THEORIES AND TECHNIQUES OF PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT

Course Sheet

Course code:

SP23

Academic Year of enrolment:

2017

Year of supply:

2019/2020

Divisions:

Cognomi A-H

Type of Course:

Characterising

Degree:

Course of 1st Cycle Degree in PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCES

Disciplinary Sector:

Psychometrics

Is part of:

THEORIES AND TECHNIQUES OF PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT

Location:

CHIETI

Credits:

Programme Year:

Professor and Collaborators:

SAGGINO ARISTIDE

Cycle:

First semester

Hours of classroom activity:

Individual study hours:

136

Prerequisites:

It is strongly recommended to take the course exam after passing the examinations of Psicometria I and Psicometria II with the relative EPG.

Objectives

Educational goals:
The aim of the course is to provide basic knowledge and skills in the field of psychological measurement and psychological tests, of psychological test construction techniques and of the main applications of psychological tests. The course aims to provide the student with the terminological and technical tools to understand and know how to use the psychological tests and questionnaires, related manuals and related scientific literature.

Expected learning outcomes:
Knowledge and ability to understand
- Know the terms and concepts related to the validity, reliability and statistical techniques used for the validation of the tests
- To know the mathematical language and the mathematical logic applied to the validation and construction techniques of the tests
- Learn to read and use a manual that explains how to administer and score the psychological test

Ability to apply knowledge and understanding
- Ability to administer a test independently
- Ability to independently perform the scoring of individual scores to a test
- Ability to evaluate the most suitable tests for measuring individual psychological characteristics

Autonomy of judgment
- Ability to evaluate test scores
- Ability to judge individual characteristics based on the test scores
Communication skills
- Ability to communicate test scores
- Ability to explain the profiles of a test
- Ability to describe individual characteristics (intelligence, personality, psychological traits)

Learning ability:
- Ability to learn the calculations for the evaluation of the reliability of the measurements obtained with a test
- Ability to use the normative tables of the manuals of a psychological test
- Ability to elaborate and interpret the intellectual and personality profiles of the subjects based on their test scores

Contents

Theory of psychological measurement and of the psychological tests and techniques of construction and validation of the tests. Validity, reliability of tests, calculation of correlation, regression and factor analysis. Ability to consult the manuals of psychological tests.

Extended Syllabus

Program of "Theories And Techniques Of Psychological Assessment"
Part I-Theory
1. The basic concepts of psychological measurement: variables, functions, sets, relational structures, homomorphisms, measurement scales.
2. Psychological reactive validity: validity of content, of construct, convergent and divergent validity, predictive validity, external validity.
3. Structure and type of psychological reagents. Subjective, objective, projective, cognitive and non-cognitive tests.
4. Reliability of psychological tests

Part II - Techniques
1. Calculation of correlation indices between variables
2. Calculation of the measurement indices of the reliability of psychological reagents. Methods of estimation of reliability (test-retest, split-half, parallel forms, homogeneity of the items)
3. Construction and validation of psychological tests through classical test theory or item response theory. Measurement of errors
4. Structured and semi-structured interview techniques.
5. Validation with the factorial analysis of multidimensional psychological tests. Methodology and techniques of exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis.

Part III - Practical part
1. Practical example of consultation and use of a test manual for the measurement of work-related stress (SOS scale of bank workers).

Recommended Bibliography

A) Saggino A., Pappone P., Del Castello E., Grassi P., Natullo O., Nicotra E. F., Tommasi M. (2015). “Lo stress nei lavoratori bancari. Il questionario Stress Organizzativo e Salute (SOS)”, Franco Angeli, Milano. ISBN: 978-88-917-2652-0.

B) Tommasi M., Busonera A. (2010 ). “Teorie e tecniche dei reattivi e delle interviste in psicologia”, Franco Angeli, Milano. ISBN: 978-88-568-1571-9.

For the book at point B You have to study:
chapters from 1 to 5 - everything
chapter 6 - everything except paragraph 6.6
chapter 7 -everything
chapter 8 - everything except paragraph 8.4
chapter 9 -everything
Chapter 10- excluded
chapter 11 -everything

Teaching Methods

The course includes 64 hours of frontal teaching, divided into lessons of 2 to 3 hours depending on the academic calendar. The frontal teaching consists of theoretical lessons and, possibly, of seminars held by experts in psychological measurement and the topics covered. During the lessons, the main topics of the teaching are explained with examples on the blackboard Examples are above all related to the calculation techniques of the validity and reliability of tests indexes. Attendance is optional, strongly recommended and the final exam will be the same both for attending and non-attending students

Evaluation methods

Verification of learning:

The examination of student’s competency consists of a written test with multiple answers options related to the entire program with a possible subsequent oral integration at teacher’s discretion. The total points (30) will be divided based on the questions presented in the test. The total score is given by the sum of the correct scores to the individual questions. The duration of the written test is about 35 minutes.

Contacts/More Information

The teaching also includes a tutoring activity. For this activity all information is provided on the website www.psicometria.unich.it. On this site you can also find any additional teaching material or information that the teacher thinks to be appropriate for the course.

Università degli Studi
"G. d'Annunzio"

Chieti - Pescara

Aree

Error message