Developmental psychology.pdf

348 Individual Differences
The advantages of individual tests pertain to the drawbacks of group tests. A
wide variety of test items is employed, and the examiner can note the efficiency of the
subject's responses, the conviction with which the subject reacts, and the methods by
which the answers are obtained. The examiner observes behavior, not pencil marks on
an answer sheet. In this way, the examiner may discover that the subject is correct but
without confidence, that the subject is brashly incorrect, or that the correct answer has
been obtained for the wrong reasons. This information may be extremely helpful in
understanding how the subject uses his or her abilities.
In administering an individual test, the examiner must adhere strictly to the
instructions, for then the subject's performance can be compared with that of others
who have taken the same test under the same conditions. But to understand the qualitative
nature of the subject's thinking, the examiner sometimes asks additional questions,
ones that are not part of the standard procedure, probing further into the
individual's personal style. To the extent that the test is used to study the subject in
these additional ways, apart from a test score, test administration is an exacting task
with the potential to provide much more information than a group test.
The test questions include many performance or nonverbal items, as well as
those requiring the use of words. The subject manipulates puzzles, blocks, pictures,
and other objects, which also permits the testing of persons deficient in language (Plate
11). In selecting aircraft pilots, several individual tests would be employed.
Categories of Tests
New tests appear so rapidly today that catalogs are needed to describe them; one such
catalog is the Mental Measurements Yearbook. Here descriptions of tests appear in
several categories, including intelligence, achievement, aptitude, interest, and personality
(Buros, 1978).
Intelligence Tests As a rule, an intelligence test is intended to measure a wide
variety of mental abilities, especially the capacity to think rationally and act
purposefully. Intelligence is an extremely complex topic, as we shall see in the next
chapter, a topic that has led to many definitions of intelligence and many types of
intelligence tests.
The oldest and one of the most respected intelligence tests is the Stanford-
Binet Intelligence Scale, an individual test that includes many non-verbal items. The
first American form appeared in 1916, and since then the test has been revised several
times and adapted for use throughout the world.
Also widely used are the various Wechsler scales, which have forms for different
age levels, ranging from preschool children through elderly adults. These individual
tests measure a variety of intellectual functions, include many non-verbal items,
and have been adapted for use in several languages (Figure 13.3).
Achievement Tests You are perhaps all too familiar with the achievement test,
which measures a person's current level of accomplishment. It is usually prepared on
a local basis, but some are designed for broad applications, including college admissions,
civil service employment, and the licensing of pilots and other professionals. Tests for
the latter purpose have become increasingly common in recent years (Willingham,
1980).
If you feel that achievement tests are overemphasized for college admissions
in this country, you should be aware of the situation elsewhere. The A-level examinations
in England, taken in four or five subjects at around age 18, are cumulative
achievement tests. They determine not only graduation from high school but also entrance
into college. German students of this age take the Abitur, which includes a fivehour
essay and several lengthy achievement tests, all of importance in seeking a college
education. In France the baccalaureate, commonly known as "the bac," is the critical