Students
PSYC332 – Principles of Psychological Assessment
2014 – S1 Day
General Information
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| Unit convenor and teaching staff |
Unit convenor and teaching staff
Unit Convenor
Lorna Peters
Contact via lorna.peters@mq.edu.au
C3A 712
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| Credit points |
Credit points
3
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| Prerequisites |
Prerequisites
PSY248 and (PSY234 or PSY246)
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| Corequisites |
Corequisites
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| Co-badged status |
Co-badged status
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| Unit description |
Unit description
This unit is concerned with the assessment of individual differences in intelligence and personality through the use of appropriate psychological tests. Important principles of psychological measurement and assessment are covered, including: standardisation, norms, reliability, test development and validation. The practical program emphasises test development and test administration; scoring and interpretation; and highlights current issues in the use and interpretation of tests.
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Important Academic Dates
Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Understand the historical and theoretical basis of psychological testing
- Remember, understand and apply statistical procedures to describe the psychometric properties of a test
- Generate a psychological test and examine its adequacy using empirical procedures
- Understand the theoretical and empirical bases of psychological tests used to assess the main domains of cognition and personality
- Understand the application of psychological tests in a variety of domains of psychological practice (e.g., organisational and clinical contexts
Assessment Tasks
| Name | Weighting | Due |
|---|---|---|
| Online Quizzes | 10% | 4pm each Wednesday |
| Midsession Exam | 20% | 9th April 2014 |
| Written Report | 35% | 5pm 7th May 2014 |
| Final Exam | 35% | During the Examination Period |
Online Quizzes
Due: 4pm each Wednesday
Weighting: 10%
Brief online quizzes will be available to students via iLearn for one week after each lecture. These online quizzes will contain a few multiple-choice questions that will test students’ ability to remember and understand the core concepts from the lecture (Learning outcomes 1-6). Students will be provided with feedback on their own performance at the end of the week in which the quiz is available. The scores you obtain on the quizzes will be counted in your final mark for the unit if the scores optimize your mark. If included, quizzes will be worth 10% of your final mark on the unit. While the score for quizzes may not be included in your final mark (if you gain a better mark without them included), it is highly recommended that you complete the quizzes, as they will allow you to assess your progress in learning the unit content.
On successful completion you will be able to:
- Understand the historical and theoretical basis of psychological testing
- Remember, understand and apply statistical procedures to describe the psychometric properties of a test
- Generate a psychological test and examine its adequacy using empirical procedures
- Understand the theoretical and empirical bases of psychological tests used to assess the main domains of cognition and personality
- Understand the application of psychological tests in a variety of domains of psychological practice (e.g., organisational and clinical contexts
Midsession Exam
Due: 9th April 2014
Weighting: 20%
A midsession exam will be conducted between 4pm and 6pm in the lecture theatre on 9th April 2014 (Week 6). All students must ensure that they are available to be on campus at that time. There is no separate arrangement available for evening students to sit the midsession exam. The exam will take one hour. Depending on the final number of students enrolled in the unit, there may be two timeslots (4-5pm and 5-6pm) during which the exam will be conducted. Final details about attendance time will be given via an iLearn announcement.
The midsession exam will test students’ ability to apply and analyse the statistics introduced in the lectures in weeks 1 – 4 (Learning outcome 2).
Students will need to bring a calculator, but no other materials will be allowed during the exam.
Students will not be required to recall formulae –a sheet containing formulae will be provided. Questions will require students to use data to generate the statistics and to use the results of their calculations to make judgements about tests. Different data sets will be generated for students to reduce the chance that students can copy directly from one another. Worked examples of the sorts of questions asked on the test will be demonstrated in the lectures. Students will be provided with feedback via the iLearn page for the unit on their performance three weeks after the exam. Feedback will be in the form of a mark for the exam and the worked solutions for the questions in the exam.
