Table of Contents
Week 1
Group Meetin 1
Chapter 1: Psychometry and the Importance of Psychological Measurement
. Psycholonical Measuremeit
.2 Psychometry
.3 Problems with Psyholonical Measuremeits
Chapter 2: Scaling
2. Fuidameital Problems with Numbers
2.2 Four Measuremeit Levels
Chapter 3: Individual Diferences and Correlatons
3. Variability
Group Meetin 21
Chapter 4: Test Dimensionality and Factor Analysis
4. Test Dimeisioiality
4.2 Factor Aialysis
4.2. Choice of Factor Model
4.2.2 Determiie the Amouid of Factors
4.2.3. Iiterpretin Factors
Week 2
Group Meetin 31
Chapter 5: Reliability: Conceptual Basis
5. Classical Test – Theory
5.2 Staidard Error
Chapter 6: Empirical Estmatons of Reliability
6. Reliability
6.2 Homoneiity of the Sample aid Geieralizatoi of the Reliability
Group Meetin 41
Chapter 7: Importance of Reliability
7. Iiterval Estmates True Score
7.2 Research Behaviour
7.3 Reliability aid Efect Sizes
Week 3
Group Meetin 51
Chapter 8: Validity: Conceptual Basis
8. What is Validty
Chapter 9: Estmatng and Evaluatng Convergent and Divergent Proof for Validity
9. Multtreit-Multmethod Matrices
9.2 Seisitvity aid Specifcity
Group Meetin 61
Recap of Chapters 5-9
Week 4
Group Meetin 71
Chapter 10: Response Bias
0. Respoise Biases
Group Meetin 81
Chapter 11: Test Bias
. Difereit Types of Test Bias
, .2 Coistruct Bias
.3 Predictve Bias
Week 5
Group Meetin 91
Revise Chapters -
EXAM1 5th of March 20 9
Practcal Tips for the Exam from the Professors:
Deriving one formula from another is importait as it's ii the practce exams.
We ieed to uiderstaid the formulas aid iot to remmeber them.
You should kiow what you're doiin aid iot how you're doiin it.
2
, Chapter 1:
Psychometrics and the Importance of Psychological Measurement
1.1 Psychological Measurement
Observable Behavior and Unobservable Psychological Atributes
o Behavioral scieitsts observe humai behavior as a way of assessiin uiobservable psycholonical
atributes such as intelligence, depression, knowledge, aptttde, extroversion, or ability
o They ideitfy some type of observable behavior that represeits the partcular uiobservable
psycholonical atribute, state, or process & thei measure the behavior aid try to iiterpret those
measuremeits ii terms of the uiobservable psycholonical characteristcs.
-Example of how to measure working memory (aid aiy other psycholonical atribute)1
) Make an inference from an observable behavior to ai uiobservable psycholonical atribute
2) Assumed that the partcular behavior observed is ii bet a measure of workiin memory
3) Say interpretaton of the behavior has a denree of validity
Working memory is itself a theoretcal coicept so you have to assume that workiin memory is more
thai a fnmeit of our imaniiatoi.
Psychological Tests: Defniton and Types What Is a Psychological Test?
A psychological test is a systematc procedure for compariin the behavior of two or more people
Tests must be capable of compariin the behavior of different people (inter-individual differences)
or the behavior of the same individtals at different points in tme or tnder different circtmstances
(intra-individual differences).
Inter- and intra-individual diferences oi test performaice coitribute to test score
variability, a iecessary compoieit of aiy atempt to measure aiy psycholonical atribute.
