Foundations of Psychological Testing : A Practical Approach

The Third Edition of this text offers a straight forward and clear introduction to the basics of psychological testing as well as to psychometrics and statistics for students new to the field. The authors focus on relating core ideas to practical situations that students will recognize and relate to. They provide a variety of pedagogical tools that promote student understanding of the underlying concepts required to interpret and to use test scores. Primarily concerned with preparing students to become informed consumers and users of tests, the text also features a final section focusing on how tests are utilized in three important settings: education, clinical and counseling practice, and organizations. New and Proven Features Instructs using an effective conversational tone, such as in the discussion of true scores and error in classical test theory-concepts with which students typically struggle *new* Incorporates more discussion of specific tests in response to reviewer feedback, with direct examples from published tests and more details of tests featured in 'œTest Spotlights' *new* Provides new material on using validity generalization strategies in pre-employment testing and on traditional versus authentic assessment *new* Includes updates for all relevant chapters to reflect how the APA Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing treats validity as a unitary concept rather than discussing different types of validity *new* focuses on validity as the appropriateness of the inferences made from test scores rather than whether a test measures what it was designed to measure *new* Offers even more discussion questions, useful for guiding classroom learning Features rich pedagogical tools, such as chapter-opening narratives; 'œFor Your Information' boxes highlighting interesting related material; 'œIn the News' boxes featuring testing stories from the news (such as the 2009 Supreme Court decision in Ricci v DeStefano on reverse discrimination) and 'œOn the Web' boxes offering useful web resources (such as the names and URLs for test publishers and how to interpret a Mental Measurements Yearbook entry); summary sections throughout chapters; and chapter-ending 'œEngaging in the Learning Process' sections with interactive learning activities and self-test questionsInstructor ResourcesPassword-protected instructor resources at www.sagepub.com/miller3 include a wide range of test questions, teaching activities, and learning aids. Intended Audience: This is a scholarly, informative, applicable, and appropriate undergraduate and graduate textbook ideal for introductory courses such as Psychological Testing, Psychological Tests & Measures, and Testing & Measurement in departments of psychology and education; and graduate programs in psychology, industrial / organizational psychology, and counseling.