On successful completion you will be able to:
- Remember, understand and apply statistical procedures to describe the psychometric properties of a test
Written Report
Due: 5pm 7th May 2014
Weighting: 35%
A written report (maximum 1500 words), in APA format, will be due by close of business (5pm) on Wednesday 7th May 2014. Students should submit their assignment in the labelled locked assignment box in the foyer of C3A by 5pm on Wednesday 7th May. For information on submission of the written report, see page 10. The marked report will be returned in tutorials during week 13.
The report will be based on Tutorials 1 and 2 and will report on the construction and psychometric properties of a brief test developed in the tutorial. The requirements of the assignment will be covered in the Lecture in Week 5. The report will assess students’ ability to understand, apply, and analyse the psychometric properties of a test and the steps involved in test construction (Learning outcomes 2 & 3). The report will also assess the students’ ability to evaluate psychometric statistics and generate hypotheses about how the psychometric statistics may be improved (Learning outcomes 2 & 3). The report will assess students’ ability to communicate in one of the ways that is common in the profession of psychology (APA formatted paper in the style of a journal article). Students will be able to self-assess their performance prior to submission of the assignment against the criteria which will be used by the tutors marking the assignment and will be available via the iLearn webpage for the unit prior to the submission date. Feedback will be provided relative to those criteria.
On successful completion you will be able to:
- Remember, understand and apply statistical procedures to describe the psychometric properties of a test
- Generate a psychological test and examine its adequacy using empirical procedures
Final Exam
Due: During the Examination Period
Weighting: 35%
During the final exam period, students will complete a 1.5-hour multiple choice exam (60 questions) which will assess recall, understanding, and application of: the theoretical and empirical bases of personality and intelligence assessment introduced in lectures in weeks 9 – 10 and 12 - 13 and the principles of psychological testing introduced in lectures in weeks 7 (item response theory), 8 (ethical issues in the use of psychological assessment), and 11 (application of assessment techniques) (Learning outcomes 4-6). In addition, the final exam will assess recall, understanding, and application of the principles of psychological testing examined in the tutorial classes throughout the Session. The exam will be weighted at 35% or 45% depending on whether the optional online quiz score is included in your mark (see above).
On successful completion you will be able to:
- Generate a psychological test and examine its adequacy using empirical procedures
- Understand the theoretical and empirical bases of psychological tests used to assess the main domains of cognition and personality
- Understand the application of psychological tests in a variety of domains of psychological practice (e.g., organisational and clinical contexts
Delivery and Resources
Lectures
There will be one 2-hour lecture per week, given on Wednesday 4-6pm in (venue to be confirmed) each week of the Session.
All lecture material is examinable (either in the midsession exam or in the final exam).
Recordings of lectures will be made available via Echo. You can download the lecture recording from the iLearn page for the unit.
Tutorials
There are six 2-hour tutorials associated with this unit. Every student will attend one two-hour tutorial each fortnight. Tutorials begin in week 3 of session. Set reading will be required prior to some tutorials.
All tutorial material is assessable either in the assignment or in the final exam.
Attendance at tutorials is strongly advised – the material is assessable, but more importantly, it is in the tutorials that the application of material from lectures is discussed and demonstrated.
Recommended Text and Materials
Tutorial outlines will be available via the iLearn page for the unit. Make sure that you bring the tutorial outline to each tutorial class. It is recommended that you read the relevant section before going to class.
Any recent text on Psychological Assessment will more than likely cover the main content of the unit. The text that is recommended for the unit in 2013 is:
Shum, D., O'Gorman, J., Myors, B., & Creed, P. (2013). Psychological Testing and Assessment. (Second Edition). Melbourne, Vic.: Oxford University Press.
Supplementary readings may be provided by each lecturer for his/her section of the course. In addition, some of the tutorials have set readings. These and other relevant books and articles should be in Special Reserve. Many of the readings are available via the e-Reserve web page at the library.
