Psych Testing Lecture 2

7/25/2019 Psych Testing Lecture 2

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PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING

2. Introduction toPsychological Testing Part !"


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Psychology is a very diverse field of study

Developmenta

Cognitive

Clinical Social

Biological

Neuroscience


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PsychologicalTesting

Psychology is a very diverse field of study united by.

Developmenta

Cognitive

Clinical Social

Biological

Neuroscience


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Why do we need Psychological

Tests?

Provides a set of criteria to help us

Ask more specific questions (Hypothesis Creation)

ystematically collect data to ans!er those questions(Hypothesis "esting)

#ra! conclusions based on test scores

Continue to scrutinise those conclusions in the face of ne!data or ne! data collection methods


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Why is this important?

$mpirical studies are the %currency& of psychologicalinvestigation.

uch studies provide the evidence used to createand modify psychological theory.

Almost all !e kno! about psychological phenomenais derived from such studies. o' the content of this

(and all other) psychology courses grounded inempirical investigation (ie research studiesemploying the scientific method to get ans!ers tothe questions they pose)


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Why is this important?

Any discussions and debates about thesetheories' including any statements and

arguments you may put for!ard in yourassignments should be based on the findings ofsuch studies.

Personal opinions anecdotal evidence do notconstitute a sound basis for such discussions.


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An E#a$%le

Your &riend' (o)' tells you that*

+,atching -iolence on T leads to -iolent)eha-iour/

Should 0e )e inclined to agreeordisagree0ith (o)1s %earls o& 0isdo$


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An E#a$%le

T0o Choices

!.As3 others 0hat they thin3

2.4a3e our o0n o)ser-ations

5.6iscuss the ad-antages and li$itations o& )oththese a%%roaches 0ith the %erson sitting ne#t toyou.


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1. Do you think watching

violence on TV causes

aggressive behaviour?

*$ + ,- /0 + 1-


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1. Do you think watching

violence on TV causes

aggressive behaviour?

YES 65%

NO 35%

"his tells us aboutopinions2 not

about theunderlying facts

3e are no closer todiscovering!hether "4violence actuallycausesaggressive

behaviour


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We need to ormulate a

testable hypothesis !or

prediction"%3atching

violence on"4 causes

violentbehaviour&


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prediction"But' !hat do !emean by

5!atching6

5violence on "46

5violent behaviour6


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prediction"%Attending to acts ofviolence screened as part

of "4 film' ne!s lightentertainmentprogramming causesindividuals to perpetrateindiscriminate acts of

violence against otherindividuals or property&


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Tests?


Ask more specific questions (Hypothesis Cretion!

ystematically gather the data to ans!er those questions(Hypothesis "esting)

#ra! conclusions about our original questions based on thedata !e have collected



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#ow do we Test this?

4iolent Acts

THE DEPENDENT VARIABLE


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#ow do we Test this?

Ho! !ill !e decide !hat kind ofbehaviours constitute violent acts6

7ntimidating behaviours6

Acts that cause physical damage6

Acts that cause in8ury to self9others6

:requency of behaviour6

everity of behaviour6

3e need to agree on a set of clearlydefined criteria


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#ow do we test this?

Ho! !ill !e decide !henour criteria have been met6

"he e;perimenter could use achecklist (but be!are of bias) +are the children fighting orplaying6

7t is better to use an independentpanel of observers and to checkfor interrater reliability


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Testing $onditions

$;posure to violence on "4

vs

/o e;posure to violence on "4

THE INDEPENDENT VARIABLE


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3hatonday

then observe their behaviour on"uesday? ne;t' !e could sho!the same group Postman Pat(cartoon) on 3ednesday andobserve their behaviour on

"hursday.

Testing $onditions


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Testing $onditions

3hatonday

then observe their behaviour on"uesday? ne;t' !e could sho!the same group Postman Pat on3ednesday and observe theirbehaviour on "hursday.X


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Testing $onditions

@etter to use = groups

$;perimental roup (gets

to !atch violent films)

Control roup (gets to!atch non2violent films)

"hen observe behaviour ofall individuals from bothgroups

E"#E$%&E

N'A(

)$O*#

CON'$O

(

)$O*#


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Testing %ample

3hat kinds of people do !e!ant to observe6

7f !e !ant to be able toans!er questions aboutbehaviour in general then!e need to observe the

behaviour of the %AverageBoe& the %Average Boanna&


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Testing %ample

7n reality the best !ay toachieve this is by selectingparticipants to represent asbroad a cross2section ofsociety as possible

Care must be taken duringthe selection process toachieve this


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imilarly' care must be taken!hen allocating participantsto the e;perimental and

control groups3e !ould risk ske!ing ourresults if !e inadvertentlycreated an e;perimental

group composed of a specificgroup and a control groupcomposed of an entirelydifferent group.

Testing $onditions

E"#E$&EN'A)$O*#

CON'$O)$O*#


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Testing $onditions

7deally' both groups should betreated in (almost) e;actly thesame !ay' for e;ample

@oth should !atch "4 for thesame duration

@oth should be sub8ect to thesame physical and social

environmentie any factor !hich mayintroduce un!anted variabilityshould be controlled for


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Tests?



Systemtic++y ,ther the -t to ns.er thosequestions (Hypothesis 'estin,!

