What is Psychometric Testing?
Quite literally - Measurement of the Mind. If we wanted to know your height we would use a tape measure; for your weight we would use scales. Personality attributes, aptitudes and abilities are far less tangible and certainly far less easily measured and to provide insight into these areas, the psychometric test was developed.
Psychometric tests are standardized measures that provide scores on hypothetical variables. That won't mean a lot to the lay person, but in essence a psychometric test is designed to measure one or more facets of a person's behavior or personality.
Psychometric tests need to be both reliable - that is to say that whatever they measure, they do it with accuracy and precision - and valid, which means that the test fulfills its objectives and measures what it purports to measure. Standardized means that the test has been used on a wide population sample against which subsequent respondents' results can be compared.
This comparative measure enables detailed and accurate predictions to be made from the test results about a person's likely responses to and behavior in a variety of different situations - for example in a new job. This is why psychometric tests have become so widely used in recent years as pre-employment screening tools and as guides for establishing personal and individual training and development opportunities.
In order to demonstrate its psychometric pedigree a test must undergo extensive and detailed trials during its development, so that it can be demonstrated that it performs the function that the designer and ultimately the user require.
Categories of Test:
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