History of psychological testing. Introduction
The history of psychological testing reaches to 2200 B.C., as Chinese officials underwent fitness exams every third year. Over time, these tests evolved until the Han dynasty introduced written exams. Despite being gruelling, the Chinese failed to validate their selection methods. Nevertheless, the examination program did include relevant selection criteria.
Psychological testing forms the foundation of mental health treatment, gauging behaviours, emotions, and thoughts. A psychologist administers tests to assess symptoms’ cause, severity, and duration, guiding tailored treatment plans.
What is psychological testing
Objective tests involve preset responses (e.g., yes/no), while projective tests explore hidden emotions and conflicts. Both offer insights into functioning and distress levels, shaping understanding. Formal “norm-referenced” tests, including checklists and questionnaires, assess your ability to grasp concepts. Ensuring reliability, validity, and objectivity in scoring prevents bias. Psychological evaluations employ standardized and informal assessments, like surveys, interviews, observations, and medical history. These comprehensive tools enhance diagnosis and personalized mental health treatment.
Psychological tests, when administered correctly, aid in diagnosing and treating mental health conditions. Upon hearing “psychological testing,” questions arise: What will they ask? Will my answers be judged? No need to panic. Psychologists employ testing for diagnosis and treatment.
The history of modern psychological testing
The roots of modern psychological testing date back about a century, emerging from lab research. It was Francis Galton who pioneered the initial battery of tests.
Physiognomy, judging character by appearance, marks an early form of psychological testing. Its roots go back centuries to the fourth century. This practice influenced phrenology, which involves reading head “bumps.” Franz Joseph Gall is credited with phrenology’s founding, proposing localized brain functions. Johann Spurzheim popularized phrenology, and a machine called the psychograph, created in 1931 by Henry C. Lavery, measured it.
The brass instruments era of testing
Experimental psychology thrived in the late 1800s across Europe and Great Britain. Laboratories employed objective, replicable procedures to test human abilities. However, a flaw emerged: they confused sensory processes with intelligence. Various brass instruments gauged sensory thresholds and reaction times, believed to be at intelligence’s core. In 1879, Wilhelm Wundt established the world’s first psychological laboratory in Leipzig, driven by the idea that the speed of thought could vary among individuals.
Galton and the first battery of mental tests
Francis Galton (1822-1911) spearheaded experimental psychology in Great Britain, with an obsession for measurements. He proved that individual differences could be objectively measured, retaining the brass instrument tradition but refining data collection. His methods allowed data from countless subjects to be gathered promptly. These tests spanned both physical and behavioural domains, illustrating the feasibility of standardized, objective test development.
Cattell imports brass instruments to the United States
James McKeen Cattell, mentored by Wundt and Galton, became a leading figure at Columbia University for 26 years. Cattell’s focus was on individual differences, leading to the coining of the term ‘mental test.’ Wissler redirected experimental psychology, moving away from the use of brass instruments. In 1905, Binet introduced his intelligence scale, marking a significant development in the field.
Rating Scales and Their Origins
Rating scales, vital in psychology, quantify subjective psychological variables. Their history spans centuries. The roots of rating scales can be traced back to Galen in the second century. However, Christian Thomasius (1655-1728) was the first to devise and apply them for psychological variables.
Changing Conceptions of Mental Retardations in the 1800s
In the early 1800s, medical practitioners discerned reversible psychiatric impairments from persistent mental retardation, highlighting intellectual differences. This era marked the rise of humanism in the treatment of individuals with mental and psychological disabilities. This shift sparked a heightened focus on diagnosing and addressing mental retardation. Around the 19th century’s outset, doctors increasingly distinguished mental retardation from mental illness. Esquirol (1772-1840) formalized this distinction and introduced a classification system, with language skills as a primary diagnostic criterion. In the late 1800s, Edouard Seguin contributed to a more humane approach to mental retardation emphasizing education.
Influence of Binet’s early research on test for higher mental processes
Alfred Binet, the pioneer of intelligence testing, introduced the first modern intelligence test in 1905.Before venturing into intelligence testing, Binet had already established himself as a prolific researcher and author. He argued that intelligence should be assessed through higher psychological processes, not sensory ones. Binet and Simon developed a practical tool for selecting children requiring special school placement. This marked the inception of the first formal scale for comprehensive intelligence assessment, emphasizing classification over measurement. In 1908, Binet and Simon published a revised scale introducing the concept of mental level. This idea profoundly influenced intelligence testing’s evolution throughout the 20th century, known as mental age.
History of psychological testing from early 1900s to present
Binet’s mental test’s success revealed the practical potential of psychological inventions across various societal sectors. The abundance of early 20th-century tests played a pivotal role in shaping modern assessments.
Early uses and abuses of tests in the United States
The initial Binet-Simon scale’s translation marked a turning point. Goddard gained renown for using intelligence tests to identify those with impaired intellect. He advocated segregating impaired children to prevent societal “contamination. Goddard’s visit to Ellis Island reinforced his belief in high feeblemindedness rates among immigrants. He became an advocate for using intelligence tests to identify feebleminded immigrants. Goddard’s views were influenced by the social ideologies of his era. Early IQ tests also assessed giftedness, with Leta Stetter Hollingworth leading the way. Hollingworth showed that highly gifted children excelled in school compared to those with ordinary genius. She debunked the notion that gifted children would lag peers in motor skills. Hollingworth advanced IQ testing and proposed a fund to support gifted children’s development. Stanford professor Lewis M. Terman popularized IQ testing with his 1916 Stanford-Binet revision. This revision became the standard for intelligence testing for decades.
Group tests and the classification of WWI army recruits
Researchers sought group mental tests to supplement imported French tests. Initially, group tests faced slow adoption, partly due to laborious manual scoring. The pace quickened during WWI, driven by Robert M. Yerkes’ persuasion. Yerkes convinced the U.S. government and the army to assess all recruits for classification. This led to the creation of the army Alpha and army Beta tests. The Alpha comprised eight verbally oriented tests for average and high-functioning recruits. Meanwhile, the army Beta served non-English speakers and illiterate recruits with nonverbal assessments. These tests aimed to segregate the mentally unfit, classify based on mental ability, and place competent individuals responsibly.
History of early educational testing
Yerkes’s vision paved the way for group tests, and machine scoring enhanced efficiency in the 1930s.
Aptitude tests target specific abilities, focusing on a single domain. However, their development lagged intelligence tests due to two key reasons:
- Statistically, factor analysis was required to identify primary and distinct aptitudes, a process refined only in the 1930s.
- Socially, a practical application was absent until WWII, when the need arose to select highly qualified candidates for complex tasks.
Personality tests, as we recognize them today, didn’t emerge until WWI. They aimed to detect psychoneurosis susceptibility among army recruits. Woodworth pioneered these tests, while the MMPI added validity scales to identify fake and random responses.
The projective approach’s roots can be traced to Galton’s word association method and the Rorschach inkblots. Psychologists developed interest inventories for counselling the general population, inspired by Thorndike’s work. Structured personality tests gained prominence in the 1940s for clinical evaluation and assessing normal functioning.
History of psychological testing. Conclusion
Testing’s reach expands in the 21st century, serving both one-on-one clinical purposes and societal group testing. Evidence-based practice, which harmonizes research, clinical expertise, and patient values, resonates with the worldwide demand for verified results.
Tests expanded beyond intelligence to assess personality, brain function, work performance, and more. Today, psychological testing continues to evolve, serving diverse purposes in healthcare, education, and beyond.
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