from this whenever it seems appropriate. The last one mostly contains open-
ended questions, which can generate more qualitative data; however, it can be time-consuming.
From all of these types, the interviewer does not just take down what was said but rather, the non-
verbal behaviors are also noted. For some practitioners, there is a lot that can be gleaned from the
gestures and behavior in the interview, and these are as helpful as the answers from the interviewee.

2. Tests
As mentioned earlier, these are tools that are devised to measure some variables. The types also
tend to vary depending on where it is used. Tests in education are sometimes referred to as
psychoeducation tests which do not measure achievement in class but rather the individual skills -
aptitude and intelligence tests which determine the intellectual functioning of a person. The human
resource utilizes various tests as well both that measure skills as well as personality. In the clinical
setting, we see a more focused test - a structured and projective personality test. Both measure
personality traits which aid in diagnosis and clinical evaluation.

3. Behavioral Observation
This is another tool in assessment whereby it can substitute when other tools cannot be utilized.
It uses naturalistic observation, interview, and rating scales to better understand how and why the
person behaves as such. It is very useful in an industrial setting when there is a need to choose an
employee with certain abilities required to perform a job (Cohen & Swerdlik, 2017).

4. Other Tools
Aside from the aforementioned tools, there are several more tools that can be utilized in the
assessment procedures; among them is the case history data. Case studies have been prevalent during
the development of psychology, and this is often the only source of information for the practitioner.
However, in the modern period, it is utilized together with other tools to understand the factors that
contributed to the person's past as well as present functioning.
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I: Introduction to Psychological Assessment

Ethical Considerations
With the widespread development of psychological tests, especially during the time of war, it was
prone to be abused and taken advantage of by people. At some point in history, there many delved into
the test development industry even when they were not in the practice of psychology. These and other
issues in psychological practice were addressed in the American Psychological Association (APA) in
the Ethical Principles and Code of Conduct (APA, 1992).
There are six principles to which psychologists and behavioral science practitioners should adhere,
and this summarizes the following:

Principle A: Competence
In psychological testing and assessment, we have two practitioners, the psychometrician and
the psychologist. They are expected to fulfill their roles as professionals and do their jobs within their
training and education, knowing their professional limitations and boundaries.
Principle B: Integrity
Practitioners strive to make objective assessments and evaluations based on the data that they
have gathered and analyzed. Unbiased evaluation reports are the end goal. Thus, they utilize tools with
high reliability and validity as it allows them to achieve this.
Principle C: Professional and Scientific Responsibility
In the practice of psychology, it is not surprising to collaborate with professionals in other fields.
Among which are doctors, lawyers, teachers as well as social workers. This is because professionals
know the limits of their job responsibilities, and in order to help the client in their care, they must work
with others for the best interest of the client. Aside from this, they should know their tools well so as
to be confident of their reliability and validity to the population that they will be used.

Principle D: Respect for People's Rights and Dignity

Confidentiality plays a big part in the assessment practice. Practitioners are often come across
sensitive and private details of the test-taker, which cannot be divulged to another. Moreover, labeling
should be avoided in the practice as this can affect the person's image and somehow pave the way to
stigma; unless this is a clinical diagnosis, the practitioner needs to discuss the results of the assessment
in the most prudent way possible.

Principle E: Concern for others' welfare

Being in a helping profession, the practitioner's role is to do no harm to another. In doing so,
they strive to understand the rights and welfare of their clients before subjecting them to an
assessment of sorts.
Principle F: Social Responsibility
The practitioner's work is not limited to their patients or client, but it extends to society as well.
They use their knowledge in psychology to improve human welfare and lessen human suffering. In
doing so, they avoid misusing their tools as well as knowledge to comply with the law.

The APA ethics code was amended in 2010 and 2016 in order to address changes and
development in practice as well as in society.
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References and Supplementary Materials

Books and Journals
1. Cohen, R. J., & Swerdlik, M. E. (2018). Psychological testing and assessment: An introduction to
tests and measurement. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
2. Kaplan, R. M., & Saccuzzo, D. P. (2015)). Psychological assessment and theory: Creating and
using psychological tests. Singapore: db Cengage Learning Asia Pte Ltd: Cengage Learning Asia Pte.
3. Santos, Z. C., & Pastor, G. N. (2009). Psychological Measurement and Evaluation. Manila: REX
Bookstore.
4. Urbina, S. (2004). Essentials of psychological testing. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
5. Apruebo, R.A. (2010). Psychological Testing Volume 1 (1 st ed). Quezon City;Central Book
Supply
6. Groth-Marnatt, G., Wright, A.J. (2010). Handbook of Psychological Assessment (6 th Edition).
Online Supplementary Reading Materials
1. Mcleod, S. (2014). Structured and Unstructured Interviews | Simply Psychology. Retrieved August
13, 2018, from
https://www.bing.com/cr?IG=9A7E4A9D44B04B9FB6165AAA32234A24&CID=1D012897FCB4648
D14F824DDFD496558&rd=1&h=Lug-
wV4QYQyBlxCgwK_6fWdAfA5ANkIbRvNi_xc0AsY&v=1&r=https://www.simplypsychology.org/inter
views.html&p=DevEx.LB.1,5070.1
2. Connecticut Parent Advocacy Center. (n.d.). Retrieved August 13, 2018, from
http://www.cpacinc.org/materials-publications/evaluation/functional-behavioral-assessment/
3. Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct (1992). (n.d.). Retrieved August 13, 2018,
from http://www.apa.org/ethics/code/code-1992.aspx
4. Nelson, R. O., & Hayes, S. C. (1979). Retrieved August 13, 2018, from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1311472/?page=1
5. Lanyon, R. I., Almer, E. R., & Curran, P. J. (n.d.). Use of biographical and case history data in the
assessment of malingering during examination for disability. Retrieved August 13, 2018, from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8054679
6. Smith, D. (2003, January). The First Code. Retrieved August 13, 2018, from
http://www.apa.org/monitor/jan03/firstcode.aspx

7. Vallente, K. K. (2014, March 13). Behavioral assessment - Clinical Psychology. Retrieved from
https://www.slideshare.net/keziahkeilavallente/behavioral-assessment-clinical-psychology
8. What you need to know about the new code. (n.d.). Retrieved August 13, 2018, from
http://www.apa.org/monitor/jan03/newcode.aspx