Module Overview10.html
What is Testing and Assessment?
Psychological testing and assessment date back to the early twentieth century, when Alfred Binet published a test to help place students in appropriate classrooms. Since that time, testing has evolved tremendously. Testing is now utilized across a wide range of settings for a variety of purposes. Assessments, which were once designed for academic purposes, now help psychologists examine domains such as cognitive ability, academic achievement, executive functioning, personality, and memory. Assessments are used to gain diagnostic clarity, inform treatment, provide insight around one’s personality, and inform research. There are also a wide array of testing methods that can be utilized, such as self-reports, behavioral observations, and structured assessments. Psychological testing has become an integral part of how we conduct treatment, inform research, and provide recommendations.
This course will require you to apply the concepts you have learned in previous courses. The statistical knowledge obtained from these previous courses will allow you to understand how tests are developed (i.e., normed groups), what makes a good test (i.e., reliability and validity), and the interpretation of the results (t-tests, z-scores, type I and type II errors, etc.). This course will teach you about various psychometric and measurement techniques for the purpose of analyzing data derived from the results of psychological assessments. By the conclusion of the course, you should be able to do the following:
Adapt to shifting demands and ill-structured problems by critically evaluating the relevance, priority, and appropriateness of various information and potential courses of action.
Design, conduct, and evaluate research through the lens of its potential to advance both our knowledge in psychology and the psychological well-being of individuals, communities, and organizations.
Protect the integrity and professional responsibility of psychology through the demonstration of ethical comportment in all aspects of the profession.
In this module, you will have the opportunity to experience first-hand what it is like to take a personality test. While these tests are for informational purposes only, they will allow you the hands-on experience of a client who takes a test and sees the resulting output. You will also take on the role of a psychologist as you choose a vignette that will guide your final project. The vignette includes information about the tests that are administered to help answer a referral question. The assignments in this module are the first step to understanding what it is like to use tests and how clinicians use these assessments in their daily work.
