Characteristics OF Psychological Tests Essay Examples

Psychological testing and its application are considered by several psychologists as a major development in the field of psychology that has evolved since 1980 when James Cattel first used the term “mental test”. (Oxford University Press, 2014) Chronbach and Gleser (1965) noted the existence of different psychological tests already developed that are used for different age brackets and different. Among these tests are intelligence tests, personality tests and vocational tests. Regardless, however, of the existing and diversity of these tests, there are defining characteristics that these psychological tests should possess.
Chrnbach and Meehl (1955) identified three of the most defining characteristics psychological tests should process. The first of these is the tests validity. This means that the tests should be capable of measuring what it intends to measure. If the test intends to measure an attribute of a person, then all behaviors thought to have a role have to be taken into consideration. The second of these characteristics is standardization or administering the tests to all people in the same manner or conditions. The fact that there are several factors such as environmental, examiner, examinee and the test itself could affect the results of a tests makes this very important as one may not be able to get a true picture. If the tests are administered on the same environment then it can be presumed that the factors could have affected the takers at the same way. Lastly, there is a need for psychological tests standard rules for scoring. This will ensure that all tests items will be scored the same way.
In the movie “Miracle on 34th Street” (1947 version), an educational tests was conducted to Macy’s appointed Santa, who believes to be Kris Kringle. Because of this believe, he is tested by the store psychologist to check whether he is fit to take on the task. Although he already has a record of passing the same test several times, he was still made to undertake the tests and perfectly answers the questions of the psychologist. However, in the process, he also psychoanalyzes the psychologist which I think affected the judgment of the psychologist making him issue an incompetency mark on Macy’s Santa. For this, I think the tests administered by the psychologists didn’t meet the second and third characteristics of psychological tests as the environmental factors and standard rules for scoring were not observed. Further, the emotions of the psychologists affected his judgment.

References

Cronbach, Lee J. and Gleser, Goldine C. (1965).Psychological tests and personnel decisions. Oxford, England: U. Illinois Press. (1965). 347 pp. Retrieved on January 2, 2014 at http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=search.displayRecord&uid=1965-10191-000
Cronbach, Lee J. and Meehl, Paul E. (1955). Construct validity in psychological tests. Psychological Bulletin, Vol 52(4), Jul 1955, 281-302. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/h0040957. Retrieved on January 2, 2014 at http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/bul/52/4/281/
Oxford University Press (2014). Psychological Tests: What Are They and Why Do We Need Them? Psychological Tests. Retrieved on January 1, 2015 at http://lib.oup.com.au/he/psychology/samples/shum_psychologicalassessment_sample.pdf