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Writer's pictureTrisha Baker

MODULE 0 - PSYCHOMETRICS FOR MANAGERS - 16 PF, MBTI to CPT to PABST and many more

Updated: May 29



There are about 20,000 words in the English language that describe personality. Personality terms, describing other people the way we understand them, using words to describe why do you like,, dislike others are some standard usage of personality characteristics. Personality does not change as we experience altering moods. And, the idea that personality and behaviour is the same thing is not correct. They certainly are not the same because if they were you would always react in completely predictable ways.


Where does personality come from? For some it evolves from genetics, for others, it is heredity, experience, early childhood bringing up and for the others it is a combination of factors including genetic heredity, experience, upbringing, parental care etc.


Over time the challenge to psychologists was to address the question of understanding the human personality, factors that influence people to behave the way they do. The answer to this question continues to be an ever progressing research albeit with some substantive theory by Freud, Jung, Allport, Holland, Skinner, Rogers, Gallon, Pearson, Simon & Binet and so on. Of significance to us, today, is to understand practical methods that are available to understand human behavior using standardized tests to predict personality types and typology. These have come to be known as Psychometric Tests, the formal method to understand/interpret personality, thereby, human behavior, using planned/structured instruments, statistically validated. Good tests help you predict with a reasonable degree of accuracy candidates to select, train, promote etc.




Personality Profile


Personality, like ability, is a key influence on how a person performs at work, deals with his/her relationships, handles problems, offers solutions, enables decisions, manages crisis etc. It’s particularly important in all those situations which involve interaction & co-operation with other people; namely all managerial, supervisory, customer oriented, team or group based activities. At another level it involves all social, communal, religious & power groups


Personality is usually measured by using a self-report questionnaire. This is a ‘test” (although a lot of psychologists are quite uncomfortable to use the word Tests since unlike aptitude or intelligence personality cannot be tested, for there are no right or wrong answers) that directly asks you about aspects of your own personality; allowing for a consistent & objective measure of things like how you cope with pressure, your preferred way of dealing with other people & your general behavioral style. Personality refers to those relatively stable & enduring aspects of an individual which distinguishes them from other people, making them unique, but which at the same time permit a comparison between individuals


It is more useful to view personality not as something we have but rather as being “able to do with how we relate to the world”, this is something which is rendered explicit in Goodstein & Lanyon's (1975) definition of personality as being - the enduring characteristics of the person that are significant for interpersonal behaviour. Simple personality tests/tools measure what is called as “Typology/Indicator”, meaning, an individual’s propensity/preference to behave in a certain way most of the time. Preference means an option, an indication, not mandatory at all times. Examples, PABST, SPT V2, MBTI




What is a Personality Test?


A psychological/personality test or educational test is a set of items designed to measure characteristics of human beings that pertain to behavior. There are many types of behavior.


  • Overt behavior is an individual’s observable activity. Some psychological tests attempt to measure the extent to which someone might engage in or “emit” a particular overt behavior. Other tests measure how much a person has previously engaged in some overt behavior, for example, interpersonal relationships, conflict management, leadership behaviors, communication, persuasiveness, assertiveness etc

  • Behavior can also be covert—that is, it takes place within an individual & cannot be directly observed.

  • For example, your feelings & thoughts are types of covert behavior. – FIRO – B or FIRO – F helps you understand your interpersonal relationships in the context of your feelings or behavior. Johari Window enables you to interpret the degree of shared knowing that you display in understanding yourself or others


Some tests attempt to measure such behavior. Psychological & educational tests thus measure past or present behavior. Some tests also attempt to predict future behavior, such as success in jobs, promotion from non management to management or in an advanced management position.




What is NOT A Personality Profile


  1. Personality is not the same thing as motivation which is a goal directed behaviour designed to satisfy needs, interests & aspirations.

  2. Motivation is related to personality in that while personality may represent the way we behave motivation represents the why.

  3. Exactly how the underlying motives of behaviour are conceptualized depends very much on the school of thought to which one belongs,

  4. For instance, a humanist might see the motivation behind behaviour as coming from a desire to achieve ones full potential whereas a psychoanalyst might look for unconscious motivations to do with unfulfilled needs.

  5. Personality is not the same thing as culture which is the values, attitudes & beliefs we share with others about the nature of the world.

  6. Personality is not the same thing as ability/aptitude (usually held to be synonymous with intelligence) which is the ability to identify, understand & absorb the different components of a problem.


Then to identify the way they are related to each other & the logical consequence of these relationships to work out the next step.





