Psychological assessment refers to the collection and integration of psychological data to make a diagnosis in the field of psychology. This employs tools such as tests, interviews, observation and specifically designed equipment.Physiognomy states that it is possible to judge the inner character of people from their appearance (e.g. face). Phrenology states that the bumps on the skull are an indicator of personality. A single aptitude test measures one ability domain and a multiple-aptitude test measures several distinct ability domains. The development of aptitude tests lagged behind the development of intelligence tests because of a lack of statistical techniques (1) and the absence of practical application of these tests (2).Ipsative tests compare the relative strength of interests within an individual instead of comparing it to professional groups (e.g. interest inventories). There is a world-wide trend of evidence-based testing; the idea that treatments and interventions require proof that they are effective. In the first world war, there was group testing of intelligence on recruits. This was not very successful because of the large number of recruits (1), the difficulty comparing verbal and non-verbal tests (2) and the lack of validation of the test (3). The Bernreuter personality inventory was one of the first personality tests. The Rorschach test was developed to reveal the inner workings of an abnormal subject. The Thematic Apperception Test was developed as an instrument to study normal personality. Projective testing made use of free association (1), sentence completion (2), and interpretation (3). PersonRelevanceWundtHe measured the speed of thought of individuals.GaltonHe demonstrated that individual differences exist and are objectively measurable.WisslerHe attempted to validate measurements and demonstrated that reaction time and sensory discrimination (i.e. copper era) were flawed as...

Personality refers to a unique combination of psychological characteristics (e.g. cognitions, feelings, behaviours) that are relatively stable over time. A personality trait refers to any distinguishable, relatively enduring way in which one individual varies from another. There are different trait theories and the different theories have different ideas of how many traits exist. The traits are relatively stable over time. However, the expression of a trait in behaviour can vary. The situation is important for the expression of a trait. Behaviour is trait and content-dependent (e.g. talking during a lecture is rude but talking at a café is friendly). A personality state is a situation-specific, temporary disposition. A personality type is a constellation of personality traits. However, employing personality types might be a simplification of personality. A type-A personality is characterized by competitiveness (1), haste (2), restlessness (3), impatience (4), feelings of being time-pressured (5) and strong needs for achievement (6). A type B personality is characterized by the opposite of type A personality.A personality profile refers to a narrative description, graph, table or other representation of the extent to which a person has demonstrated certain targeted characteristics (i.e. personality traits) as a result of the administration or application of tools of assessment. The choice of assessment instruments depends on validity and reliability. In addition to that, it depends on the context and the research question.High reliability is a condition for high validity. Norms of tests can be based on relative norm scores (i.e. how does one score compared to others) (1), relevance (2), representativeness (3), size (4) and actuality (5). There are several types of instruments for assessing personality:Projective testsThese tests require a response to unstructured stimuli. The assessor draws inferences about personality based on the...

Psychological assessment is used for selection of personnel (1), development of personnel (2), career choice (3), absence and reintegration of personnel (4), assessing motivation (5), assessing leadership (6) and improving performance (7). Personal interest is related to occupational fulfilment and success. They promote better performance (1), greater productivity (2) and greater job satisfaction (3). It can be assessed using an interest measure (e.g. Strong Interest Inventory). Interest is less predictive of job performance and work outcomes than personality traits. A combination of test instruments increases the predictive validity for work outcomes. Holland’s theory of vocational personality types states that there are six personality types and vocational choice reflects one of these personality types. Hunter states that there are five families of jobs; setting up (1), feeding and off-bearing (2), synthesising and coordinating (3), analysing, compiling and computing (4) and copying and comparing (5). The interest inventories could recommend a family of jobs to a person. High school aptitude predicts job performance and not job satisfaction. Both are not predicted by interest inventories. A portfolio assessment refers to the evaluation of an individual’s work sample to make a decision regarding this individual (e.g. placement). The advantages of portfolio assessment are evaluating many work samples by the assessee (1), obtaining understanding of the assessee’s work-related thoughts and habits (2) and question the assessee further regarding aspects of the thought-processes (3). An integrity test refers to a narrowly defined personality test to predict an employee’s integrity (e.g. theft). Overt integrity tests are asking straight-forward questions regarding integrity. Tests like these are characterized as criterion-focused occupational personality scales. Screening refers to the superficial process of evaluation based on minimal standards...