Psychological Assessment (PA) is the process whereby an assessment practitioner makes use of various psychological assessment tools or instruments (e.g., psychometric tests) in conjunction with other information (e.g. researching a person’s history, conducting interviews, checklists, observations etc. The information obtained from this process is then used to make inferences or predictions about future behaviour and assists informed decision making in various contexts including clinical, educational, vocational/career choice, career counselling, coaching and personnel selection, placement, promotion and development.
Psychometric tests are standardised procedures that sample behaviour and then describe it using categories and scores. There are various types of psychological tests available, including intelligence tests, aptitude tests, achievement tests, creativity tests, personality tests, emotional intelligence (EQ) tests, interest inventories, behavioural procedures, neuropsychological tests and many more. Psychological tests can be individual (one-on-one testing process, advantages include being able to pick up on test anxiety, level of motivation etc.); group (typically paper and pencil to a large group at the same time), norm-referenced (test performance of each examinee is interpreted in reference to relevant norm group/standardisation sample), and criterion-referenced (test performance of each examinee is interpreted in terms of defined educational objectives, thus no comparison to norm group).
Paramount for ethical and legally defensible psychological assessment and testing, are the psychometric characteristics of reliability and validity. Reliability concerns the consistency of measurement of an instrument. Validity is the extent to which a test measures what it intends/claims to measure.
From an individual perspective, today's complex workplace offers an overwhelming number of job and career alternatives, and choosing and committing to one can be extremely daunting. Self-awareness and understanding of one's strengths, interests, personality etc. assists one in making increasingly informed career choice decisions. This applies to those preparing to enter the workforce as well as those already working, as it is invaluable for career development and even career transitions and change. Psychometric assessment is also a crucial component of , and building block for, personal development plans and coaching programmes.
From an organisational perspective, staying competitive in these unprecedented times, is essential for survival, and one key way to accomplish this is through the effective use of psychological assessments. Research shows that interviews alone are ill equipped to sufficiently predict behaviour, and that the selection of employees using subjective, unsubstantiated methods oftentimes results in wrong decisions, which results in huge financial losses and subsequent time watage. Research studies recommend using one or more method or predictor, for best results.
South Africans were introduced to psychological assessments during the colonial era. Up until recently, the use of imported western-world tests were used for all population groups. As South Africa comprises people from a multitude of racial groups and cultures, speaking numerous languages, and (as a result of the inequities of apartheid on certain groups); major differences in socio-economic and educational backgrounds, the assumption that these tests could be adopted uniformly across the board led to (1) unfair discriminations against certain groups and (2) the emergence of a negative perception toward psychological testing.
Fortunately, we have seen tremendous advancements in the field of psychological assessment globally and within South Africa, with the development and implementation of various legislation and ethical practice guidelines. This has gradually led to a shift away from the negative perception of PA held for so long and by so many.
(1) Internationally, guidelines from The International Test Commission (ITC) specifically, the International Guidelines for Test Use (2002) have made a significant contribution.
(3) The Health Professions Act, 1974 (Act no. 56 of 1974), Annexure 12 also sets forth ethical conduct requirements for psychological practitioners. Chapter 5 specifically concerns ethics in psychological assessment.
Current trends in psychological assessment
Combined approach to assessment
The traditional quantitative approach of assessing attributes, characteristics, skills, knowledge, personality etc. using quantitative assessment tools, and ‘matching’ a person to their environment is still significant. However, modern approaches to PA highlight the value of including qualitative assessments in test batteries, resulting in more combined approaches. In career counselling and career interventions especially, narrative assessments have been incorporated whereby a client creates their own life story, which makes it more meaningful (e.g.. life-design, Savickas, 1994).
Technology-based testing (TBT)
TBT includes computer-based testing (CBT) and online/internet-based testing and is increasingly used for psychological assessments. Common uses include entrance assessments for educational institutions and organisational personnel selection. Advantages of TBT include easier administration and scoring, an increase in test security and its ability to assess high level cognitive skills. They can also reach out and empower large, diverse audiences (including disabled people) because of innovations such as speech and voice recognition, touch pads etc.