Example of a Standardized Personality Test


16 PF (Many versions, currently 16 PF Form 5 is in usage)


  • Individual’s personality consists of 16 different personality factors, a conclusion which was also based on the application of factor analysis to statements about the individual’s personality

  • Combines unrelated 16 factors and also second order factors

  • Can be used to identify profiles for occupational applications [ profiles to fit people – sales, research, teacher, vocational helper, manager in a company etc

  • 100 – 185 (Individual usage/research applications etc) statements, self scoring, logic reasoning, choosing between 2 statements and a midway option.

  • Is not specifically work related, gives indications of general personality type.

  • Measures sixteen personality factors: Warmth, Reasoning, Emotional Stability, Dominance, Liveliness, Rule Consciousness, Social Boldness, Sensitivity, Vigilance, Abstractness, Privateness, Apprehension, Openness to Change, Self-Reliance, Perfectionism, Tension




What is a Psychometric Test?


A psychometric test is a standard way of measuring an aspect of mental performance. A test is a measurement device or technique used to quantify behavior or aid in the understanding & prediction of behavior. Example - A spelling test, for example, measures how well someone spells or the extent to which someone has learned to spell a specific list of words.


A Psychometric test has properties such a norms, statistical analysis, reliability, validity scores etc. A Psychometric test includes, amongst many others, also ability, proficiency, aptitude, personality, behavioral, psychological, career, vocation, achievement, intelligence, attainment, technical, physical endurance, skill dexterity etc. Psychometric tests are powerful tools used by organisations for the selection, development and management of people. They are Standardized (input), provide Objective (output) are Interpretable (scores), Reliable (accurate) and Valid (useful).


Tests can be used to enhance the decision making process in assessment for selection and promotion, as an aid to management in areas such as motivation and team building, to identify development needs, as a basis for employee counseling as well as in organizational areas such as management of change or succession planning. Testing is a part of the wider and continuing process of seeking to understand individuals in the context of career development and team building – They should not be used for selection only. Typically Psychologists suggest batteries of Tests.


What are Aptitude Tests?


Aptitude tests measure your ‘natural’ ability to do things. It measures a combination of factors that human beings learn on a native capability basis. Fundamentals that human beings, in a civil society, are expected to know & handle for usage in various walks of life, particularly for work life. These are basics in fields such as analysis & comprehension in arithmetic, language, logic, creative expression, diagrammatic analysis, data interpretation, information analysis, abstract reasoning etc. Unlike attainment tests they do not require specialist knowledge or skills. This makes the aptitude test a fairer assessment for anyone who may lack traditional qualifications; or who just hasn’t had the opportunity to acquire specific skills.


Aptitude Tests ensure that candidates from multiple functional/educational disciplines, candidates from different cities, candidates from different cultures, candidates from different countries, candidates from varying ethnic backgrounds, candidates from multiple mother tongue can all be combined together & administered this test on a fair, neutral basis…………Aptitude tests are frequently used for hiring, promotions, assessments, careers counseling & also form an useful tool for any employer who wishes to identify potential capabilities for future performance. Like work-related measures many aptitude tests are constructed so that they indicate whether a person is suitable for a particular job for today or for tomorrow.


For example - computer programming, clerical – administrative work, graduate engineers, diploma holder apprentices, technical skill category, management trainee, intelligence reviews, supervisory management, foreman, shop floor operator etc


How do you make a choice of a Test?


Whenever tests are used it is vital that there is a match between the skills and characteristics measured and the job or organizational demands. This is particularly important when selection or promotion decisions are based on test results. Objective job analysis is the best way to determine the skills required for a particular job. These skills are then matched to appropriate tests. In large scale testing procedures it may be appropriate to perform criterion related validation studies before test implementation. Trained test users should have the skills to evaluate the quality and relevance to job requirements of an instrument from the information provided by the test publisher in the test manual. Where insufficient information is provided caution should be exercised in the use of the test




What is the Purpose of using tests?


The test is important for the following reasons:


  1. Helps executive decision making

  2. Is more scientific

  3. Helps objective selections, promotions, transfers, job placements, salary fitment, competency gap analysis, provide feedback, helping to know why people behave the way they do

  4. Minimizes conflicts, disputes, allegations of inappropriate practices

  5. Enables influencing an individual’s personality for development

  6. It would help in influencing decisions about the selections of the candidates

  7. It would help in influencing attitudes

  8. It would also help in ascertaining if the individual’s personality is appropriate to the type of job that he would like to do.

