ASSIGNMENT NO.

1
Q. Explain tests in counseling, qualities of a
good test, classification of test,
administration, interpretation, and diagnosis

Explain tests in counseling

Counselors use tests generally for assessment, placement, and guidance, as well as to assist
clients to increase their self-knowledge, practice decision making, and acquire new behaviors.
They may be used in a variety of therapies--e.g., individual, marital, group, and family--and for
either informational or non-informational purposes (Goldman, 1971). Informational uses include
the gathering of data on clients, assessing the level of some trait, such as stress and anxiety, or
measuring clients' personality types. The purpose of non-informational tests is to stimulate
further or more indepth interaction with the client.
Although the published literature on testing has increased, proper test utilization remains a
problematic area. The issue is not so much whether a counselor uses tests in counseling practice,
but when and to what end will tests be used (Corey, Corey, & Callanan, 1984).

The aim of guidance and counseling is to help the individual. It can be done by understanding him.
We cannot understand a person unless, we know him. Therefore, the first thing guidance workers
must do is to get to know the individual. If he has reliable, accurate, significant, and comprehensive
information regarding the individual, he can understand him better and guide him effectively.

TEST

It is a set of tasks or questions intended to elicit types of behavior when presented under
standardized conditions. This means that testing is the act of asking an individual a set of questions
to obtain a score. The score thus obtained is the end-product of testing, and yields information
needed when making a decision. the main function of tests is to collect reliable data about the
individual for making decisions about his educational, vocational or personal plan in his life.

PURPOSE OF TEST USED IN GUIDANCE PROCESS

1. To determine student achievement level and progress.

2. To gain data for diagnostic purposes.

3. To find out aptitudes.

4. To provide for the identification of interests.

5. To improve instruction.
6. To determine existing self- concepts and attitudes.

7. To ascertain social adjustments.

USE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS

Psychological tests are designed to assess the characteristics of people such as their abilities,
attitudes, motivations, interests, needs and values and so on. Psychological test can be defined as a
sample of an individual, behavior, obtaining under standard conditions and scored according to a
fixed set of rules that provide a numeric score (Anastasi, 2003).

Counselor’s Use of Psychological Tests

The counselor may use the tests to:

Secure accurate and reliable information about each student’s abilities, interests and adjustment
problems in order to give him guidance and counseling

Make use of test results for performance through improved basis for prediction regarding the
likelihood of success in activities for which prospective can be measured

Help students arrive at decisions basic to plan their educational vocational future

Diagnose student’s problems like social adjustment, growth and development or academic
deficiencies and determining for their amelioration; and

Help them evaluate the outcome of guidance and counseling and plan further remedial.

Test techniques

Some of the test techniques used in counselling include:

1) Projective tests:
This instrument is used in accessing personality. Projective tests are psychological procedures
specially designed to evoke from the subject, response that involves expression of his inner
thoughts, fantasies, wishes and perceptions of himself and the world around him. Here the
person taking the test is unaware of what his answers mean to the test administrator. It
eliminates the tendency to give false answers. If a child has a conflict for example, this method
can make him reveal unconscious thoughts and drives that cause the conflict. The strength,
degree and causes of the conflict can be reached.
Two types of projective tests are discussed here under :
a) The Rorschach Inkblot Personality Test:
This test was invented by Harman Rorschach. He was the first to use ink blot for the study of
personality. There were ten inkblots with different colours. The child is asked to look at each
ink-blot and tell what he sees. The response and time spent on the test is recorded. It is
assumed that longer response time reflect stronger emotional conflict blocking, so those
cards which take a long time response are studied most carefully to uncover the child's fears
and conflicts. Munsinger (1975) says that from these categories, response times, and in
 relation to theory of personality, a picture of the child's unconscious motives and conflicts is
obtained. The method is generally criticized for its subjectivity; but clinical psychologists
value its use, and use it extensively.

b) The Cat Method (Children's Apperception Test):

Here facial pictures of two persons are presented at a time and the testee is asked to describe
what is happening, how the people in the picture feel, and what the outcome of the situation is.
From what the child says about the picture, the personality of the child and the conflict on his
mind can be assessed (Munsinger, 1975).

