Overview
The final project for this course is the creation of an evaluative, comprehensive literature review. You will select a psychological measure or test. Ideally, the test should be one you see yourself using in the future, that has been used to assess a diagnosis of interest, or that has been used in a population on which you plan to focus. You will evaluate the test using research in peer-reviewed psychology journals to substantiate claims about its validity, reliability, applications, and implications. The project is divided into two milestones, which will be submitted at various points throughout the course to scaffold learning and ensure quality final submissions. These milestones will be submitted in Modules Four and Seven. The final product will be submitted in Module Ten.
This assessment will assess your mastery with respect to the following course outcomes:
- Analyze the primary tools and methods used in the development of valid, reliable psychological tests and assessments
- Evaluate the appropriateness of the psychometric methods used to develop, validate, administer, and interpret the results of psychological
measurement instruments in published research studies
- Apply psychometric principles to the evaluation of the methods employed and results of published research studies
- Evaluate the influence of cultural and environmental factors on the effectiveness of psychological testing and assessment
- Assess the ethical issues involved in test administration and interpretation of testing and assessment results
Prompt
Your literature review should answer the following prompt: What is the overall appropriateness and practical value of your selected psychological assessment measure?
Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:
I. Background of the test
a. What is the purpose of the test?
b. What type of test is it? What type of information does it yield?
c. How is it administered and scored? Who publishes the results?
d. For whom is this test intended? Who else has utilized this test?
II. Assessment of the test
a. To what extent does the test employ appropriate psychometric principles?
b. To what extent has the reliability and validity of the test been demonstrated for varying populations?
c. What are the cut scores for "normal" versus "at-risk" and/or "clinically significant"? Is the method for interpreting and communicating the results (e.g., scaled scores, percentile ranks, z-scores, t-scores) appropriate?
d. Are there any specific cultural concerns that should be attended to? To what extent do cultural and environmental factors for minorities or special populations impact the effectiveness of the measure?
e. To what extent are there ethical issues related to the use, administration, and interpretation of this measure?
III. Practical applications of the test
a. Under what circumstances would you give this test? Provide example scenarios in which the test would be helpful to another mental health professional, parent, teacher, student, individual, court, business, or other profession?
b. For what purposes and with what clients would you not consider it useful? What are the limitations of this test?
c. What issues must you attend to carefully in order to present the test results accurately (e.g., not over- or under-interpret their significance) and ethically?
d. What strategies would you use to help you or your client make decisions resulting from an assessment (e.g., pairing results with
other kinds of information)?
Instructions
Milestone One: Topic Selection
In task 4-3, you will a description of the general topic you intend to pursue as well as a rationale for your selection. Psychological assessment measures are reviewed in the Buros Mental Measurements Yearbook (a reference book that can be requested from the library or https://marketplace.unl.edu/buros/). This can be very helpful, but it should not be used solely as a means to identify potential psychological assessment measures.
Milestone Two: Annotated Bibliography
In task 7-3, you will submit an annotated bibliography that categorizes all resources located in the topic area of interest. You should use at least seven scholarly resources, including peer-reviewed research articles or academic texts, to write this review. An example of an appropriate text would be Psychological Testing by Anne Anastasi and Susana Urbina. This document should include full bibliographic information (title, author, and other reference information), the abstract, and your notes about how the resource informs your understanding of the topic. Use APA format for this document, as with all work submitted in this course.
Final Product: Comprehensive Literature Review
In task 10-1, you will submit your final literature review. This should be a complete, polished artifact containing all of the main elements of the final product. It should reflect the incorporation of feedback gained throughout the course. You should comprehensively review and integrate (at a minimum) seven scholarly resources, including peer-reviewed research articles and/or well-respected texts.