Nathan L. Williams, Ph.D. Psych 4053: Psychological Tests

This course will provide a survey of psychological testing and assessment including philosophy of science, psychometric principles, a history of psychological assessment, clinical applications, and ethical, legal, cultural, and social considerations. The primary objective of this course is to enable the student to critically evaluate psychological tests, and thus gain a greater appreciation of the usefulness and limitations of testing. In the service of this goal we will discuss statistical concepts in assessment, underlying assumptions behind assessment, an in-depth treatment of selected landmark tests, a survey of other relevant tests, sources of professional criticism, and the applicability and limitations of psychological testing. Throughout the course we will examine a variety of approaches to assessment and testing including self-report measures, standardized tests, projective tests, and other techniques. In addition, we will evaluate extant assessment procedures for a variety of psychological phenomena including, but not limited to, intelligence, aptitude, personality, and abnormal behavior.