2) Interview:
Ughomadu (1991) states that interview is a method generally used in selection of people into
positions in established institutions. It is a face to face verbal exchange of ideas usually initiated
by the interviewer and followed by responses from the person being interviewed. It is a simple
method to use, and widely used also as a tool for personality assessment. Performance in the
interview can easily show an individual's personality. There are different types of interview.
They include: a) Free Interview: Here, there is no limit to areas where questions can be drawn
from. The aim is to know how widely read the individual is, his disposition to issues, and his
language ability. b) Non-Directive Interview: It is a technique popularised by Carl Rogers. A
method intended to get at deep rooted feelings of an individual on an issue. The interviewee is
left to express himself freely in an atmosphere that is free. It is usually applied by clinical
psychologists.

c) Standardized Interview:
The intension is to reduce the unreliability and bias of the interviewer. It has been found to yield
higher agreement between interviewers when they are used independently. But the only
problem is that the method does not allow free exchange of ideas between the interviewer and
the subject being interviewed.

3. Non-Test Techniques:
Ughomadu (1991) states that there are various nontest techniques used in counselling. This
includes interview, as earlier discussed, observation technique, case study, and checklist
technique. Observation is one of the most important non-test techniques used in gathering
information or data about a student for counselling. This is a method that has been used for a
long time. The counsellor uses it to find out certain traits in an individual. For example, one may
want to know the degree of aggression in an individual. Most observations are carried out
without the person being observed knowing it. If one wants to observe the degree of
aggressiveness, he can stay aside watching the child at play with other children, and observing
how often, and frequent the child shows aggressive behaviour. What is observed should be
recorded immediately, or almost immediately after the exercise. There are two types of
observations. These are natural observation and participant observation. In natural observation,
the counsellor stays aside and observe, but in participant observation, the counsellor
participates in the activities in which the trait is to be observed (Ogbebor, 1990). This method
has some disadvantages, including:
i. It is useful only when overt behaviour is being studied.
ii. The interpretation of what is observed is very subjective.
iii. It is subject to both sampling error, and observer's error.

Case Study implies intensive investigation of a case unit or individual child, or person or an
event for the purpose of obtaining an in-depth information about the case unit, e.g, a child that
exhibits a problem. The counsellor might want to use a case study method to get to the root of
the problem. Ughomadu states that case study as a method is used in areas or problems of
learning difficulties, emotional disturbances, delinquency, and such other behavioural problems
(Engelkes & Vandergoot, 1982, cited in Okobiah and Okorodudu, 2006). Here information or
data is collected, and analyzed to find out the causes of the problem. The past and present of
the individual is studied. These may be gathered from the family or/and friends of the person.
The information to be collected may be under the following headings:

a) Physical condition as got from medical tests or observations.

b) Relationship with people at home, school, community, and other social relationship.

c) Emotional state of the person including anxiety, fear, anger etc.

d) Likes and dislikes of the person.

e) Achievement at school.

4) Autobiography:

Autobiography is writing the story or a report on one's own life. It provides the individual an
opportunity to understand himself/herself better in terms of his or her experiences and
knowledge. It also reveals his strengths and weaknesses. This method can serve as a good tool
for the counsellor to collect vital information about the client for the purposes of counselling. It
is the study of what the person has recorded about himself in various aspects of his life, such as
school, experiences, relationship with friends, and parents, likes and dislike. The individual
being studied is asked to write on these areas, depending on what is being studied. There are
two types of autobiography. These are structured and non-structured. In structured, the subject
is asked to write along certain lines on specific issues. But in non-structured autobiography, the
subject is free to direct his writing by himself.

Qualities of a good test

1. Validity:
The first important characteristic of a good test is validity. The test
must really measure what it has been designed to measure. Validity is
often assessed by exploring how the test scores correspond to some
criteria, that is same behaviour, personal accomplishment or
characteristic that reflects the attribute that the test designed to gauge.

Assessing the validity of any test requires careful selection of

appropriate criterion measure and that reasonable people may
disagree as to which criterion measure is best. This is equally true of
intelligence test. Reasonable people may disagree as to weather the
best criterion measure of intelligence in school grades, teacher ratings
or some other measures

If we are to check on the validity of a test, we must settle on one or

more criterion measures of the attribute that the test is designed to
test. Once the criterion measures have been identified people scores
on the measures can be compared to their scores on the test and the
degree of correspondence can be examined for what it tells us about
the validity of the test.