  9. Would help in predicting his/her behaviors in different situations.

  10. Would also help in predicting the approach that an individual would undertake while handling diverse problems.

What are the different types of theories underlying Tests


1. Performance Tests - “Performance tests" were developed to provide means of testing individuals with language handicaps, as well as the deaf, the blind, and others for whom an adequate rating could not be obtained with tests that depended largely on language, numbers, and abstractions. A performance test provides a perceptual situation in which the subject manipulates items such as form boards, blocks, pictures, and disassembled objects instead of reasoning with symbols. Some psychologists apply the term also to "pencil-and-paper" tests that utilize nonverbal materials such as printed geometric forms, pictorial representations, printed cubes, and sub­stituting digits for symbols, and the like. It seems preferable, however, to designate these simply as "nonverbal" tests because they do not involve actual manipulation of objects, as do performance tests. Both types of test materials, performance and nonverbal pencil-and-paper, are now used ex­tensively. Some scales, such as the Arthur and the Pintner-Paterson, are built entirely of performance materials; other scales cornerstone one or both with verbal materials.


2. Aptitude Tests: “An Aptitude Test is an individuals ability to learn, demonstrate or to develop proficiency in an area, if provided with appropriate education or training”.


Aptitude tests include tests of general academic (scholastic) ability; tests of special ability (i.e. verbal, numerical, mechanical); tests that assess “readiness” for learning; and tests that measure ability and previous learning that are used to predict future performance.


'Some psychologists prefer to avoid the use of the term "intelligence," and to speak, instead, of "general aptitude," "general ability," "scholastic aptitude," and the like. We shall continue to use the term "intelligence" because: (1) it has a long and respectable history in psychology; (2) many of the most important tests with which one shall be concerned are called tests of intelligence; (3) One shall have to deal with what psychologists have long called theories and definitions of intelligence; and (4) because there seems to be no merit in substituting the term "general ability" or "general aptitude" for "general intelligence." Furthermore, even those who would reject the term "intelligence" must and do use the concept of "intelligence quotient."





Example of an Aptitude Test:


BASIC – ADVANCED – BUSINESS APTITUDE AND ADMINISTRATION TEST


The 3 tests cover basic verbal usage, simple numerical, spatial, diagrammatic reasoning, visual analysis, logical perspectives. Advanced test deals with Verbal reasoning, language usage, grammatical communication, numerical analytics, conceptual spatial, diagrammatic reasoning, data interpretation, visual analysis logical perspectives -The Business Aptitude Test covers analytical communication usage, professional articulation, long range - analytical planning, forecasting, scenario reasoning, strategy language usage and familiarity with concepts. Includes external communication, information analytics, conceptual spatial, diagrammatic reasoning. Also includes data interpretation, The questions operate on the basis of a data bank and depending upon the candidates scoring pattern questions on a dynamic basis are drawn from the bank & provided to the candidate while responding.


Numerical Analytix NEA834 ( Sub Test)


This exercise measures basic number skills with an emphasis on straight forward calculation and understanding of arithmetic operation without using calculator.





3. Occupational Interest Inventories: To supplement tests of ap­titude and those of intelligence, several self-answering occupational pref­erence questionnaires, or inventories, have been devised to provide in­formation regarding an individual's interests in a variety of activities; for these, it has been found to have some relevance to and predictive value for certain broad vocational areas or for certain specific occupations.


Example of a Occupational Inventory Test – Holland’s Career Inventory, Career Vocational Preference Inventory, CVPI 2442 – V5, Career Aptitude CAMT 3090, Barret’s Career Interest Questionnaire


4. Tests of Educational Achievement: Closely associated with the testing of aptitudes are the measurement of educational achievement and the construction of objective measures for that purpose. 'These are not designed primarily for prediction; instead, they are intended to measure the individual's actual learning in educational subject matter after a pe­riod of instruction. They have proved to be highly valuable in the de­termination of individual difficulties in learning, in the discovery of strong scholastic interests, in the discovery of special abilities or dis­abilities, and, in combination with other factors, in plotting the educa­tional career of the individual child.


Educational achievement tests have other values as well: they provide objective measures of progress, as opposed to teachers' ratings that may be too subjective; they permit inter-group comparisons based on a rea­sonably objective determination; and they facilitate experimental evalua­tion of varied teaching methods


5. Test Batteries - ‘A "battery" of tests is a group of tests used in combination for a specified purpose’ Batteries were devised for the selection and training of personnel in a great variety of assignments in the several branches of the armed forces: radio and radar operators, pilots, navigators, gunners, flight engineers, and other specialties.


6. Multifactor Tests: These, also called "differential aptitude tests," are relatively recent developments in psychological measurement and evaluation. Interest in them has increased markedly since about 1945 although research on the subject began as early as the 1920'$, when T. L. Kelley and, later, L. L. Thurstone, published their work on factorial analysis of human abilities. Factorial analysis provided the statistical tools for the development of multifactor tests, which isolate and measure relatively "pure" mental operations (factors) or "constellations" of closely related factors, rather than general intelligence or general ability. In other words multifactor tests isolate the elements that consti­tute mental operations.