Unit Web Page
You can access the online materials for this unit via iLearn. Announcements will be available once you have logged in. You can link to lecture recordings from the web page as well as download the overheads for each lecture. There will be an active student Forum. The on-line Quizzes can only be accessed from iLearn.
Unit Schedule
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Week |
Tutorials |
Lectures (Wed 4-6pm; Echo recordings available via iLearn) |
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1 |
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5/3/14: Unit information – objectives, assessment, organization Introduction to psychological assessment. Overview of types of tests. Test scores. Norms (Peters) |
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2 |
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12/3/14: Reliability: Types; Sources of error; Methods of calculating (Peters) |
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3 |
Tutorial 1: Test construction (the assignment is based on this tutorial) |
19/3/14: Reliability: Reliability and standard error of measurement; worked examples Validity: Types; Methods of determining validity Relationship between reliability and validity (Peters) |
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4 |
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26/3/14: Test Construction (Peters) |
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5 |
Tutorial 2: Analysis of test data (the assignment is based on this tutorial also) |
2/4/14: Assignment requirements Revision for the midsession exam (Peters) |
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6 |
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9/4/14: MIDSESSION EXAM (On-campus attendance during the lecture time is compulsory) |
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7 |
Tutorial 3: Test fairness, test bias and testing special groups |
30/4/14: Item Response Theory (Baillie) |
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8 |
ASSIGNMENT DUE by 5pm WEDNESDAY 7/5/14 |
7/5/14 Ethical issues in the use of psychological assessment (Peters) |
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9 |
Tutorial 4: IQ testing with the Wechsler tests |
14/5/14: Assessment of Intelligence: Theoretical Issues (Todorov) |
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10 |
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21/5/14: Assessment of Intelligence: Clinical Issues (Todorov) |
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11 |
Tutorial 5: Current Issues in IQ Testing |
4/6/14: Application of assessment techniques in clinical practice (Peters) |
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12 |
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11/6/14: Personality Assessment: Self-report Inventories (Peters) |
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13 |
Tutorial 6: Personality Test Administration, scoring and interpretation; Assignment returned this week in tutorial classes |
18/6/14: Personality Assessment: projective techniques (Peters) Unit wrap up (Peters) |
Policies and Procedures
Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central. Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:
Academic Honesty Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/academic_honesty/policy.html
Assessment Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/assessment/policy.html
Grading Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/grading/policy.html
Grade Appeal Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/gradeappeal/policy.html
Grievance Management Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/grievance_management/policy.html
Disruption to Studies Policy http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/disruption_studies/policy.html The Disruption to Studies Policy is effective from March 3 2014 and replaces the Special Consideration Policy.
In addition, a number of other policies can be found in the Learning and Teaching Category of Policy Central.
Student Code of Conduct
Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/support/student_conduct/
Student Support
Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/
Learning Skills
Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study strategies to improve your marks and take control of your study.
Student Services and Support
Students with a disability are encouraged to contact the Disability Service who can provide appropriate help with any issues that arise during their studies.
Student Enquiries
For all student enquiries, visit Student Connect at ask.mq.edu.au
IT Help
For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://informatics.mq.edu.au/help/.
When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.
