Psychometric Measure

A Psychometric Measure is a human measure for assessing psychological constructs (through standardized procedures).

• AKA: Psychological Test, Psychometric Assessment, Psychological Measurement Tool.
• Context:
  • It can assess Psychological Construct through test items and scoring procedures.
  • It can quantify Human Behavior Sample via standardized tasks and performance metrics.
  • It can measure Individual Difference using objective methods and systematic protocols.
  • ...
  • It can support Clinical Psychology for diagnostic assessment and treatment planning.
  • It can enable Educational Psychology for learning outcome and cognitive development.
  • It can guide Organizational Psychology through personnel selection and employee assessment.
  • ...
  • It can range from being a Unidimensional Psychometric Measure to being a Multidimensional Psychometric Measure, depending on its construct complexity.
  • It can range from being a Paper-Based Test to being a Computerized Adaptive Assessment, depending on its administration method.
  • It can range from being a Single Domain Measure to being a Cross-Cultural Assessment, depending on its application scope.
  • ...
  • It can minimize Response Bias through question formats and administration protocols.
  • It can undergo Psychometric Validation for establishing measurement properties.
  • It can utilize Factor Analysis for uncovering construct dimensions.
  • It can require Cultural Adaptation for different linguistic contexts and cultural settings.
  • It can maintain Measurement Invariance across population groups and time points.
  • ...
• Examples:
  • Psychometric Personality Measures, such as:
    • Standard Inventorys, such as:
      • Big Five Inventory for personality dimension assessment.
      • Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory for psychopathology evaluation.
      • 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire for trait measurement.
    • Type Indicators, such as:
      • Myers-Briggs Personality Type Measure for type category assessment.
      • Big Five Personality Traits Measure for ocean factor evaluation.
  • Psychometric Intelligence Measures, such as:
    • General Intelligence Scales, such as:
      • g Intelligence Factor Test for general cognitive ability assessment.
      • Fluid Intelligence Measure for abstract problem solving assessment.
    • Cognitive Assessments, such as:
      • Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale for cognitive function measurement.
      • Raven's Progressive Matrices for abstract reasoning assessment.
      • Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales for ability evaluation.
  • Psychometric Emotional-State Measures, such as:
    • Immediate State Scales, such as:
      • Current Mood Assessment for present emotion evaluation.
      • Acute Stress Measure for immediate stress assessment.
    • Long-Term State Scales, such as:
      • Emotional Pattern Tracker for longitudinal affect assessment.
      • Chronic Mood Measure for persistent state evaluation.
  • Psychometric Clinical Measures, such as:
    • Mental Health Scales, such as:
      • Beck Depression Inventory for depression severity assessment.
      • State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for anxiety level measurement.
      • Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule for spectrum disorder evaluation.
  • Psychometric Personal Characteristic Measures, such as:
    • Individual Trait Scales, such as:
      • Psychological Confidence Measure for self-assurance assessment.
      • Psychological Persistence Measure for determination level evaluation.
      • Psychological Self-Esteem Measure for self-worth assessment.
    • Social Trait Scales, such as:
      • Social Status Measure for societal position assessment.
      • Gullibility Measure for susceptibility evaluation.
      • Self-Awareness Measure for metacognition evaluation.
  • Psychometric Specialized Measures, such as:
    • Domain-Specific Scales, such as:
      • Art Appreciation Measure for aesthetic perception assessment.
      • Situational Judgement Test for scenario response evaluation.
      • Job Satisfaction Measure for workplace attitude assessment.
    • Belief System Scales, such as:
      • Religious Commitment Scale for religious practice measurement.
      • Spiritual Well-Being Scale for existential assessment.
  • ...
• Counter-Examples:
  • Physical Measurement, which assesses bodily functions rather than psychological constructs.
  • Behavioral Observation, which uses direct observation rather than standardized testing.
  • Projective Assessment, which employs unstructured methods rather than standardized procedures.
  • Educational Evaluation, which focuses on academic performance rather than psychological traits.
• See: Psychometrics, Test Construction, Psychological Assessment, Scale Development, Measurement Error, Test-Retest Reliability, Item Response Theory, Classical Test Theory.

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References

2015

• (Wikipedia, 2015) ⇒ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_testing Retrieved:2015-6-25.
  • Psychological testing refers to the administration of psychological tests. A psychological test is "an objective and standardized measure of a sample of behavior" (p. 4). The term sample of behavior refers to an individual's performance on tasks that have usually been prescribed beforehand. The samples of behavior that make up a paper-and-pencil test, the most common type of test, are a series of items. Performance on these items produce a test score. A score on a well-constructed test is believed to reflect a psychological construct such as achievement in a school subject, cognitive ability, aptitude, emotional functioning, personality, etc. Differences in test scores are thought to reflect individual differences in the construct the test is supposed to measure. The technical term for the science behind psychological testing is psychometrics.

2013

• (Kosinski et al., 2013) ⇒ Michal Kosinski, David Stillwell, and Thore Graepel. (2013). “Private Traits and Attributes Are Predictable from Digital Records of Human Behavior.” In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110(15).
  • QUOTE: We show that easily accessible digital records of behavior, Facebook Likes, can be used to automatically and accurately predict a range of highly sensitive personal attributes including: sexual orientation, ethnicity, religious and political views, personality traits, intelligence, happiness, use of addictive substances, parental separation, age, and gender. The analysis presented is based on a dataset of over 58,000 volunteers who provided their Facebook Likes, detailed demographic profiles, and the results of several psychometric tests. The proposed model uses dimensionality reduction for preprocessing the Likes data, which are then entered into logistic/linear regression to [[predict individual psychodemographic profiles from Likes. The model correctly discriminates between homosexual and heterosexual men in 88% of cases, African Americans and Caucasian Americans in 95% of cases, and between Democrat and Republican in 85% of cases. For the personality trait “Openness," prediction accuracy is close to the test-retest accuracy of a standard personality test. We give examples of associations between attributes and Likes and discuss implication]]s for online personalization and privacy.

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