Multifactor scales were expected to be especially valuable in educa­tional and vocational counseling because they consist of separate tests of numerical operations, space relations, form perception, name perception, verbal reasoning, rote memory associations, and others restricted in com­plexity and range of mental operations.


7. Personality Tests: A psychological/personality test or educational test is a set of items designed to measure characteristics of human beings that pertain to behavior. Today the tests are used extensively for the analysis of desirable and undesirable traits in a wide range of civilian and military occupations. The large current crop of personality tests now available varies in quality from those that are poorly conceived, inadequately validated, arid therefore useless, to those having considerable value in the hands of com­petent psychologists.


  • Spearman preceded both Kelley and Thurstone in making statistical analyses of human abilities; but he is not associated with the multifactor test movement.

  • A psychological "profile" is a chart representing an individual's score or relative position in each of several types of performance, with separate scores made comparable by statistical treatment.


Some examples of such tests are:


PERSONALITY STYLE INVENTORY


A widely used personality style inventory covering 15-personality dimensions including norm tables is based on the theories of Myers & Briggs. This self-report also includes learning’s from the 'Big Five' measure, constructed using the latest research on personality measurement. Dimensions dealt with include, Introversion, Extraversion, Traditional Adherence, Creativity, Conservatism, Versatility, Adherence, Non Adherence, Perfectionism, Independence, Competitiveness etc. Includes a lie scale


16 PERSONALITY PROFILE SYSTEMS – 16 PPST


This is a personality test, norm tables, 16 personality dimensions based on the psychological theories by Cattel. Personality factors deal with dimensions such as tough mindedness versus tender mindedness, agreeableness, introversion, extraversion, trusting, disciplined, conformity, creativity, focus energy, shrewd, forthright, dominant – submissive, rule boundedness, conscious, adherence to policy, relaxed, Originality, Openness to Change etc.





8. Rating Scales: The earliest device employed, the rating scale, is a means of-obtaining the judgments of a number of respondents with reference to a limited number of traits of a given individual. They were tried out and used during World War I, well before they were formalized and scaled both by statistical methods and by psychological analysis of personality and behavior traits relevant to specified situations.


Some examples of such tests are:


INDIVIDUAL CAPABILITY MAPPING INVENTORY


This is a capability test, including norm tables, covering a core set of 16 personality factors and 110 sub factors. The Test measures Leadership, Negotiations, Task Orientation, Ethics, Integrity, Creativity, Business Acumen, Communication, Problem Solving, Team Playing, Negotiations, Conflict Management, Process Orientation, Strategy Planning, Change Management, Analytical Skills, Goal Setting, People Management, Managing Self and Performance Management


PERSONALITY AND BEHAVIORAL STYLE TYPOLOGY – PABST


Based on the theory of Carl Jung, this is a Behavioral Performance Test, covers 11 personality factors, 185 items, validated with norms, 4 levels of emphasis, sten index & covers Positive Attitude, Degree of Integrity, Aggressiveness, Customer Focus, Target Driven, Quick on Uptake, Persuasiveness, Interpersonal Skills, Communication Skills, Tactful Negotiation Skills, Process System Skills - Widely used by business organizations for selections, training, capability development, career planning & promotions.


The test includes normative tables comparing the test taker score with comparable sample population in terms of age, experience, level in the management hierarchy, educational qualification.





9. Self-Rating Inventories: The first self-report, questionnaire type of personality inventory is the Personal Data Sheet, devised by R. S. Woodworth for use in World War I and published in 1919. Employed with moderate success, its purpose was to identify men who would prove to be poor prospects for military service because of undesirable person­ality and behavioral characteristics. This questionnaire consists of a list of items in the form of questions about him, to be answered by the indi­vidual. The aim of the questionnaire is to detect personality and be­havioral symptoms that are regarded as indicative of maladjustment. The questions on the Data Sheet took the place of an individual interview. Men whose responses indicated a sufficient number of undesirable symp­toms were later interviewed individually. The types of questions asked and the aspects of personality sampled were forerunners of many of those included, with very little modification, in subsequent inventories.


Some examples of such tests are:


PT Canada 360 Degree - BASIC MANAGERIAL EFFECTIVENESS GRID


This is a self report based that includes 360 degree feedback for personality effectiveness covering a core set of 10 competencies. Self test results are compared with the Assessor's evaluation on similar personality based competencies and checked for alignment or dissonance. The Test measures leadership, communication, Process orientation, Strategy Planning, Change Management, Analytical Skills, Goal Setting, People Management, Managing Self, Performance Management. The test provides for self report on a objectively scorable scale in addition to a qualitative feedback from all respondents. The test is completed by self, superior, peers, subordinates, cross functional teams, customers, stakeholders and other interacting team members. The report is comprehensive and covers individual capability in comparison to scores provided by others who are responding to you providing you feedback on traits & factors. The theory behind this test includes work of B F Skinner, Carl Rogers, David McClelland, Uday Pareek & T V Rao


MBTI


  • Deals with 16 Personality Types – Typology & not a test

  • 4 Different Personality Constructs on the basis Jungian Psychology

  • Specific Personality Types, 4 Bi – Polar scales, 16 possible combinations or broad personality types.

