History of Psychological Assessment Tools
The History of psychological assessment tools in America is a wide spread measure of testing that has historical roots. In this paper, I will examine the history of psychological assessment tools, the types of assessments being used today, and the validity of assessment tools.
What is psychological assessment?
Psychological assessment is a process that involves information from a series of sources, like personality tests, intelligence tests and personal interviews. Many psychologists do some level of assessments when providing care to clients, and may use simple check lists to assess some traits or systems; however, psychological assessments are more complex and detailed (Parkinson, 1997). Typically, psychological assessments provide certain diagnosis for treatment depending on the settings such as: a particular area of functioning or disability often for school, to help courts settle issues with custody battles or trials, or to assess job applicants or employees, and provide career development training for many employers. The field of psychometrics, as the measurement of behavior is not a part time endeavor; however, it is a full time occupation for not only individuals, but corporations as well (Thomas, 1977). There are over a dozen well known test publishing houses employing hundreds of professionals whose constant search is for a more refined instrument. Literally thousands of aptitude, achievement, personality, interest, and other special types of tests exist today compared to fifty or sixty years ago when there was only a handful (Madius, 1999). Tests in general have been around for a long time. Some of the major events in testing during the 20th century are: 1900-1909, Army Alpha Beta test, Spearman’s Factors in Intelligence, the Woodworth Personal data sheet, and the Otis Absolute Point Scale (Jones, 2006), 1920-1929, Rorschach Ink Blot Test, Strong Vocational Interest Blank Test, Clark’s Aptitude Testing, 1930-1939. Thurstones’s
What is psychological assessment?
Psychological assessment is a process that involves information from a series of sources, like personality tests, intelligence tests and personal interviews. Many psychologists do some level of assessments when providing care to clients, and may use simple check lists to assess some traits or systems; however, psychological assessments are more complex and detailed (Parkinson, 1997). Typically, psychological assessments provide certain diagnosis for treatment depending on the settings such as: a particular area of functioning or disability often for school, to help courts settle issues with custody battles or trials, or to assess job applicants or employees, and provide career development training for many employers. The field of psychometrics, as the measurement of behavior is not a part time endeavor; however, it is a full time occupation for not only individuals, but corporations as well (Thomas, 1977). There are over a dozen well known test publishing houses employing hundreds of professionals whose constant search is for a more refined instrument. Literally thousands of aptitude, achievement, personality, interest, and other special types of tests exist today compared to fifty or sixty years ago when there was only a handful (Madius, 1999). Tests in general have been around for a long time. Some of the major events in testing during the 20th century are: 1900-1909, Army Alpha Beta test, Spearman’s Factors in Intelligence, the Woodworth Personal data sheet, and the Otis Absolute Point Scale (Jones, 2006), 1920-1929, Rorschach Ink Blot Test, Strong Vocational Interest Blank Test, Clark’s Aptitude Testing, 1930-1939. Thurstones’s
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