The history of psychological testing is a fascinating story and has abundant relevance to present-day practices. Early records show that some individuals used assessment methods to evaluate potential personality problems or behaviors. Hathaway (1965) points out that one of the earliest descriptions of using behavioral observation in assessing personality can be found in the Old Testament.
Gideon relied upon observations of his men who trembled with fear to consider them fit for duty. Gideon also observed how soldiers chose to drink water from a stream as a means of selecting effective soldiers for battle. In ancient Rome, Tacitus provided examples in which the appraisal of a person’s personality entered into their leader’s judgments about them. Tacitus points out that Emperor Tiberius evaluated his subordinates in his meetings by often pretending to be hesitant in order to detect what the leading men were thinking.
Psychological testing in its modern form originated little more than one hundred years ago in laboratory studies of sensory discrimination, motor skills, and reaction time. The British genius Francis Galton (1822–1911) invented the first battery of tests. The American psychologist James McKeen Cattell in 1890 proclaimed the modern testing agenda in his classic paper entitled ―Mental Tests and Measurements.‖ Cattell’s conjecture that ―perhaps‖ tests would be useful in ―training, mode of life or indication of disease‖. Alfred Binet public first Modern Intelligence Test in 1905.
Gideon relied upon observations of his men who trembled with fear to consider them fit for duty. Gideon also observed how soldiers chose to drink water from a stream as a means of selecting effective soldiers for battle. In ancient Rome, Tacitus provided examples in which the appraisal of a person’s personality entered into their leader’s judgments about them. Tacitus points out that Emperor Tiberius evaluated his subordinates in his meetings by often pretending to be hesitant in order to detect what the leading men were thinking.
Psychological testing in its modern form originated little more than one hundred years ago in laboratory studies of sensory discrimination, motor skills, and reaction time. The British genius Francis Galton (1822–1911) invented the first battery of tests. The American psychologist James McKeen Cattell in 1890 proclaimed the modern testing agenda in his classic paper entitled ―Mental Tests and Measurements.‖ Cattell’s conjecture that ―perhaps‖ tests would be useful in ―training, mode of life or indication of disease‖. Alfred Binet public first Modern Intelligence Test in 1905.
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