Psychological Testing

A

Abuse

The creation of or allowing the creation of substantial risk of physical injury or emotional impairment that is non-accidental is known as abuse.

Accommodation

In assessment, the adaptation of the test, procedure, or situation, or the substitution of the test for another in order to make the assessment more suitable for an assesses with the exceptional needs is known as accommodation.

Acculturation

The process by which an individual's thoughts, behaviors, values, identity, and worldview develop in relation to the general thinking, behavior, customs, and values of a particular cultural group is known as acculturation.

Achievement test

Evaluation of accomplishment or the degree or learning that has taken place, usually with regard to an academic area, for educational assessment, minimum competency, for predictive purposes, in specific subject areas is known as achievement test.

Acquiescent response style

A way of responding to test items characterized by agreement with whatever is presented is known as acquiescent response style  and also referred to as acquiescence.

Actuarial Assessment

An approach to evaluation characterized by the application of empirically demonstrated statistical rules and probabilities; contrast with clinical prediction and mechanical prediction, is known as actuarial assessment.

Adaptive behaviour

Personal conduct that one is capable of modifying in age-appropriate ways to effectively address needs, demands and challenges is known as adaptive behaviour.

Adaptive testing

An examination method or procedure characterized by individually tailoring presentation of items to the test taker is known as adaptive testing and also referred to as tailored testing, sequential testing, branched testing, and response-contingent testing.

Addressing

A purposely misspelled word but easy to remember acronym to remind assessors of the following sources of cultural influence: age, disability, religion, ethnicity, social status, sexual orientation, indigenous heritage, national origin, and gender is known as addressing.

Affirmative action

Voluntary and mandatory efforts undertaken by federal, state, and local government, private employers, and schools to combat discrimination and to promote equal opportunity in education and employment for all is known as affirmative action.

Age norms

Norms specially designed for use as a reference in context of age of test taker who achieved a particular score; contrast with grade norm is known as age norm also referred to as age-equivalent norms.

Age Scale

A test with items organized by the age at which most test takers are believed capable of responding in the way keyed correct; contrast with point scale is known as age scale.

Alerting response

A brightening and widening of the eyes in response to stimulus, indicative of an infant's capacity for responsiveness is known as alerting response.

ALI standard

American law institute of legal insanity, which provides that a person is not responsible for criminal conduct, if at the time of such conduct, the person lacked substantial capacity either to appreciate criminality of the conduct to conform the conduct to the requirements of law is known as ALI standard.

Alternate assessment

An evaluative or diagnostic procedure or process that varies from the usual, customary, or standardized way a measurement is derived, either by some special accommodation made to the assessee or by alternative methods designed to measure the same variables  is known as alternate assessment.

Alternate forms

Different versions of the same test or measure is known as alternate measure.

Alternate item

A test item to be administered only under certain conditions to replace the administration of an existing item on the test is known as alternate item.

Alternate-forms reliability

An estimate to the extent to which item sampling and other errors have affected scores on two versions of the same test is known as alternate-form reliability.

Analogue behavioural observation

The observation of a person or persons in an environment designed to increase the assessor's chance of observing targeted behaviours and interactions is known as analogue behavior observation.

Analogue study

Research and behavioural intervention that replicate a variable or variables in ways that are similar to or analogous to the real variables the experimenters wishes to study; for example a laboratory study designed to research a phobia of snakes in wild is known as analogue study.

Anatomically detailed doll (ADD)

A human figure in doll form with accurately represented genitalia, typically used to assist in the evaluation of sexually abused children is known as anatomically detailed doll.

Anchor protocol

A test answer sheet developed by a test publisher to check the accuracy of examiners scoring is known as anchor protocol.

APA

American psychological association; in other sources, particularly medical texts, this may refer to the American Psychiatric Association.

Apgar number

A score on a rating scale developed by a physician, Virginia Apgar that embodies a simple, rapid method of evaluating newborn infants is known as apgar number.

Aphagia

A condition in which the ability to eat is lost or diminished is known a aphagia.

Aphasia

A loss of ability to express oneself or to understand spoken or written language due to a neurological defect is known as aphasia.

Apperceive

To perceive in terms of past perceptions (from this verb, noun apperception is derived) is known as apperceive.

Aptitude test

A test that usually focuses on more on informal as apposed to formal learning experiences and is designed to measure both learning and inborn potential for the purpose of making predictions about the test takers' future performance is known as aptitude test and also referred to as prognostic test, and especially with young children, a readiness test.

Arithmetic mean

A measure of central tendency derived by calculating an average of all scores in the distribution is known as arithmetic mean and also referred to simply as mean.

Army alpha test

An ability and intelligence test developed by military psychologists for use in world war 1 to screen literate recruits is known as army alpha test.

Army beta test

A nonverbal ability and intelligence test developed by military psychologists for use in world war 1 to screen literate and foreign-born recruits is known as army beta test.

Assessment center

An organizationally standardized procedure for evaluation involving multiple assessment techniques is known as assessment center.