Only valid test can give useful information about people but the
correction coefficients for validity are never as high as those for
reliability. Though we try for reliabilities of 90 or 60, validities which
have corrections between test scores and criterion measures are not
higher than that of several tests with low but significant validity can
sometimes be useful, if they are given together as a battery and their
results are considered together. One reason that validity coefficients
are lower than reliability coefficient is that the reliability of test sets
limits on how valid the test can be.

2. Reliability:

A good test should be highly reliable. This means that the test should
give similar results even though different testers administrate it,
different people scores in different forms of the test are given and the
same person takes that test at two or more different times. Reliability
is usually checked by comparing different sets of scores.

In actual practise, psychological tests are never perfectly reliable. One

reason is that changes do occur in individuals over time; for example,
a person who scores low in her group at an initial testing may develop
new skills that rise her to a higher position in the group at the time of
the second testing.

Despite such real changes, the best intelligence test usually yields
reliability correlation coefficient of 90 or higher (where 1.00),
indicates perfect correspondence and 0.00 indicates number
correspondence whatever.

If tests with low reliability are used, their scores should be interpreted
with caution. To improve reliability we should ensure that the test is
administered and scored by a truly standard procedure. Making the
test procedure uniform might make the test more reliable.

 3. Objectivity:

By objectivity of a measuring instrument is meant for the degree to

which equally competent users get the same results. This presupposes
subjective factor. A test is objective when it makes for the elimination
of the scorer’s personal opinion bias judgment. The recognition of the
quality objectivity in a test has been largely responsible for the
development of an arised and objective type tests.

Objective-based tests measure or evaluate the entire human

development in three domains that is cognitive, affective and
psychomotor. As the name itself indicates they are based on particular
objective of teaching and evaluating. They provide proper direction,
and thus streamline the whole process of evaluation. These tests are all
comprehensives.

4. Norms:
In addition to reliability and validity good test needs norms. Norms
are sets of score obtained by whom the test is intended. The scores
obtained by these groups provide a basic for interpreting any
individual score.

To understand why norms are important, let us imagine a test that

does not have any, suppose a person takes a newly developed
intellectual aptitude test and requires a score of 437 I.D this is a “Good
Score”, should the person be happy or unhappy. Obviously a score
without any basis for comparison is not very useful.

In fact one of the first things a person in the factious situation might
do is seek out others who have taken the test to find out how his or her
score compares to theirs. Psychologists do something similar to this
when they develop norms. They seek out comparison groups whose
performance on the test can serve as standard of comparison for each
individual who takes the test later.

Classification of tests in counseling

Test can be classified by mode of response, purpose of testing, mode of interpretation and
method of administration. It can also be classified according to types. So, 248 Psychological
Tests in Counselling Rosemary Ogbodo-Adoga, Ph.D specifically, we have the following types of
tests which are commonly used in the area of guidance and counseling and in psychological
testing. These are:

1. Paper and pencil tests:

Paper and Pencil Test focuses on evaluating a learner's ability through the instrumentality of
writing material notably: paper and pen. This is to say that learners' knowledge is measured
tests

2. The Objective and easy tests:

The objective Test is the most popular type of test used in Nigeria since through a written
instrument unlike oral or practical tests. Paper and Pencil Tests comprises of Objective and
Essay education became liberalized and school enrolments started to experience explosion. In
Objective Test, learners are expected to choose from multiple answer options. This method is
not only limited to academic examinations but is commonly adopted in employment, aptitude
tests, entrance examination etc.

Essay test are tests in which the tested has to organize his ideas and write sentences,
sometimes running into several pages to answer each question. The questions to be answered
are therefore, usually few, ranging from one to about ten according to the time available and
the quantity of the answers considered as adequate for each question. Most school tests and
some papers of the Senior School Certificate Examination are essay type tests. It also requires
the testee to create an answer instead of selecting an answer from given alternatives. It is a
free-response type of test in which the testee organizes his response to specific question or
issue (Itsuokor, 1995, cited in Okobiah & Okorodudu, 2006).