  • Categories are Extraverts and Introverts, Sensing Types, Intuitive Types, Thinking Types, Feeling Types, Judging and Perceiving Types

  • 126 Questions into 3 parts. Answering a series of pairs of statements by choosing either, or and too

  • Used in Career Development, team building, management development and sometimes in selection.

  • Appropriate as a beginning of a battery of tests

  • Not desirable to be used as a selections test





10. Projective Tests: In the early 1930’s a newer type of instrument became prominent in American psychology: the projective test of per­sonality. This instrument is much more subtle than the self-rating in­ventory; it presents more or less equivocal, undefined ("unstructured") stimulus situations, usually in the form of pictures, inkblots, or incom­plete sentences. Thus, the person being tested has a greater opportunity to impose upon the test his own private and particular personality traits than would be exposed by means of the questionnaire type of inventory.





The best known of the projective is the Rorschach Inkblot Test, first published in Switzerland in 1921, although not introduced into the United States until the early 1930's. Rorschach, a Swiss psychiatrist, began his experimentation with inkblots as a means of stimulating and testing imagination. In the course of his work (1911-21), he perceived the pos­sibilities inherent in the inkblot test as a device for differentiating among various kinds and traits of personalities. Although Rorschach's work on inkblots was the most extensive of any up to that time, he was not the first investigator to discern the possibilities of inkblots in psychological experimentation. As a matter of fact, these had been used for some years in psychological laboratories to study fertility of imagination and of in­vention part II). Since the introduction of what has come to be known as "the Rorschach," it has been extensively used in private psy­chological practice, in clinics, and in hospitals for diagnostic purposes; in business and industry for some types of personnel selection; in re­searches in cultural anthropology; and in researches on personality theory. Interest in and use of the Rorschach can be inferred from the huge num­ber of professional publications on the subject, which did not begin to appear in appreciable numbers until about it.





Another projective instrument of major importance is the Thematic Apperception Test, introduced by H. A. Murray and C. D. Morgan in 1935. This test consists of thirty rather ambiguous pictures, each on a separate card, and one blank card. The person being examined is asked to make up a story of his own for each picture. The psychological prin­ciple involved is that in his stories the examinee will, probably un­wittingly, give expression to his needs, Values, attitudes, and feelings about persons, situations, and the world around him, as well as to the pressures, he is experiencing from sources outside of himself. This instrument, too, has been and is being widely used in a variety of psychological settings. While the number of publications on the TAT, as it is professionally known, is not as great as that on the Rorschach, it has, nevertheless, been the subject of many studies and researches.


Since the appearance of the Rorschach and the TAT, a variety of other projective devices and techniques have been made available. Some of these are special adaptations of the two foregoing tests; others offer rather different approaches for the same general purpose, that is, to elicit responses that will reveal aspects and traits of personality that inven­tories and rating scales are incapable of eliciting. Since 1945 and to the present time, projective tests have occupied a position of primary im­portance in practical applications and in research.


The types of techniques for obtaining evaluations of aspects of per­sonality thus far mentioned do not exhaust the list. Among other and more tenuous kinds of procedures used are storytelling and story 'com­pletion, drawing and painting, and "situational tests," in which an indi­vidual's behavior is observed and rated in a setting that simulates reality. Contrived play activities, usually of one child who is being ob­served, are used for two purposes: to permit the child to project some of his inner traits and to serve as a form of psychotherapy. A sociometric method, whereby an individual's social currency or acceptability is ob­tained from ratings made by his peers, is an adaptation and extension of the older rating scale.




Need for a Test Policy


What should a policy look like?


Policies work best when they are brief and focused. Long manuals that lie unread in a drawer have little effect on practice. However general statements of principle tend to be vague easily ignored and provide little guidance for the user. An effective strategy is to have brief policy statements supplemented with more detailed guidelines. The statements can encompass general principles and are likely to need few changes even in changing circumstances. The procedural guidelines put the policy into practice, and then can, and should, be amended whenever they cease to meet the aims of the organization or the policy. The detail with which such procedures are specified will depend on the nature, style and needs of the organization.


Why is a policy needed?


