Psychological Testing - Research Paper Example

Psychological Testing Abstract A psychological test can be described as a standardized and objective measure of an individual or a group’s behavioral or mental characteristics. Psychological tests are used by individuals or groups to help them find out their personality types, their behavior or their intelligence. Origin of psychological tests can be traced back to China’s Imperial Examination system in which individuals were assessed based on their proficiency with a variety of topics including civil issues and financial issues. A psychological test is founded on principles of objectivity, standardization, test norms, validity, and reliability. Psychological testing has come under intense criticism in recent years. This has made it necessary to assess each psychological test to determine if it's valid and whether it helps individuals and groups discover themselves and their potential. A Critique of Psychological Testing Psychological testing in the field of psychology refers to the use of certain samples of behavior so as to assess issues such as the emotional and cognitive functioning of an individual or a group of people. This field is commonly referred to as psychometrics. A psychological test can be described as a standardized and objective measure of an individual or a group’s behavioral or mental characteristics (Kaplan & Saccuzzo, 2009). Psychological tests are used by individuals or groups to help them find out their personality types, their behavior or their intelligence. Samples of behavior, also known as scores of a psychological test, refer to the observations of an individual while he performs certain prescribed tasks. One’s behavior is often measured and compared to the responses of a norm group, so as to help categorize the score of the individual. Origin of psychological tests can be traced back to China’s Imperial Examination system in which individuals were assessed based on their proficiency with a variety of topics including civil issues and financial issues (Kaplan & Saccuzzo, 2009). There were also other early forms of psychological testing that were mainly meant for entertainment as opposed to scientific analysis. Chinese games such as Tangram and jiulianhuan were used to assess the intelligence of individuals. Modern psychological tests began to take shape in France in the 19th century with people such as Binet. Francis Galton developed the first method of testing intelligence. Personality testing began in the 19th century with the use of phrenology and physiognomy. Phrenology refers to the measurement of a human skull while physiognomy evaluated an individual’s personality based on their outward appearance. Proper psychological testing has to be conducted scientifically and must be in accordance with established principles. A psychological test is founded on principles of objectivity, standardization, test norms, validity and reliability (Kaplan & Saccuzzo, 2009). Psychological testing has come under intense criticism in recent years. Standardization implies that all the procedures ought to be carried out consistently and within the same environment so as to achieve the same results for all individuals taking the same tests. Objectivity means that one's score in the test should be free of any subjective judgments or biases. Test norms, on the other hand, refer to the average score taken from a large group or individuals. This score is considered the norm and one's score is compared against it. There are so many types of psychological tests which have different objectives. Some of them include IQ or Achievement tests, aptitude tests, public safety employment tests, neuropsychological tests, and personality tests among others. IQ tests are used to measure one's intelligence while achievement tests are used to measure one's achievements based on their intelligence (Exner & Erdberg, 2005). Aptitude tests are used to evaluate one's feelings about another person, an event or an object. Public safety employment tests are used to measure the safety of employees with regard to fire, and other emergencies in the workplace. Neuropsychological tests are designed to measure a psychological function which is linked to a specific structure of the brain. Personality tests are used to evaluate behaviors of individuals and categorize them into specific personality types. Psychological testing has come under intense criticism in recent years. This has made it necessary to assess each psychological test to determine if it’s valid and whether it helps individuals and groups discover themselves and their potential (Kaplan & Saccuzzo, 2005). This criticism mainly stems from the fact that some psychological tests are not conducted scientifically and do not, therefore, lead to objective results. Such psychological tests are not valid and therefore not reliable. The increase in popularity of the internet has also contributed to this decline in reliability of psychological tests. This is because of the so many tests available online that claim to be psychological in nature, while they are only misleading the public who rely on these tests. It has, therefore, become necessary that psychologists re-examine the available psychological tests, gather information about them and criticize each aspect of these tests so as to develop a positive evaluation of psychological tests and increase the public faith in psychology (Kaplan & Saccuzzo, 2005). A proper psychologically test must be based on the principles and guidelines stated earlier on. All psychological tests must be tested against these principles as well as general scientific laws. This study aims at examining and criticizing the Wechsler Scale, which is one of the psychological tests used to measure the intelligence of individuals. Part 1: General Information Title of the Test: The Wechsler Scale, 4th Edition Author (s): David Wechsler Publisher and Dates: Pearson, 2008 Cost: All the details of the test are available online for free Online Availability: The test can be found online at http://www.intelligencetests.com This test was first published by David Wechsler in 1955 as the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS). It’s designed to assess and evaluate the intelligence of adults as well as older adolescents. The test is currently in its fourth edition referred to as WAIS-IV. The Wechsler Scale is an objective psychological test that can be relied upon to give reliable scores of one’s intelligence. The Wechsler scale, apart from assessing the intelligence of adults and older adolescents, the test has other alternative forms that are used to evaluate other groups of individuals too. These other variation tests of the Wechsler scale were created out of the need to assess and evaluate the intelligence of young people not covered by the original Wechsler Scale, which only aimed at testing adults. The current edition, WAIS-IV is recommended for individuals who are aged between 16 and 90 years. There is the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) which is recommended for children between 6 and 16 years of age. There is also the Wechsler Pre-school and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI) which is used by children between two and a half years to seven years of age. David Wechsler