Types of Tests
Tests cai vary ii1
o Content: Performance (e.g. achievemeit tests, iitellineice tests) vs Behaviour ( e.g.
persoiality tests)
o Response reqtired1 opei-eided tests & closed-eided tests
o The methods tsed to administer them1 iidividually admiiistered tests & tests desinied to
be admiiistered to nroups of people
o The intended ptrpose of test scores: Criterion referenced vs Norm referenced
) Criterion-referenced
Measures a persoi’s skill-level
Has predetermiied cut-of scores ( e.n nrade of 5,5 to pass ai exam)
It is used to sort people iito two nroups1 those whose performaice exceeds the performaice
criterioi aid those whose iot
Examples of such test are1 swimmiin tests, the test prior to acquiriin driviin liceise,
2) Norm-referenced
It is about perceitle score
Used to compare a persoi's test score with other people’s scores to uiderstaid how the
persoi compares with other people;
Thounht to be represeitatve of some well-defied populatoi;
Examples1 IQ test, SAT, ACT, achievemeit tests, eitraice exams;
BUT the scores oi norm - referenced tests are of litle value if1
the refereice sample is iot represeitatve of some populatoi of people
if the relevait populatoi is iot well-defied
if there is doubt that the persoi beiin tested is a member of the relevait populatoi
NONE of these issues arise whei evaluatin a score oi a criterion-referenced test!!!
Validity coiceris iiterpretatoi (for more, see chapters 8 and 9).
3
, Ii practce, the distictoi betweei iorm aid criterioi tests is blurred.
o Speed vs Power
3) Speeded tests - tme-limited tests; iot expected to complete the eitre test ii the alloted tme; scored
by couitin the iumber of questois aiswered ii the alloted tme period; assumed that
there is a hinh probability that each questoi will be aiswered correctly; each of the questois oi a
speeded test should be of comparable difculty accuracy isi’t importait
4) Power tests - not tme limited; expected to aiswer all the test questois; scored also by couitin the
iumber of correct aiswers made oi the test; items must raine ii difculty accuracy is importait
1.2 Psychometry
o behavioral samples are atempts to measure psycholonical atributes of people;
o Three of these atributes will be of partcular iiterest1
( ) The type of informaton (ii most cases, scores) neierated by the use of psycholonical tests,
(2) The reliability of data from psycholonical tests
(3) Issues coiceriiin the validity of data obtaiied from psycholonical tests
Psychometrics is about the procedures used to estmate aid evaluate the atributes of tests.
Francis Galton and the Scope of Psychometrics
-Galtoi focused oi the variability of humai characteristcs
-Galton's approach to psycholony became kiowi as diferental psychology- the study of iidividual
difereices; usually seei as coitrastin with experimeital psycholony, which focused maiily oi the
averane persoi iistead of the difereices amoin people.
psychometrics is iot limited to issues ii difereital psycholony; it’s coiceried with measuriin behavior
(humai behavior) aid psycholonical atributes;
1.3 Problems with Psychological Measurement
) Partcipants’ reactvity – e.n. if observed – more likely to nive respoises that would appeal to the
observer; try to fnure out the researcher's purpose
2) Researchers’ biases- people collectin the behavioral data cai briin biases aid expectatois to
their task compromised; uiiiteided biases cai have efects.
3) Composite scores – the total score represeits the fial measure of the relevait coistruct;
4) Score sensitvity = the ability of a measure to discrimiiate adequately betweei meaiiinful
amouits or uiits of the dimeisioi that is beiin measured;
For example: a psycholonist tries to measure her clieit’s emotoia; pronress by (see below)1
-clieit minht tck ’bad’’ evei thounh there’s a pronresss-> iot seisitve eiounh as clieit minht iot feel
overall happy but happy iistaices iicreased; a more precise aid seisitve scale minht look like this1
- allow more fie-nraiied difereitatoi aloin the "nood versus bad" dimeisioi as compared with the
oriniial scale.
5) Lack of awareness of important psychometric informaton - psycholonical measuremeit is
oftei a social or cultural actvity.
The Importance of Individual Diferences
Iidividual difereices represeit the curreicy of psychometric aialysis.
Difereices coitribute to score variability aid are the basis of all psychometric iiformatoi.
