Psychological Testing Psychological tests are an important aspect of clinical psychology. Psychological tests are normally administered by professional psychologists as a way of learning fact on how people function or in predicting their future. The paper will look at the definition of the term test, give a description of the major categories of tests while identifying the major uses and users of these tests. There will also be comparing and contrasting the concepts of validity and reliability and a discussion of how they affect the psychological testing field.

Definition of tests

A test or examination is defined as an assessment aimed at measuring the knowledge, aptitude, skill, physical fitness or classification in other different topics. Tests can be administered orally, by use of a paper, computer or in the confinement of a specific area which requires the person taking the test to physically perform a specific set of skills. Tests are usually varied in terms of rigor, style and general requirements. Tests can be standardized which means that they are administered and scored in a manner that is consistent or standardized which means that they are flexible in format and scope varying in significance and difficulty.

Major categories of tests

Psychological tests evaluate individuals thoughts, abilities and characteristics Psychological tests can be broadly categorized into various groups. Psychological tests are administered and interpreted psychologists since psychopathology, academic courses and supervision in psychological testing form an integral part of doctoral degree in clinical psychology. These tests have been developed...

They are aimed at measuring how much an individual knows on a topic. This means that they are aimed at finding out the achieved knowledge such as spelling or mathematics or how much capacity one has. Aptitude tests are designed for the purpose of indicating a person's aptitude or talent in a particular area. These tests work through the assessment of the degree to which individuals already have requisite skills or knowledge that are needed .an example of this test is this SAT that high school students take before they are admitted to colleges. They are aimed at assessing an individual's aptitude for the college level of work (Dority, 2011).
Intelligence tests - are meant for measuring an individual's intelligence or the basic ability of understanding the world around a person, understand how it functions and apply the knowledge so as to enhance an individual quality of life .intelligence is therefore termed as a measure of potential and not a measure of what an individual has learned.

Personality tests are aimed at measuring an individual basic personality style. They measure the personality characteristics of individuals .These tests are mostly used in forensic or research settings so that they help in clinical diagnoses. The different tests measure different characteristics according to the personality theory. Two well-known personality tests are Minnesota Multiphasic personality inventory or the revised MMPI-2 which is made up of seven…