Summary of Origins of Psychological Testing - Gregory

This summary on the Origins of Psychological Testing is written based on chapter 2 of Psychological testing; History, principles and applications - Gregory (2014)

Psychological testing originated more than 100 years ago in laboratory studies of sensory discrimination, motor skills, and reaction time. Galton invented the first battery of tests, a peculiar assortment of sensory and motor measures, which we review in the following. Cattell studied with Galton and proclaimed in 1980 the modern testing agenda in his classic paper entitled 'mental tests and measurements'. 

What are physiognomy, phrenology and the psychograph?

Physiognomy is based on the notion that we can judge the inner character of people from their outward appearance, especially the face. This represents an early form of psychological testing. Aristotle argued that changes in the person's soul could impact the appearance of the body and vice versa. 

Physiognomy remained popular for centuries and laid the foundation for the more specialized form of quackery known as phrenology, reading 'bumps' on the head. The founding of phrenology is usually attributed to Gall. His science was based on the veneer of plausibility. He argued that the brain is the organ of sentiments and faculties and that these capacities are localized. He also reasoned, that the extent to what a specific faculty was well-developed, the corresponding component of the brain would be enlarged. 

What is the brass instruments era of testing?

Experimental psychology flourished in the late 1800s in Europe. Psychologists departed from the wholly subjective and introspective methods that had been so fruitlessly pursued in the preceding centuries. In reaction to this Wundt founded the first psychological laboratory in Leipzig, Germany. It is well recognized that he was measuring mental processes years before. He measured mental processes and begrudgingly acknowledged individual differences, but he is commonly known for more renowned for proposing common laws of thought for the average adult mind.

What has Galton to do with the first battery of mental test?

Galton was obsessed with measurement and his intellectual career seems to have been dominated by a belief that virtually anything was measurable. He was a genius who was more interested in the problems of human evolution than in psychology. He took the work from Wundt and used it to make a series of simple and quick sensorimotor measures. 

How did Cattell import these instruments to the United States?

Cattell invented the term mental test in his famous paper entitled 'Mental Tests and Measurements'. In 1891 Cattell accepted a position at Columbia University, at that time the largest university in the United States. Among his many famous doctoral students and the years of their degree were Thorndike, who made monumental contributions to learning theory and educational psychology, Woodworth and Strong. But among his students was also Wissler, he had the greatest influence on the early history of psychological testing. He came up with publications that discouraged other researchers from using RT and sensory discrimination as measures of intelligence. 

What are the rating scales and their origins?

Rating scales are used in psychology to quantify subjective psychological variables of many kinds. This can be transferred back to Galen. He believed in the prevailing humor theory of health and disease, in which the harmony or disharmony among four bodily fluids or 'humors' determined someone's health. The four fluids were: yellow bile, black bile, phlegm, and blood. 

What were the changing conceptions of mental retardation in the 1800s?

The first intelligence tests were developed by Binet in the early 1900s to identify children in Paris school system who were unlikely to profit from ordinary instruction. A new humanism toward children with mental retardation created a practical problem, how can you determine who needs extra help? And Binet's tests were used to solve this problem. Around the beginning of the nineteenth century, many physicians had begun to perceive the difference between mental retardation and mental illness. Esquirol was the first to formalize the difference in writing. He placed great emphasis on language skills in the diagnosis of mental retardation. This may offer a partial explanation as to why Binet's later tests and the modern-day descendants from them are so heavily loaded on linguistic abilities. Esquirol also proposed the first classification system in mental retardation and it should be no surprise that language skills were the main diagnostic criteria. He recognized three levels of mental retardation: (1) those using short phrases, (2) those using only monosyllables, and (3) those with cries only, no speech. Apparently, Esquirol did not recognize what we would now call mild mental retardation, instead providing criteria for the equivalents of the modern-day classifications of moderate, severe, and profound mental retardation. 

What is the influence of Binet's early research on his test?

Binet invented the first modern intelligence test in 1905. Binet and his assistant Henri argued that intelligence could be measured by means of the higher psychological processes and not only reaction time. Later around 1905 Binet and Simon were asked to make a scale to assess the intelligence of children.  An interesting point is that Binet and Simon did not offer a precise method for arriving at a total score on their scale. Their purpose was to classify, not measure, and their motivation was also entirely humanitarian, to identify those children who needed special educational placement. 

In 1908, they came with an innovation of the scale. The major innovation was the introduction of the concept of mental level. The tests had been standardized on about 300 normal children between the age 3-13, and this allowed Binet and Simon to order the tests according to the age level at which they were typically passed. With the successful application of a mental test, psychologists realized that their inventions could have pragmatic significance for many different segments of society. 

Why testing for giftedness?

One of the earliest uses of IQ tests like the Stanford-Binet was testing for giftedness and a pioneer in this application was Leta Stetter Hollingworth who spent her short career focusing on the psychology of a genius. Hollingworth demonstrated that children of high genius showed significantly greater school achievement than those of mere ordinary genius. 

What is the Stanford-Binet test?

The changes that led to the unquestioned prestige of the Stanford-Binet was the use of the now familiar IQ for expressing test results. The Stanford-Binet was the standard of intelligence testing for decades. Then there was a slow pace of developments in group testing picked up dramatically as the United States entered World War I in 1917. Two group tests emerged from the collaboration: the Army Alpha and the Army Beta. The Alpha was based on the then unpublished work of Otis and consisted of eight verbally loaded tests for average and high-functioning recruits. The eight tests were (1) following oral directions, (2) arithmetical reasoning, (3) practical judgment, (4) synonym-antonym pairs, (5) disarranged sentences, (6) number series completion, (7) analogies, and (8) information. The Army Beta was a nonverbal group test designed for the use with illiterates and recruits whose first language was not English. After the war, the Army alpha and beta were also released for general use. These tests quickly became the prototypes for a large family of group tests and influenced the character of intelligence tests, examinations, achievement tests, and aptitude tests. 

What are aptitude tests?

Aptitude tests measure more specific and delimited abilities than intelligence tests. Traditionally, intelligence tests assess a more global construct such as general intelligence. A single aptitude test will measure just one ability domain, and a multiple aptitude test battery will provide scores in several distinctive ability areas. 

The development of aptitude tests lagged behind that of intelligence tests for two reasons, one statistical, one social. 

• The statistical reason was that a new technique, factor analysis, was often needed to discern which aptitudes were primary and therefore distinct from each other. 
• The second reason for the slow growth of aptitude batteries was the absence of a practical application for such refined instruments. 

What are the origins of projective testing?

The projective approach originated with the word association method pioneered by Galton in the late 1800s. Galton gave himself four seconds to come up with as many associations as possible to a stimulus word and then categorized his associations as parrot like, image-mediated, or histrionic representations.