Graduate Capabilities
Capable of Professional and Personal Judgement and Initiative
We want our graduates to have emotional intelligence and sound interpersonal skills and to demonstrate discernment and common sense in their professional and personal judgement. They will exercise initiative as needed. They will be capable of risk assessment, and be able to handle ambiguity and complexity, enabling them to be adaptable in diverse and changing environments.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Learning outcomes
- Generate a psychological test and examine its adequacy using empirical procedures
- Understand the application of psychological tests in a variety of domains of psychological practice (e.g., organisational and clinical contexts
Assessment tasks
- Midsession Exam
- Written Report
- Final Exam
Commitment to Continuous Learning
Our graduates will have enquiring minds and a literate curiosity which will lead them to pursue knowledge for its own sake. They will continue to pursue learning in their careers and as they participate in the world. They will be capable of reflecting on their experiences and relationships with others and the environment, learning from them, and growing - personally, professionally and socially.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Assessment tasks
- Online Quizzes
- Written Report
Discipline Specific Knowledge and Skills
Our graduates will take with them the intellectual development, depth and breadth of knowledge, scholarly understanding, and specific subject content in their chosen fields to make them competent and confident in their subject or profession. They will be able to demonstrate, where relevant, professional technical competence and meet professional standards. They will be able to articulate the structure of knowledge of their discipline, be able to adapt discipline-specific knowledge to novel situations, and be able to contribute from their discipline to inter-disciplinary solutions to problems.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Learning outcomes
- Understand the historical and theoretical basis of psychological testing
- Remember, understand and apply statistical procedures to describe the psychometric properties of a test
- Generate a psychological test and examine its adequacy using empirical procedures
- Understand the theoretical and empirical bases of psychological tests used to assess the main domains of cognition and personality
- Understand the application of psychological tests in a variety of domains of psychological practice (e.g., organisational and clinical contexts
Assessment tasks
- Online Quizzes
- Midsession Exam
- Written Report
- Final Exam
Critical, Analytical and Integrative Thinking
We want our graduates to be capable of reasoning, questioning and analysing, and to integrate and synthesise learning and knowledge from a range of sources and environments; to be able to critique constraints, assumptions and limitations; to be able to think independently and systemically in relation to scholarly activity, in the workplace, and in the world. We want them to have a level of scientific and information technology literacy.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Learning outcomes
- Remember, understand and apply statistical procedures to describe the psychometric properties of a test
- Generate a psychological test and examine its adequacy using empirical procedures
- Understand the theoretical and empirical bases of psychological tests used to assess the main domains of cognition and personality
- Understand the application of psychological tests in a variety of domains of psychological practice (e.g., organisational and clinical contexts
Assessment tasks
- Midsession Exam
- Written Report
Problem Solving and Research Capability
Our graduates should be capable of researching; of analysing, and interpreting and assessing data and information in various forms; of drawing connections across fields of knowledge; and they should be able to relate their knowledge to complex situations at work or in the world, in order to diagnose and solve problems. We want them to have the confidence to take the initiative in doing so, within an awareness of their own limitations.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Learning outcomes
- Remember, understand and apply statistical procedures to describe the psychometric properties of a test
- Generate a psychological test and examine its adequacy using empirical procedures
- Understand the application of psychological tests in a variety of domains of psychological practice (e.g., organisational and clinical contexts
Assessment tasks
- Midsession Exam
- Written Report
Creative and Innovative
Our graduates will also be capable of creative thinking and of creating knowledge. They will be imaginative and open to experience and capable of innovation at work and in the community. We want them to be engaged in applying their critical, creative thinking.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Assessment task
- Written Report
Effective Communication
We want to develop in our students the ability to communicate and convey their views in forms effective with different audiences. We want our graduates to take with them the capability to read, listen, question, gather and evaluate information resources in a variety of formats, assess, write clearly, speak effectively, and to use visual communication and communication technologies as appropriate.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Assessment task
- Written Report
Engaged and Ethical Local and Global citizens
As local citizens our graduates will be aware of indigenous perspectives and of the nation's historical context. They will be engaged with the challenges of contemporary society and with knowledge and ideas. We want our graduates to have respect for diversity, to be open-minded, sensitive to others and inclusive, and to be open to other cultures and perspectives: they should have a level of cultural literacy. Our graduates should be aware of disadvantage and social justice, and be willing to participate to help create a wiser and better society.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Learning outcome
- Understand the application of psychological tests in a variety of domains of psychological practice (e.g., organisational and clinical contexts
Assessment task
- Final Exam
Socially and Environmentally Active and Responsible
We want our graduates to be aware of and have respect for self and others; to be able to work with others as a leader and a team player; to have a sense of connectedness with others and country; and to have a sense of mutual obligation. Our graduates should be informed and active participants in moving society towards sustainability.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Assessment task
- Written Report