Glossary / Lexicon

Test refers to a task or set of tasks given under standard conditions with the purpose of assessing some aspect of the subject’s (that is the client/patient) knowledge, skill, personality, or condition.

Description

In psychology, a test refers to a standardized or objective measure used to assess a person's abilities, personality traits, behaviors, or mental health. Tests can vary in format, including written exams, interviews, observations, and self-report questionnaires. They are designed to provide valuable information about an individual's characteristics, functioning, and potential areas of concern. Tests are often used in clinical settings, research studies, educational institutions, and employment assessments to aid in decision-making and understanding human behavior.

Application Areas

• Clinical psychology
• Forensic psychology
• Industrial-organizational psychology
• Educational psychology
• Neuropsychology

Treatment and Risks

• Treatment: Tests can help professionals diagnose mental health conditions and develop appropriate treatment plans.
• Risks: Inaccurate test results may lead to misdiagnosis or inappropriate interventions.

Examples

• Intelligence tests (e.g., IQ tests)
• Personality assessments (e.g., Myers-Briggs Type Indicator)
• Behavioral observations

Similar Concepts and Synonyms

• Assessment
• Evaluation
• Measurement
• Screening

Weblinks

• information-lexikon.de: 'Test' in the information-lexikon.de (German)
• umweltdatenbank.de: 'Test' im Lexikon der umweltdatenbank.de (German)
• allerwelt-lexikon.de: 'Test' in the allerwelt-lexikon.de (German)
• kriminal-lexikon.de: 'Test' in the kriminal-lexikon.de (German)

