There are various types of tests. But there are those
used specifically in the area of psychology. These are called psychological
tests. They can be defined as general sets of questions, puzzles or problems
which are usually used to discover or determine a person’s ability, his
interest in trade or vocation and so on. Psychological tests are usually made
up of test items which are designed to reveal certain traces and traits in an
individual who has been exposed to the test.
In majority of cases, these tests
are standardized, but sometimes they may be non-standardized. Whether they are
standardized or not, they aim at achieving certain goals. The results are used
as points reference. That is when the traits are revealed in the person after
the test has been interpreted. It is expected that the individual will show
wider evidence of such traits in actual life situations. Psychological test
results are indicators of wide areas of behaviour. They help to bring out or
elicit particular characteristic behaviour types. They expose an individual or
groups of individuals to a selected test, made up of specific questions. The
intension is to get some results which help the test administrator to arrive at
certain hypothesized results.
TYPES OF TESTS
Tests
can be classified along the line of usage and mode of administration. It can
also be classified according to types. So, specifically, we have the following types
of tests which are commonly used in the area of guidance and counselling and in
psychosocial testing. These are:
1. Paper and Pencil Tests: An example of
this is the Stanford-Binet intelligence test.
Intelligence tests are designed to test
intelligence quotient. They try to find out how much a child has gained in
intelligence in one year, in mental age compared to each year of chronological
age that passes. This is done within the first 15 years of life.
2. The Objective and Essay Tests: This is
sometimes referred to as the objective and subjective tests. An essay test is
one that requires the testee to create an answer instead of selecting an answer
from given alternatives. It is a free-response type of test in which the testee
organizes his response to specific question or issue, (Itsuokor, 1995). The
testees must select answers from the alternatives given. Whether the test is
designed for individual or group depends on what the test is out to test. A
test may want to know interest level of an individual on a vocation for
example. But a group may also be tested in a survey study to find out the
attitude of a group to politics for example. This could be done with a
standardized test or through questionnaires.
3. The Standardized Non-standardized Tests:
Ughamadu et.al, (1991),regard standardized tests as those designed by test
specialists or experts and administered, scored and interpreted under standard
conditions. Describing the non-standardized tests they say that they are those
tests that are formed and constructed by classroom teachers for the evaluation
of their students.
4. Individual and Group Tests: There are
situations when tests can be prepared and administered specifically for an
individual to find out certain traits. In other occasions, tests can be
administered to a group. These two types of test administration commonly used
in psychological testing.
5. Verbal or Non-verbal Tests: Verbal tests
can be individual or group in nature. In verbal tests, the test administrators
have a face to face relationship with the subject, or subjects. It can be in
the form of an oral questioning or interview. But non-verbal tests usually take
the form of paper and pencil tests.
Some
scholars classify tests according to their general usage. So we have such
classification as:
6. Personality Tests: These are tests administered
to find out what type of personality trait an individual is likely to portray
in actual life situation. There are pseudo-scientific methods of doing this,
like interview method, behavioural test method, rating scale device,
personality inventory and projective techniques.
7. The Interest Inventory Tests: Here the
subject responds to activities presumably related to different interests
particularly in areas of vocations, like music, arts, athletics, and so on. His
responses are then compared to the responses of members of the various
vocations.
8. Aptitude Tests: Aptitude is a condition
of a person’s fitness, of which one essential aspect is his readiness to
acquire proficiency, his potential ability and his readiness to develop an
interest in exercising his ability (Chauhan, 1981). An aptitude test is a test
which measures a person’s potential ability in an activity of a specialized
kind and within a restricted range. Aptitude tests are generally used in
guidance of students, especially in selection of jobs, and also in admission
into schools and colleges. There are aptitude tests for clerical jobs, music,
arts, military and so on.
9. Achievement Tests: As the name
indicates, they are tests which are administered to measure how much
proficiency an individual has acquired in a particular area of knowledge or
skill. It is intended to test the performance ability of a person, usually
after undergoing a course of study. They are mainly teacher made tests.