#ra! conclusions about our original questions based on thedata !e have collected



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Drawing $onclusions &rom

Psychological Tests uppose !e have observed

1 instances of violent behaviour in ourcontrol group (no e;posure to violent "4

,D instances of such behaviour in oure;perimental group (e;posure to violent"4)

7s this sufficient grounds for claiming thate;posure to "4 violence causes violentbehaviour6


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%tatistical 'nalyses

3e can apply statisticalanalyses to the data todetermine !hether thedifferences observed bet!eengroups are likely to havehappened by chance alone.

7f not' then !e can suggestthat something else is at !orkin producing different amountsof violent behaviour bet!een

groups.NB: This is still not groundsfor claiming that violenceon TV causes violentehaviour!


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(aking $laims vs )iving Proo

"he best !e can do is to claimthat our data strongly supportsthe notion that "4 violenceleads to violent behaviour inothers

7n support of such a claim' !eshould agree to independentscrutiny of our e;perimentalmethods and of the data !ehave collected


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Tests?




/r. conc+usions 0out our ori,in+ questions 0se-on the -t .e h1e co++ecte-



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%crutinising *ur $laims !1"7n practice' this meanssubmitting our results and aprecise account of our methodsto an academic 8ournal

0nce submitted' every detail ofour study !ill be e;amined bye;perts in the field (peer revie!by other academics)

0nly !hen they are satisfied!ith our account !ill the articleactually be published and madeavailable to the !ider academiccommunity.


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%crutinising *ur $laims !+"

0nce published' our findingscome under !ider scrutiny fromresearchers and otherinterested parties !orld!ide.

>aybe' #r E replicates ourstudy and fails to reproduce ourresults (that


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%crutinising *ur $laims !+"

0nce published' our findingscome under !ider scrutiny fromresearchers and otherinterested parties !orld!ide.

>aybe' #r E replicates ourstudy and fails to reproduce ourresults (thataybe' Prof * runs a variant of

our study using ne! techniquesand finds an even strongereffect (that


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Tests?Provides a set of criteria to help us



/r. conc+usions 0out our ori,in+ questions 0se-on the -t .e h1e co++ecte-

Continue to scrutinise those conc+usions in the fceof ne. -t or ne. -t co++ection metho-s


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,eneits o Testing

3e can be more certain that the psychologicaleffects !e are observing are most likely

accounted for by the action of the variables !eare manipulating (the independent variables)rather than simply happening by chance orthrough the action of some unforeseen factors


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,eneits o Testing

"hroughout this course' !e learn more about

Ho! to design a good test

:ind out if it is reliable and valid

Fearn ho! to interpret the scores


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6e7nition o& Psychological

TestA %sychological test is a syste$atic

%rocedure &or o)taining sa$%les o&

)eha-ior' rele-ant to cogniti-e ora8ecti-e &unctioning' and &or scoringand e-aluating those sa$%lesaccording to standards.


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9eatures o& Psychological

TestSa$%les o& )eha-ior

Scoring criteriaStandardi:ation


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TestSa$%les o& )eha-ior

4ust )e re%resentation o& the )eha-ior

that is under o)ser-ation.E#a$%le* %illo0 7ghting children. Is

this a ty%ical ;-iolent1 )eha-ior

I& not' 0hat ty%e o& action is;re%resentati-e1 o& -iolent )eha-ior


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TestScoring criteriaO)


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TestStandardi:ationTesting conditions are standardi:ed* they are

the sa$e each ti$e.Your %er&or$ance is $easured against

so$eone else1s in your age grou%.

,e 0ill ta3e a)out this to%ic in $ore detailne#t 0ee3.


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So$e e#a$%les o&

Psychological TestsA)ility>Achie-e$ent Tests* A %erson

%er&or$s a tas3

O)ser-ations* %erson1s )eha-ior iso)ser-ed

Sel& re%ort Tests* A %erson rates orre%orts their &eelings' -alues' attitudes


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E#a$%les o& Psychological

TestsA)ility>Achie-e$ent Tests

Tas3 is 0ell?de7ned

Indi-idual has to res%ond

6esigned to deter$ine 0hat an indi-idualCAN do their a)ility"


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TestsAbility/Achievement Tests

Tas3 is 0ell?de7ned

Indi-idual has to res%ond

6esigned to deter$ine 0hat an indi-idualCAN do their a)ility"

Example* SAT' G(E' dri-ing testAdvantage* O)


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E#a$%les o& PsychologicalTests* O)ser-ationsCan )e in a la) or a naturalistic setting

e#a$%le* one?0ay $irror"

There is not a 0ell?de7ned tas3 unli3e tests o&a)ility"

Example: In&ants research

Advantage: Indi-idual $ay not )e a0are thatthey are )eing o)ser-ed so you can gain a good

$easure o& their ;true1 res%onses.

Limitation: O%en to inter%retation' di8erente#%eri$enters ha-e di8erent e#%lanations &or)eha-ior


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TestsSelf report/self rating

(elies on the indi-idual1s a0areness and honesty

Example* 4ental health =uestionnaireAdvantage* The )est $easure o& so$eone1s

internal states' )ecause only they are a0are o&0hat they are thin3ing>&eeling

Limitation* Peo%le are not al0ays a good

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Psych Testing Lecture 2