Principles of Psychological Testing

Pre-requisites: Acquired knowledge from the courses Statistics in Psychology I and II, Methodology of Psychological Research and Psychometry.

Course objectives: Introducing students to the types of psychological tests and rules of their administration. Practical construction of a psychological test, including writing a detailed paper about the test. Becoming familiar with different methods of test validation and their application in selection. Ethical issues in testing.

Course description: Theoretical instruction: Measurement and assessment in psychology; direct and indirect measurement; defining a variable; classification of tests; standardization of test administration and scoring; test norms; cognitive tests – intelligence tests, general knowledge tests, achievement tests; questionnaires and personality inventories; content, criterion and hypothetical validity; selection based on tests; ethical issues in testing. Practical instruction: Introduction to the most frequently used types of tests; instructions for administration and scoring of the tests; different scales for presentation of results; objectivity, discrimination, reliability and validity of the test; final score; normative sample; linear transformation of the measures; determining item difficulty and discrimination; making a first draft of the items for a test; logical and psychological analysis of the items; administration of a second version of the items; construction and administration of a final version of the test; writing and defending a paper about the test.

Learning Outcomes: After finishing the course, the student should be aware of the assets and limitations of the use of psychological tests and able to assess if a test is made in accordance with psychometric rules.

Literature/Reading:

• Bukvić, A. (1982): Načela izrade psiholoških testova, Zavod za udžbenike i nastavna sredstva, Beograd
• Fajgelj, S. (2003): Psihometrija, Centar za primenjenu psihologiju, Beograd (odabrana poglavlja)
• Kovačević, P. i Petrović, I. (2000) Privlačenje i selekcija ljudi, Ekonomika preduzeća, novembar-decembar 2000, Beograd, s. 265-277.
• Kovačević, P. i Janković,M. (1994) Valjanost testova opšte informisanosti u selekciji učenika i predviđanju školskog postignuća, Pedagogija 3-4, 1993 s. 75-83.