Use of tests must be properly managed in order to reap the benefits described above. If inappropriate tests are used, or the information from tests is misunderstood, or even ignored, there will be no advantage in using tests - indeed there will be unproductive costs. The management of tests should include regular reviews and monitoring to ensure the organizational aims are being met. SHL, Psychometrics Canada Limited, American Psychological Association provides basic guidelines for a policy.


In addition, as with any powerful tool, the potential for misuse is ever present. Bad practice can reduce the effectiveness of test use, cause considerable suffering to individuals, damage the company’s image with employees, trade unions and clients, and even lead to contravention of the law and the costs and bad publicity associated with litigation.


A well thought out policy, as stated by SHL, on test use will help to ensure that the organization gains maximum benefit from test use and that potential misuse is avoided. It will also demonstrate commitment to good practice. The aims of every organization in using tests are different and policy must be geared to the needs and structures of each organization. For one company a central unit supervising all test use may be appropriate, for another each individual test user may be required to take final responsibility for their own test use. For this reason each organization must develop its own way of managing test use and formulate a local policy document.


Since it is desirable to measure CAPABILITY ALIGNMENT in the context of a PERSONALITY, some important questions need to be internally answered in the policy statement.


Before an Institution embarks upon the usage of a psychological test it should articulate an internal policy outlining the following:


Key Questions

Illustrative Response


1. Why the need for a test – Determining & thereafter Defining the need for a Test - To make selections, promotions more objective, fair & scientific

2. For whom is the test constructed - For example, the test Taker profile & need analysis For entry level employees, junior, middle management

3. The policy for obtaining consent from the Test taker - Every test before has a consent statement – Consent provided by the test user that he/she is voluntarily & willingly appearing for the test, that they have no objection to the usage of the test findings, its reports by current or potential employers, training institutions etc. The consent terms also provides for indemnification from potential liability to the individuals administering the test, the test suppliers/publishers or to the company purchasing the test

4. What variables would we like measured, why – Demonstrating the need to fix a problem or an issue - Aptitude, like, numerical, verbal, logical, diagrammatic reasoning & Personality factors such as managerial skills, communication behaviors etc

5. For what use would the test results be utilized – articulating the need utilize the knowledge gained from test results to drive well informed decision Support hiring, promotion decisions

6. How would we communicate & articulate the results - Tests used for hiring not communicated, but personality tests used for training & development is communicated as a feedback for development

7. What decisions would we take based on the test - Development, coaching, executive decisions for hiring, promotions etc

8. Who would be the target audience or the test taker - Entry Level candidates, junior & middle management for training needs, assessment centers, promotions etc

9. What is our history of using tests - Used sometimes, have not used standardized tests

10. How would we identify a test - Based on Aptitude & Personality Factors we wish to measure, use only standardized tests, ask for test reviews, ask for reliability, validity, norm data, seek usage rights, ensure licenses are obtained prior to the usage of the tests

11. How would we identify an agency to create/deploy a test - Established Psychometric testing Organization

12. What are our cost & capital budgets in regard to the test - Short Term purchase of paper & pencil tests, long term computer/internet deployment

13. How would we ensure the ethical usage of the test within our environment - Strict access control, lock & key, fair distribution, consistent implementation

14. Who would be trained as a Test Administrator in the institution & how would we train the test Administrator - All Test Administrators

15. What methods would we follow to learn from the test results - Periodic Workshops to learn from analyzed test results

16. What governance mechanism would we use to secure the test HR accountability to ensure that test is secured - Management Committee

17. What management methods would we follow to monitor the implementation of the results - 6 monthly review within HR

18. What feedback mechanism would we deploy to ensure that the test is providing us the results that we purported to receive - Quality of selection, retention, performance on the job, climate survey of fairness of process,

19. What are our long term plans in regard to the test usage, interpretation & improvements - Deploy additional tests, use customized tests where possible

20. What executive body will oversee the use of the test & its utilization - Management Committee



What does Test Review Mean for a Policy


  1. Concept – The Psychological theory and the factors measured by the test, content validation

  2. Applicability – For the user segment for which the test has been constructed

  3. Format – The number of questions, scales used, method for responses, on line versus, paper & pencil etc

  4. Questions – Number, Type of questions, scale etc

  5. Range – Coverage of the segment for which the test has applicability, provides details of other versions of the test,

  6. Degree of Difficulty – Low, medium, High etc

  7. Time – Duration of the test, administration time

  8. Administration & Interpretation – Certification, Training requirements, licensing, administrative guidelines, Post test counseling, sharing of reports, policy issues on the test, consent terms to the test taker

  9. Reliability & Validity – Scores, test construction details

  10. Norms - Available across three continents covering sample segment, by various demographic details


What are Assessment Centers?


