Tests and Assessment

by Walsh, W. Bruce; Betz, Nancy E.

• ISBN13: 9780130959478
• ISBN10: 0130959472
• Edition: 4th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-06-02
• Publisher: Pearson

Summary

This book presents basic concepts in tests and assessment to contribute to a more intelligent understanding and use of psychological and educational tests. It focuses on the theory, techniques, and skills used to assess people and their behavior in context with the environment.Chapter topics include the history and meaning of assessment; basic statistical concepts in testing and assessment; reliability, validity, and test construction; objective personality assessment; projective and behavioral personality assessment; the nature and assessment of intelligence; the assessment of aptitudes, achievement, interests, work values, career development and maturity, and career indecision; environmental assessment; person-environment psychology and assessment; human development and assessment.; and professional and ethical standards and social issues in assessment.For use in guidance and counseling professions, social work, educational administration, and other areas in which a background in testing and assessment is needed.

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
PART I FOUNDATIONS OF TESTS AND ASSESSMENT
The History and Meaning of Assessment	1	(19)
History of Assessment	5	(3)
Theory and Assessment	8	(1)
The Meaning of Psychological Assessment	9	(2)
The Judgmental and Objective Approaches to Assessment	11	(1)
Assessment and Some Basic Assumptions	12	(1)
Diagnosis and Assessment	13	(1)
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV)	14	(1)
Measurement and Assessment	15	(2)
Tests and Assessment	17	(2)
Summary	19	(1)
Basic Statistical Concepts in Testing and Assessment	20	(26)
Definition of a Psychological Test	20	(3)
Statistical Methods in Testing	23	(15)
Norms in the Interpretation of Test Scores	38	(6)
Summary	44	(2)
Reliability, Validity, and Test Construction	46	(39)
The Concept of Reliability	47	(9)
The Concept of Validity	56	(15)
Test Construction	71	(12)
Sources of Information About Tests	83	(1)
Summary	84	(1)
PART II THE ASSESSMENT OF PERSONALITY
Objective Personality Assessment	85	(39)
Models and Definitions in Personality Psychology	85	(2)
Response Sets	87	(1)
Objective Personality Tests	88	(34)
Summary	122	(2)
Projective and Behavioral Personality Assessment	124	(21)
Introduction to Projective and Behavioral Measures of Personality	124	(1)
Projective Techniques and Tests	125	(13)
Behavioral Techniques and Tests	138	(6)
Summary	144	(1)
PART III THE ASSESSMENT OF COGNITIVE ABILITY
The Nature and Assessment of Intelligence	145	(39)
The Nature of Intelligence	145	(15)
Major Intelligence Tests	160	(23)
Summary	183	(1)
The Assessment of Aptitudes	184	(28)
Measures of Scholastic Aptitude	185	(9)
Multiple Aptitude Batteries	194	(16)
Summary	210	(2)
The Assessment of Achievement	212	(21)
Criterion-Referenced Testing	213	(2)
Educational Achievement Tests: Elementary and Junior High Levels	215	(5)
Educational Achievement Tests: High School Level	220	(5)
Special-Purpose Achievement Tests Used at the College Level and Beyond	225	(7)
Summary	232	(1)
PART IV THE ASSESSMENT OF INTERESTS AND CAREER DEVELOPMENT
The Assessment of Interests	233	(41)
The Measurement of Interests	235	(1)
Interest Inventories	236	(37)
Summary	273	(1)
The Assessment of Work Values, Career Development and Maturity, and Career Indecision	274	(36)
Measures of Work Values	275	(7)
Measures of Career Development and Career Maturity	282	(12)
Measures of Career Development and Adjustment in Adulthood	294	(3)
Measures of Decision Making and Career-Related Cognition	297	(7)
Career Planning Systems	304	(5)
Summary	309	(1)
PART V THE ASSESSMENT OF ENVIRONMENT, PERSON-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTION, AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
Environmental Assessment	310	(42)
Definition of Environment	311	(2)
Approaches to Environmental Assessment	313	(1)
Environmental Inventories	314	(36)
Summary	350	(2)
Person-Environment Psychology and Assessment	352	(25)
Person-Environment Psychology and Assessment	354	(1)
The Interactional Perspective	355	(11)
The Person Perspective	366	(5)
The Environmental Perspective	371	(5)
Summary	376	(1)
Human Development and Assessment	377	(21)
Cognitive Developmental Theory	378	(12)
Psychosocial Theory	390	(7)
Summary	397	(1)
PART VI ETHICAL STANDARDS OF TESTS AND ASSESSMENT
Professional and Ethical Standards and Social Issues in Assessment	398	(33)
Ethical and Professional Standards for Tests and Test Use	399	(8)
Race, Ethnicity, and Culture in Tests and Assessments	407	(18)
Gender Issues in Test Use	425	(5)
Summary	430	(1)
References	431	(34)
Name Index	465	(10)
Subject Index	475

