1. During World War II the U. S. Office of Strategic Services ( OSS), a predecessor to today’s Central Intelligence Agency ( CIA), used a variety of
... [Show More] procedures and measurement tools— psychological tests
among them— in selecting military personnel for highly specialized positions involving espionage, intelligence gathering, and the like. Why aren’t these methods used today?
Because these methods did not prove that an individual could handle or was able to do that certain
position. There are other factors that need to be evaluated when being chosen for these highly specialized fields. One of the problems was deception along with testing not be conducted properly.
2. What is a psychological test?
A psychological test is a standardized measure of a sample of behavior.
3. The APA Committee on Psychological Tests and Assessment discussed the pros and cons of Computer
Assisted Testing (CAT). What is one main advantage over the traditional paper and pencil tests?
They are easier to correct and take less time to conduct and create.
4. What types ofsettings are assessments conducted?
Clinical, educational, business and geriatric
5. The American Psychological Association (APA) has addressed ethical issuesrelated to assessment in
the APA Code of Ethics in your learning modules. Name one of the general principles that they outlined.
Informed Consent
6. What are the four scales of measurement?
Discrete scales, ordinal scales, nominalscales and continuous scales
7. How would you explain correlation?
Correlation is the measure or extent to which two variables are related.
8. Name two reliability estimates?
Cronbach’s alpha and Kuder-Richardson formula
9. What is the relationship between reliability and validity?
The relationship between reliability and validity is a test cannot be reliable without being valid and a
test cannot be valid without being reliable.
10. What is incremental validity?
Incremental validity is used to determine if a new psychological measure can provide more information than measures that are already in use.
11. What isthe difference between a positively skewed distribution and a negatively skewed distribution?
Positively skewed distribution is when scores fall toward the lower side of the scale and few scores
are higher and negatively skewed distribution is when scores fall in the higher side of the scale and
there are few lower scores [Show Less]