Psychological assessment

• Abuse


  (1) Infliction of or allowing the infliction of physical injury or emotional impairment that is nonaccidental; (2) the creation of or allowing the creation of substantial risk of physical injury or emotional impairment that is nonaccidental; (3) the committing of or allowing the committing of a sexual offense against a child
• Accommodation


  (1) In Piagetian theory, one of two basic mental operations through which humans learn, this one involving change from what is already known, perceived, or thought to fit with new information (contrast with assimilation); (2) in assessment, the adaptation of a test, procedure, or situation, or the substitution of one test for another in order to make the assessment more suitable for an assessee with exceptional needs; (3) in the workplace, modification of or adjustments to job functions or circumstances
• Acculturation


  The process by which an individual's thoughts, behaviors, values, identity, and worldview develop in relation to the general thinking, behavior, customs, and values of a particular cultural group
• Achievement test


  Evaluation of accomplishment or the degree of learning that has taken place, usually with regard to an academic area
• Acquiescent response style


  A way of responding to test items characterized by agreement with whatever is presented; also referred to as acquiescence
• Actuarial assessment


  An approach to evaluation characterized by the application of empirically demonstrated statistical rules as a determining factor in the assessor's judgment and actions; contrast with clinical assessment
• Actuarial prediction


  An approach to predicting behavior based on the application of empirically demonstrated statistical rules and probabilities; contrast with clinical prediction and mechanical prediction
• Adaptive testing


  An examination method or procedure characterized by individually tailoring presentation of items to the testtaker; also referred to as tailored testing, sequential testing, branched testing, and response-contingent testing
• ADRESSING


  A purposely misspelled word but easy-to-remember acronym to remind assessors of the following sources of cultural influence: age, disability, religion, ethnicity, social status, sexual orientation, indigenous heritage, national origin, and gender
• Affirmative action


  Voluntary and mandatory efforts undertaken by federal, state, and local governments, private employers, and schools to combat discrimination and to promote equal opportunity in education and employment for all
• Age norms


  Also referred to as age-equivalent norms, norms specifically designed for use as a reference in the context of the age of the testtaker who achieved a particular score; contrast with grade norms
• Age scale


  A test with items organized by the age at which most testtakers are believed capable of responding in the way keyed correct; contrast with point scale
• ALI standard


  American Law Institute standard of legal insanity, which provides that a person is not responsible for criminal conduct if, at the time of such conduct, the person lacked substantial capacity either to appreciate the criminality of the conduct or to conform the conduct to the requirements of the law; contrast with the Durham standard and the M'Naghten standard
• Analogue behavioral observation


  The observation of a person or persons in an environment designed to increase the assessor's chance of observing targeted behaviors and interactions
• Analogue study


  Research or behavioral intervention that replicates a variable or variables in ways that are similar to or analogous to the real variables the experimenter wishes to study; for example, a laboratory study designed to research a phobia of snakes in the wild
• Anatomically detailed dolls (ADDs)


  A human figure in doll form with accurately represented genitalia, typically used to assist in the evaluation of sexually abused children
• Anchor protocol


  A test answer sheet developed by a test publisher to check the accuracy of examiners' scoring
• Angoff method


  A way to set fixed cut scores that entails averaging the judgments of experts
• Anhedonia


  Inability to experience happiness
• Apgar number


  A score on a rating scale developed by an obstetrical anesthesiologist who saw a need for a simple, rapid method of evaluating newborn infants and determining what immediate action, if any, is necessary
• Aphagia


  A condition in which the ability to eat is lost or diminished
• Aphasia


  A loss of ability to express oneself or to understand spoken or written language due to a neurological deficit
• Apperceive


  To perceive in terms of past perceptions (from this verb, the noun apperception is derived)
• Apperceptive Personality Test (APT)
• Aptitude tests


  A test that usually focuses more on informal as opposed to formal learning experiences and is designed to measure both learning and inborn potential for the purpose of making predictions about the testtaker's future performance; also referred to as a prognostic test and, especially with young children, a readiness test
• Arithmetic mean


  Also referred to simply as the mean, a measure of central tendency derived by calculating an average of all scores in a distribution
• Army Alpha test


  An intelligence and ability test developed by military psychologists for use in World War I to screen literate recruits; contrast with Army Beta test
• Army Beta test


  A nonverbal intelligence and ability test developed by military psychologists for use in World War I to screen illiterate and foreign-born recruits; contrast with Army Alpha test
• Asexuality


  A sexual orientation in which the individual is completely devoid of interest in a sexual relationship with anyone or anything
• Assessment center


  An organizationally standardized procedure for evaluation involving multiple assessment techniques
• Assessor's role


  Behavioral observation, case history data, clinical, collaborative, computers as tools, conducting, culture, and, dynamic, educational, experience, education, and training, interview, legal/ethical considerations, life-or-death, neuropsychological, personality, portfolio, process of, psychological testing, contrasted, public policy, and, reference sources, role-play tests, settings, society at large, state licensing laws, test, test developers, testtaker, test user, therapeutic, tools of
• At risk


  Defined in different ways by different school districts, but in general a reference to functioning that is deficient and possibly in need of intervention
• At-risk infant or toddler

  According to IDEA, a child under 3 years of age who would be in danger of experiencing a substantial developmental delay if early intervention services were not provided
• Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
• Attitude


  A presumably learned disposition to react in some characteristic manner to a particular stimulus
• Authentic assessment


  Also known as performance-based assessment, evaluation on relevant, meaningful tasks that may be conducted to examine learning of academic subject matter but that demonstrates the student's transfer of that study to real-world activities
• Average deviation


  A measure of variability derived by summing the absolute value of all the scores in a distribution and dividing by the total number of scores
• Average proportional distance (APD) method


  A measure used to evaluate the internal consistency of a test that focuses on the degree of difference that exists between item scores
• Bar graph


  A graphic illustration of data wherein numbers indicative of frequency are set on the vertical axis, categories are set on the horizontal axis, and the rectangle bars that describe the data are typically noncontiguous
• Barnum effect


  The consequence of one's belief that a vague personality description truly describes oneself when in reality that description may apply to almost anyone; sometimes referred to as the "Aunt Fanny effect" because the same personality might be applied to anyone's Aunt Fanny