The term assessment centre does not refer to a physical place, instead it describes an approach. Traditionally an assessment centre consisted of a suite of exercises ( simulations, group discussions, role plays, report writing, case analysis, psychometric tests, work sample analysis, contingency planning, crisis management, first information reports, dialogue debate, extempore) designed to assess a set of personal characteristics, it was seen as a rather formal process where the individuals being assessed had the results fed back to them in the context of a simple yes/no selection decision. Assessment is the process of evaluating individual differences through tests, interviews, observations, and recording physiological processes.


Psychologists who perform assessments usually have two goals:


  1. Evaluating personality in order to explain behavior

  2. To diagnose and classify people with behavioral problems

  3. To supplement assessment center subjective data with that of a objectively evaluated personality testing data/report


The purpose of testing determines the type and number of tests administered. Specific tests have been developed for diagnosing behavior disorders. Clinicians often use a battery of tests for diagnostic purposes, rather than a single test


Today, various combinations of these exercises & additional scientific assessment methods like psychometric testing, personality reviews, profiling, competency mapping & interviews are used to assess particular competencies in individuals.


The theory behind this is that if one wish to predict future job performance then the best way of doing this is to get the individual to carry out a set of tasks which accurately sample those required in the job & are as similar to them as possible. Simulating a real life situation in a class room setting….


The particular competencies used will depend upon the target job but one will often find generic competencies such as relating to people; result orientation, customer service, target consciousness, forthrightness, courage, resistance to stress; planning & organizing; time management, motivation; adaptability & flexibility; problem solving; leadership; communication; decision making & initiative applicable to many jobs. Front end competencies (Team Working, problem solving) are an overt manifestation of a back end personality. Assessments centers helps understand behaviors that are manifested overtly, psychometric testing, personality tests helps understand the underlying personality factors that influences such behavior which is visible in an Assessment Center.


There are numerous possible competencies & the ones which are relevant to a particular job are determined through job analysis or other competency mapping methods


What does a Standardized test mean?


Statistical Validity & Norms


Standardized tests are statistically validated. They are valid, reliable, contain normative tables and have been tested and retested in several situations. These tests are those that are continuously used for research purposes and are also used for cross validation between tests. The test construction is open for scrutiny, subject to Intellectual Property requirements, and publishers use test manuals to explain the method used on constructing & usage of the tests. Many standardized tests require prior training, formal certification & administration requirements. This is in addition to ethical usage of the tests, appropriate identification of the subject on whom the test can be administered etc.


Reliability refers to the accuracy, dependability, consistency, or repeatability of test results. In more technical terms, reliability refers to the degree to which test scores are free of measurement errors. A test can be reliable, for example, test results may be reliable over time, which means that when the same test is given twice, within any given time interval, the results tend to be the same or highly similar. Validity refers to the meaning & usefulness of test results. More specifically, validity refers to the degree to which a certain inference or interpretation based on a test is appropriate. When one asks the question, “What does this psychological test measure?” one is essentially asking, “For what inference is this test valid?”


Another principle of psychological testing concerns how a test is created or constructed. The act of giving a test is known as test administration. Though some tests are easy to administer, others, like TAT, Complete Personality Typology, Standard Personality Typology, PABST, 16 PPST must be administered in a highly specific way.


A further characteristic of good tests, which however is not intrinsic to the test, is good norms. Norms are sets of scores from clearly defined samples & the development & procedures of obtaining these scores constitute the standardization.


Norms enable the test user to interpret meaningfully the scores, which are obtained from individuals. They are, therefore, most valuable in the practical application of tests rather than for research purposes, where the original, raw test scores are used & where the norms add in little useful information.


Suffice it to say here that the sampling of groups must be adequate & the numbers large. Otherwise the test norms can be worse than useless, that is actually misleading. Nevertheless, if the standardization has been properly carried out, psychological test scores give us a basis for comparison, which no unstandardized procedure can provide.


It must also be realized that most methods of assessment other than tests cannot be standardized, so this capability is an important characteristic of psychometric tests. Norms will be provided for the test based on focus groups


Psychometric Testing Limitations


However, psychometric has several limitations.


  1. Personality measures are limited in their accuracy because situational factors will always influence behaviour.

  2. Any One Test used in isolation may not always produce desired results. Probability of success in interpretation increases in using more than one test.

  3. Only professionally developed tests & procedures that are used as part of a planned assessment program may help you select & hire more qualified & productive employees.

  4. However, it is essential to understand that all assessment tools are subject to errors, both in measuring a characteristic, such as verbal ability, & in predicting performance criteria, such as success on the job.

  5. This is true for all tests & procedures, regardless of how objective or standardized they might be.

  • Do not expect any test or procedure to measure a personal trait or ability with perfect accuracy for every single person.

  • Do not expect any test or procedure to be completely accurate in predicting performance.

