Kinds of tests

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 369.

Most tests are designed to measure one of several characteristics. These characteristics are (1) learning ability, (2) learning achievement, (3) aptitude and interest, or (4) personality.

Tests of learning ability attempt to predict how well an individual will perform in a situation requiring intellectual ability. These tests are sometimes called intelligence tests, mental ability tests, academic aptitude tests, or scholastic aptitude tests.

A learning ability test consists of a standard set of tasks or questions. It enables a student to demonstrate the skills learned throughout the individual's life, both in and out of school. Tests of learning ability do not measure how "bright" a person is. Educators use the terms intelligence and mental ability simply to describe a person's ability to solve certain kinds of problems typically involved in schoolwork. These terms do not reflect a person's ability in all areas. See INTELLIGENCE; INTELLIGENCE QUOTIENT.

Achievement tests try to measure how much an individual has learned about a particular subject, rather than the general ability for learning. Schools use achievement tests more than any other kind of test. Throughout elementary school, high school, and college, most teachers rely on such tests when rating a student's progress. Special achievement tests are used to license people in such professions as law, medicine, and accounting.

Many teachers prepare achievement tests that closely follow their own method of instruction. They also use standardized achievement tests. These tests are available on many subjects or topics, including division of fractions, American history before 1776, and chemical equations. Some schools ask students to take standardized achievement tests, as well as scholastic ability tests, for admission or placement.

There are two types of achievement tests--norm-referenced and criterion-referenced. In norm-referenced tests, each person's performance is compared with those of others who took the test. A student who answers some questions incorrectly would still rank high if most other students answered a larger number of questions incorrectly. But in criterion-referenced tests, each person's performance is compared with a predetermined standard or criterion. For example, a teacher might decide that 90 per cent of the questions on a test must be answered correctly for a student to earn a passing grade.

Aptitude and interest tests reveal an individual's talents or preferences for certain activities. A person who likes to tinker with machinery would probably score high on a test of mechanical aptitude. Such a person has an aptitude for mechanical work--and at least a fairly good chance of succeeding at it.

Interest tests are also known as interest inventories. In them, a person indicates a preference among large groups of activities, ideas, and circumstances. One of these tests might ask, "Would you rather fix a broken clock, keep a set of accounts, or paint a picture?" Most individuals prefer certain types of activities over others. The pattern of answers reveals the strength of a person's interest in various fields.

Personality tests attempt to measure an individual's personal traits scientifically. Some standardized personality tests consist of lists of personal questions requiring yes or no answers. The answers can be analyzed for various characteristics. For example, a person might score high in social introversion, which would indicate a strong preference for being alone. Such a person might find scientific research more satisfying as a career than teaching science in a classroom.

Another type of personality test, the projective test, requires individuals to tell what certain images mean to them. In a Rorschach test, for example, a person describes what he or she sees in a number of standardized inkblots. A trained counselor can often recognize behavioral tendencies in these descriptions. Psychologists use personality tests as clues for further study of an individual. They do not regard them as conclusive evidence about the individual's personality.

Most personality tests are less reliable and less valid than the other kinds of tests discussed here. Some people criticize their use as an invasion of privacy.