began working on this psychological test in the as early as the 1930s as he looked to criticize the Binet-Intelligence scales that were predominant during this time. Some of his early tests included nonverbal elements, commonly known as performance scales as well as verbal items. These tests led to the development of the Wechsler Bellevue Intelligence Scale (WBIS), which was published in 1939. The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) was developed later on and published in 1955 as a revision to the WBIS published earlier (Kaplan & Saccuzzo, 2005). A new version of the WASI was published in 1981 as WAIS-R. WAIS- R was made up of five nonverbal and six verbal subsets. Among the verbal subsets included in this edition are Comprehension, information, digit span, arithmetic, similarities, and vocabulary. Among the performance of nonverbal subsets were; Picture Completion, Block Design, Object Assembly, Picture Arrangement, Digit Symbol and Object Assembly. This edition helped to obtain a verbal IQ, a performance IQ as well as a full-scale IQ. The current version, WAIS-IV, released in 2008, consists of ten main subsets accompanied with five other supplemental subsets. The main subsets are what make up the Full-Scale IQ (Kaplan & Saccuzzo, 2005). The verbal and nonverbal performance scales that had been in the previous versions have been removed in this version and have been replaced by Index Scores such as The General Ability Index that has Similarities, Information and Vocabulary subsets that came from the Verbal Comprehension Index. Visual puzzles and matrix Reasoning subsets are from the Perceptual Reasoning Index. This test, like many other tests, makes various assumptions which help it to achieve its objectives. In measuring intelligence, the WAIS assumes the definition of intelligence to be what David Wechsler believed is the definition of intelligence. According to Wechsler, Intelligence is one’s capacity to act purposefully as well as to be rational and to effectively deal with his or her environment (Exner & Erdberg, 2005). Part 2: Test Description WAIS-IV has four different scores that are used to represent major components of intelligence. These four index scores include; Perceptual Reasoning Index (PRI), Verbal Comprehension Index (VCI), Working Memory Index (WMI) and the Processing Speed Index (PSI). There is also two other broad score that can be used to summarize an individual's general intellectual capabilities. These indices include the Full-Scale IQ (FSIQ) and the General Ability Index (GAI). WAIS-IV has various subtests which as=re in each of the four main indices. The verbal Comprehension index consists of four subtests which are: i. Similarities: This measures abstract verbal reasoning ii. Vocabulary: measures the degree to which an individual learns, understands, as well as his ability to express verbal vocabulary. iii. Information: Measures the rate at which one acquires information from their culture. iv. Comprehension: This is a supplemental subtest that measures one’s ability to deal with abstract social conventions. The Perceptual Reasoning Index includes five subtests which are; i. Block Design: This measures spatial perception, processing of visual abstracts and problem-solving ii. Matrix Reasoning: Measures nonverbal abstract ability to solve problems. iii. Visual Puzzles: This measures non-verbal reasoning iv. Picture Completion: Measure the ability to perceive visual details quickly v. Figure Weights: Measure the analogical and quantitative reasoning of an individual The Working Memory Index is consists of three tests including; i. Digit span: Measures one's attention, and concentration ii. Arithmetic: Measure one’s ability to concentrate while solving mathematical problems iii. Letter-Number Sequencing: Measures one’s attention and working memory The Processing Speed Index is obtained from three tests which are; i. Symbol Search: Used to measure speed and visual perception ii. Coding: Measures motor and mental speed iii. Cancellation: Used to measure visual-perceptual speed The main objective of this test is to measure the intelligence of an individual (Harrison, P. L., & Oakland, T. 2003). An individual’s intellectual ability is measured using the tests and subtests of the WAIS-IV scale to measure different aspects of one’s intelligence. The overall score of the individual can be given as the individuals full-scale IQ or his or her general ability index. Part 3: Technical evaluation WAIS-IV was standardized based on a sample of 2,200 individuals from the USA aged between 16 and 90 years (Harrison & Oakland, 2003). Another 688 individuals of the same age group from Canada were also used to extend the standardization. The median Full-Scale IQ, after standardization, is centered at 100 with a standard deviation of 15. The sample was also used to prove the validity of the criterion used in the tests is well as the reliability of the WAIS-IV psychological test. Part 4: Practical Evaluations The WAIS takes about 30- 60 minutes to finish the test (Harrison & Oakland, 2003). The scores are easy to interpret even for non- psychologists and other lay people since the charts are almost self-explanatory. The WAIS-IV is a very reliable and user-friendly method of testing one's intelligence. Part 5: Summary of Evaluation and Critique Among the strengths of this test include the fact that it is easy to use. The information is easy to interpret even for nonpsychologists. The test is also reliable. Based on the sample used to standardize the WAIS-IV, the test is highly regarded as a reliable and objective measure of one’s intelligence. The test is easy to administer as it takes quite a short amount of time as compared to most other tests that consume a lot of time (Harrison & Oakland, 2003). The other advantage of the WAIS is that it has been changed to include almost all categories of people based on their ages. Anyone from two and a half years can be assessed using the Wechsler Scale that has been customized for their age group. Despite being one of the best psychological tests out there, the WAIS-IV has certain shortcomings, one of them being that it is quite expensive to get a copy of the test. There are few online tests but they are not accessible to everyone. The best tests are often out of financial reach of most people. A recommendation for this test would be to make the next version easily accessible to most people who need to test their intelligence (Harrison & Oakland, 2003). Part 6: References Exner, J. E. & Erdberg, P. (2005) The Rorschach: A comprehensive system: advanced interpretation (3rd Edition. Vol 2). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley and Sons. Kaplan, Robert M.; Saccuzzo, Dennis P. (2009). Psychological Testing: Principles, Applications, and Issues (Seventh ed.). Belmont (CA): Wadsworth. Harrison, P. L., & Oakland, T. (2003). Adaptive behavior assessment system–second edition). San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation. Kaplan, R.M. & Saccuzzo, D.P. (2005). Psychological Testing: Principles, applications, and issues. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth Lichtenberger, Elizabeth O.; Kaufman, Alan S (2002). Assessing adolescent and adult intelligence. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Read More