Psychological testing is an area of study characterized by the use of samples of behavior in order to asses psychological constructs- cognitive and emotional functioning about a given person. Psychological testing is also referred to as psychometrics.
A useful psychological test must satisfy the following; it must be valid; it must have evidence to support the specified interpretation of the test results; it should be consistent; should give a constant result over a given period of time. It requires an individual’s maximum performance. The following are the steps involved in making a psychological test;
Research and Define Purpose
It is important that before the test is formulated its purpose or the reason the test is being conducted be clearly defined. The people to be tested and those to use the information from the test should also be identified. For example, a test can have its purpose as testing suicidal tendencies, its users the counseling department of a school and a particular group of students as the people taking the test. After this has been done, it is important to research other previous test that may have been conducted in that specific field of study (Gregory, 2010).
The constructs of the test should also be defined and this involves outlining the specific areas of intelligence being tested. It is also important to analyze how previous tests had their constructs defined.
Writing the Test
After defining the purpose of the test, how it will be administered and how scores will be awarded should then be outlined. This will involve determining each question’s significance to the tests and hence the points to be awarded for each question are outlined. It is also important to outline what type of score the test will have, for example, cumulative score. To fully measure the construct, the test should have multiple choices.
Measuring Reliability
The test should be administered to a sample of the group being studied. This helps in developing standardization scores and norms as this will be useful when the test is administered later. After this initial testing, a reliability Test-reset should be obtained; this is done by retesting the initial sample used in developing standardizations and scores (Gregory, 2010).
Sample Test
This test will be used to determine personality types in students (Rolphe, 2002).
1. Which of the following would be your choice eating place?
- The recently opened cafeteria
- The old but clean Cafeteria
2. You have a family problem that is disturbing you, who do you prefer talking to about it?
- My best-friend
- Counseling Teacher Others
- None
3. Which of the following is your idea of having fun?
- Watching a movie by myself
- Going out with friends
- Watching a movie with a friend
4. Are you a leader in any group? (Can be a student group or one that is not for students)
- Yes
- No
5. Which of the following is your opinion towards poetry?
- I love it
- If I have to, I read it
- I hate it
6. Which of the following is your favorite subject area?
- Arithmetic
- Languages
- Humanities
- Sciences
References
Gregory, R. J. (2010). Psychological Testing: History, Principles, and Applications (6th Edition). New York: Prentice Hall.
Rolfe, R. (2002).The Four Temperaments: A Rediscovery of the Ancient Way of Understanding Health and Character. Massachusetts: Da Capo Press.
