Psychological Testing Questions and Answers

Answer: C

L. L. Thurstone proposed the method of paired comparison (1) and the method of equal-appearing intervals (4) for attitude scaling. Summated ratings is the method of Likert, and scalogram analysis is the method of Guttman, so statements 2 and 3 are wrong. The answer is 1 and 4 only, and the options naming only one method or naming 2 and 3 are incorrect. Likert's method uses summated ratings, so statement 2 belongs to him, and Guttman's scalogram analysis is statement 3, which makes the options with 2 or 3 wrong.

Answer: D

Predictive validity is forecasting some significant behaviour on the basis of test scores (4), concurrent validity is a high relationship between the new test and an established test of the same trait (3), construct validity is yielding theoretically consistent results (2), and content validity is covering all the important areas of a given course of study (1). The code is 4 3 2 1. The other codes mix these descriptions, for instance giving content validity to forecasting behaviour.

Answer: B

Both statements are true but the reason does not explain the assertion, so the answer is option B.

In Thurstone's method of equal appearing intervals, judges sort statements into categories, and the median of the judges' placements is taken as the scale value of each statement, so the assertion is true. It is also true that in a normal distribution the mean, median and mode coincide. That identity does not give the reason the median is chosen in this method, which is that it is a stable measure that is little affected by a few extreme judgements, so the reason is not the explanation.

Answer: D

The assertion is false and the reason is true, so the answer is option D.

Self-report personality inventories are not very useful in personnel selection, because applicants know the test affects the job decision and try to make a good impression, which is faking or impression management, so the reason is true. Since this undermines the usefulness of the inventories, the assertion that they are very useful is false.

Answer: D

The increasing order of saturation on projective criteria is Differential Aptitude Test, Incomplete Sentence Blank, Thematic Apperception Test, Rorschach, which is option D (2 4 1 3).

The Differential Aptitude Test is an ability test with no projective element. The Incomplete Sentence Blank is semi-structured, with some projection. The Thematic Apperception Test asks for stories to pictures, which is more projective, and the Rorschach ink blots are the least structured stimuli and the most projective. Options A, B and C place the Rorschach or the aptitude test out of position.

Answer: B

Both statements are true, but (R) is not the correct explanation of (A). The test-retest reliability of psychometric tests is higher than that of projective tests, since psychometric tests are objectively scored and standardised, while projective responses are open to interpretation and vary.

The trait approach does presume that personality is consistent across time, but this is a general assumption about personality and does not explain why psychometric tests are more reliable than projective ones. So the second option is correct.

Answer: D

The test of personality in which the subject chooses between pairs of jokes is the Humor Test of Personality of R.B. Cattell. It is one of Cattell's objective tests, in which a person's preferences are the clue to personality.

J.M. Cattell is the American psychologist who is known for mental tests and the study of individual differences, and the names McCafe and McCall are not linked to this joke test. So the fourth option is correct.

Answer: A

Both statements are true and the Reason is the correct explanation of the Assertion, which is the first code.

In classical test theory an observed score equals the true score plus the error score. Because the true score and the error score are independent of each other, the covariance between them is zero, and so the total variance is exactly the sum of the true variance and the error variance. The independence in (R) is what makes the additive variance in (A) hold.

Answer: B

The Personal Orientation Inventory is the most appropriate for the assessment of self-actualization. It was developed by Everett Shostrom to measure values and behaviours of self-actualizing people in the sense of Maslow.

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator measures personality type preferences, the Rosenberg scale measures self-esteem, and the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule measures manifest needs. None of them is intended to assess self-actualization.

Answer: A

The key gives the decreasing order of projective ability as the Rorschach Ink Blot Test, the Thematic Apperception Test, Rosenzweig's Picture Frustration Scale and the Sentence Completion Test, which is the code 1, 2, 3, 4.

Projective ability falls with the structure of the stimulus: the ink blots are the most ambiguous, the picture stimulus of the TAT is less so, the Rosenzweig scale gives more structure with its cartoons, and sentence stems the most. The reversed and mixed orders are rejected.