Table of contents:
- According to the content of the test
- According to time
- According to the form of administration
- According to its function
- According to the administration person
- Types of psychological tests: examples
- 1. Psychometric tests
- 2. Intelligence test
- 3. Performance test
- 4. School performance test
- 5. Aptitude test
- 6. Personality test
- 7. Neuropsychological test
- 8. Psychopathological tests
- 8. Projective tests
- 9. Vocational tests
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Intelligence test, psychological drawing test, personality test, character test, projective test and a long etcetera. There are different types of psychological tests depending on what they measure and the way they do it. Do you want to know what each type of psychological test is for? In this Psychology-Online article, we talk about the types of psychological tests, the classification of psychological tests based on various variables and the characteristics of the psychological tests included in each of the types.
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Original text
- Maximum level test : in these tests there is usually a correct answer and the performance of the person in a psychological area is evaluated to know their capacity. For example, the King Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) assesses the performance of memory capacity.
- Typical behavior test: they do not have a correct answer, but rather seek to obtain information from the person, such as habits, abilities, interests, opinions, etc. For example, personality tests, such as the 16 PF-5 Personality Factor Questionnaire.
- Power test : in these tests time is not limited.
- Speed test: the time is previously established. For example, the attention test d2, in which each letter d that has two lines must be marked, having 20 seconds for each line.
- Mixed tests : they combine characteristics of the power and speed tests.
- Individual tests: they are administered to a single person.
- Collective tests: it is possible to apply them to groups or several people at the same time.
- Screening test: these are the ones that are usually carried out first, as they are more general, in order to detect relevant information.
- Diagnostic tests: they are more specific and are usually used to corroborate previously detected information.
- Self-administered tests : these are tests that a person can carry out on their own.
- Hetero-administered tests : these tests are applied by a professional.
- Structural projective tests: they consist of defining what is seen in abstract visual material, such as spots. As an example of this type of test, we find the well-known Rorschach test.
- Associative projective tests: in which information is obtained from the person through their responses associated with the stimuli that are presented to them. The word association test is the best known of its kind.
- Thematic projective test: whose instruction consists of explaining a story from the stimuli presented. As for example, the thematic apperception tests.
- Graphic projective tests : they study characteristics of the person through the analysis of their drawing, as for example in the Human Figure test.
- Aiken, LR (2003). Psychological tests and evaluation . Pearson Education.
- Horse, VE (2009). Manual for the clinical evaluation of psychological disorders: disorders of adulthood and psychological reports . Madrid: Pyramid, 2006.
- Vives, M. (2006). Projective tests: application to clinical diagnosis and treatment (Vol. 2). Editions Universitat Barcelona.
According to the content of the test
Depending on whether it is intended to assess the maximum performance or habitual characteristics of the person, we find two different types of psychological tests:
According to time
Depending on whether the time is limited or not, we find these two types of psychological tests:
According to the form of administration
Depending on how the tests can be applied, two main types of psychological tests are distinguished:
According to its function
Depending on the function of the test and what its results allow us to know, we find these types of psychological tests:
According to the administration person
Types of psychological tests: examples
Taking into account the previous characteristics that tests can have, when combining them, we obtain different types of tests. The most common types of psychological tests are:
1. Psychometric tests
Psychometric tests are those tests that try to put a certain value on a psychological quality, so in this case what the tests would do is measure various aspects within a scale of values such as: the intellectual coefficient (IQ), the attention, memory, reading comprehension, and so on.
The purpose of this type of test is to evaluate and / or select and, in many cases, divide the population according to their abilities, something that is used in schools to know which students have better school performance and also in job interviews, to find out who are the best candidates for the position. There are different types of psychometric tests. Sometimes psychometric tests are also used in the clinical setting to make a diagnosis.
2. Intelligence test
Intelligence tests used to measure IQ, however, currently there are also emotional intelligence tests and multiple intelligences tests. Intelligence tests are maximum level tests, they usually have a correct answer since they pretend to know the level of ability of the evaluated person. The most widely used IQ test is the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS).
3. Performance test
While IQ tests measure general intellectual ability, performance tests assess a specific ability or set of abilities.
4. School performance test
School achievement tests are academic tests that are used to find out the level of school performance of a child. Typically, the results are compared to normal scores for the age range. In this way, it is possible to know if a child's school performance is within or outside of normality according to their age.
5. Aptitude test
The aptitude tests measure one or more intellectual or psychological aptitudes. That is, natural ability or abilities that a person presents.
6. Personality test
Personality tests are instruments through which it is intended to collect information about a person's personality. That is, their usual way of thinking, feeling and behaving. They are used in various contexts: both in clinical psychology and in work and organizational psychology.
7. Neuropsychological test
Neuropsychological tests assess the cognitive state of the person. They are used when cognitive impairment is suspected, for example, in cases of brain damage or suspected dementia. The most widely used neuropsychological test is the mini-mental state exam (MMSE).
8. Psychopathological tests
Psychopathological tests are those that evaluate the predisposition or presence of some psychological problem or disorder. The items of these tests usually assess the presence or absence of the characteristic symptoms of one or more psychopathologies. Since psychopathological tests can determine both the presence of symptoms of general psychological distress and the presence of symptoms of a specific psychological disorder.
Some of the best known psychopathological tests are the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the State-Trait Anxiety Questionnaire (STAI).
8. Projective tests
Projective tests, for their part, are less structured tests that test individuality through the open response of each individual in order to know the personality traits, characteristics, beliefs, thoughts, etc. Projective psychological tests are more widely used in children's, clinical and even forensic settings. There are different types of projective tests:
9. Vocational tests
Finally, vocational psychological tests are typical behavior tests, since they do not have a single correct answer. The objective of this type of test is to know the traits, preferences, abilities, etc., of a person. Through this information, it is intended to guide the person towards professions or studies that correspond to their personality, their tastes and their abilities. Like, for example, this vocational guidance test.
This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
If you want to read more articles similar to Types of psychological tests, we recommend that you enter our category of Psychological Tests.
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