Articles with 'Test' in the title

• Brain Mapping Test: Brain Mapping Test or the P300 refers to a test which was developed and patented in 1995 by neurologist Dr. Lawrence A. Farwell, Director and Chief Scientist "Brain Wave Science”, IOWA
• Chi-Square test for independence: Chi-Square test for independence: Chi-square test for independence refers to a statistical test usually used to determine whether the data in a contingency table are statistically significant
• Cultural/test-bias hypothesis: Cultural/test-bias hypothesis refers to the notion that IQ tests and testing procedures have a built-in, middle-class bias that explains the substandard performance of children from lower-class and minority subcultures
• Culture-fair IQ test: Culture-fair IQ test refers to a tests that are fair for all members in a culture. A culture-fair IQ test is a type of intelligence test that aims to minimize the impact of cultural and social factors on test performance
• Dexamethasone suppression test: Dexamethasone suppression test (DST) refers to a method of testing neuroendocrine functioning by injecting the individual with Dexamethasone, which in normal individuals results in the suppression of cortisol
• Dexamethasone suppression test (DST): Dexamethasone suppression test (DST) is defined as a method of testing neuroendocrine functioning by injecting the individual with Dexamethasone, which in normal individuals results in the suppression of cortisol
• Diagnostic test/assessment: Diagnostic test/assessment refers to a test which is used for the purposes of discovering a learner's specific strengths or weaknesses. The results may be used in making decisions on future training, learning or teaching
• Hypothesis test: Hypothesis test refers to an inferential statistical procedure that uses sample data to evaluate the Credibility of a hypothesis about a population. A hypothesis test determines wheth er research results are statistically significant
• Implicit Association Test (IAT): Implicit Association Test (IAT) : Implicit Association Test or IAT refers to a reaction time procedure that provides a measure of implicit attitudes
• Incremental exercise test: Incremental exercise test refers to an exercise test involving a progressive increase in work rate over time. Often graded exercise tests are used to determine the subject's VO2 max o r lactate threshold
• Intelligence test: Intelligence test refers to a questionnaire or series of exercises designed to measure intelligence. It is generally understood that intelligence tests are less a measure of innate ability to learn as of what the person tested has already l . . .
• IQ-Test: IQ-Test: IQ test, short for , is a standardized assessment designed to measure an individual's cognitive abilities and intellectual potential. These tests are widely used in psychology to evaluate a person's problem-solving skills, reasonin . . .
• Irresistible impulse test: Irresistible impulse test refers to a standard for judging legal insanity which holds that a defendant is not guilty of a criminal offense if the person, by virtue of their mental state or psychological condition, was not able to resist com . . .
• Lie Detection Test: Lie Detection Test refers to an examination which is based on an assumption that there is an interaction between the mind and body and is conducted by various components or the sensor- s of a polygraph machine, which are attached to the bod . . .
• Multiple Sleep Latency Test: Multiple Sleep Latency Test: Multiple Sleep Latency Test or MSLT refers to a standardized procedure used to measure daytime sleepiness. During the test, the patient is asked to stay awake for certain lengths of time and then to take short-d . . .
• Narco analysis test: Narco analysis test refers to a test using the "truth serum". Narco analysis test is conducted by mixing 3 grams of Sodium Pentothal or Sodium Amytal dissolved in 3000 ml
• Nocturnal penile tumescence test: Nocturnal penile tumescence test (NPT test)refers to a study performed to evaluate erections during sleep that helps clarify the causes of erectile dysfunction
• NTP test: NTP test is the abbreviations of Nocturnal penile tumescence test which refers to a study performed to evaluate erections during sleep that helps clarify the causes of erectile dysf unction
• Polygraph Detection Test: Polygraph Detection Test refers to an electronic test intended to determine honesty by measuring an individual"s physiological changes after being asked questions
• Polygraph Test: Polygraph Test refers to an examination which is based on an assumption that there is an interaction between the mind and body and is conducted by various components or the sensors of- a polygraph machine, which are attached to the body of . . .
• Power Test: Power Test is defined as a test that measures the quantity of work accomplished in a time period. Examples of Power Tests are: Anaerobic Power Tests that include the Margaria stair climb test and the Wingate test
• Projective test: Projective test: projective test refers to Psychoanalytically based measure that presents ambiguous stimuli to clients on the assumption that their responses can reveal their unconscious conflicts
• Psychological test: Psychological test is defined as a standardized measure of a sample of a person's behavior. Psychological test refers to a device for measuring characteristics of human beings that pertain to overt (observable) and covert (intra-individual) . . .
• TAT (Thematic Apperception Test): TAT (Thematic Apperception Test) refers to a projective personality test in which test-takers are shown pictures and asked to tell stories- a projective technique that purports to reveal patients' personality characteristics by interpreting . . .
• Test battery: A Test battery is a group of subtests, each assessing a different subject area but all normed on the same sample- designed to be administered to the same group of test takers
• Test-retest reliability: Test-retest reliability refers to a method for testing whether self-reports are reliable or accurate- participants are interviewed (or given a questionnaire) and then interviewed a second time sometime later to determine whether their answe . . .
• Thematic Apperception Test: Thematic Apperception Test: Thematic Apperception Test refers to an exercise originating in psychotherapy, designed to allow the subject to project hidden feelings or associations onto a neutral object or scene
• Wide Range Achievement Test: Wide Range Achievement Test refers to a Screening test that can be administered to determine if a more comprehensive Achievement test is needed. Achievement tests refer to skills that- individuals learn through direct instruction or interve . . .
• Wilkinson Addition Test: Wilkinson Addition Test: Wilkinson addition test refers to a performance test in which the subjects add numbers for one hour. Often included in a battery of tests to measure the impact of acute or chronic sleep loss
• Conditional reasoning tests: Conditional reasoning tests: Conditional reasoning tests refer to tests developed to reduce inaccurate responses and get a more accurate picture of a person’s tendency to engage in aggressive or counterproductive behavior
• List of psychological tests: List of psychological tests: This is an incomplete list of psychological tests. They are often used by professionals. Depression Inventory, Burns Depression / Anxiety checklists, Conner's Rating Scale, Dementia Rating Scale, Eysenck Persona . . .
• Personality tests: Personality tests refer to tests that measures overt and covert dispositions of individuals- the tendency that individuals will show a particular behavior or response in any given situation
• Projective Tests: Projective Tests refers to a form of assessment that presents the child with ambiguous stimuli, such as inkblots or pictures of people. The hypothesis is that the child will "project” his or her own personality on the ambiguous stimuli of . . .