Assimilation

In piagetian theory, one of two basic mental operations through which humans learn, this one involving the active organization of new information into what is already perceived, known, and thought is known as assimilation.

At risk

Defined in different ways by different school districts, but in general reference to functioning that is deficient and possibly in need of intervention is known as at risk.

At-risk infant or toddler

According to IDEA, the children of under 3 years of age who would be in danger of experiencing a substantial developmental delay if early intervention services were not provided is known as at-risk infant or toddler.

Attitude

A presumably learned disposition to react in some characteristic manner to a particular stimulus, in consumer psychology, in educational assessment, implicit, inventories, attitude interest scale, auditory apperception test is known as attitude.

Authentic assessment

Evaluation on relevant, meaningful tasks that may be conducted to examine learning of academic subject matter but that demonstrates the student,s transfer of  that study to real world activities is known as authentic assessment and also known as performance based assessment.

Average deviation

A measure of variability derived by summing the absolute value of all the scores in the distribution and dividing by the total number of scores is known as average deviation.

B

Bar graph

A graphic illustration of data wherein numbers indicative of frequency are set on the vertical axis, categories are set on the horizontal axis, and the rectangle bars that describe the data are typically non contiguous is known as bar graph.

Barnum effect

The consequence of one's belief that a vague personality description truly describes oneself when in reality that description may apply to almost anyone; sometimes referred to as "Aunt Fanny effect" because the same personality might be applied to anyone's Aunt Fanny is known as Barnum effect.

Basal level

A stage in a test achieved by a test taker by meeting some preset criterion to continue to be tested-for example, responding correctly to two consecutive items on an ability test contains increasingly difficult items may establish a "base" from which to continue testing is known as basal level.

Base rate

An index, usually expressed as a proportion, of the extent to which a particular trait, behaviour, characteristic or attribute exists in a population is known as base rate.

Behavioral assessment

An approach to evaluation based on the analysis of samples of behaviour, including the antecedents and consequences of the behaviour is known as behavioral assessment.

Behavioral neurology

The sub specialty area within the medical speciality of neurology that focuses on brain-behaviour relationships is known as behavioral neurology.

Behavioral observation

Monitoring the actions of others or oneself by visual or electronic means while recording qualitative or\and quantitative information regarding those actions, typically for diagnostic or related purposes and either to design intervention or to measure the outcome of that intervention is known as behavioral observation.

Bender visual-motor gestalt test

A widely used screening tool for neuropsychological deficits entails the copying and recall of designs; developed by Lauretta Bender, it is also referred to simply as "Bender" is known as Bender visual-motor gestalt test.

Bias

As applied to tests, a factor inherent within a test that systematically prevents accurate, impartial measurement, intercept observer in personality assessment, rating error and slope of test items validity is known as bias.

Bimodal distribution

A distribution in which the central tendency consists of two scores, occurring an equal number of times, that are the most frequently occurring scores in the distribution is known as bimodal distribution.

Biofeedback

A generic term that refers to psychophysiological assessment techniques designed to gauge, display, and record a continuous monitoring of selected biological processes such as pulse and blood pressure is known as biofeedback.

Biopsychosocial assessment

A multidisciplinary approach to assessment that includes exploration of relevant biological, psychological, social, cultural and environmental variables for the purpose of evaluating how such variables may have contributed to the development and maintenance of a presenting problem is known as biopsychosocial assessment.

Bivariate distribution

A graphic representation of correlation accomplished by the simple graphing of the coordinate points for values of the X-variable and the Y-variable is known as bivariate distribution and also known as a scatter plot, scatter diagram, or scattergram.

Bookmark method

An IRT-based method of setting cut scores that uses an item book, where items are placed in ascending order of difficulty and with experts making judgments and literally "bookmarking" items that exhibit the optimal level of difficulty for test items is known as bookmark method.

Brain scan

More formally referred to as a radioisotope scan, a procedure in neurology used to detect tumors and other possible abnormalities that entails the introduction of radioactive material into the brain for the purpose of tracking it's flow is known as brain scan.

Burnout

A psychological syndrome of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment is known as burnout.

C

CAPA

An Acronym that stands for computer assisted psychological assessment is known as CAPA.

Case history data

Records, transcripts, and other accounts in any media that preserves archival information, official and informal accounts, and other data and items relevant to an assessee, in clinical/counseling assessment, or in neurological assessment is known as case history data.

CAT

An acronym that stands for a neurological scanning technology called computerized axial tomography.

Categorical scaling

A system of scaling in which stimuli are placed into one of two or more alternative categories that differ quantitatively with respect to some continuum is known as categorical scaling.

Ceiling effect

Diminished utility of a tool of assessment in distinguishing test takers at the high end of ability, trait, or other attribute being measured is known as ceiling effect.

D

Decision study

Conducted at conclusion of a generalizability study, this research is designed to explore the utility and value of test scores in making decisions is known as decision study.