  • There will be cases where a test score or procedure will predict someone to be a good worker, who, in fact, is not. There will also be a few exceptional cases where an individual receiving a low score will be rejected, who, in fact, may actually be a capable & a good worker.

  • Such errors in the assessment context are called selection errors. Selection errors cannot be completely avoided in any assessment program.


Subjective element, mistakes & probability of error is greater in a Standard Interview Process used in selections than in a Standard Psychometric Test, which is a good advantage.


On Line Web Enabled Version


One of the innovations of the modern era is the emergence of on line testing. Several test publishers including, Saville Holdsworth, www.shl.com ( SHL India), Pearson Publishing, PT Canada, www.psychometrictesting.org or Psychometrics Canada ( Edmonton) www.psychometrics.ca use on line testing, on line report generation as an effective way to handle a complex set of statistical calculation required to provide a detailed report.


In an automated, computer enabled test, the test booklet is available on line, questions appear one at a time) web enabled, answer booklets are built in & reports are generated automatically immediately after the completion of the test. The questions are randomly chosen from a testing engine based data bank (SQL SERVER) and are not repeated to the test takers in a single location at the same time. The questions are also chosen on the basis of the degree of difficulty established by the company or by the response pattern fo the test taker. Turnaround time is about 2 to 4 seconds to generate a report complete with all of its calculations, normative tables, preparation of a customized reports etc. All tests are “”web enabled & reports are available on line”” soon after a test taker completes his/her test. The company can then review the scores, reports & take a decision or act upon for further management decisions, be it selection, promotion, assessments etc" . The tests are user name & password protected & companies can use them for recruiting purposes by calling the candidate to any central location where they can be supervised, provided internet connected computer & can be asked to take the tests immediately. While Aptitude Test administration need supervision, even in an on line format, given pass/fail criteria, personality tests rarely need supervision given its purpose to understand personality & not to obtain a right or wooing answers.


Detailed Individual Reports for each test taker is made available immediately for each of the test taker as a document for decision making to the company. Deliverable means On Line Ready to use test, report in the agreed format & a Testing Manual for help Test Administrator to conduct & manage the tests periodically the publishers upload additional tests, replace current tests; provide additional free reports, offer new normative data for use by the corporate clients. These reports are available only to the sponsoring company given that it contains additional group analytics, comparisons with test taking population, relevance to specific company norms & may not be to the individual test taker.


Specialized reports like company summary comparative reports, analytical normative reports on group performance, team scoring, grade wise, level wise comparisons can be obtained as appropriate on a customized basis for additional fees, if required. Group Interpretation Graphs, excel sheets, tables indicating comparison of performance of candidates showing averages, high, low, median etc


The Present Situation


Text books indicate that, Psychological tests of intelligence, whether based upon the theory of "general ability" or upon one of relatively independent factors or aptitudes, and tests of specific aptitudes and skills are now at a rea­sonably advanced stage of development. This is so because they have been in the process of evolution and improvement for many years, numerous psychologists have devoted a tre­mendous amount of research to them, and they have been used in a variety of practical situations where their validity could be evaluated. Another reason is the fact that determination of the mental functions, or operations to be tested, though not simple, has not been as difficult as the determination by testing of non intellectual traits of personality.


Recent research indicates the growing need for Values Inventory, Motivational Profiles that fit with the needs of organizations competing for people profiles that meet with their values, ethical practices and drive, energy or achievement goals.


Some examples of such tests are:


VALUE BASED ASSESSMENT OF PERSONALITY PROFILE


This is a Test, including norm tables, on Value Application and the Personality Profile of respondents who demonstrate a certain disposition towards a set of values. It is based on realistic situations, with each of the situation dealing with 5 alternatives. To help make this meaningful multiple items measures one aspect of the values hierarchy and one aspect of personality each time and the scale is constructed to provide for considerable flexibility in views & perspectives. In all 5 levels of personality factors are dealt with from being an Optimist to that of being a Realist or a Casuist. And in the Values Continuum it is divided in 8 levels of values from Traditional – Conservatism to Materialistic – Politician.


Tests of personality are being used in some business and industrial or­ganizations in the selection of management personnel, whereas in certain professions, tests are utilized in selecting individuals to be educated for practice in them. Today, tests have come to hold an important position in business organizations given its ability to understand & manage human personalities for appropriate job fitment, placements or understanding the motivations of people who are hired to perform unique roles.


Human resources professionals have realized the need to gain in depth understanding of psychometric tests including obtaining certifications from recognized institutions to enable them to administer tests in an ethical way and to avoid potential legal liability suits from aggrieved users, who may believe that they have been inappropriately used as guinea pigs on a personality test and the findings of which has, for example, become an office joke. So beware!






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