PSY 361, Dr.Wininger
Specific Course Objectives

Section I

-Discuss different uses of tests and measures
-Discuss key differences between measuring physical versus psychological constructs, i.e., consistency, directness, precision
-Identify key historical events and figures in psychological testing
-Define measurement
-Differentiate among different levels of measurement
-Calculate and interpret common statistics associated with psychological testing (e.g., central tendency, variability, shape of distribution, correlation)
-Define standard deviation
-Identify uses of advanced statistics used for establishing construct validity, i.e., correlation, various forms of regression, ANOVA, discriminant analysis, and factor analysis
-Apply the standard normal curve table to standardized and raw data
-Use SPSS for entering data and running basic statistics

Section II

-Discuss classical true score, X = T + E
-Differentiate between systematic and random error
-Explain the assumptions of the classical true score model
-Define reliability
-Differentiate between reliability index and reliability coefficient
-Differentiate among the different reliability coefficients: stability, equivalence, stability & equivalence, precision, & internal consistency
-Differentiate between the two different types of internal consistency
-Explain inter-rater reliability
-Discuss factors affecting reliability (how do they affect it?)
-Define standard error of measurement (SEM)
-Calculate SEM
-Calculate a confidence interval for an individual score
-Use the formulas which correct for attenuation for a correlation coefficient.
-Use the formula for estimating reliability changes resulting from lengthening or shortening a test/measure

-Define Validity or Validation
-Discuss face validity
-Differentiate among the 3 major types of validity
-Discuss the process of establishing content validity
-Differentiate between concurrent and predictive validity
-Discuss the process of establishing criterion validity
-Discuss factors affecting criterion validity
-Interpret a criterion validity coefficient
-Calculate the standard error of estimate
-Calculate a confidence interval for an individual’s predicted score
-Differentiate among the different types of construct validity
-Demonstrate a basic understanding of factor analysis and how factor loadings are interpreted.

Section III

-Outline the steps to take when creating a measure
-Explain the difference between conceptualization and operationalization
-Differentiate among item formats for performance measures versus attitude, affect, and personality measures
-Given item frequency distributions, identify ceiling and floor effects
-Calculate and interpret item difficulty values
-Interpret item discrimination values
-Interpret an inter-item correlation matrix, item-criterion correlation values, alpha if item deleted values, eigen values, cumulative percentage values, scree plots, factor loadings,
-Calculate and interpret percentages, z-scores, t-scores, and percentiles
-Interpret stanine scores
-Discuss “faking” in testing
-Discuss means of dealing with faking and undesirable response styles
-Discuss means of detecting test/item bias
-Identify the various positions on fairness
-Discuss the pros and cons of computer testing
-Differentiate between confidentiality versus anonymity
-Identify the three levels of test complexity

Section IV

-Define measurement
-Differentiate among different levels of measurement
-Calculate and interpret common statistics associated with psychological testing (e.g., central tendency, variability, shape of
distribution, correlation)
-Define standard deviation
-Apply the standard normal curve to standardized and raw data
-Discuss classical true score, X = T + E
-Explain the assumptions of the classical true score model
-Define reliability
-Differentiate among the different reliability coefficients: stability, equivalence, stability & equivalence, precision, & internal
consistency
-Differentiate between the two different types of internal consistency
-Explain inter-rater reliability
-Define, calculate, and interpret standard error of measurement (SEM)
-Define Validity or Validation
-Discuss face validity
-Differentiate among the 3 major types of validity
-Differentiate between concurrent and predictive validity
-Interpret a criterion validity coefficient
-Differentiate among the different types of construct validity
-Demonstrate a basic understanding of factor analysis and how factor loadings are interpreted.
-Outline the steps to take when creating a measure
-Explain the difference between conceptualization and operationalization
-Calculate and interpret item difficulty values
-Calculate and interpret percentages, z-scores, t-scores, and percentiles
-Given an article on the development of an instrument, demonstrate your ability to evaluate the psychometric properties of the instrument.