Catalog Description: (Prerequisites: Psych. 110 and a grade of C or higher in Psych. 210) Provides a thorough grounding in principles of testing and a review of the major types of assessment, including intellectual, personality, and interest. (This course is designated as writing intensive.)

Professor and Office Hours:
 

Professor: Office hours:  Office: Contact numbers: Teaching assistant:

John C. Norcross, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology Mon. 8:30 – 10:30, Tues. 8:30 - 9:45, and by appointment 224 Alumni Memorial Hall 941-7638 (office); norcross@scranton.edu (e-mail); 585-5726 (home) Mark Fitzgerald, 348-0789 or fitzgeraldm2@scranton.edu

Required Text:
Cohen, R. J., & Swerdlik, M. E. (2002). Psychological testing and assessment (5th edition). Boston: McGraw Hill.

Requirements and Evaluation: There will be twelve weekly quizzes (10 points apiece) and one cumulative final examination (60 points). The weekly quizzes will be given for 10 minutes at the beginning of the Tuesday class; these quizzes will cover lecture material, reading assignments, information on tests completed as part of the course, and class demonstrations.  Make-up quizzes are not available.  The final examination will assess your knowledge of material covered throughout the semester as well as the material from the last two weeks of class.

Three written assignments are also required.  The first assignment is a brief Test Critique, prepared according to the attached instructions. This assignment may be completed with another member of the class. The second assignment presents two options: the first option is a detailed outline and five scholarly references for a Research Paper on a specific topic approved by the instructor prior to March 7th; the second option is a first draft of a Psychological Self-Evaluation based on psychological tests and measures completed throughout the course. The format for this self-evaluation is attached. The third assignment builds directly on the second: completion of either the Research Paper or the Psychological Evaluation.  In both cases, the paper should be typed double-spaced and should be at least 2,500 words in length.
 
 

Attendance and Participation:  Regular class attendance is essential for a comprehensive understanding of the subject matter.  If absent from a class, you are responsible for the material covered. You are responsible for all announcements made in class. I do not formally take attendance, but your absence will certainly be reflected in missing quizzes and class materials. You must personally attend class to submit written assignments; they may not be turned in by a fellow student or slipped under my office door. Class attendance and participation will be the final determinants in cases of "borderline" grades.

You are free to decline participation in any classroom discussions or demonstrations.  Completion of any psychological tests/measures is entirely voluntary on your part.

Kindly refer to the University’s Academic Code of Honesty (revised May 1998).  Plagiarism or dishonest examination behavior on your part will result in the assignment of the grade of “F” for the course. As stated in the Student Handbook, “Failures in the area of academic honesty strike at the heart of what is essential to the University community – the pursuit of truth.”

Course Outline and Assignments:

Psychologists face two practical tasks in selecting and critiquing a psychological test. The first task is to review a given test, for example, the ABC Personality Inventory or the Pennsylvania Nonverbal Intelligence Test.  The second task is to assemble a set of tests that may be considered for possible use, given a particular purpose.  For example, what tests should be considered for the school district’s diagnostic reading program or for initial screening of clients at a clinic?  The first writing assignment for this course is designed to give you a condensed, hands-on experience with test critiques.

Traditions for conducting a review of a single test are established by the practices of the Mental Measurements Yearbook (MMY) and the Test Critiques series.  Although these two publications have somewhat different outlines for their reviews, the reviews are organized in very similar ways.  The suggestions given here draw on the formats from both of these classic sources of test reviews.

Materials Needed.  First, a published test will ordinarily have what is called a Specimen Set or Examination Kit.  This contains a copy of the test materials and manual(s).  The test materials include test booklets or stimuli, answer sheets or other response recording devices, scoring keys and directions, and related materials. The examination kit should also include the test manual.  The manual should contain a clear statement of the test’s purpose and rationale, directions for administering, tables of norms, and information about reliability, validity, test development procedures, and norming programs for the test (For the purposes of this assignment, we shall give you the necessary materials.)

A second type of information to have for a test critique is the entry about that test from the publisher’s catalog.   The catalog describes the range of test materials, e.g., the number of levels and forms, types of scoring services, and costs of test materials. (We shall also provide you with a sampling of test catalogs.)