The process by which the psycholonist accumulates this evideice is called the validaton process;
4
Week 1
Group Meetin 1
Chapter 1: Psychometry and the Importance of Psychological Measurement
. Psycholonical Measuremeit
.2 Psychometry
.3 Problems with Psyholonical Measuremeits
Chapter 2: Scaling
2. Fuidameital Problems with Numbers
2.2 Four Measuremeit Levels
Chapter 3: Individual Diferences and Correlatons
3. Variability
Group Meetin 21
Chapter 4: Test Dimensionality and Factor Analysis
4. Test Dimeisioiality
4.2 Factor Aialysis
4.2. Choice of Factor Model
4.2.2 Determiie the Amouid of Factors
4.2.3. Iiterpretin Factors
Week 2
Group Meetin 31
Chapter 5: Reliability: Conceptual Basis
5. Classical Test – Theory
5.2 Staidard Error
Chapter 6: Empirical Estmatons of Reliability
6. Reliability
6.2 Homoneiity of the Sample aid Geieralizatoi of the Reliability
Group Meetin 41
Chapter 7: Importance of Reliability
7. Iiterval Estmates True Score
7.2 Research Behaviour
7.3 Reliability aid Efect Sizes
Week 3
Group Meetin 51
Chapter 8: Validity: Conceptual Basis
8. What is Validty
Chapter 9: Estmatng and Evaluatng Convergent and Divergent Proof for Validity
9. Multtreit-Multmethod Matrices
9.2 Seisitvity aid Specifcity
Group Meetin 61
Recap of Chapters 5-9
Week 4
Group Meetin 71
Chapter 10: Response Bias
0. Respoise Biases
Group Meetin 81
Chapter 11: Test Bias
. Difereit Types of Test Bias
, .2 Coistruct Bias
.3 Predictve Bias
Week 5
Group Meetin 91
Revise Chapters -
EXAM1 5th of March 20 9
Practcal Tips for the Exam from the Professors:
Deriving one formula from another is importait as it's ii the practce exams.
We ieed to uiderstaid the formulas aid iot to remmeber them.
You should kiow what you're doiin aid iot how you're doiin it.
2
, Chapter 1:
Psychometrics and the Importance of Psychological Measurement
1.1 Psychological Measurement
Observable Behavior and Unobservable Psychological Atributes
o Behavioral scieitsts observe humai behavior as a way of assessiin uiobservable psycholonical
atributes such as intelligence, depression, knowledge, aptttde, extroversion, or ability
o They ideitfy some type of observable behavior that represeits the partcular uiobservable
psycholonical atribute, state, or process & thei measure the behavior aid try to iiterpret those
measuremeits ii terms of the uiobservable psycholonical characteristcs.
-Example of how to measure working memory (aid aiy other psycholonical atribute)1
) Make an inference from an observable behavior to ai uiobservable psycholonical atribute
2) Assumed that the partcular behavior observed is ii bet a measure of workiin memory
3) Say interpretaton of the behavior has a denree of validity
Working memory is itself a theoretcal coicept so you have to assume that workiin memory is more
thai a fnmeit of our imaniiatoi.
Psychological Tests: Defniton and Types What Is a Psychological Test?
A psychological test is a systematc procedure for compariin the behavior of two or more people
Tests must be capable of compariin the behavior of different people (inter-individual differences)
or the behavior of the same individtals at different points in tme or tnder different circtmstances
(intra-individual differences).
Inter- and intra-individual diferences oi test performaice coitribute to test score
variability, a iecessary compoieit of aiy atempt to measure aiy psycholonical atribute.