Examples are class tests, end of term tests, WAEC examinations and so on.
10. Intelligence Tests: These are tests
deviced to discover the innate intelligence of persons. There are different
types of these tests. Some of these include those of Binet, Terman and Stern, others
are Cattell’s test, Standfort’s revision of Binet test, and so on. Intelligence
tests may be verbal or non verbal. But usually psychologists prefer an
intelligence that can be administered to people anywhere. The results will not
be influenced by the cultural background of the subjects being tested.
11. Vocational Inventories: The term
vocation has to do with trade or occupation. They are those works in which an
individual is engaged for life or economic existence. The word vocation, is
interchangeably used with such other terms as career or occupation. Vocational
tests are like aptitude tests in nature. They are meant to test person’s
interest or aptitude in a given vocation. They help in selection of people into
different jobs.
CHARACTERISTICS
OF PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS
Psychological
tests have certain characteristics. Some of them are:
1. Validity: This is the degree to which
the test has tried to measure what it is expected to measure. It helps to
provide an answer to the question, whether the test has fulfilled its
pre-conceived functions. We have different types of validity. They are, content
validity, construct validity, face validity and criterion validity.
2. Reliability: Other words for reliability
are dependability, stability, consistency, predictability and accuracy. It
refers to the extent or degree of consistency between two measures of the same
things. If two measures are taken of a trait, the result is expected to be
similar if the measuring instrument is reliable.
THE PLACE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL TEST IN
COUNSELLING
According
to Itsuoker (1985) psychological tests have been found to be useful in the
following areas.
1. For Selection: Sometimes different
establishments, institutions, school and colleges want to select people to do
one type of job or the other. Those who show interests on these jobs are
expected to be tested to ascertain their suitability for these jobs. Scores
recorded from such tests are used for the final selection.
2. Placement: These could be placement in
schools, in the army, in different sections of an industry and so on.
3. To Test for Achievement: A course of
study requires that at the end of it all, learners are expected to have
achieved a certain level of proficiency in the required knowledge or skill.
Achievement tests are also used to see if a set of applicants for higher
institutions have attained an entering requirement expected of them. The JAMB
examination is designed for this purpose.
4. For Classification: Psychological tests
can be used to classify people according to age, level of intelligence, range
of mental retardation, categories of behavioural deviation etc. Results got
from these will help policy makers in education and educational administration
in no small ways.
5. For Prediction: Through psychological
testing, predications are made to various degrees of accuracy. The teacher can
now say with a limited error margin if a child is a university material or not.
We can now know if an individual will be a good primary school, or whether he
is suitable to work in nursery schools. They help the test administrator to
make inferences and so predict.
5. Tests
are also used to diagnose problems of students in the area of language,
numbers, social adjustment, parental relationship and related situations. The
counsellor can get to know which of these problems is that of a particular
student through psychological testing.
SOME TEST
TECHNIQUES USED IN COUNSELLING
Some of the test techniques used in counselling
include:
1. PROJECTIVE TESTS: Here the person
taking the test is unaware of what his answers mean to the test administrator.
It eliminates the tendency to give false answers. If a child has a conflict for
example, this method can make him reveal unconscious thoughts and drives that
cause the conflict. The strength, degree and causes of the conflict can now be
reached. Two types of projective tests exist;
(a) The Rorschach Inkblot Personality Test;
and
(b) The CAT Method (Children’s Apperception
Test).
2. OBJECTIVE TEST: There are various types
of objective tests used in psychology. These were enumerated by Munsinger
(1975) as follows.
a. A-S Reaction study
b. MMPI (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality
Inventory.
c. The Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI).
3. INTERVIEW: Ughamadu (1991) states that
interview is a method generally used in selection of people into positions in
established institutions. It is a face to face verbal exchange of ideas usually
initiated by the interviewer and followed by responses from the person being
interviewed. It is a simple method to use, and widely used also as a tool for
personality assessment. Performance in the interview can easily show an
individual’s personality. There are different types of interview. They include:
(a)
Free Interview:
Here there is no limit to areas where questions can be drawn from.
