Psychological Testing Questions and Answers

Answer: D

All three are methods of estimating reliability. The parallel (alternate) form method correlates scores on two equivalent forms of the test. The split-half technique correlates two halves of one test. The rational equivalence method (the Kuder-Richardson approach) estimates reliability from the inter-correlation of the items. So the options listing fewer than all three are incomplete.

A fourth way is the test-retest method, in which the same test is given twice to the same people and the two scores are correlated.

Answer: C

Dividing a test into two equal halves by the odd-even method and correlating the scores on the two halves assesses internal consistency, which is whether the items of the test measure the same thing. It is the split-half method of reliability. Correlational validity and criterial consistency are not the name of this check, and 'critical consistency' is not a psychometric term.

Odd-even splitting is preferred to a first-half, second-half split because fatigue and practice effects are spread equally between the two halves.

Answer: B

The Rorschach cards are presented in two phases, the performance proper (the subject says what the blot looks like) and the inquiry (the examiner asks where in the blot the person saw it and what made it look so). 'Understanding' and 'reporting' are not the names of the phases, so the other pairs are wrong.

Answer: B

The important concern of psychology in regard to psychological testing is the assessment of individual differences, that is, how people differ from one another in abilities, personality and other attributes. Individual capabilities and individual performance are particular things that tests may measure, and ethical issues are a concern of test use, not the main purpose of the testing.

Tests are used to compare people on the same attribute, so the aim is to show differences between persons and not just one person's score.

Answer: B

Attitude scales are designed to give a quantitative measure of an individual's relative position along a single (unidimensional) continuum, from very unfavourable to very favourable towards an object. Examples are Thurstone's and Likert's scales. Aptitude, interest and personality scales deal with several dimensions or kinds of scores rather than one continuum.

Thurstone and Likert scales place a person along a single line from favourable to unfavourable, which is the unidimensional continuum of the stem.

Answer: D

The key gives strength and magnitude of the responses. When responses to a test are given on a scale, such as 'strongly agree' to 'strongly disagree', each response shows how strong or intense the respondent's reaction is. Reliability and validity belong to the test as a whole and are not shown by individual scaled answers. The key's choice of 'responses' over 'items' is because it is the answer of the person that carries the scale value.

Scaled responses, such as a five-point scale, show how strongly the person agrees, which is the strength and magnitude of the response.

Answer: D

The property that is NOT part of psychological measurement is that it "always measures the constructs with objectivity". Measurement means assigning numbers to attributes by rules, it is always about some attribute or feature of the object, and it involves quantification. But psychological constructs such as intelligence or anxiety are measured indirectly, with error, so objectivity is something a test aims for and reports through reliability and validity; it is not guaranteed in every measurement.

Answer: D

Mathematical aptitude is not a test in the General Aptitude Test Battery. The GATB includes tests of clerical perception, numerical aptitude and form perception, among others, while the battery has no test called mathematical aptitude. The General Aptitude Test Battery was developed by the United States Employment Service and measures nine aptitudes through twelve tests, including verbal, numerical, spatial, form perception, clerical perception, motor coordination and finger and manual dexterity.

Answer: B

The Thematic Apperception Test is useful for assessing individual differences in several motives, such as achievement, affiliation and power, from the stories a person tells about pictures. The Rorschach inkblot test is mainly for personality structure, the MMPI is a self-report inventory for psychopathology, and the Stanford-Binet scale measures intelligence. In the TAT the person makes up a story for each picture, and the stories are scored for needs such as achievement, affiliation and power, which makes the test a measure of several motives.

Answer: A

The Differential Aptitude Tests were developed by Bennett, Seashore and Wesman. Carroll and Horn are known for the Cattell-Horn-Carroll model of intelligence, Binet and Simon for the first intelligence scale, and Wechsler and Terman for intelligence tests. The Differential Aptitude Tests first appeared in 1947 and measure verbal reasoning, numerical ability, abstract reasoning, clerical speed and accuracy, mechanical reasoning, space relations, spelling and language usage.