• Standardized test: Standardized test refers to a test that compares a child's performance with the performance of a large group of similar children (usually children of the same age)
• Stress test: Stress test : Stress test refers to an exercise test to diagnose coronary artery disease.
• Developmental Tests: Developmental Tests refer to tests which are used to assess infants and young children that are generally carried out for the purposes of screening, diagnosis, and evaluation of early- development
• Sentence-completion test: Sentence-completion test refers to a form of projective test that asks the person to finish sentences- the response is used to better understand personality
• Explicit memory test: Explicit memory test : Explicit memory test refers to a memory test that requires a person to try consciously to remember specific events.
• Implicit memory tests: Implicit memory tests : Implicit memory tests refer to a "memory tests" that do not require a person to explicitly remember specific experiences but that spontaneously exhibits the effects of those experiences
• In-basket test: In-basket test refers to a testing procedure that simulates the individual decision-making challenges that executives face .
• Neuropsychological tests: Neuropsychological tests refers to formal ways of measuring behavioral functions that may be impaired by brain lesions. - Neuropsychological tests are traditionally defined as those measures that are sensitive indicators of brain . . .
• Achievement tests: Achievement tests are tests that assess past learning across a variety of different subjects, particularly learning that is associated with training or academic programs
• Word association test: Word association test: word association test refers to a projective technique in which a person responds to a stimulus word with whatever word comes to mind
• Yes/no recognition test: Yes/no recognition test: yes/no recognition test refers to a memory test on which subjects decide whether each item was studied or not by saying "yes it was" or "no it was not"
• Cognitive ability tests: Cognitive ability tests refer to tests designed to measure the level of intelligence or the amount of knowledge possessed by an applicant.
• Commercial achievement tests: Commercial achievement tests refers to a typically norm-referenced test that compares a pupil's score to a national group of similar pupils.
• Computer-based test interpretations (CBTIs): Computer-based test interpretations (CBTIs) : Computer-based test interpretations (CBTIs) refers to the interpretive profiles generated by computer scoring programs for various psychological tests
• Culture fair tests: Culture fair tests refer to intelligence tests constructed to minimize any irrelevant cultural biases in test content that could influence test performance
• Culture-relevant tests: Culture-relevant tests : Culture-relevant tests refer to measurement of skills and knowledge that relate to the cultural experiences of the test-takers
• Computerized test: Computerized test refers to a test that uses a computer to present life-like situations- test takers react to problems posed by the situations.
• Criterion-referenced test: Criterion-referenced test is defined as a test that describes the specific types of skills, tasks, or knowledge of an individual relative to a well-defined mastery criterion
• Culture-fair test: Culture-fair test refers to a test, as in intelligence test that is designed to minimize the importance of skills and knowledge that may be more common in some cultures than in others
• Field test: Field test is defined as a test of physical performance performed in the field or natural setting/environment, that is outside the laboratory ).
• Forced-choice recognition test: Forced-choice recognition test is defined as a test in which the participant must select between two (2) or more statements- usually used to control response styles
• Group intelligence test: Group intelligence test : Group intelligence test is defined as any intelligence test that can be administered to a group of people with minimal supervision
• Implicit Attitudes Test (IAT): Implicit Attitudes Test (IAT) : Implicit Attitudes Test (IAT ) refers to a method of measuring biological and psychological reaction time when a pair of values are presented
• Independent-measures t test: Independent-measures t test:
• Individual intelligence test: Individual intelligence test : Individual intelligence test refers to a test of intelligence designed to be given to a single individual by a trained specialist
• Intelligence tests: Intelligence tests defined as tests that assess a person's intellectual strengths and weaknesses
• Knowledge test: Knowledge test refers to a test that measures the level of an employee’s knowledge about a job-related topic.
• Life Orientation Test (LOT): Life Orientation Test (LOT) : Life
• Mental tests: Mental tests is the term coined by James McKeen Cattell to describe his measures of individual differences in reaction time. Cattell believed that performance on these tests was associated with intelligence
• Nonparametric test: Nonparametric test refers to hypothesis test that does not require numerical scores and does not involve a hypothesis about specific population parameters
• Norm-referenced test: Norm-referenced test refers to a test that evaluates each individual relative to a normative group.
• Objective personality tests: Objective personality tests: Objective personality tests are tests that typically use the questionnaire technique of measurement, for example, true/false or multiple-choice questions
• Objective test: Objective test refers to a test that gives the same score when different people correct it.
• Overt integrity tests: Overt integrity tests refer to a type of honesty test that asks questions about applicants’ attitudes toward theft and their previous theft history.
• Parametric test: Parametric test is a test of statistical inference in which assumptions are made about the underlying population distributions, usually that they are normally distributed
• Personality-based integrity tests: Personality-based integrity tests is a type of honesty test that measures personality traits thought to be related to anti-social behavior.
• Physical ability tests: Physical ability tests are tests that measure an applicant’s level of physical ability required for a job.
• Presymptomic test: Presymptomic test refers to an examination to predict the onset of a disease that is conducted before any symptoms appear
• Projective personality tests: Projective personality tests refer to tests in which the stimulus or the required response or both are ambiguous.
• Test-retest: In psychology, Test-retest refers to a method used to evaluate the reliability of a psychological test or measurement tool. It involves administering the same test to the same group of individuals on two separate occasions to assess the . . .
• Personality Test: Personality Test is a psychological assessment tool used to measure and evaluate an individual's character traits, behaviors, and attributes. These tests are designed to provide insights into a person's personality, often for purposes . . .
• Achievement test: Achievement test refers to a test designed to assess specific information learned in school.. Likewise, it is a standardized test designed to efficiently measure the amount of knowledge and/or skill a person has acquired, usually as a . . .

Summary

Tests in psychology are standardized measures used to assess various aspects of human behavior, personality, and mental health. They play a crucial role in clinical practice, research, and other settings by providing valuable information for decision-making and understanding individuals' characteristics. Tests can be used in a wide range of application areas, from clinical psychology to educational and organizational settings. However, it is essential to consider the potential risks of using tests, such as misinterpretation of results or inaccurate assessments.

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