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Psychological testing of children is a
concept that is not well understood by many parents or
people not familiar with psychological methods. Phrases and
terms such as "psychometric testing" or "assessment instrument" can
in fact sound invasive and scary. Nothing could be further from the
truth.
Psychologists use their knowledge to
help children overcome their difficulties and enhance
their well being. Psychological assessment is part of this knowledge
base. On the one hand, the knowledge of child development and
appropriate behavioral and emotional milestones, and on the other
hand, the knowledge of psychological tests (or psychometric
instruments) and their use. Under most circumstances using
clinical judgments alone is unreliable. Reliably
evaluating children's functioning requires the combination of
subjective judgment and objective measures.
The following paragraphs contain brief
information related to both psychological tests and the interview
process. More information is available on our test
development page .
Test User
Qualifications
Administering psychological
tests is a relatively straight forward process. Strict
guidelines prescribe how to introduce tests to children, what
instructions to use and how to explain test items. The
difficult part of the assessment is often not the assessment itself,
but the interpretation of observational information and test
results. This is a delicate process where clinicians "put the
jigsaw puzzle pieces together". During this process clinical
judgment may override test results, or vice versa, test results may
challenge the clinician's opinion. A good clinician will know how to
use test results and at the same time how to rely on his/her
opinion.
For the above outlined reasons, ethical guidelines
strictly regulate access to standardised tests. Without
appropriate training and expertise, psychological tests should NOT
be administered and interpreted.
Tests
Tests are simply measuring devices or procedures.
Psychological tests are highly specialised and aim to measure
psychological constructs, such as intelligence, personality,
attitudes, emotional functioning, or educational ability. This is
where psychological tests differ greatly. What essentially
differentiates a good test from a bad (or not so good) test is the
test's capacity to measure what it intends to measure. For example,
a questionnaire about one's dietary intake may be a good test of
eating habits, but not a good test of emotional functioning.
When psychologists talk about "psychometric assessments",
they talk about a differential approach to assessment. The
differential approach is a theory based model and holds the view
that psychological constructs, such as intelligence, can be measured
by appropriately designed tests. Performance on these tests will
reveal individual differences related to different mental skills and
attributes.
To ensure that psychological tests appropriately
measure what they intend to measure, statistical methods are used at
the test development stage. For example, a good
test of intelligence will have items related to different
intellectual processes, including verbal ability, non-verbal
ability, processing speed and memory. These areas all related
to intelligence, and therefore should be included in a good
intelligence test. However, they should be also balanced and
representative. Statistical analysis at the beginning of test
development ensures that items are balanced and tap into the same
construct.
Information Sources
Test results are useful to understand a child's
functioning. However, arriving at a final conclusion based
on a single test result, or even on several different test
results, can be a serious mistake. Therefore, the
collection of relevant background information, such as medical
history, family background and developmental history, is part of the
standard procedure of child assessment. Yet the type of
additional information required often does not surface until
the interview, or in other cases, until tests are scored and
evaluated. For example, a child may be assessed for learning
difficulties, but may also present with severe behavioural
difficulties and the parents may reveal symptoms consistent
with ADHD. In this case the child's teachers would need to be
contacted to confirm the behavioural observations of both the
parents and the clinician.
Error
Error is
a term inherently associated with psychological testing. However,
error does not refer to mistakes or miscalculations. In relation to
psychological tests, error is an expected part of the
assessment process and built into the results. In other words, error
assumes that a psychological test result is not 100% accurate and
depend on various other factors.
Error is particularly
important when children are concerned. For example, while it is
important to ensure that children who attend an IQ assessment are
rested and alert, not all external factors can be
eliminated. They may worry about an upcoming school test, they
might be thinking about a lost toy, or simply they are having a bad
day. For this reason, IQ and achievement results always
include a "confidence interval", or a score dispersion within
which a child's "true" score is
placed.
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