Psychometric assessment

DR. JAMES M. ALO, RN, MAN, MAPsych, PHD

University of DammamMaster of Science in Psychiatric Nsg

What is a psychological test?

• A psychological test is a structured technique to generate carefully selected sample of behavior.

• . It is used to derive inference about someone's behavior on basis of results of the tests.

• We can judge the level of attributes like intelligence , self-esteem , aptitude in an individual.

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Psychological tests are as: • cognitive functioning: Intelligence,

Aptitude, & Achievement • Personality: Objective, Projective• Neuropsychological

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Characteristics of a good test

• Validity.• Reliability.• Practicability. • Usability. • Uniform as different testers will follow

same test steps anywhere. • Biases due to personal reasons is

reduced. • Norms are set to work with.

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Types of tests• Depending upon time limit: Speed test and

power test. – e.g. Kaufman Assessment battery for children

( intelligence test to find fast learners) • Depending upon number of individuals: Group

test and Individual test• Depending upon language: Verbal and Non-

verbal test. • Depending upon method: Paper -pencil and

performance test .• Depending upon what is measured: Intelligence

tests, Aptitude tests, Achievement tests, Personality tests. drjma

Intelligence tests• These include:

– Stanford – Binet test. – Ravens Progressive Matrices. – Group tests of Army Alpha and Beta

types. – Weschler intelligence test. – Bhatia's Battery of performance test of

intelligence.drjma

Stanford Binet test • Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon (French

scientists) devised a new way to test intelligence called the Binet-Simon Scale in 1909.

• Alfred Binet was commissioned by French gov. to separate children into vocational vs academic schooling

• This intelligence test measured someone’s intelligence using the performance method, which involved testing intelligence based upon someone’s ability to give correct answers to a series of questions.

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• To help compare intelligence between different types of people, the Binet-Simon Scale used a measure called mental age.

• For example, if on average a group of nine year olds score twenty correct questions, and then a child who is seven years old scores the same amount, then that seven year old child is said to have a mental age of nine.

• In general, mental age should rise as a person grows older. So the older they are, the better they will do on the test.

• Between 2- 23 years of age.drjma

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Army alpha and Beta tests • Army Alpha/Beta IQ Test (1917) –

designed for World War I recruits – Assumed to be testing native

intelligence – Alpha for literates; Beta for illiterates

and non-English speakers • Alpha subtests: Oral Directions;

Arithmetic; Practical Judgment; Analogies; Disarranged Sentences; Number Series; Information

• Beta subtests: Memory; Matching; Picture Completion; Geometric Construction

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Weschler Intelligence test (David Weschler, 1939-81)

• Contains Verbal and Performance subtests

• Performance compared to same age peers – raw score has different interpretation depending on age

• Designed widely used test for adults (WAIS), children (WISC), and preschoolers (WPPSI)

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WAIS-R Testing kit • Testing Booklet • Story Cards • Puzzle Pieces • Block Design

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Verbal tests:• Information• Comprehension• Arithmetic• Similarities• Digit span • Vocabulary • Letter number• Sequencing.

Performance scale:• Digit symbol • Picture

completion Block design

• Picture arrangement

• Matrix reasoning• Object assembly• Symbol search

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Verbal Intelligence test • Information : A persons level of general

knowledge • Comprehension : How well you can

understand questions and grasp concepts.• Arithmetic : A persons mathematical

abilities. • Similarities : Measures abstract thought. • Digit Span : Measures attention span. • Vocabulary : How many word meanings you

know.drjma

Performance Intelligence Test

• Digit Symbol : Mental flexibility with random symbols.

• Picture Completion : Ability to notice differences between two similar pictures.

• Block Design : Mentally construct printed designs in your head.

• Picture Arrangement : Arrange pictures in a logical order.

• Object Assembly : Place the correct part in relationship to a whole.

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WAIS-R Block Design

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Ravens progressive matrices

• The test consists of 50 designs each of which has a cut out segment . The subject is shown the 6-8 cut out alternative pieces and is asked to indicate what to be put in the matrix.

• There is children Progressive Matrices, standard progressive matrices, advanced matrices.

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Uses of the intelligence tests

• Predicts to some extent how well we will do in life

• Many occupations are available only to persons with college or graduate degrees.

• It takes less time to train persons with higher intelligence to a high level of job knowledge and skill.

• Persons with higher intelligence tend to perform better in complex jobs.

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• Guidance , counseling • Help to place vocationally. • Select right person for promotion. • Job selection, diagnosis of mental states

and treatment. • Helps to measure intellectual functions of

memory , problem solving and verbal fluency.

• Diagnose the differences between two individuals on basis of their intellectual differences and leading to the development of the knowledge about the individual differences.

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Personality tests • A personality test aims to describe

aspects of a person's character that remain stable throughout that person's lifetime, the individual's character pattern of behavior, thoughts, and feelings.

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Personality tests • Minnesota Multiphasic Personality

Inventory (MMPI] • Rorschach Inkblot Test • Thematic Apperception Test , or

TAT • 16PF Questionnaire • Performance testing

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Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory

• The most widely researched and clinically used of all personality

tests • Developed to identify emotional

disorders• This is one of the most frequently

used personality tests in mental health.

• The test is used by trained professionals to assist in

identifying personality structure and psychopathology.

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The original authors of the MMPI were Starke R. Hathaway, PhD, and J. C.