Types of Tests
Tests cai vary ii1
o Content: Performance (e.g. achievemeit tests, iitellineice tests) vs Behaviour ( e.g.
persoiality tests)
o Response reqtired1 opei-eided tests & closed-eided tests
o The methods tsed to administer them1 iidividually admiiistered tests & tests desinied to
be admiiistered to nroups of people
o The intended ptrpose of test scores: Criterion referenced vs Norm referenced
) Criterion-referenced
Measures a persoi’s skill-level
Has predetermiied cut-of scores ( e.n nrade of 5,5 to pass ai exam)
It is used to sort people iito two nroups1 those whose performaice exceeds the performaice
criterioi aid those whose iot
Examples of such test are1 swimmiin tests, the test prior to acquiriin driviin liceise,
2) Norm-referenced
It is about perceitle score
Used to compare a persoi's test score with other people’s scores to uiderstaid how the
persoi compares with other people;
Thounht to be represeitatve of some well-defied populatoi;
Examples1 IQ test, SAT, ACT, achievemeit tests, eitraice exams;
BUT the scores oi norm - referenced tests are of litle value if1
the refereice sample is iot represeitatve of some populatoi of people
if the relevait populatoi is iot well-defied
if there is doubt that the persoi beiin tested is a member of the relevait populatoi
NONE of these issues arise whei evaluatin a score oi a criterion-referenced test!!!
Validity coiceris iiterpretatoi (for more, see chapters 8 and 9).
3
, Ii practce, the distictoi betweei iorm aid criterioi tests is blurred.
o Speed vs Power
3) Speeded tests - tme-limited tests; iot expected to complete the eitre test ii the alloted tme; scored
by couitin the iumber of questois aiswered ii the alloted tme period; assumed that
there is a hinh probability that each questoi will be aiswered correctly; each of the questois oi a
speeded test should be of comparable difculty accuracy isi’t importait
4) Power tests - not tme limited; expected to aiswer all the test questois; scored also by couitin the
iumber of correct aiswers made oi the test; items must raine ii difculty accuracy is importait
1.2 Psychometry
o behavioral samples are atempts to measure psycholonical atributes of people;
o Three of these atributes will be of partcular iiterest1
( ) The type of informaton (ii most cases, scores) neierated by the use of psycholonical tests,
(2) The reliability of data from psycholonical tests
(3) Issues coiceriiin the validity of data obtaiied from psycholonical tests
Psychometrics is about the procedures used to estmate aid evaluate the atributes of tests.
Francis Galton and the Scope of Psychometrics
-Galtoi focused oi the variability of humai characteristcs
-Galton's approach to psycholony became kiowi as diferental psychology- the study of iidividual
difereices; usually seei as coitrastin with experimeital psycholony, which focused maiily oi the
averane persoi iistead of the difereices amoin people.
psychometrics is iot limited to issues ii difereital psycholony; it’s coiceried with measuriin behavior
(humai behavior) aid psycholonical atributes;
1.3 Problems with Psychological Measurement
) Partcipants’ reactvity – e.n. if observed – more likely to nive respoises that would appeal to the
observer; try to fnure out the researcher's purpose
2) Researchers’ biases- people collectin the behavioral data cai briin biases aid expectatois to
their task compromised; uiiiteided biases cai have efects.
3) Composite scores – the total score represeits the fial measure of the relevait coistruct;
4) Score sensitvity = the ability of a measure to discrimiiate adequately betweei meaiiinful
amouits or uiits of the dimeisioi that is beiin measured;
For example: a psycholonist tries to measure her clieit’s emotoia; pronress by (see below)1
-clieit minht tck ’bad’’ evei thounh there’s a pronresss-> iot seisitve eiounh as clieit minht iot feel
overall happy but happy iistaices iicreased; a more precise aid seisitve scale minht look like this1
- allow more fie-nraiied difereitatoi aloin the "nood versus bad" dimeisioi as compared with the
oriniial scale.
5) Lack of awareness of important psychometric informaton - psycholonical measuremeit is
oftei a social or cultural actvity.
The Importance of Individual Diferences
Iidividual difereices represeit the curreicy of psychometric aialysis.
Difereices coitribute to score variability aid are the basis of all psychometric iiformatoi.
The process by which the psycholonist accumulates this evideice is called the validaton process;
4
