Evaluation of Test Purpose, Population, and Training

Instructions

In Week 1, you read “The Concerns of the Profession” in your psychological Testing and Assessment text. You also learned about the who, what, why, how, and where of psychological assessment. When test users (i.e., psychologists) select psychological tests as part of an assessment of a client, they must consider whether the intended purpose of the test matches the purpose for assessing the client. In addition, test users also consider whether the client they will assess is similar to the test’s norm group or sample in terms of age, gender, race, geographic region, language, and other demographic characteristics. If the test’s norm group or sample is not a good match for the client, then the results could be considered invalid. The publishers of psychological tests also have training requirements for test users. Test users should only use tests for which they have appropriate training and expertise. Pearson Assessments, a large-scale psychological test publisher, has established a level system for test user qualifications based upon the education, training, and expertise needed to purchase, administer, score, and interpret each test. Qualification levels range from qualification level A (no special qualification needed) to qualification level C (a doctorate degree in psychology, education, or a closely related field).

For this assignment, you will write a paper in which you:

• Identify a test category that is relevant to your academic specialization (clinical psychology practice is mine) or a related profession. The List of Tests by Type [DOCX] ( I have this attached in the files) identifies the 11 categories you may choose from. They include: 
  • (1) Intelligence/cognitive abilities.
  • (2) Achievement/aptitude.
  • (3) Personality.
  • (4) Behavior.
  • (5) Adaptive behavior.
  • (6) Neuropsychological.
  • (7) Career/business/organization.
  • (8) Autism.
  • (9) Depression.
  • (10) Preschool.
  • (11) Behavior analytic skill assessments.
• Select three tests from a single category using the List of Tests by Type [DOCX]. 
• Compare and contrast these three tests based on the following: 
  • The purpose for testing, the content, skills, or constructs assessed and evaluated based on one’s area of specialization or a related profession.
  • The normative sample, sampling procedures, and the intended population and evaluation based on the anticipated populations served by one’s specialization or related profession.
  • The training required to administer, score, and interpret and evaluate based on one’s anticipated assessment training or the training of a related profession.
  • Use the Capella library to search for articles that discuss the test. (let me know if you need these)
    • Do bibliography mining to find the original source of the test.
    • Do cited reference searching to find articles that use the test and their research or discuss the test
• • If the test is not owned by a publishing company, you will need to find this information in other sources, such as journal articles.
•  MMY database in the Capella Library to locate and read a review for each test. 
  • Not all tests have been reviewed by the MMY. If your test has not been reviewed, you will need to find the information in another source, such as a journal article.

Instructions for the content of the paper are in the u02a1 Assignment Template [DOCX]. (this is in the second document I attatched in the files!!!)

Additional Requirements

Your paper should meet the following requirements:

• References: A minimum of nine references are required for this assignment. These resources may include all of the reference sources identified in your Psychological Testing and Assessment text but must include: 
  • Three MMY test reviews (one for each test if available). If an MMY review is not available for one or more of your selected tests, you must substitute with another type of source.
  • Three test publisher websites (one for each test). If there is no test publisher website for a selected test, you must substitute this with another type of source.
  • Three journal articles (one for each test).
• Length of paper: A minimum of five double-spaced pages, not including the title page or references (an abstract is not required).