PSYCH 309 - EXAM 1 QUESTIONS WITH CORRECT ANSWERS LATEST UPDATE 2026
Define test and item - Answers Test:
Measurement device or technique used to
o quantify behavior
understand and predict behavior
• Items:
o Specific questions or problems that make up a test
o Specific stimulus to which a person responds overtly
o Can be scored or evaluated
Be able to define, recognize, and differentiate between states and traits - Answers state is temporary,
trait is an enduring quality
Define achievement, aptitude, and intelligence testing - Answers achievement is something you've
learned in the past, aptitude is potential for learning, and intelligence is a person's general ability to
learn
If a test is reliable its results are what? - Answers Consistent, similar, reproducible, etc
What are test batteries? - Answers Groups of tests administered together
Define representative sample and stratified sample. Know when and why representative and stratified
samples are collected. - Answers stratified sample: you divide the population into groups and then
select from each of the groups. Representative: individuals similar to those who would be in the
population. Stratified samples might be easier, and if you have distinct groups in the sample then
consider it
Define hypothetical construct - Answers not directly measurable, but we infer it exists because it gives
rise to measurable phenomena
Define operational definition, measurable phenomenon, and hypothetical construct - Answers
Operational definition: One of the items on your test; directly measurable way to assess hypothetical
construct.
Measurable phenomenon: something that can be measured that relates to hypothetical construct.
What is the difference between structured and projective personality tests? - Answers structured:
there are concrete answers people can give.
Projective: you can give any kind of answer; Rorschach test
Define psychological testing and psychological assessment. How are they different? - Answers
assessing is a whole group of tests; assessment includes non-written types of measures; a
psychologist can do an assessment, anyone can administer a test.
What is psychometry? What are the two major properties of psychometry? - Answers branch of
psychology dealing with the proper use of psych tests. Reliability and Validity.
What are norm- and criterion referenced tests? How is each unique? - Answers Norm-referenced
tests
• Compares a test-taker's performance with others. Compare an individual score against the
population.
• Can be answered many ways:
o Class standing
o Ranking
o Percentile rank
• Is the norm group an appropriate comparison group for this individual? How similar are they?
Criterion-referenced tests
• Measures performance against an established criterion (e.g., 70% score is a passing criterion, see
whether material was learned)
• Predicts performance outcome outside of the test
• Examples:
o No child left behind - can this child advance?
o EPPP: like the BAR for a clinical psychologist
Giftedness - if you score above a certain score you get to be part of the challenge program or
whatever
, What types of questions are answered by psychologists through assessment? - Answers diagnosis,
treatment planning, monitoring treatment progress, how to help clients make better life choices, how
to make 3rd parties make informed decisions
In what settings do psychologists assess and what is their primary responsibility in each? - Answers
Inpatient: hospitals and clinics,
Schools
Forensic (legal) settings
Employment settings
Career counseling: assessing interests, abilities, aptitudes
Pre-marital counseling: is a couple compatible? Should they get married?
What are the three properties of scales that make scales different from one another? Describe each -
Answers Magnitude: you can have more or less of something. "Moreness." Being able to rank things
by more or less amounts of the quantity.
a. Example: height, weight, etc.
b. Putting things into categories doesn't necessarily have magnitude. i.e. male/female
Equal Intervals: difference between two points on a scale has the same meaning as the difference
between two other points that differ by the same number of units. (distance between 2 points is
always the same)
c. The relationship between measured units and outcome can be described by a straight line or linear
equation (y = mx + b). If it's not interval, the curve isn't linear.
d. Non-equal interval: IQ diff of 125 vs. 135 & IQ diff of 85 vs. 95.
Absolute 0: your scale has a meaningful 0, where nothing of the measured property exists.
Extremely difficult if not impossible to define an absolute 0 point for many psychological qualities
Define frequency distribution and histogram? What kind of data are shown in each? - Answers
Histogram: Tells us the number of cases for each value
X-axis: range of observed values subdivided into equal intervals (usually lowest to highest)
Y-axis: column height represents how many times each value on the x axis was observed
Understand the concept of percentiles. - Answers if you're at a certain percentile, that percent of
people are BELOW you
Know the advantages and disadvantages of the different measures of central tendency and when to
use them - Answers Mean: arithmetic avg. in a distribution
Pros: takes each score into account. Interval-level statistic, more options than median or mode.
Cons: outliers exert a disproportionate influence - messes up the mean, and even without outliers the
"tail" pulls the mean
Median: middle score in the distribution
Pros: Undemocratic - not affected by outliers or skewed distributions
Cons: Discards all points except those at 50th %. Ordinal-level statistic: subject to limitations of
ordinal level of measurement
Good if you have outliers or skew or ordinal data, or when 50th percentile is interesting in its own
right
Mode: most frequently occurring score in the distribution
Pros: may be interesting regardless of distribution shape or level of measurement
Cons: nominal-level statistic. Subject o limitations. Extreme scores (even outliers) may have highest
rate of occurrence in a distribution
Useful with any level of measurement, but not used a lot
Define variance and standard deviation. - Answers Variance: average squared deviations about the
mean
Standard deviation: positive square root of the variance
Allows you to standardize
Understand Normal Distribution conceptually. - Answers mean is 0, SD is 1.
