PSY 425: Tests and Measures

Two-Person Presentations

In this course we will be reviewing a large number of concepts that apply to psychological assessment. Ultimately, however, the primary goal is to help you to apply these concepts to actual tests. Thus, you will be paired with another student and you will give a presentation on an applied area of assessment (see below).

Description:

                    The two-person topic presentation requires that two of you lead the class in the coverage of a specific area of assessment. This must include a detailed presentation of the development of a scale from the area you are covering. You should also have a critique which effectively illustrates the strengths and weaknesses of the scale you are presenting (i.e., what would you have done differently if you were developing the scale now?). You should have handouts for the class that emphasize the critical assessment concepts (e.g., test development issues, standardization, and various forms of reliability and validity). An important part of the presentation is your ability to find a published research article that plays a role in establishing the scale’s construct validity. Again, please critique its validation (strengths and weaknesses). Finally, your handout should include 5 test questions on your material (they can be in either MC or short answer format; and feel free to include the answers) and one class discussion question. A subset of these questions from all of the presentations will be used on the final exam (approximately 1/3^rd of the final exam questions will be drawn from your own test questions). The presentations should last a total of 30-40 minutes (i.e., approximately 15-20 minutes for each presenter). The hand-outs MUST be typed with a word processor and they must include a full reference section citing your sources using APA style.

Research articles can be found using PsycInfo (see electronic resources at the library). You need to start ASAP to give yourself enough time to use all of the library resources, especially inter-library loan.

You must choose a partner and sign-up for one by Tuesday's class. You must be in attendance on those days or you will be given a zero for your presentation. I will assign separate grades for each presenter.

Possible Topics

1.      Assessment in careers & business (any workplace assessments)                   

2.      Educational and developmental assessments (e.g., EOGs)

3.      Assessment with disabled populations

4.      Assessing ethnic minorities

5.      Assessment of attitudes and values

6.      Forensic Assessment

7.      Clinical and counseling assessments

8.      Integrity testing