Imagine that you are the new principal of a new private elementary school that caters to gifted and talented children. Your task is to write a letter to the parents of the

Types of Cognitive Ability Tests.html

Types of Cognitive Ability Tests

An achievement test is a type of cognitive ability test that assesses the knowledge of a person about a specific subject. From the many types of achievement tests that exist, you must choose the one that best suits your purpose.

While choosing an achievement test, you must keep in mind the purpose of the test, the psychometric properties of the test, and test norms.

It may sound quite obvious, but it is important to know why the test is being administered. Ensure that the test is appropriate for the age group of the people being assessed. In addition, you must consider other practical issues such as the time taken to administer the test, the cost of the test, and difficulty in scoring.

The test must also be both reliable and valid. Make sure that the test manual provides a detailed description of the methods used by test developers for establishing the reliability and validity of the test. For example, if test publishers validated a test on a sample of Caucasian middle school children residing in an upper-middle-class area of the country, the test might not have the same level of validity for other populations.

Many standardized achievement tests provide norms for score comparisons. Norms are the standards against which the test scores are interpreted based on a standardized group of respondents taking the test. For example, to determine what level of performance on a particular achievement test is equivalent to the sixth-grade level, the test developers would administer the test to a large group of sixth graders. Then on the basis of the results, the performance standards are defined.

Personality Type.html

Personality Type

The content of which any given test is composed varies based on what construct is being measured. There are numerous different types of psychological assessments, and based on the content of the test, the format varies with it.

A common way in which information is gathered is through responses given to a series of statements. The statements are usually responded to using some type of scale, and the options on the scale vary along a continuum.

An example of a test that utilizes this type of assessment technique is the big five profile, which asks individuals to rate the degree to which they agree to given statements, and it measures five core personality traits.

Another type of test presents test-takers with statements and only offers two choices, or agree/disagree in order to gather responses.

For example, the Myers-Briggs Personality Indicator places individuals into four dichotomies based on their agree/disagree responses. In certain businesses and organizations, tests are given in order to estimate what type of management style job candidates have. As a means of deciding whether individuals would be a good fit with the company's values and goals, the management style inventory was created and also utilizes a two-choice response format.

Most of these tests are administered in settings controlled for environmentally confounding factors, and use a pencil and paper for individuals to complete the tests. Some newer tests, however, are taken at assessment centers and are given using a computer.