TBT challenges to consider:
✓ Keeping tests and technology up to date with global trends, but also inclusive of the SA population. ✓ Test-taker’s unfamiliarity with the technology (e.g., using a computer, touch screen, the internet etc.). In some cases, a practice tutorial prior to test will suffice, other times a paper and pencil assessment should rather be offered. ✓ For at-home online testing, socio-economic differences amongst people may result in unfairness and bias, because of various factors including lack of access to technological equipment or up-to-date equipment, lack of WIFI/internet ✓ Security concerns such as cheating, piracy of data etc. ✓ Ethical dilemmas include ineffective safety measures, known security threats of TBT, the use of older, vulnerable testing platforms and methods, security measures lacking funding and the lack of negative consequences for cheaters and pirates, The responsibility to ascertain ethicality, fairness, and security of TBT lies with the PA practitioner., Increased awareness of these issues together with the development of best practice guidelines is needed moving forward.
Item-response theory and dynamic testing
In contrast to classic test theory, modern test theory or item response theory (IRT) has increased test design flexibility, test evaluation and test analysis. IRT is used to develop and assemble test items, detect bias in measuring instruments, implement computerised adaptive tests and analyse data. IRT allows analysis of the relationship between individual characteristics and the responses to individual items. Advantages of these designs are that it is it is no longer necessary to use an identical test if you are conducting research or testing across different groups. It is also an excellent statistical framework to identify unfair or differentially valid test items.
Assessment Centres (ACs) are increasingly being used in SA- SA is the 3rd largest AC user amongst 82 user countries.
Assessment Centres are used to identify strengths and weaknesses of candidates/employees, predict performance and help in the decision-making process.
Often used for selection into educational institutions and management/leadership roles and to identify development needs, they form part of the general assessment family, but differ in key ways, namely:
Look out for these disturbing trends in ACs: ✓ Cost-cutting during the development and implementations stage, which can affect the accuracy and effectiveness of AC results. Classic errors that arise from cost-cutting are: o Poor planning o Inadequate job analysis o Weakly defined dimensions o Poor selection of exercises o No pretest evaluation o Unqualified assessors o Inadequate assessor training o Inadequate candidate preparation o Sloppy behaviour documenting and scoring; and o Misuse of results ✓ Non-assessment centre techniques, including assessments that do not allow for demonstration of overt behaviour, panel interviews/ a series of interviews as a sole method, reliance on a single method, test-batteries consisting numerous paper and pencil assessments, evaluation by a single assessor, the use of several simulation and multiple assessors but no data pooling (OARs) Ethical questions relating to to multiculturalism (especially language and translation problems, validity issues and applying technology in AC PA SERVICES • Evaluation/development of Psychometric Assessment policy and procedure in line with South African legislation and current best practice guidelines • Design, development, facilitation, and evaluation of entire psychometric testing process for different psychological constructs (personality, EQ, IQ, values etc.) • Psychometric assessment for the purposes of, recruitment, selection, placement and promotion, vocational guidance/ career counselling and personal and professional development • Design, development, facilitation, and evaluation of Assessment Centres (ACs) in line with best practices and industry trends
✓ Cost-cutting during the development and implementations stage, which can affect the accuracy and effectiveness of AC results. Classic errors that arise from cost-cutting are poor planning, inadequate job analysis, weakly defined dimensions, poor selection of exercises, no pretest evaluation, unqualified assessors, inadequate assessor training, inadequate candidate preparation, sloppy behaviour in documenting and scoring; and misuse of results
✓ Non-assessment centre techniques, including assessments that do not allow for demonstration of overt behaviour, panel interviews/ a series of interviews as a sole method, reliance on a single method, test-batteries consisting of numerous paper and pencil assessments, evaluation by a single assessor, the use of several simulations and multiple assessors but no data pooling (OARs)
✓ Non-assessment centre techniques, including assessments that do not allow for demonstration of overt behaviour, panel interviews/ a series of interviews as a sole method, reliance on a single method, test-batteries consisting of numerous paper and pencil assessments, evaluation by a single assessor, the use of several simulations and multiple assessors but no data pooling (OARs)
- Ethical questions relating to to multiculturalism (especially language and translation problems, validity issues and applying technology in AC) also need due consideration
At the work psychologist, we offer an array of tailor-made psychological assessment services for individuals and organisations, in both individual and group settings and for a variety of purposes:
- Evaluation/development of Psychometric Assessment policy and procedure in line with South African legislation and current best practice guidelines.
- Design, development, facilitation, and evaluation of entire psychometric testing process for different psychological constructs (personality, EQ, IQ, values etc.). Psychometric assessment for organisations and individuals for the purposes of, recruitment, selection, placement and promotion, vocational guidance/ career counselling and personal and professional development.
- Design, development, facilitation, and evaluation of Assessment Centres (ACs) in line with best practices and industry trends.
- Psychometric assessment for individual and organisational purposes of, recruitment, selection, placement and promotion, vocational guidance/ career counselling and personal and professional development.