A third type of information for our class assignment is to review the style of test reviews published in Test Critiques.  Wander over to the Reference section of the library, locate volume X of Test Critiques (REF BF176.T419), page through it, and read over a few reviews to get a feel for the assignment.  Or consult a recent edition of the Mental Measurements Yearbook, either in hard copy or on-line (on the PsycInfo directory or webspirs.silverplatter.com/cgi_bin/erl11.cgi).  But please do not read the review for the test that you will critique; this shall confuse you and likely lead to unintentional plagiarism.

A fourth type of information to secure is the subjective experience of taking the test itself.  Simulate a regular administration and scoring of the test with yourself.  But do not interpret scores yourself; such practices would exceed your competence.

Structure of the Critique.  For the purposes of this course, please use the following format for your written assignment.  Place the formal name of the test, its author, and the test publisher at the top of the page. Then use the following four headings.

Introduction/Purpose. State the purpose of the test.  Describe rationale for the approach taken. The purpose should be clearly stated in the test manual. Begin with descriptive and non-judgmental sentences. The opening sentence typically identifies the test’s purpose.  This statement is often taken directly from the test manual.  For example: “According to the test manual (p. 2), the ABC-PI aims to provide a simple measure of the major personality traits of the normal adolescent.”   The critique may elaborate briefly on this purpose, paraphrasing sections of the manual, for example: “The major personality traits covered by the test include…”

The intended target audience for the test is usually identified here.  This opening section also discusses any theoretical orientation the test may have.  For example: “The test structure attempts to operationalize Smith’s four-stage theory of adolescent development.”  In this opening section, the reviewer does not critique the test’s purpose. However, the reviewer may comment on how clearly the purpose is communicated.

Practical Applications/Uses. Describe the structure and materials of the test: types of items, levels, length, etc. Thoroughly examine the test materials themselves.  What exactly is this test? What are the items or other stimuli?  What does the examinee do?  How long does it take to administer the test?  And so on.  In answering these types of questions, it is normal for the reviewer to “pretend” that he or she is actually taking the test.  The reviewer also carefully reads the test directions, becomes familiar with scoring procedures, and otherwise becomes immersed in the test materials.  It is also important to determine what scores the test yields.

This part of the review may be thought of as a verbal photograph of the test.  What are the test materials? How many items are there?  How does the examinee respond?  Are there different levels and forms of the test?  The assumption in this section is that the reader of the critique does not have the test materials.  It is the reviewer’s task to give a tour of the test.  This section will also call attention to any special versions or unusual features of the test, if there are any.  For example, if the test is available in Spanish as well as in English, such matters would be briefly noted.

Technical Aspects. Tell what technical information is available and provide a judgment about based on this information.  This section is thus a combination of description and judgment. It is convenient to use four subheads in this part of the critique, as outlined below. Within each of these parts, the reviewer describes the evidence available for the test, then offers a judgment about the adequacy of the information.

For example, regarding reliability, the critique may note that:

 Alpha coefficients for the test’s three scores are .63, .85, and .91, as determined on the norming  samples.  The first of these is clearly inadequate for routine use; if the score is used at all, extreme  caution is required.  The other two scores show adequate internal consistency for normal use. However, the test manual fails to provide any information about test-retest reliability, a significant  shortcoming.

This section typically addresses the following four elements:
a.  test development (e.g., What procedures were used to develop the test?)
b. reliability (e.g., What evidence is there for the reliability of the test’s scores? Are coefficients reported for all applicable types of reliability?)
c.  validity (not for our assignment)
d. norms (e.g., What evidence is provided for the utility of the test’s norms? Are the normative samples sufficiently large, current, and representative?)

Critique. Give a summary statement about the test’s quality and potential usefulness. Summarize both the advantages and disadvantages.

This final section provides a summative evaluation of the test.  The reviewer may adopt one of several possible strategies in this section.  First, comments may be restricted to a synopsis of major conclusions reached in earlier parts of the review.  Second, the reviewer may suggest cautions to keep in mind if the test is used and/or make recommendations for the test author and publisher to follow in further development of the test.  Such cautions and recommendations will be outgrowths of earlier parts of the review.  The third strategy, the boldest approach, makes a specific recommendation for or against use of the test.  And, of course, the reviewer provides a rationale for the recommendation, drawing on comments made in earlier parts of the critique.

Test reviews in MMY range from as little as 500 words to about 2,000 words.  Reviews in Test Critiques tend to be somewhat longer; most are in the range of 2,000 – 2,500 words.  We shall limit ourselves in this assignment to 1,250 to 1,750 words, which is eminently practical since we are omitting the section on validity.

