CH:15 Psychological Tests

Psychological tests asses abilities, feelings, attitudes, and behaviors.  These can help people make important decisions . For these tests to be useful and accurate, these have to have certain characteristics. It has to be standardized which means it is administered and scored the same way every time. The test score has to be the same or nearly the same for it to be reliable. Validity scales involve questions that if answered in a certain way; the psychologists can know that the test is answered honestly. Norms are designed to tell administrators which test scores are high, low or averaged.

Psychological tests can measure achievement, abilities, and interests. Achievement tests are a type of psychological tests that measure people’s skills and the knowledge they have in specific academic areas. Aptitude tests are used to know if someone would to well in a given area. It is important to know that aptitude tests and achievement tests are not the same. To help people determine if their interests are similar to the interests of people in various lines of work, psychologists use vocational interest inventories. Two famous interest inventories are the Kuder Preference records- known for the forced choice format (Have to chose and answer, even if none of them fit the test taker’s interest), and the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory-comparing the test taker’s interest to the interests of people who are successful and enjoy in several kinds of work.

Other types of psychological tests can measure personality. There are objective tests which introduce the test takers with standardized groups of test items in a questionnaire form. In these tests true and false questions are present where test takers are limited to a specific choice. These include famous tests like the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Test and the California Psychological Inventory. There are also projective tests, which have no specific answers. These use an open-ended format. An example of one of these tests is the Rorschach Inkblot Test where random inkblots with no specific form are presented and one has to say what they see. Another projective test is the Thematic Apperception Test where and image is presented and one has to say what they interpret.

Taking tests can be difficult and stressful. Due to this there are several tips. One must first gather adequate information. One must also practice. Practice makes perfect. Also being test wise is really important like following directions carefully. Also bringing adequate equipment for the test.  When doing multiple-choice questions one must try answering the question without looking at the options, consider every possible choice, look for answers that are opposite, and looking for the best choice listed. When doing true and false questions one must take into consideration that every detail from the question has to be true. In short answer questions one must focus on answering the question in a complete but concise way. To overcome test anxiety one must be prepared which will create confidence.

Psychological tests are important in life because we can find out of what we want and what we are.  We can find out how we behave. We can also find out about our personality and about the skills we are good at. In fact, many students nowadays use psychological tests to guide them on what they are going to do in their life. Several of these tests measure a lot of things, which makes them quite complete.

Example of The Rorschach Inkblot Test