EPSM6808

• Psychological assessment provides information for decision-making
• Assessment serves many purposes, including:

  • Identifying strengths and weaknesses
  • Mapping development or progress
  • Aiding decision-making regarding suitability for a job
  • Diagnosing and identifying intervention needs
  • Measuring the effectiveness of an intervention program
• Psychological assessment is a process-orientated activity aimed at gathering a wide array of information
• Information is gathered using psychological assessment measures (tests) and information from other sources like interviews, a person’s history, and collateral sources
• Psychological testing involves the measurement of behavior, which is a key element of the broader evaluative process known as psychological assessment
• Psychometrics is a systematic and scientific way in which psychological measures are developed, including technical measurement standards like validity and reliability
• Competency-based testing focuses on assessing the skills, behaviors, attitudes/values required for effective performance in the workplace or educational/training settings
• Tests are objective and standardized measures that gather data for specific purposes, while assessment measures have a broader connotation and are more like a behavioral scientist's tool
• Assessment measures have characteristics like different procedures, domains of functioning, standardized procedures, different settings, systematic methods, guidelines, evidence support, and are applied for scoring
• Assessment results represent only one source of information in the assessment process
• Errors of measurement during administration, scoring, and interpretation can influence results
• The assessment process involves gathering and synthesizing information using a variety of sources and techniques to describe and understand functioning
• Sources of information can include different assessment measures, interviews, behavioral observation, rating scales, and ecologically-based measures
• Assessment battery is a combination of measures tailored to the needs of the individual, group, or organization for the purposes of the assessment
• After assessments, information is gathered and synthesized to inform decision-making and interventions
• Assessment must be contextually sensitive and relevant, considering the importance of developing indigenous measures while drawing on Western-oriented assessment knowledge
• The development of modern psychological assessment involved objective measurement, advanced theories of human behavior, statistical methods, and the application of psychology
• Key influences include progress in identifying intellectually challenged individuals, the Binet-Simon Scale, and the first misuse of assessment by Henry Goddard
• Measurement challenges included criticism on tests relying too heavily on verbal skills, leading to the development of non-verbal scales and factor analysis
• The influence of technology on psychological assessment has made assessments more accessible, allowed for passive assessment, and increased efficiency
• The influence of technology on psychological assessment:

  • Impact on psychological assessment
  • Increased accessibility to people
  • Passive assessment can be conducted
  • Increased efficiency because screening can happen online
  • Advancements in psychometric methodologies (e.g. Item Response Theory)
  • Emergence of new item types (e.g. simulations and games)
• Telepsychology challenges:

  • Aspects of technology such as access and security of data
  • Personal/situational characteristics
  • Changes in psychometric properties of tests
  • Obtaining informed consent and confidentiality
• Telepsychology:

  • Practical examples of its use or challenges
• The influence of multiculturalism:

  • Need for culturally appropriate measures available in the test-taker's proficient language
  • Distinction between culture-free, culture-reduced, and culture-common tests
  • Focus on cross-cultural test adaptation
  • Guidelines for cross-cultural adaptation of tests by the ITC
  • Development of new methodologies and statistics to test equivalence of measures
• Large-scale comparative studies:

  • Renewed interest in bias and fairness
  • Use of tests from a multicultural perspective to develop or redesign international tests (e.g. WISC)
  • Simultaneous multilingual test development
• Increasing adaptation of Westernised measures and development of indigenous measures in non-Western countries

  • Rapid globalisation leading to increased multiculturalism
  • Dilemmas around selecting appropriate norm groups, especially in multinational organisations
  • Suggestion of developing multinational norms
• Standards, training, computerised testing, and test-users' roles:

  • Issues of fairness and bias in test use
  • Guidelines for fair assessment practices by the ITC
  • Development of competency standards for training different levels of test users
  • Discussion on an international assessment competency model
  • ISO standards for assessment in organisational settings
  • Emphasis on test quality in the last two decades
  • Implementation of test review systems in many countries, including SA
  • Challenges of computerised testing and testing via the Internet
• Psychological assessment:

  • Requires expertise in psychology for ethical and fair use of cognitive, aptitude, and personality measures
  • Outputs are in the form of psychological traits/constructs
  • Expertise regulated by a professional body
• Competency-based assessment:

  • Focuses on skills, behaviour, knowledge, and attitudes/values for effective performance
  • Measures directly linked to required competencies
  • Outputs linked to the organisation, expertise in psychology not required for application of results
  • Must be performed by individuals with expertise in job analysis and competency-based interviews
• Challenges in the evolution of psychometrics and psychological assessment:

  • Communication of assessment results
  • Test security and prevention of cheating
  • Adding value through test-based services
  • Application of test results to culturally and linguistically diverse test-takers
• Regulating test use and training:

  • Psychometrics Committee of the Professional Board for Psychology raising assessment standards in SA
  • Regulations, ITC guidelines, competency-based training guidelines
  • National exam for qualifying psychology professionals
  • Introduction of computer-based and Internet-delivered testing
  • Reconceptualising roles in assessment practices
• Psychological assessment during Covid:

  • Focus on well-being of test-taker and administrator
  • Challenges such as inaccuracies in cognitive assessment, unsupervised assessments, and social justice concerns
• Useful function of psychological assessment in society:

  • Research evidence supporting the value of psychological test information
  • Positive impact of questioning the use of measures and ensuring fair use
  • Importance of research into bias and equivalence
  • Integral role of psychological assessment in modern society