(b)
Non-Directive Interview: It is a technique popularized by Carl Rogers. A
method intended to get at deep rooted feelings of an individual on an issue. It
is usually applied by clinical psychologists.
(c)
Standardized Interview: Here ready questions are prepared. All interviewees
are asked the same question. The intension is to reduce the unreliability and
bias of the interviewer.
4. NON-TEST TECHNIQUES: Ughamadu (1991) also
states that there are various non-test techniques used in counseling:
(a) Interview as discussed above.
(b) Observation Technique.
(c) Case Study.
(d) Checklist technique.
(e) Rating scale method.
5.
OBSERVATION: This is a method that
has been used for a long time. The counsellor uses it to find out certain
traits in an individual. For example, one may want to know the degree of
aggression in an individual. Most observations are carried out without the
person being observed knowing it. If one wants to observe the child at play
with other children, and observing how often, and frequent the child shows
aggressive behaviour. What is observed should be recorded immediately, or
almost immediately after the exercise. There are two types of observations.
There are natural observation and
participant observation. In natural observation, the counsellor stays aside
and observe, but in participant observation, the counsellor participates in the
activities in which the trait is to be observed (Ogbebor 1990).
6. CASE STUDY: Here information, or data
is collected, and analyzed to find out the causes of the problem. The past and
present of the individual is studied. These may be gathered from the family or
and friends of the person. The information to be collected may be under the
following headings:
(a) Physical
condition as got from medical tests or observations.
(b) Relationship
with people at home, school, community, and other social relationship
(c) Emotional
state of the person including anxiety, fear, anger etc.
(d) Likes
and dislikes of the person.
(e) Achievement
at school.
7. AUTOBIOGRAPHY: This is the study of
what the person has recorded about himself in various aspects of his life. Such
as school experiences, relationship with friends, and parents, his choice of
vocation, martial experiences, socio-economic state of parents, likes and
dislikes. The individual being studied is asked to write on these areas,
depending on what is being studied. There are two types of autobiography. These
are structured and non-structured. In structured, the subject is asked to write
along certain lines on specific issues. But in non-structured autobiography,
the subject is free to direct his writing by himself.
SUMMARY
Psychological
testing has some classroom functions. They are used, in the process of
diagnosis especially for children who need some remedial instruction. These
tests can also be very useful in grouping students within a class for the
purpose of knowing how well a child is for a particular learning topic. They
are useful for the purpose of individual instruction. Through the tests, the
teacher will know how much the handicap child has and thus the teacher will
know how to plan individual instruction. Psychological testing has been found
to be useful also in identifying the intellectual ability of the students.
CONCLUSION
Psychological
testing has been useful in school administration. For example they have been
found to be useful in placing new students in class, legibility for special
group, know when treatment should be discontinued, when a child is due for
promotion, know the ability of a group of students in a particular school etc. They
have also been found to be useful when information is to be provided for
outside agencies who should be employed to do a special job, admitted to the
school, and for policy making.
REFERENCES
Biehler,
R. F (1978): Psychology Applied To
Teaching: 3rd Ed, Boston: 10 H.M.C
Itsuokor
D. E. (1995); Essentials of tests and
measurement (2nd ed),
Ilorin: Woye and Sons Nig. Ltd
Ogbebor,
G.G (1990): An Introduction to
Educational Psychology; Benin:
World of Books Publishers.
Ughamadu,
K.A. et. al. (1991): Measurement and
Evaluation in
Education; Benin: World of Books Publishers
Unachukwu,
G. C. and Igborgbor G. C. (1991): Guidance
and
Counselling,
A Realistic Approach; Owerri:
International University Press
SCHOOL OF POSTGRADUATES STUDIES
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION
(EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY)