CHAPTER 1: PSYCHOLOGICAL  Central Processing:

TESTING AND ASSESSMENT Computerized scoring and

analysis performed at a
Key Terms and Definitions
central location.
 Accommodation: Adjustments
 Collaborative Psychological
in assessment procedures to
Assessment: An interactive
account for individual
approach where the assessor
differences or disabilities.
and client work together.
 Achievement Test: Measures
 Consultative Report: A
of proficiency in a specific
psychological assessment
area of knowledge or skill.
report prepared for
 Alternate Assessment: Non- professional use.
traditional assessment
 Cut Score: A predefined score
methods for evaluating
used to classify test takers into
performance.
categories.
 Behavioral Observation: The
 Dementia: A decline in
systematic recording of
cognitive function due to
behavior in naturalistic or
neurological damage.
controlled settings.
 Diagnosis: The identification of
 CAPA (Computer-Assisted
a psychological disorder
Psychological Assessment):
through assessment.
Use of digital tools in
administering and scoring  Diagnostic Test: A test
tests. designed to identify specific
psychological conditions.
 Case History: A record of an
individual's background  Dynamic Assessment: An
information used in approach that focuses on
assessment. learning potential rather than
static ability.
 Case History Data: Specific
data collected from an  Ecological Momentary
individual’s personal, medical, Assessment: The collection of
or academic history. real-time data about a
person's behavior and
 Case Study: A detailed
environment.
analysis of an individual’s
psychological functioning.  Educational Assessment:
Evaluation of a student’s
learning abilities and needs.
 Extended Scoring Report: A  Naturalistic Observation:
detailed report with in-depth Observing behavior in its
analysis of test results. natural environment.

 Format: The structure or  Panel Interview: An interview

organization of a test. conducted by multiple
assessors.
 Groupthink: A psychological
phenomenon where  Portfolio: A collection of work
individuals conform to group samples used for assessment.
decisions without critical
 Protocol: A standard
evaluation.
procedure for test
 Health Psychology: The study administration.
of psychological factors in
 Pseudodementia: A condition
health and illness.
resembling dementia but
 Informal Evaluation: A non- caused by psychiatric
standardized method of disorders.
assessing behavior or skills.
 Psychological Assessment: The
 Integrative Report: A process of measuring
comprehensive assessment psychological traits, states, or
report incorporating multiple abilities.
data sources.
 Psychological Autopsy: The
 Interpretive Report: A report posthumous analysis of
that includes expert analysis of psychological factors
test results. contributing to death.

 Interview: A structured or  Psychological Test: A

unstructured conversation standardized instrument used
used to collect assessment to measure mental functions.
data.
 Psychological Testing: The
 Local Processing: Test scoring administration and scoring of
and analysis conducted at the psychological tests.
testing site.
 Psychometrician: A specialist
 Motivational Interviewing: A in psychological
counseling technique that measurement.
enhances motivation for
 Psychometrics: The field of
change.
study concerned with
psychological measurement.
 Psychometric Soundness: The  Simple Scoring Report: A brief
reliability and validity of a test. summary of test scores without
interpretation.
 Psychometrist: A professional
trained in test administration  Social Facilitation: The
and scoring. influence of the presence of
others on performance.
 Q-Interactive: A digital
platform for administering  Teleprocessing: Remote
psychological tests. computer-based test scoring.

 Quality of Life: A subjective  Test: A standardized measure

measure of well-being and life used for psychological
satisfaction. evaluation.

 Rapport: The relationship of  Test Catalogue: A reference

trust between an assessor and book listing psychological
a test taker. tests.

 Remote Assessment:  Test Developer: A professional

Conducting psychological who creates psychological
assessments using digital tools. tests.

 Retrospective Assessment:  Test Manual: A guide detailing

Evaluation based on past test administration and
records or reports. interpretation.

 Role Play: A method where  Test Taker: An individual who

individuals act out scenarios completes a psychological
for assessment. test.
 Role-Play Test: A test that  Test User: A professional who
assesses behavioral responses administers and interprets
through role-playing. psychological tests.

 Score: A numerical  Therapeutic Psychological

representation of test Assessment: An approach that
performance. integrates assessment and
therapy.
 Scoring: The process of
calculating test results.  Utility: The practical
effectiveness of a test.
 Scoring Report: A document
summarizing test results.
CHAPTER 2: HISTORICAL, CULTURAL,  Confidentiality: The ethical
AND LEGAL/ETHICAL and legal obligation to protect
CONSIDERATIONS client information.
Key Terms and Definitions  Culture: The beliefs, customs,
and behaviors of a particular
 Affirmative Action: Policies
group.
designed to promote equal
opportunities for historically  Culture-Specific Test: A test
disadvantaged groups. designed to assess individuals
within a specific cultural
 Albemarle Paper Company v.
context.
Moody: A 1975 Supreme Court
case that reinforced the need  Debra P. v. Turlington: A legal
for job selection procedures to case addressing racial bias in
be valid and job-related. standardized testing.

 Alfred Binet: Psychologist who  Discrimination: Unfair

developed the first modern treatment of individuals based
intelligence test. on characteristics like race,
gender, or disability.
 James McKeen Cattell:
Introduced the term "mental  Disparate Impact: When a test
test" and emphasized disproportionately affects a
objective measurement in specific group.
psychology.
 Disparate Treatment:
 Charles Darwin: His theory of Intentional discrimination in
evolution influenced early testing or assessment.
intelligence testing.
 Ethics: Principles that guide
 Code of Fair Testing Practices professional conduct.
in Education: Guidelines to
 Eugenics: The controversial
ensure fairness in educational
practice of improving genetic
testing.
quality through selective
 Code of Professional Ethics: breeding.
Ethical guidelines for
 Francis Galton: Early
psychological testing
psychologist who studied
professionals.
intelligence and founded
 Collectivist Culture: Societies psychometrics.
that emphasize group goals
 Henry H. Goddard: Promoted
over individual achievements.
intelligence testing and
 eugenics in the early 20th  Litigation: Legal action
century. involving psychological tests or
assessments.
 Griggs v. Duke Power
Company: Supreme Court  Minimum Competency Testing
case that established the Programs: Assessments
need for employment tests to ensuring students meet basic
be job-related. skill levels.

 HIPAA (Health Insurance  Christiana D. Morgan & Henry

Portability and Accountability A. Murray: Developers of the
Act): Law protecting Thematic Apperception Test
individuals' medical records, (TAT).
including psychological data.
 ODDA: A psychological
 Hired Gun: An expert witness assessment tool used in
paid to support one side in a employment settings.
legal case.
 Karl Pearson: A pioneer in
 Hobson v. Hansen: A case statistics and correlation.
challenging racial bias in
 Privacy Right: The right to keep
intelligence testing.
personal psychological data
 Individualist Culture: Societies confidential.
that emphasize personal
 Privileged Information:
achievements over group
Information protected from
identity.
forced disclosure in legal
 Informed Consent: The process settings.
of explaining testing
 Projective Test: A type of
procedures and obtaining
psychological test using
agreement from participants.
ambiguous stimuli (e.g.,
 Jaffee v. Redmond: Supreme Rorschach test).
Court case affirming the right
 Psychoanalysis: Freud’s theory
to therapist-client privilege.
focusing on unconscious
 Larry P. v. Riles: A legal case processes.
that restricted the use of IQ
 Public Law 105-17: Law
tests for minority students in
governing special education
California.
(IDEA - Individuals with
 Laws: Legal regulations Disabilities Education Act).
governing psychological
testing.
 Quota System: A system that  Wilhelm Max Wundt: The father
sets numerical limits for group of experimental psychology.
representation.

 Reverse Discrimination: When

affirmative action policies
disadvantage majority groups.

 Hermann Rorschach:
Developed the Rorschach
Inkblot Test.

 Self-Report: A method where

individuals describe their own
behaviors or traits.

 Sputnik: The launch of Sputnik

led to increased emphasis on
standardized testing in
education.

 Standard of Care: The

professional standard
expected in psychological
testing.

 Tarasoff v. Regents of the

University of California: Case
establishing a psychologist’s
duty to warn potential victims.
 Truth-in-Testing Legislation:
Laws requiring transparency in
test development and scoring.

 David Wechsler: Developed

the Wechsler intelligence
scales.

 Lightner Witmer: Founded the

first psychological clinic.

 Robert S. Woodworth: Created

the Woodworth Personal Data
Sheet.
CHAPTER 3: A STATISTICS REFRESHER  Distribution: The arrangement
of data points within a
Key Terms and Definitions
dataset.
 Arithmetic Mean: The sum of
 Dynamometer: A device used
all values divided by the
to measure force or torque.
number of values.
 Effect Size: A measure of the
 Average Deviation: The mean
magnitude of a relationship or
of the absolute differences
difference between groups.
between each score and the
mean of the distribution.  Error: The difference between
an observed value and the
 Bar Graph: A visual
true value.
representation of categorical
data using rectangular bars.  Evidence-Based Practice:
Decision-making based on
 Bimodal Distribution: A
empirical research.
distribution with two modes
(peaks).  Frequency Distribution: A
summary of how often
 Bivariate Distribution: A
different values occur in a
probability distribution
dataset.
involving two variables.
 Frequency Polygon: A
 Coefficient of Correlation: A
graphical representation of a
numerical measure of the
frequency distribution.
strength and direction of a
relationship between two  Graph: A visual representation
variables. of data.
 Coefficient of Determination:  Grouped Frequency
The proportion of variance in Distribution: A table that shows
one variable explained by data points grouped into
another. intervals.

 Correlation: A statistical  Histogram: A bar graph where

relationship between two data is grouped into
variables. contiguous intervals.

 Curvilinearity: A nonlinear  Interquartile Range: The range

relationship between two between the first and third
variables. quartiles (middle 50% of data).
 Interval Scale: A scale where
differences between values
 are meaningful, but there is no  Negative Skew: A distribution
true zero. where the tail is longer on the
left.
 Kurtosis: A measure of whether
a distribution is more peaked  Nominal Scale: A scale used
or flat compared to a normal for categorization without an
distribution. inherent order.

 Leptokurtic: A distribution with  Nonlinear Transformation: A

high kurtosis (sharp peak and mathematical transformation
heavy tails). that changes relationships
between values.
 Linear Transformation: A
mathematical conversion that  Normal Curve: A symmetric,
preserves relationships bell-shaped distribution of
between values. data.

 Mean: The arithmetic average  Normalized Standard Score

of a dataset. Scale: A transformed scale
that aligns scores to a normal
 Measurement: The process of
distribution.
assigning numbers to
attributes.  Normalizing a Distribution:
Adjusting a dataset to
 Measure of Central Tendency:
approximate a normal
A single value representing the
distribution.
center of a dataset (mean,
median, mode).  Ordinal Scale: A scale that
ranks data but does not
 Measure of Variability: A
assume equal intervals
statistic that describes how
between values.
spread out data is (range,
variance, standard deviation).  Outlier: A data point that is
significantly different from
 Median: The middle value in
other observations.
an ordered dataset.
 Pearson r: A measure of linear
 Mesokurtic: A distribution with
correlation between two
normal kurtosis.
variables.
 Meta-Analysis: A statistical
 Platykurtic: A distribution with
technique that combines
low kurtosis (flat peak and light
results from multiple studies.
tails).
 Mode: The most frequently
occurring value in a dataset.
 Positive Skew: A distribution  Standard Score: A transformed
where the tail is longer on the score that allows for
right. comparison across different
scales.
 Quartile: A statistical value
that divides data into four  Stanine: A nine-point scale
equal parts. that normalizes raw scores.

 Range: The difference  T Score: A standard score with

between the highest and a mean of 50 and a standard
lowest values. deviation of 10.

 Rank-Order Correlation  Tail: The elongated portion of

Coefficient: A measure of a skewed distribution.
correlation between ranked
 Variability: The extent to which
variables.
data points differ from one
 Ratio Scale: A scale with equal another.
intervals and a true zero point.
 Variance: The average
 Raw Score: An untransformed squared deviation from the
test score. mean.

 Scale: A system for measuring  z Score: A standardized score

variables. that indicates how many
standard deviations a value is
 Scatter Diagram/Scatterplot: A
from the mean.
graph that shows the
relationship between two
variables.
 Semi-Interquartile Range: Half
of the interquartile range,
measuring dispersion.

 Skewness: A measure of
asymmetry in a distribution.

 Spearman’s Rho: A rank-based

correlation coefficient.

 Standard Deviation: A
measure of dispersion in a
dataset.
CHAPTER 4: OF TESTS AND TESTING  Cumulative Scoring: A method
where each correct response
Key Terms and Definitions
adds to a total score.
 Age-Equivalent Scores: A type
 Developmental Norms: Norms
of developmental norm that
that compare test
compares a test-taker's
performance to age-related
performance to the average
expectations.
performance of others at a
specific age.  Domain-Referenced Testing
and Assessment: Assessment
 Age Norms: Test norms based
of a specific skill set or
on age groups rather than
knowledge area.
grade levels.
 Domain Sampling: Selecting
 Classical Test Theory (CTT): A
test items representative of a
theory that assumes each test
larger domain of behaviors.
score has a true score and an
error component.  Equipercentile Method: A
method of equating scores
 Construct: A theoretical
from different tests by aligning
psychological trait or
percentile ranks.
characteristic measured by a
test.  Error Variance: Variability in
test scores due to
 Content-Referenced Testing
measurement error.
and Assessment: An
assessment method focused  Fixed Reference Group
on specific subject content Scoring System: A scoring
rather than comparison with method where future test
peers. scores are compared to a
fixed norm group.
 Convenience Sample: A non-
random sample selected  Grade Norms: Test norms
based on availability. based on grade levels rather
than age.
 Criterion: A standard or
benchmark used to measure  Incidental Sample: A sample
test validity. selected without
randomization, often due to
 Criterion-Referenced Testing
convenience.
and Assessment: A testing
method measuring an  Local Norms: Norms derived
individual’s performance from a specific, localized
against a set standard. population.
 National Anchor Norms: Norms  Race Norming: Adjusting
designed to equate scores scores based on racial or
across different test versions. ethnic group performance.

