Types Of Psychological Tests
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PSYCHOLOGICAL tests aren’t magic, so let’s
get that clear right at the beginning. They assess and evaluate
information that you give to the examiner, which is why the formal name of
psychological testing is psychological assessment. You give this
information either in the form of answers to interview questions or as answers
on paper—or on a computer—to specific questions. Ultimately, a test’s accuracy
depends on how carefully and seriously you answer the questions you’re asked.
Please note that you won’t find copies of
any of the standard professional tests online because the tests are copyrighted
by the test publishers. Also, for professional reasons, the security of the
tests must be maintained, so all mental health professionals are under ethical
obligations (enforced by licensing boards) to maintain proper test security.
Psychological
tests fall into several categories:
Achievement
and aptitude tests are
usually seen in educational or employment settings, and they attempt to measure
either how much you know about a certain topic (i.e., your achieved
knowledge), such as mathematics or spelling, or how much of a capacity you have
(i.e., your aptitude) to master material in a particular area, such as
mechanical relationships.
Intelligence
tests attempt to
measure your intelligence—that is, your basic ability to understand the world
around you, assimilate its functioning, and apply this knowledge to enhance the
quality of your life. Or, as Alfred Whitehead said about intelligence, “it
enables the individual to profit by error without being slaughtered by it.”[1] Intelligence, therefore, is a measure
of a potential, not a measure of what you’ve learned (as in an
achievement test), and so it is supposed to be independent of culture. The
challenge is to design a test that can actually be culture-free; most
intelligence tests fail in this area to some extent for one reason or another.
The concept of IQ derives from about 1916 when a Stanford University psychologist, Lewis Terman,
translated and revised the intelligence scale created by Alfred Binet and
Theodore Simon. Hence the name of the new instrument, the Stanford-Binet
Intelligence Scale. In this instrument, Terman used the ratio of mental
age to chronological age. This ratio—or quotient—concept led to the
use of the term IQ (Intelligence Quotient). For example, a six year old child
with a mental age of 6 would have an IQ of 100 (the “average” IQ score); a six
year old child with a mental age of 9 would have an IQ of 150.
This
mental age-chronological age concept works well for children, but what do you
do about adults? What’s the difference between a mental age of 25, say, and a
mental age of 45? Needless to say, the problems here are so complicated that
today psychologists have generally given up the idea of IQ and speak simply
about intelligence. Today, intelligence is measured according to
individual deviation from standardized norms, with 100 being the average.
Neuropsychological
tests attempt to
measure deficits in cognitive functioning (i.e., your ability to think, speak,
reason, etc.) that may result from some sort of brain damage, such as a stroke
or a brain injury.
Occupational
tests attempt to match
your interests with the interests of persons in known careers. The logic here
is that if the things that interest you in life match up with, say, the things
that interest most school teachers, then you might make a good school
teacher yourself.
Personality
tests attempt to measure
your basic personality
style and are most used in research or forensic settings to help with clinical
diagnoses. Two of the most well-known personality tests are
• the Minnesota
Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), or the revised MMPI-2, composed of
several hundred “yes or no” questions, and
• the Rorschach (the “inkblot test”),
composed of several cards of inkblots—you simply give a description of the
images and feelings you experience in looking at the blots.
Specific clinical tests attempt to measure specific clinical matters, such as your current level of anxiety or depression.
sychological tests are usually administered and interpreted by a psychologist because studies in psychopathology, along with academic courses and supervision in psychological testing, are an integral part of the doctoral degree in clinical psychology. A counselor who has had the appropriate academic courses and supervision may administer occupational tests or achievement and aptitude tests, but most counselors have not received the training to administer personality tests. Academic courses and supervision in psychological testing are usually not a part of a psychiatrist’s medical training, so most psychiatrists can ethically administer only some specific clinical tests that are straight-forward check-lists of symptoms.
Of course, ethics is one thing, and the
desire to make money is another thing. Therefore you will often find
individuals offering to do all kinds of psychological testing—especially on the
Internet—even when they lack the professional training to administer and
interpret such tests. So, as in all things, buyer beware.
Sometimes a psychologist who runs a clinic
or has a private office will use legally registered assistants (in California these persons
are called
“psychological assistants” or “registered
psychologists”) or student interns to administer and score
psychological tests under his or her direct supervision. As I have seen
personally (as a result of my own training), this “supervision” can vary from
highly concerned and ethical involvement with assistants to nothing more than a
“rubber stamp” signature on the final report. There’s no way for the consumer
to know how much the psychologist has actually been involved in the whole
process. But as a consumer you have the right to be fully informed
about the training and credentials of any assistant with whom you have contact
Justification for using tests
Psychological
tests were created for three main reasons, all of which are interconnected:
It’s easier to get information from tests
than by clinical interview. Most people won’t talk about this, but, believe it or not, many
psychologists are rather inept at dealing with people, and so it’s a great
relief to them to be able to administer a test rather than conduct a competent
interview. Thankfully, such psychologists tend to specialize in testing (or
research, or teaching) rather than psychotherapy. Think about this if ever you find
yourself sitting in front of a steely-eyed psychologist while being given a
battery of psychological tests.
The information from tests is more
scientifically consistent than the information from a clinical interview. If a psychologist is simply trying to
arrive at a diagnosis to help determine the course of
psychotherapy, an interview is just fine. But when decisions have to be made
about legal matters,
disability issues, and so on, then the standardized information from tests
allows one person to be directly compared with others, and it makes things more
fair.
It’s harder to get away with lying on a
test than in a clinical interview. Many tests have multiple “alarms” that go off when a test
taker tries to lie. And some tests, such as the Rorschach (the
“inkblot test”) don’t even give a clue as to what preferred, or healthy,
responses might be, so it’s pretty much impossible to make yourself “look good”
by fabricating deceptive answers to a test like this.
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