Psych Assessment

• Early civilization: Chinese Emperor Kao-Tzu of the Han dynasty developed competitive examinations for government positions, later open to women after the Taiping Rebellion in the 1850s
• Examinations included demonstrations of proficiency in music, archery, horsemanship, and written exams in subjects like law, agriculture, and geography
• 1850s: Britain adopted civil service exams, stimulating the creation of U.S. civil service examination in the 1860s
• 13th century: Rise of the first universities in Europe led to formal oral examinations for teaching certification, later extended to secondary education
• Juan Huarte was the first writer to suggest formal mental testing
• Jean Esquirol classified degrees of mental retardation and postulated that language is a reliable criterion for mental functioning
• Wilhelm Wundt established the first psychological laboratory in Leipzig, Germany, marking the start of psychology as a scientific discipline
• Francis Galton launched sensory discrimination tests and introduced the concept of individual differences and statistical analysis
• James Cattell adapted Galton's techniques to develop memory and simple mental tests in America
• Binet-Simon Scale (1905) was commissioned by the French Ministry of Education to identify students needing special assistance, focusing on attention, memory, and problem solving
• Binet-Simon Intelligence Test introduced the concept of mental age and judgment, comprehension, reasoning
• Lewis Terman revised the Binet-Simon Intelligence test in 1916, creating the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test and introducing the Intelligence Quotient (IQ)
• Henry Goddard translated the Binet-Simon Intelligence test into English
• During WWI, the Army Alpha and Army Beta IQ tests were developed for group administration in the army
• 1920-1930: Charles Spearman developed factor-analysis and the two-factor theory of intelligence
• Thurstone proposed 7 primary mental abilities instead of a general factor of intelligence
• Robert Woodworth developed the Woodworth Personal Data Sheet, the first structured personality test
• Hermann Rorschach introduced the Rorschach Inkblot test for projective diagnostic investigation of personality
• David Wechsler published the Wechsler-Bellevue Intelligence Scale in 1937, providing an index of general mental ability
• In 1943, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) was developed, widely used for personality and psychopathology assessment
• J.R. Guilford introduced the Structure of Intellect theory, viewing intelligence as comprising operations, contents, and products
• R.B. Cattell introduced the 16 PF, a well-constructed structured personality test using factor analysis
• Strong Interest Blank/Kuder Preference Record-Vocational was developed as a vocational counseling instrument
• 1960s-1970s saw a proliferation of large-scale educational testing
• 1980s-1990s witnessed the rise of computer-assisted testing and report writing
• Chinese Emperor Kao-Tzu of the Han dynasty developed competitive civil service examinations for government positions in early civilization
• Initially, these examinations were only open to men, but it wasn't until after the Taiping Rebellion in the 1850s that they were open to women
• The examinations included demonstrations of proficiency in music, archery, horsemanship, as well as written exams in subjects like law, agriculture, and geography
• In the 1850s, Britain adopted civil service exams, which led to the creation of the U.S. civil service examination in the 1860s
• In the 13th century, the rise of the first universities in Europe led to the use of formal oral examinations to certify those eligible to teach in the university
• Written examinations replaced oral exams in most educational settings as paper became cheaper and more available
• Juan Huarte was the first writer to suggest formal mental testing
• Jean Esquirol classified different degrees and varieties of mental retardation and postulated that language is the most dependable criterion for establishing a person’s level of mental functioning
• Wilhelm Wundt established the first psychological laboratory at Leipzig, Germany, marking the start of psychology as a scientific discipline
• Francis Galton launched sensory discrimination tests and introduced the concept of individual differences, use of questionnaire, rating scales, and statistical analysis
• James Cattell adapted Galton’s techniques to develop memory and simple mental tests in America
• Emil Kraeplin did pioneer work on precursors of personality testing
• Hermann Ebbinghaus devised a technique involving children filling in blanks in text passages, leading to the first successful instrument of the modern era of testing
• The Binet-Simon Scale (1905) was commissioned by the French Ministry of Education to identify students needing special assistance, focusing on attention, memory, and problem-solving
• The Binet-Simon Intelligence Test introduced the concept of mental age and assessed judgment, comprehension, and reasoning