McKinley, MD. The MMPI is copyrighted by the University

of Minnesota. The standardized answer sheets can be

hand scored with templates that fit over the answer sheets, but most tests are

computer scored. It is appropriate for use with adults 18

and over. The current MMPI-2 has 567 items, all

true-or-false format, and usually takes between 1 and 2 hours to complete

depending on reading level.drjma

Clin

ical

sca

les

Scale 1(the Hypochondriasis Scale) Scale 2 (the Depression Scale) Scale 3 (the Hysteria Scale) Scale 4 (the Psychopathic Deviate

Scale) Scale 5 (the Femininity/Masculinity

Scale) Scale 6 (the Paranoia Scale) Scale 7 (the Psychasthenia Scale) Scale 8 (the Schizophrenia Scale) Scale 9 (the Mania Scale) : Scale 0 (the Social Introversion Scale)

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MMPI: examples• “Nothing in the newspaper

interests me except the comics.”

• “I get angry sometimes.”

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Rorschach Inkblot Test• The most widely used

projective test • A set of 10 inkblots • Designed by Hermann

Rorschach

November 8, 1884 - April 2, 1922

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Used to identify people’s inner feelings by analyzing their

interpretations of the blots

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Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

People express their inner motives

through the stories they

make up about

ambiguous scenes drjma

• The Thematic Apperception Test, or TAT, is a projective psychological

test. • Historically, it has been among the

most widely researched, taught, and used of such tests.

• Its adherents assert that the TAT taps a subject's unconscious to

reveal repressed aspects of personality, motives and needs for achievement, power and intimacy,

and problem-solving abilities.drjma

• The TAT is popularly known as the picture interpretation technique because it uses a standard series of provocative yet ambiguous pictures about which the subject is asked to tell a story .

• The subject is asked to tell as dramatic a story as they can for each picture presented, including the following:

? what has led up to the event shown ? what is happening at the moment ? what the characters are feeling and

thinking? what the outcome of the story was

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There are 31 picture cards in the standard form of the TAT.

Some of the cards show male figures, some female, some both male and female figures, some of ambiguous gender, some adults, some children, and some show no

human figures at all. One card is completely blank.

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• The TAT is a projective test in which the scoring is based on what

the subject projects onto the ambiguous images.

• Therefore, to complete the assessment, each narrative

created by a subject must be carefully recorded and analyzed to

uncover underlying needs, attitudes, and patterns of reaction.

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• TAT was developed by the American

psychologists Henry A. Murray and

Christiana D. Morgan at Harvard during the

1930s to explore the underlying dynamics

of personality, such as internal conflicts,

dominant drives, interests, and motives.

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Uses • Individual assessments for employment

in fields requiring a high degree such as law enforcement, military leadership positions.

• For diagnosis in order to match psychotherapy best suited to patients personalities.

• Forensic purposes in evaluating the motivations and general attitudes of persons accused of violent crimes.

• Research into specific aspects of human personality, most often needs for achievement, fears of failure, hostility.

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The Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire

(or 16PF )• is a multiple-choice personality

questionnaire which was developed over several decades of research by Raymond B. Cattell and his colleagues.

• 16 primary traits, personality i.e. Big Five are present showing structure of personality to be multi-level and hierarchicaldrjma

Performance testing • Performance Testing covers a broad

range of engineering or functional evaluations.

• Testing can be a qualitative or quantitative procedure.

• Performance testing can refer to the assessment of the performance of a human examinee.

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Advantages

• Easy • Economical • Higher interrater

reliability• Less response bias

Disadvantages

• Rely on clients which could lead to a response bias.

• Tells little about unconscious process.

• Limited to high functioning individuals

• Interpretation not objective.

• Interpretation not consistent.

• Lack of standard scoring.drjma

Neuropsychological Assessment

• Assessment of the neurological deficit predicts the possible organic psychopathology

• Identification of intact neurological functioning help in the process of neuro-rehabilitation (Cognitive retraining)

• Evaluation and comparison of various treatment options and its perceived efficacy

• Progressive evaluation and formulation of differential diagnosis

• Among children,- Developmental progression of the milestones

• Tackling the mental developmental delay, and taking necessary actions on timedrjma

Common areas of assessment include;

• Attention, • perception, • intelligence, • judgment, • concentration, • memory, • learning, & Thought process

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Test of attention & concentration• The capacity to arouse & sustain

attention varies with individual time • Most of the Ψ illness attention become

poor and fluctuate• Common tests include;

– Eysenck’s Digit Test Of Concentration– Color Cancellation Tasks– Digit Symbol Subtraction– Letter Cancellation– Knox Cube Imitation Testdrjma

Test for mental alertness & retention

Assessing the degree of psychomotor retardation- Eg; Differentiating Mild to Severe D’

• Common tests include;– Minnesota block reversal test

Check for reaction time, Response time, & Productivity/Unit timedrjma

Test for memory• Many of the neuropsychiatric illness

present with the complaints of memory loss or forgetfulness

• Common verbal tests include;– Wechsler Memory scale: It is the

commonly used memory test battery for adults. It is a composite of verbal paired associate, paragraph retention, visual memory for design, orientation, digit span, reverse recall of the alphabet & counting backward. This test is appropriate for the age group of 16-74.

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• PGI Memory scale, has been standardized for Indian populationVerbal memory is assessed through the presentation of stimuli such as these that must then be recalled: Words, Digits, Nonsense syllables & Sentences.

Performance tests on Memory assessment are;

• Benton Test of Visual Retention-Revised.

• Memory for Designs Test. drjma

Comprehensive Neuropsychiatric Batteries

• Luria-Nebraska-neuropsychological battery

• Mini–mental state examination (Folstein test)- is a brief 30-point questionnaire test that is used to screen for cognitive impairment.

Alexander Luria

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Luria-Nebraska-neuropsychological battery

1. motor functions,2. rhythm,3. tactile functions,4. visual functions,5. receptive speech,6. expressive speech,7. writing,

8. reading,9. arithmetic,

10.memory,11.intellectual

processes,12.pathognomic,

13.left hemisphere and

14.right hemisphere.drjma

Mini–mental state examination

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Thank You