PSYCHOLOGY

Psychological Testing and Assessment Selection

Psychological Testing and Assessment Selection

Introduction

The requirement and usage of assessment instruments has become an integral part of clinical setting in today's era of enhanced accountability and high stakes decision making. With the development of new testing techniques and tools, the need for their availability and the presence of qualified professional will continue to grow with the passage of the time.

As a technical term, 'psychological assessment' refers to methods developed to describe, record, and interpret a person's behavior, be it with respect to underlying basic dispositions (traits), to characteristics of state or change, or to such external criteria as expected success in a given training curriculum or in psychotherapeutic treatment. Methods of psychological assessment and testing constitute a major technology that grew out of psychological research, with widespread impact in educational, clinical, and industrial/organizational psychology, in counseling and, last but not least, in research itself (Naugle 2009).

Discussion

Question 1: What resources are available to assist counselors in selecting psychological test and/or assessments?

The following resources are available that can assist the counselor for selecting an appropriate test and/or assessment:

Resources that are available to the counselor is the use of information that includes the collection of information about clients, assessment of their traits (for example, stress and anxiety), or measurement of the personality kinds of clients (Erford 2007).

Counselors must keep in mind that they are using tests for the purpose of assessing, placing, and providing guidance, also assisting clients in order to enhance their self-knowledge, decision-making, and acquisition of new behaviors. They are used in a broad category of therapies such as marital, individual, and family purposes (Naugle 2009).

In addition to that, the testing process which can also serve as the resource or guideline for the counselor consists of the following steps (Dattilio et al. 2007):

Step 1: Selecting the test

When the purpose of testing is defined, then the counselor looks for a broad range of information on tests that are applicable to a particular client. After a thorough understanding of every test, the most appropriate test can be selected for the client.

Step 2: Administering the test

The administration of test is usually standardized by the developers of tests. Therefore, instructions must be followed in order to make a valid comparison of an individual's score with the norm group of the test.

Step 3: Scoring the test

The counselor is sometimes given the option of having the test machine scored rather than hand scored. Both the positive and negative aspects of this choice need to be considered.

Step 4: Interpreting the results

The interpretation of test results is usually the area which allows for the greatest flexibility within the testing process. Depending upon the counselor's theoretical point of view and the extent of the test manual guidelines, interpretation may be brief and superficial, or detailed and explicitly theory based.

Step 5: Communicating the results

Results of the tests must be communicated to the client that will complete the formal method of testing. However, the therapeutic skills are required when results are communicated ...