Define skewness and be able to identify positive and negative skew - Answers Skewness: index of the
degree to which symmetry is absent
Define kurtosis and be able to identify its different types, including leptokurtic, playtikurtic, and
mesokurtic. - Answers Kurtosis: how flat or how peaked the distribution is
Define test and item - Answers Test:
Measurement device or technique used to
o quantify behavior
understand and predict behavior
• Items:
o Specific questions or problems that make up a test
o Specific stimulus to which a person responds overtly
o Can be scored or evaluated
Be able to define, recognize, and differentiate between states and traits - Answers state is temporary,
trait is an enduring quality
Define achievement, aptitude, and intelligence testing - Answers achievement is something you've
learned in the past, aptitude is potential for learning, and intelligence is a person's general ability to
learn
If a test is reliable its results are what? - Answers Consistent, similar, reproducible, etc
What are test batteries? - Answers Groups of tests administered together
Define representative sample and stratified sample. Know when and why representative and stratified
samples are collected. - Answers stratified sample: you divide the population into groups and then
select from each of the groups. Representative: individuals similar to those who would be in the
population. Stratified samples might be easier, and if you have distinct groups in the sample then
consider it
Define hypothetical construct - Answers not directly measurable, but we infer it exists because it gives
rise to measurable phenomena
Define operational definition, measurable phenomenon, and hypothetical construct - Answers
Operational definition: One of the items on your test; directly measurable way to assess hypothetical
construct.
Measurable phenomenon: something that can be measured that relates to hypothetical construct.
What is the difference between structured and projective personality tests? - Answers structured:
there are concrete answers people can give.
Projective: you can give any kind of answer; Rorschach test
Define psychological testing and psychological assessment. How are they different? - Answers
assessing is a whole group of tests; assessment includes non-written types of measures; a
psychologist can do an assessment, anyone can administer a test.
What is psychometry? What are the two major properties of psychometry? - Answers branch of
psychology dealing with the proper use of psych tests. Reliability and Validity.
What are norm- and criterion referenced tests? How is each unique? - Answers Norm-referenced
tests
• Compares a test-taker's performance with others. Compare an individual score against the
population.
• Can be answered many ways:
o Class standing
o Ranking
o Percentile rank
• Is the norm group an appropriate comparison group for this individual? How similar are they?
Criterion-referenced tests
• Measures performance against an established criterion (e.g., 70% score is a passing criterion, see
whether material was learned)
• Predicts performance outcome outside of the test
• Examples:
o No child left behind - can this child advance?
o EPPP: like the BAR for a clinical psychologist
Giftedness - if you score above a certain score you get to be part of the challenge program or
whatever
, What types of questions are answered by psychologists through assessment? - Answers diagnosis,
treatment planning, monitoring treatment progress, how to help clients make better life choices, how
to make 3rd parties make informed decisions
In what settings do psychologists assess and what is their primary responsibility in each? - Answers
Inpatient: hospitals and clinics,
Schools
Forensic (legal) settings
Employment settings
Career counseling: assessing interests, abilities, aptitudes
Pre-marital counseling: is a couple compatible? Should they get married?
What are the three properties of scales that make scales different from one another? Describe each -
Answers Magnitude: you can have more or less of something. "Moreness." Being able to rank things
by more or less amounts of the quantity.
a. Example: height, weight, etc.
b. Putting things into categories doesn't necessarily have magnitude. i.e. male/female
Equal Intervals: difference between two points on a scale has the same meaning as the difference
between two other points that differ by the same number of units. (distance between 2 points is
always the same)
c. The relationship between measured units and outcome can be described by a straight line or linear
equation (y = mx + b). If it's not interval, the curve isn't linear.
d. Non-equal interval: IQ diff of 125 vs. 135 & IQ diff of 85 vs. 95.
Absolute 0: your scale has a meaningful 0, where nothing of the measured property exists.
Extremely difficult if not impossible to define an absolute 0 point for many psychological qualities
Define frequency distribution and histogram? What kind of data are shown in each? - Answers
Histogram: Tells us the number of cases for each value
X-axis: range of observed values subdivided into equal intervals (usually lowest to highest)
Y-axis: column height represents how many times each value on the x axis was observed
Understand the concept of percentiles. - Answers if you're at a certain percentile, that percent of
people are BELOW you
Know the advantages and disadvantages of the different measures of central tendency and when to
use them - Answers Mean: arithmetic avg. in a distribution
Pros: takes each score into account. Interval-level statistic, more options than median or mode.
Cons: outliers exert a disproportionate influence - messes up the mean, and even without outliers the
"tail" pulls the mean
Median: middle score in the distribution
Pros: Undemocratic - not affected by outliers or skewed distributions
Cons: Discards all points except those at 50th %. Ordinal-level statistic: subject to limitations of
ordinal level of measurement
Good if you have outliers or skew or ordinal data, or when 50th percentile is interesting in its own
right
Mode: most frequently occurring score in the distribution
Pros: may be interesting regardless of distribution shape or level of measurement
Cons: nominal-level statistic. Subject o limitations. Extreme scores (even outliers) may have highest
rate of occurrence in a distribution
Useful with any level of measurement, but not used a lot
Define variance and standard deviation. - Answers Variance: average squared deviations about the
mean
Standard deviation: positive square root of the variance
Allows you to standardize
Understand Normal Distribution conceptually. - Answers mean is 0, SD is 1.
Define skewness and be able to identify positive and negative skew - Answers Skewness: index of the
degree to which symmetry is absent
Define kurtosis and be able to identify its different types, including leptokurtic, playtikurtic, and
mesokurtic. - Answers Kurtosis: how flat or how peaked the distribution is