 National Norms: Norms based  Sample: A subset of a

on a sample representative of population used for testing.
the national population.
 Sampling: The process of
 Norm: A reference point for selecting individuals for a
interpreting individual test study.
scores based on a larger
 Standardization: Establishing
sample.
consistent testing procedures
 Normative Sample: The group and scoring methods.
used to establish test norms.
 Standardized Test: A test
 Norming: The process of administered under uniform
establishing norms for a test. conditions.

 Norm-Referenced Testing and  State: A temporary

Assessment: A method psychological condition.
comparing an individual's
 Stratified-Random Sampling: A
score to a normative sample.
sampling method ensuring
 Overt Behavior: Observable representation of subgroups.
actions that can be assessed.
 Stratified Sampling: Dividing a
 Percentage Correct: A scoring population into subgroups and
method based on the sampling from each.
proportion of correct
 Subgroup Norms: Norms
responses.
derived from specific
 Percentile: A score indicating demographic subgroups.
the percentage of people
 Test Standardization: The
who scored lower.
process of ensuring
 Program Norms: Norms consistency in test
derived from specific administration.
educational or training
 Trait: A stable psychological
programs.
characteristic.
 Purposive Sampling: Selecting
 True Score Theory: A model
participants based on
stating that test scores consist
predefined criteria.
of a true score and an error
component.
 User Norms: Norms based on
test users rather than formal
sampling methods.
CHAPTER 5: RELIABILITY  Criterion-Referenced Test: A
test measuring performance
Key Terms and Definitions
against a standard.
 Alternate Forms: Different
 Decision Study: A study
versions of the same test.
evaluating test reliability in
 Alternate-Forms Reliability: A decision-making contexts.
measure of consistency
 Dichotomous Test Item: A test
between two test versions.
question with two possible
 Average Proportional Distance responses.
(APD): A method of estimating
 Discrimination: The ability of a
internal consistency.
test to differentiate between
 Classical Test Theory (CTT): A different levels of ability.
theory focused on test score
 Domain Sampling Theory: A
reliability.
theory about test content
 Coefficient Alpha: A measure representing a larger domain.
of internal consistency.
 Dynamic Characteristic: A trait
 Coefficient of Equivalence: A that changes over time.
reliability measure comparing
 Error Variance: The portion of
different test versions.
score variability due to errors.
 Coefficient of Generalizability:
 Generalizability Study: A study
A measure estimating score
analyzing sources of error
consistency across conditions.
variance.
 Coefficient of Inter-Scorer
 Heterogeneity: The degree of
Reliability: A measure of
variation in test scores.
consistency between different
scorers.  Homogeneity: The similarity of
test items in measuring a single
 Coefficient of Stability: A
construct.
measure of test-retest
reliability.  Measurement Error: The
difference between observed
 Confidence Interval: A range
and true scores.
estimating the true score of an
individual.  Parallel Forms: Different
versions of a test designed to
 Content Sampling: Error
be equivalent.
caused by variations in test
content.
 Parallel-Forms Reliability: A
reliability measure for two
equivalent test forms.

 Reliability Coefficient: A
numerical index of test
consistency.

 Test-Retest Reliability: A
measure of score stability over
time.
CHAPTER 6: VALIDITY  Predictive Validity: The extent
to which test scores predict
Key Terms and Definitions
future performance.
 Base Rate: The prevalence of
 Test Bias: Systematic errors
a characteristic in a
disadvantaging certain
population.
groups.
 Bias: Systematic error in test
 Test Fairness: Ensuring equal
scores.
validity across different groups.
 Concurrent Validity: The extent
to which a test correlates with
a criterion measured at the
same time.

 Construct Validity: The extent

to which a test measures a
theoretical construct.

 Content Validity: The extent to

which a test covers the entire
domain of a concept.

 Criterion: The standard against

which test scores are
compared.

 Criterion Contamination: When

a criterion is influenced by the
test itself.

 Discriminant Evidence:
Evidence that a test does not
correlate with unrelated
constructs.

 Face Validity: The superficial

appearance of a test
measuring what it claims to
measure.

 Incremental Validity: The

additional predictive power of
a test beyond existing
measures.