Discussion Board
Chapter 1
History of Testing and Assessment
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Tests are a subset of assessment yielding scores based on collective data.
Example: Finding the sum of correct items on a multiple-choice exam
Assessment procedures can be:
Formal: Rigor in test development (e.g., good, valid, and reliable)
Informal: Rigor has not been demonstrated in the test development
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Distinguishing Between Testing and Assessment
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Testing vs. Assessment
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2200 B.C.E — Chinese used essay examinations for civil service employees.
Plato (428-327 B.C.E) noted:
Greeks assessed intellectual and physical ability of men when screening for state service.
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Historical Context: Ancient
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Esquirol (1830s)
Used language ability to identify intelligence
Retardation on continuum: “idiocy” to low grade
Forerunner of verbal intelligence testing
Seguin (1800s)
Worked with individuals with intellectual deficits to increase motor control and sensory discrimination
Developed “Form Board”
Forerunner of performance intelligence testing
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Historical Context: Precursors to Modern-Day
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Understanding uniqueness of the humans:
Darwin (mid 1800s)
Theory of evolution: Scientific method
Set tone for others who followed
Galton (mid to late 1800s; Darwin’s cousin)
English biologist studied relationship of sensory motor activities to intelligence
Instrumental in others developing correlation coefficient
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Historical Context: Precursors to Modern-Day
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Understanding uniqueness of the humans:
Wundt (1879)
Founded 1st psychological laboratory
Looked at sensitivity to visual, auditory, and other sensory stimuli and reaction time
James Cattell (late 1800s; Am. Psychologist)
Phrased term "mental test"
Used statistical concepts to understand differences
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Historical Context: Precursors to Modern-Day
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Understanding uniqueness of the humans
G. S. Hall (late 1800s)
Experimental lab at Johns Hopkins
Mentor to many
First president of American Psychological Association
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Historical Context: Precursors to Modern-Day
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Three areas
Individual Intelligence Testing
Neuropsychological Assessment
Group Tests of Ability
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Emergence of Ability Tests: Testing in Cognitive Domain
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Binet (1890s)
Hired by French Ministry of Public Education to integrate “sub-normal” children into the schools
Developed first modern-day intelligence test
Terman (At Stanford)
Revised Binet scale — Stanford-Binet
I.Q.=MA/CA
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Individual Intelligence Testing
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Head injuries: 5,000-year-old Egyptian medical documents
WWI: Increased interest in brain injuries
20th century: Development of braining imaging techniques
Today: Suspected changes in brain function yields neuropsychological assessment
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Neuropsychological Assessment
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WWI: Army Alpha and Army Beta
Developed by Yerkes, Terman, and others
Take Army Alpha
Used by Eugenics Movement
After WWII
SATs: Developed by James Bryant Conant to equalize educational opportunities for all
Vocational counseling led to special aptitude tests and multiple aptitude tests
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Group Testing
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1923: Edward Thorndike
Stanford Achievement Test
Frank Parsons (early 1900s)
Vocational Counseling
Multiple Aptitude Tests (Group Tests of Ability Focused on Job Attainment)
E.g., GATB: U.S. Employment Services
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Group Testing
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Interest Inventories and Vocational Assessment
Objective Personality Assessment
Projective Testing
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Emergence of Personality Tests: Tests in Affective Realm
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Thorndike and Miner: Early assessors of interests (early 1900s)
Strong (1927): Strong Vocational Interest Blank
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Interest Inventories and Vocational Assessment
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Kraeplin (1892): Word association test to study schizophrenia
Woodworth's Personal Data Sheet (WWI)
Crude test to access for neuroses and pathology
Forerunner to MMPI
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Objective Personality Assessment
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Galton (1879) and projective testing
“Experiments such as these allow an unexpected amount of illumination to enter into the deepest recess of the character, which are opened and bared by them like the anatomy of an animal under the scalpel of a dissector in broad daylight.”
Cattell: Examined associations made by “healthy people” to a standard list of words
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Projective Testing
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Carl Jung (1904)
156 stimulus words to which individuals would respond
Used to detect ”complexes”
Herman Rorschach (early 1900s)
Inkblot Test
Henry Murray’s
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
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Projective Testing
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20th Century
Situational Tests: “Contrived naturalistic situations”
Clinical Interview
DSM-5 (DSM-I developed in 1952)
Observation
Rating Scales
Classification Techniques
Records and Personal Documents
Environmental Assessment
Performance-based Assessment
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Emergence of Informal Assessment Procedures
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Computers: Statistical procedures has increased the quality of tests
Today, can view tests in the following categories:
Testing in the cognitive domain (often called “ability testing”)
Testing in the affective domain (usually called "personality assessment”)
Informal assessment procedures
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Modern-Day Use of Assessment Procedures
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Graph of Ability Assessment
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Graph of Personality Assessment
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Graph of Informal Assessment
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How valid is the information gained from assessment instruments? How should that information be applied?
How do assessment instruments invade an individual’s privacy? Does the government have, at times, the right to insist an individual be assessed?
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Questions to Consider When Assessing People
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Can the use of assessment instruments, in some cases, lead to labeling? What are the implications for the individuals who are labeled?
Are assessment procedures used to foster equality for ALL people or do they tend to create a society based on class?
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Questions to Consider When Assessing People
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