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 or a related profession. The List of Tests by Type [DOCX]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].
- Note: If you have an interest in a particular test that is not on this list, then you may submit a request to your instructor to include it in your first assignment with two other tests on the list in the same category. Your instructor will review it and determine if you may proceed with including that test in your assignment or recommend that you select three tests from the list.
- 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.
- 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
- See the PSY7610 Search Guide for additional advice. An optional worksheet is also provided to you in the resources to facilitate your research and literature review.
- Use RefWorks or another organization strategy to keep track of the articles you find. Even if you don’t use the articles for this assignment, you may use it in a future assignment in this course.
- Return to the Capella library to choose a database, for example, PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, and ERIC (education research). Search for journal articles that are relevant to the elements for each test.
- See the PSY7610 Library Research Guide for search advice. An optional worksheet is also provided to you in the resources to facilitate your research and literature review.)
- The library has also prepared the Psyc Tests and Measures to help you find articles by test, find reviews of instruments, and cite reviews and database records.
- Visit the publisher’s website for each test to obtain additional information.
- If the test is not owned by a publishing company, you will need to find this information in other sources, such as journal articles.
- Use the 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].
You may use the Optional Research Worksheet [DOCX] given in the resources to complete this assignment.
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).
- APA format: Current APA format and style is required throughout. Be sure to use the correct format and style for each respective type of reference, for example, website site versus journal). Refer to the Academic Writerfor guidance.
Note: The articles you need to complete this assignment should be available inside the library collection. In future courses, you may use the Capella library’s Interlibrary Loan service to obtain articles outside of the collection, but you should not have to use the service for this course. In the event that you cannot find articles covering a newer test edition, please refer to the List of Tests by Type [DOCX]. Note which tests have been designated as acceptable for searching prior test editions.
Submission Deadline
Submission is due no later than Sunday at 11:59 p.m. CST.
Competencies Measured
By successfully completing this assignment , you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and rubric criteria:
- Competency 1: Apply terminology, principles, statistical concepts, and psychometric features related to the construction and application of psychological tests.
- Describe how three selected tests and categories are related to one’s area of specialization or a related profession.
- Define the purpose for testing, the content, skills, and constructs assessed for the three tests, and evaluate based on one’s area of specialization or a related profession.
- Describe the normative sample, sampling procedures, and intended population for three tests and evaluate based on the anticipated populations served by one’s specialization or related profession.
- Describe the training required to administer, score, and interpret the three tests and evaluate based on one’s anticipated assessment training or the training of a related profession.
- Competency 7: Communicate in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and consistent with expectations for members of the psychological profession.
- Communicate in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and consistent with the expectations for members of an identified field of study, using APA style and formatting.
- My field of study is: clinical psychology and specialization in forensic
