PSYC 1010 Chapter 9: Psych Notes (Chapter 9).docx

• School: York University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 1010
• Professor: Gerry Goldberg

Document Summary

Psychological test standardized measure of a sample of a person"s behaviour: measurement instruments. Used to measure individual differences that exist among people in abilities, aptitudes, interests, and aspects of personality. Your responses to a psychological test represent a sample of your behaviour: a particular behaviour sample may not be illustrative of your characteristic behaviour. Psychological tests are used in research, but more were developed to serve practical purpose outside of the laboratory. Two broad categories: mental ability tests & personality tests. Mental ability test: three subcategories: intelligence tests, aptitude tests, and achievement tests. Assess intellectual potential rather than previous learning or accumulated knowledge: aptitude tests asses specific types of mental abilities. Designed to measure potential more than knowledge, but they break mental ability into separate components: achievement tests gauge a person"s mastery and knowledge of various subjects. Supposed to measure previous learning instead of potential.