Types of Psychological Tests

a) Achievement Tests: An achievement test is a standardized test that is designed to measure an individual's level of knowledge in a particular area. For example: American College Test (ACT).

b) Attitude Tests: Attitude test assess an individual’s feelings about an event, person or object. Typical attitude tests are used as Thurston or Likert Scale.

c) Neuropsychological Tests: The neuropsychological test consists of specifically designed tasks used to measure a psychological function known to be linked to a particular brain structure of pathway. For example: Mini Mental Status Examination (MMSE).

d) Personality Tests: Psychological measures of personality are described as either ―rating scale or self-report measures‖ and ―free response measures.

e) Objective Tests: Objective tests have a restricted response format, such as allowing for true or false answers or rating using an ordinal scale. For example: Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI).

f) Projective Tests: Projective tests allows for a free type of response. For example Rorschach Inkblot Test.

g) Sexological Tests: The sexological tests examine the various aspects of discomfort, problem or dysfunction, regardless of whether they are individual or relational ones. For example: SESII – W (Sexual Excitation/Sexual Inhibition Inventory for Women).

h) Aptitude Tests: Aptitude tests are used to measures specific abilities such as mechanical or clerical skills. For example: Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT).

i) Interest Test: Interest tests are used to assess a person’s interest and preferences. For example: Strong Interest Inventory Test (SIIT).

j) Direct observation Tests: These type of tests involves the observation of people as they complete activities. For example: Parent- Child Interaction Assessment-II (PCIA)


References:

a) Framingham, J. (2018). Types of Psychological Testing. Psych Central. Retrieved on August 23, 2019, from https://psychcentral.com/lib/types-of-psychological-testing

b) Shishya, & Guru. (2018, January 17). What are the different types of psychological tests? Retrieved from https://www.owlgen.com/question/different-types-psychological-tests

History of Psychological Testing

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.

Psychological Testing

Psychological testing — also called psychological assessment — is the foundation of how psychologists better understand a person and their behavior. It is a process of problem solving for many professionals — to try and determine the core components of a person’s psychological or mental health problems, personality, IQ, or some other component. It is also a process that helps identifies not just weaknesses of a person, but also their strengths.

It is a field characterized by the use of samples of behavior, most often administered as a series of items in which the individual must give a response in order to assess psychological constructs, such as ability, cognitive and emotional functioning or personality.

Psychological testing measures an individual’s performance at a specific point in time — right now. Psychologists talk about a person’s ―present functioning‖ in terms of their test data. Therefore psychological tests can’t predict future or innate potential.

Psychological testing is the administration of psychological tests, which are designed to be "an objective and standardized measure of a sample of behavior". A psychological test is a standardized measure of a person’s behavior that is used to measure the individual differences that exists among people.