Excerpts

PrefaceThis fourth edition of the book, like the preceding three editions, has two basic assumptions. The first assumption is that assessment is apt to be more sound if based upon meaningful--that is, reliable and valid--information. Second, assessment skills may be developed by improving one's knowledge of tests used to gather meaningful information about people and environments. Thus, in a practical sense a primary objective of this book is to help students develop some assessment skills and improve their knowledge about assessment techniques and tests.The general rationale of the book is that human behavior tends to be influenced by many determinants, both in the person and in the environment. Therefore, within this framework it is our belief that any assessment of the person is incomplete without some assessment of the environment. People clearly affect and change environments and situations, but at the same time we cannot ignore the fact that environments, like people, have personalities and influence behavior. Thus, within this context our book focuses on theory and assessment techniques used to assess and understand the person, the environment, and behavior.The past years have been a period of significant advances in psychological and educational testing. Advances in theory, practice, and professional responsibility reflect rapid growth in the field. This fourth edition ofTests and Assessmentattempts to reflect this growth by contributing to a more intelligent understanding and use of psychological and educational tests and assessment. This edition updates and expands content areas in an effort to make the book more meaningful and useful for teachers, practitioners, and students in the field.The most profound revisions were made in Chapters 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 14. Chapter 1 (The History and Meaning of Assessment) was revised to include more elaborate discussion of the DSM-IV, discussion of cross-cultural assessment and standards of equivalence, and an updating of historical events and recent significant tests that have been developed. In Chapter 3 (Reliability, Validity, and Test Construction) computer administered adaptive tests received increased attention and the discussion of effect size and interpreting the differences between scores was expanded. Chapter 4 (Objective Personality Assessment) was updated to include extensive revisions to the California Psychological Inventory, the Comrey Personality Scales, the Jackson Personality Inventory, the Myers Briggs Type Indicator, the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire, the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale, the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III, and the NEO Personality Inventory (revised). In Chapter 6 (The Nature and Assessment of Intelligence) revisions of the WAIS-R (now WAIS-III), Otis Lennon School Ability Test, Raven Progressive Matrices, and the Culture Fair Intelligence Test are presented and discussed. In addition, the theoretical work of Howard Gardner (Multiple Intelligence); John Carroll, Richard Snow, and Robert Sternburg (Triarchic Theory of Human Intelligence); and Philip Ackerman (Model of Adult Intellectual Development) are discussed. Also, updated research on cognitive psychological theories, neurological/biological theories, and research in genetics is presented. In Chapter 7 (The Assessment of Aptitudes) revised and updated descriptions of the ACT Assessment, Scholastic Aptitude Tests, Graduate Record Examination, Miller Analogies Test, General Aptitude Test Battery, and Multidimensional Aptitude Battery are discussed and descriptions of computer administered versions of the DAT-Adaptive and the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery are presented. Chapter 8 (The Assessment of Achievement) presents recent revisions of the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills, Metropolitan Achievement Tests, Stanford Achievement Series, Iowa Tests of Educational Development, Wonderlic Basic Ski