Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- PART ONE BASIC ISSUES
- 1 The Nature of Tests
- 2 Test Construction, Administration, and Interpretation
- 3 Reliability and Validity
- PART TWO DIMENSIONS OF TESTING
- PART THREE APPLICATIONS OF TESTING
- PART FOUR THE SETTINGS
- PART FIVE CHALLENGES TO TESTING
- Appendix: Table to Translate Difficulty Level of a Test Item into a z Score
- References
- Test Index
- Index of Acronyms
- Subject Index
- References
1 - The Nature of Tests
from PART ONE - BASIC ISSUES
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- PART ONE BASIC ISSUES
- 1 The Nature of Tests
- 2 Test Construction, Administration, and Interpretation
- 3 Reliability and Validity
- PART TWO DIMENSIONS OF TESTING
- PART THREE APPLICATIONS OF TESTING
- PART FOUR THE SETTINGS
- PART FIVE CHALLENGES TO TESTING
- Appendix: Table to Translate Difficulty Level of a Test Item into a z Score
- References
- Test Index
- Index of Acronyms
- Subject Index
- References
Summary
AIM In this chapter we cover four basic issues. First, we focus on what is a test, not just a formal definition, but on ways of thinking about tests. Second, we try to develop a “taxonomy” of tests, that is we look at various ways in which tests can be categorized. Third, we look at the ethical aspects of psychological testing. Finally, we explore how we can obtain information about a specific test.
INTRODUCTION
Most likely you would have no difficulty identifying a psychological test, even if you met one in a dark alley. So the intent here is not to give you one more definition to memorize and repeat but rather to spark your thinking.
What is a test? Anastasi (1988), one of the best known psychologists in the field of testing, defined a test as an “objective” and “standardized” measure of a sample of behavior. This is an excellent definition that focuses our attention on three elements: (1) objectivity: that is, at least theoretically, most aspects of a test, such as how the test is scored and how the score is interpreted, are not a function of the subjective decision of a particular examiner but are based on objective criteria; (2) standardization: that is, no matter who administers, scores, and interprets the test, there is uniformity of procedure; and (3) a sample of behavior: a test is not a psychological X-ray, nor does it necessarily reveal hidden conflicts and forbidden wishes; it is a sample of a person's behavior, hopefully a representative sample from which we can draw some inferences and hypotheses.
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- Information
- Psychological TestingAn Introduction, pp. 1 - 14Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2006