Course Summary

Psychological Science 447
Tests and Measurement
Dr. Whitley

Scheduling Note: This course is offered every other year. It is next scheduled to be taught in Spring Semester, 2003.

Textbook

 

Friedenberg, L. (1995). Psychological testing: Design, analysis, and use. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Goals

 

This course is designed to teach students the principles of psychological test construction and the appropriate use of psychological tests for various applications. As part of this process students also learn to evaluate and compare different psychological tests so that they can be informed consumers of tests and testing services. This is not a course in how to administer and interpret psychological assessment instruments.

Course Outline

PART I: INTRODUCTION

• Administrative Introduction
• Introduction to Psychological Testing

PART II: TYPES OF TESTS

• Test Design
• Ability Tests
• Performances Tests

PART III: PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES OF TESTS

• Review of Statistics
• Reliability
• Validity
• Item Analysis

PART IV: APPLICATIONS OF TESTS

• Educational Testing
• Psychological Assessment
• Testing in Counseling Settings
• Testing in Industrial Psychology

Grading

Exams

There are four exams worth 40 points each. The points for the first three exams are distributed approximately 60% to multiple choice questions and approximately 40% to short answer questions and cover the lectures and assigned readings since the previous exam. The fourth exam, given along with the third during the final exam period, consists of 40 multiple choice questions covering the material covered in the first two exams. The exams are designed to test not only the students' knowledge of the content of the course, but also their understanding of it. To this end, a large proportion of the questions will ask students to apply and interpret principles, not just feed them back.

 

Term Paper

 

Students write a term paper describing the development of the test designed by the class. I provide an outline to follow in writing the paper. Other than the outline, the paper will follow all APA guidelines for writing research reports.

 

Peer Evaluation

 

Students work in small groups during the test development phase of the course. The other members of a student's group evaluate the students' contribution to the group's work by assigning points that make up approximately 5% of the final grade. I provide guidelines for assigning points appropriately.

 

Final Grades

 

I use the plus/minus grading system, but do not assign grades of D+ or D-.

 

I use the web gradebook to provide feedback to students.

 

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Last Modified: 21 June 2001