Tests of Aptitude and Achievement

Psychological Measurements

Lecture, Chapter12

Group Ability Tests
Advantages
    Cost-efficient
    Less expensive materials
    Less professional administration time
    Less administrator training
    More objective and reliable scoring
    Can be used with large numbers of individuals
    Broader application base
    Useful for screening and selection purposes

Several Notes of Caution
Use results with caution. Do not over interpret results or use for prediction purposes over extended periods of time

Be especially suspicious of low scores

Consider wide discrepancies as a warning signal

When in doubt refer for more in depth individual assessment

Aptitudes vs. Achievement
Achievement
    Evaluate the effects of a known or controlled set of experiences
    Evaluate the product of a course of learning
    Rely heavily on the content validation procedures

Aptitude
    Evaluate the effect of an unknown, uncontrolled set of experiences
    Evaluate the potential to profit from a course of training
    Rely heavily on predictive criterion validation procedures

Group Achievement
Stanford Achievement Test (SAT)
Stanford Early School Achievement Tests (SESAT)
Stanford Test for Academic Skills (TASK)

Metropolitan Achievement Test (MAT)

Group Mental Abilities (Intelligence) Tests
Kulmann-Anderson Test (KAT)
    K-12, primarily non-verbal
    Good for those who are developmentally disabled or non-English populations

Henmon-Nelson Test (H-NT)
    Single score for g
    Easy and quick to administer
    Excellent psychometrics (.64-.85 validity)

Cognitive Abilities Test (COGAT)
    Designed for low educated and English as 2nd language
    High reliability and validity
    Group College Entrance Tests

Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT)
    Mean of 500, STD of 100
    Main college entrance exam

Cooperative School & College Ability Test (SCAT)

American College Test (ACT)
    Mean of 16, STD of 5; range of 1 to 36
    Predicts overall college GPA as well as SAT but not GPA in the first year; content scores less reliable

Graduate Record Examination (GRE)
    Mean of 500; STD of 100
    Lacks predictive validity due to age bias; overpredicts performance of 25-34 years olds; underpredicts those ages 35-44

Miller Analogies Test (MAT)
    Strictly verbal; ability to detect relationships
    Very reliable but lacks predictive validity; age bias

Law School Admission Test (LSAT)
    Time pressure; difficult to finish
    Reading comprehension, logical reasoning, and analytical reasoning
    Reliable; predicts GPA in 1st year of law school

Nonverbal Group Ability Tests
Ravens Progressive Matrices
    Best known and most popular nonverbal test
    Minimizes cultural bias
    Larger standardization sample
    .7-.9 reliability
    Application for young children, problems with language, from external cultures, and brain injured
Description:
    Administered without use of language
    60 matrices, increasing in difficulty

Goodenough-Harris Drawing Test

    Either group or individually administered, quickest, easiest, and least expensive to administer. Used for a quick and rough estimate of intelligence.

    Subjects asked to draw a picture of a whole man or woman as best as they can

    Given credit (1 pt.) for each item included, 70 pts. Possible
    Mental age determined by comparing with norm sample
    Mean of 100, STD of 15
    Good reliability (.6-.9)
    Scores level off at 14-15, so best for young children
    Significantly related to WISC and WPPSI
    Easy and quick to administer

IPAT Culture Fair Intelligence Test

An attempt to rule out cultural bias in the testing process. Norms outdated and still needs more work to reach its goal

Properties:
    Relatively free of cultural and language influences
    Construction supervised by Cattell
    Covers 3 levels
    Moderately reliable
    Good correlation (.56-.85) with Wechsler and Binet
    Good choice for participant from Western Europe or Australia