Source: Hogan, T. P. (in preparation). Psychological testing.

Client's name:  Abby B. Normal	Dates of evaluation:  Spring 2002
Client's DOB: 4/8/85	Date of report:  May 3, 2002

   
Referral Data:  Ms. Abby Normal referred herself for psychological assessment as part of a psychological testing course in order to enhance her self-understanding and personal growth.

Background Information:  The client is a 21-year-old, single Caucasian woman attending a local university.  [Additional information from Life History Questionnaire:  living circumstances, employment history, family background, medical problems, current medications, recent stressors, and results of any previous psychological testing.]

Assessment Procedures:
     Abbreviated Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASQ)
     Abbreviated Life History Questionnaire
     Behavioral Observations
     Bender Visual - Motor Gestalt Test
     Defense Mechanism Inventory (DMI)
     Defense Style Questionnaire (DSQ 40)
     Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation-Behavior (FIRO-B)
     Gambrill-Richey Assertion Inventory
     Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT)
     Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI)
     NEO Personality Inventory - Revised (NEO-PI-R)
     Personal Orientation Dimensions (POD)
     Personality Research Form (PRF)
     Strong Interest Inventory (SII)
     Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal

Behavioral Observations:  Ms. Normal was a tall and slender young woman with shoulder-length red hair and blue eyes.  [Additional information:  prominent physical characteristics, attitude toward assessment, motivation level, description of test behavior, and response style.  Stick to objective observations and try to give the reader a "feel" for this person.  Also include here information about the examinee's scores on the SII, PRF, and NEO-PI-R validity scales.  Finally, make judgments about the representativeness of the client's test behavior and the validity of the ensuing results; ideally, you want to be able to say "For all these reasons, the following test results are believed to be representative and valid indicators of the client's current psychological functioning."]

Findings and Impressions:  In the visual-motor domain, Ms. Normal reproduced the Bender-Gestalt geometric figures with her right hand in an age-appropriate fashion and without scorable errors.  Her test performance revealed no obvious visual-motor deficits.  Examination of her test behavior, however, suggested.... Her responses to the Life History Q revealed no visual or fine motor concerns.

In the cognitive domain, the client's intellectual functioning was estimated to be above average, as gleaned from prior and indirect sources. She achieved combined SAT scores of 1,000 and is a college junior in good academic standing.

Further evaluation of the client's cognitive and learning styles was undertaken on the Attributional Style Questionnaire, the Group Embedded Figures Test, and the Learning & Study Strategies Inventory.  Her ASQ results revealed....

In the domain of personal values and interests, the client completed the Strong Interest Inventory and the Personal Orientation Dimensions.  On the SII...

In the personality domain, Ms. Normal was assessed via the Personality Research Form and the NEO Personality Inventory - Revised. On the PRF she obtained scores in the average range on 17 of the 20 scales.  Her scores on Endurance (T = 63) and affiliation (T = 68) exceeded those of 89 percent of the female college normative sample.  Hence, Ms. Normal appears to be willing to work long hours and persevere even in the face of great difficulty; additionally her scores indicated that she enjoys being with people in general and makes efforts to maintain interpersonal relationships.  Concurrently, her low score on aggression (T = 33), below the tenth percentile rank, suggested that she does not enjoy combat or revel in arguments.

In the domain of defense mechanisms, Abby completed the Defense Mechanisms Inventory as well as the Defense Style Questionnaire.  On the DMI...

In the interpersonal domain, Ms. Normal was administered the FIRO-B and the Gambrill-Richey Assertion Inventory.  Ms. Normal obtained scores within the average range on 4 of the 6 FIRO-B scales.  On the expressed inclusion scale...

[Each section should entail a description of the person's results in relation to the normative sample, including percentile rank or general "category."  Please include behavioral descriptions or psychological descriptions of any scores outside the average range.]

Summary:  The client was a 21-year-old, self-referred single woman who completed a battery of psychological tests.  Results revealed no gross visual-motor integration problems but some perfectionistic tendencies. [A concise, one-page description of the person based solely on the test results.  The summary should be a single lengthy paragraph and should not, for the purposes of this course, repeat the names of the psychological tests or advance any treatment recommendations.]

                                                                                                _____________________________
                                                                                                              Abby B. Normal
                                                                                                              Future Psychologist

Enclosures

Word count =