The document traces the history of psychological testing from its origins in China and Europe in the 1800s to its modern use today. It describes how early tests focused on measuring reaction time and sensory abilities but later shifted to measuring intelligence through tests developed by Binet and Simon. Widespread testing began during WWI when the Army used tests to classify recruits, leading to a boom in testing through the 1940s when tests were used to assess personality and vocational fit. However, testing was later criticized for biases against women and minorities and seen as invasive of privacy. While controversial, testing continues to be used widely in education to assess student and program performance.

1. CHAPTERI

2. ALittle History
EarlyPeriod
The BoomPeriod
The First Period ofCriticism
The BatteryPeriod
The SecondPeriod ofCriticism
TheAge ofAccountability

3. Chineseusedcompetitive exam, civil
servicepositions.
Civil law, military affairs, agriculture,
revenue, andgeography.
Testing extremelyrigorous
 Confucianclassicswas emphasized.
Only 3%of thegroup became eligible
for publicoffice.

4. Chineseserved as
models for developing
civil serviceexams in
Europe andAmericain
the 1800s.

5. Chinesefailed to validatethe
selection procedures.
- Penmanship wasat that
time given a relevant
predictor for suitabilityfor
office.

6. Formal measurementprocedures
Western educationalsystem
 19thCentury
 Wundt,Galton, andCattell laid the
foundation for the 20th Century
testing.

7. studied conscious
humanexperience
using his
psychological
laboratory.
Acknowledged
individual
differences but
inclination wason
the study of the
humanmind.

8. Hislegacy wason the rigorous
experimental control of
procedures, which is very
important in tests
administration under
standardized conditions.

9. Studied individual differences,most
basic concept underlying
psychological testing.
Concentrated individual differences
sensory and motorfunctioning.
10years, tested 17,000individuals

10. He pioneered thestudy of individual
differences in mentalability.
 Related intellectual ability to skills
suchasreaction time, sensitivityto
physicalstimuli, and body
proportions.
Demonstrated that objective tests
could be devised throughstandardized
procedures.

12. Cattell transported brass instruments to the
U.S.; did an elaborate reaction time studies;
invented the term mentaltest.
Some of his famous studentswere:
 Thorndike (1898)
 Woodworth (1899) and E.K. Strong (1911)whose
Vocational Interest Blank ,after somany revisions,
is still in wide use.

13. Wundt,Galton, andCattell laid
the foundation for the 20th
Century testing.

14. Others keeptrack onCattell andGalton’s
interests.
 Wissler
▪ Correlated mental tests and academic
performance which showed weak
relationship between reaction time and
sensory discrimination asmeasures of
intelligence.
▪ desirable development in the history of
psychologicaltesting; abandonment of RT
and sensorydiscrimination

15. Abandonment of RT
and sensory as
measures

16. Premature abandonment
poor research
method, homogenoussample
and lesser number oftrials.
70years later correlationwas
established and Stenberg
recognized the valueof RTin
intelligence.

17. VOID INTESTING

18. Alfred Binet wason the
verge of amajor break
through in intelligence
testing.

19. Binet developed his test to
help identify children in Paris
school system who could not
profit from ordinary
instruction.

20. 1905: Binet-Simon Scale
was established; major
breakthrough in the
creation of modern test.

21. 15-year boom period
New science ofPsychology was called
on to play apart in military situations
 Yerkes used the Army Alpha(Verbal)
and Army Beta for selection of
individuals for militaryservice.

22. • Robert Yerkes,a Harvard psychology
professor. Convinced the Departmentof
War that it should test all of its 1.75
million recruits for intelligence tests, so
they could be classified and given
appropriate assignments (Goddard and
Terman also chaired thiscommittee).

23. The height of Goddard's successcame at atime when America
was experiencing alarge influx of immigrants from Europe. The
Immigration Restriction Act, passedin 1924 (which remained in
effect until 1965)wasinfluenced byAmerican eugenics'efforts. In
1913Goddard was invited to Ellis Island to help detect morons in
the immigrant population. In his Intelligence Classification of
Immigrants of Different Nationalities (1917)he asserted that most
of the Ellis Island immigrants were mentally deficient. For
example, he indicated that 83%of all Jewstested were feeble-
minded, aswere 80% of the Hungarians, 79%of the Italians, and
87%of the Russians.The result was that many immigrants were
turned away andsent back to Europe.

24. ARMYBETA ARMYALPHA
Acompany advanced 6 miles and
retreated 2 miles. How far was it
then from its first position?
Adealer bought some mules for
$1,200. He sold themfor
$1,500, making $50oneach mule.
Howmany mules were there?
Thermometers are usefulbecause
 They regulate temperature
 Theytell ushow warm it is
 They containmercury
Amachine gun is more deadly
than arifle,because it
 Wasinvented more recently
 Fires more rapidly
 Canbe used with lesstraining

25. Measurement expanded in12
years after thewar;
vocational, and personality tests
were developed.

26. PersonalityTests: 1920-1940 (WWII)
Structured personality tests:paper
and pencil tests; i.e., Woodworth
Personal DataSheet
tests like MMPI were published

27. test developers and users
placed too much reliance on
the correctness of tests results
regarding people’s abilities
and characteristics

28. Goddard (1906) began testing378
residents and categorized themas
Idiot (ma below 2), imbecile (3-
7), feebleminded (8-12), moron
(foolish)
Goddard’s desire wasto separate
people out

29. Believed feeble minded people werethe
cause of most socialproblems
(thievery, laziness, alcoholism, prostitution, i
mmorality).
• Called for the colonization of “morons” to
restrict their breeding. Further
, hebelieved
that many immigrants were feebleminded.

30. • Produced evidence that supported
segregation. Sounded dire warningsthat
racial intermixture would inevitably
cause a deterioration ofAmerican
intelligence. Later recanted:“without
foundation” Probably the result of
cultural and languagedifferences.

31. “Age of Discrimination”–testing
revealed largescore
differences betweenWhite
Americans and minorities-
“feeble-minded”; started to
question the test and the
conclusionsdrawn from the tests

32. 1930s saw a crash in the
expectations of mental
measurement.
criticisms led young
Psychologist to initiate the
Mental Measurements
Yearbook (MMY) tocritically
review test.

33. Psychological measurementwas
used again for military service
where batteries of tests were
developed that measure several
abilities.
Reducedfailure rates and led to
emphasis on testbatteries.

34. 1950seducational and
psychological testing grew and
expanded not lonely in the field
of education but other fields like
business, industry,clinics.
APAset guidelines for good
testing practice.

35. In1965, civil rights
movement were in full
swing; reacted totest’s
invasion of privacy.

36. Testswere seen asbiased
tools; discriminatewomen
and minorities in
education and
employment.

37. despite criticisms ,governments
and specifically educational
institutions were puttinggreater
faith in testing to determine
whether government and
educational programs were
achieving theirobjectives.

38. Despite failures, school are
accountable for maximum
learning ofthe students

39. Failures
▪ Segregation between/amongminorities.
▪ Created intellectualhierarchy between/among races.
▪ Labelling: Americans superior overAfricanAmericans
and otherminorities.
▪ Discrimination between men and women in
employment.
▪ Invasion of privacy