Students Encounter Some for Psychological

¶ … students encounter some for psychological testing while in still school, either in the form of IQ and aptitude tests; tests for learning disabilities; and/or career inventories to help them understand what job to pursue, based upon their personality profile. When employees apply for jobs, they are often subjected to tests that grade their honesty and suitability for the occupation. Many people voluntarily take psychological tests to see what career they might like and even 'for fun' in popular magazines. At work, some employers give employees tests to determine their personality type, to see what type of people with whom they would work best.

Personality testing has become an accepted part of popular culture. It first became common around the time of World War I, when some of the first intelligence tests were 'normed' on troops. Today, however, rather than screening individuals as 'normal' and 'abnormal,' tests are more inclined to be used as supplements to other forms of psychological assessments.

Q2.

Criterion-referenced tests determine whether a student knows a certain body of material: a student either passes or fails, based upon whether the student possesses a certain body of knowledge and certain abilities. For example, a third grader may have to demonstrate that he or she can multiply and divide to enter the next grade. Norm-referenced tests compare students to one another: in the view of some educators, this is fairer, given that some students from underprivileged backgrounds may not be able to pass the same criteria for proficiency as students with more personal advantages, who come from a similar background to the test-maker.

However, proponents of criterion-based tests state that it would be more unfair to hold particular groups of students to a lower standard. To 'dumb down' assessments is seen as patronizing and ultimately disadvantageous to the students' social advancement. Criterion-based tests highlight poor-performing school districts, which can encourage the districts to improve. Criterion-based test's lack of subjectivity in assessment (unlike an essay-based test) makes comparisons between different schools as well as different students easier to make -- for the good of the student. Ideally, however, students should be subject to a wide variety of tests to paint a clearer picture of their proficiency. Norm-based tests provide an idea of how well a student has performed in relation to peers with a similar educational background; subjective tests can reveal creativity or talents not scored on a standardized test.

Q3. The validity coefficient is calculated in terms of whether the content of what is being tested (such as intelligence) is comprehensive enough; if the 'face' or surface validity meets a commonsensical test; if the construct of the test (such as how intelligence is defined) is valid; and if the outcomes of the test are supported by other, existing measures of validity (criterion-based validity).

Q4.

A reliable test produces the same results on a consistent basis, when it is administered to the same test population. If the same person, or people with similar backgrounds and demographic information, gets the same score on the test, it is judged to be reliable. A reliable test that aims to test certain concepts should also determine if test-takers score similarly on these individual units: for example, if a test subject gets the same types of answers on the same types of questions that measure a specific content domain, the test has also demonstrated its internal reliability.