This document provides an overview of psychometrics and its history. It discusses how psychometrics began with early testing by the Chinese and Francis Galton in the 19th century. Modern psychometrics emerged with tests developed by Alfred Binet and others. Common tests today include IQ tests and personality inventories. Research shows that actuarial judgments based on empirical data from psychometrics are typically more accurate than clinical judgments alone. While clinicians have strengths in theory-based judgments, recognizing rare events, and complex patterns, actuarial methods avoid biases and inconsistencies and properly weight variables.