3. Standardized and non-standardized tests:

Standardized test has the same contents or items for everybody taking that test. Such content
or items have been predetermined for the people the test is designed for. In other words, any
standardized test is not likely to change at the time when the tasts are taking the tests.
Whatever has been inserted into the test is there for everybody and no option of choice of the
items to answer except the choice of option is uniform (Kolo, 2001). On the other hand,
Ughomadu, in Okobiah and Okorodudu (2006) regards standardized tests as those designed by
test specialists or experts and administered, scored and interpreted under standard conditions.
Non-standardized tests are tests in which the items or the contents, the format of
administration, scoring, and interpretation are not pre-determined. These indices are mostly
left with the tester to use his or her discretion to suit the testees and the circumstances. Non-
standardized tests in most cases do not have the psychometric properties. Examples of non-
standardized tests are the individual teacher made tests in the class. For example two or more
teachers may teach the same subject using the same scheme of work but in testing, each
decides to set his or her own test. Such a test is not standardized. A counsellor may also decide
to draw up some questions for the client to collect certain information. Such questionnaire may
not have the characteristics above, so it is a non-standardized test (Kolo, 2001). These tests are
formed and constructed by classroom teachers for the evaluation of their students. They are
achievement tests designed for a class or group of students that have been taught the contents
of a particular unit, course or subject.

4. Individual and Group Test:

Individual test is a test in which only one person is tested at a time and the tester has to
observe and record the response of the testee or his judgment of those responses. Tests for
young children and illiterates adults usually take this pattern. The Neale Analysis of Reading
Ability, TAT, Koh's Block Design Tests, Embedded Figures Test (EFT) and the Wechsler
Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) are examples of individual tests. They are not widely used
because they tend to be time consuming. There are situations when tests can be prepared and
administered specifically for an individual in order to identify certain traits.
Group tests has to do with two or more people having some relationship, or common
characteristics, forming a group for the purpose of counselling or testing/teaching. Most of
these tests, except those meant for young children and illiterates adults, are group tests. They
usually require written responses. The questions themselves or the materials to be responded
to, may be in written form or projected on a screen or spoken by the tester or reproduced from
sound recording equipment. They may also be presented practically or pictorially to the testees.
The essence is that these tests can be administered by one tester to a group of testees
simultaneously. The West African Examinations Council uses mainly group tests except for some
oral language tests. This test saves time since several testees record their own responses within
the same period for scoring by the tester later.

5. Verbal or non-verbal tests:

Verbal tests are tests in which direct vocalized responses are involved. They are used in the
assessment of some language skills or other forms of knowledge, and they usually constitute a
significant part of some degree examinations. Verbal tests can be individual or group in nature.
In verbal tests, the test administrators have a face to face relationship with the subject, or
subjects. Non-verbal tests are tests in which the testee is not expected to vocalize his/her
answers. Such answers are not spoken but written. It can be in form of an objective or essay
test.

6. Personality tests:
Personality tests are instruments for measuring the affective or non-intellectual aspects of
behaviour. They can be used to measure such aspects of personality as emotional stability,
friendliness, motivation, dominance, interests, attitudes, leadership, sociability and
introversion/extroversion. There are several approaches to personality assessment in
counselling. Also, these are tests administered to find out what type of personality trait an
individual is likely to portray in actual life situation. There are pseudo-scientific methods of
doing this, like interview method, behavioural test method, rating scale device, personality
inventory and projective techniques.
7. The interest inventory:
Interest tests are sometimes used to get a measure of an individual's feeling of like or
dislike, concern or curiosity toward an activity. Measurements of interest include self-
estimates, interviews, checklist, and other inventories. Here the subject responds to
activities presumably related to different interests particularly in areas of vocations, like
music, arts, athletics, and so on. His responses are then compared to the responses of
members of the various vocations.
8. Aptitude tests:
Aptitude may be defined as a trait that characterizes an individual's ability to perform in a
given area or to acquire the learning necessary for performance in a given area. It presumes
an inherent ability that can be developed to its maximum through learning or other
experience. Aptitude is a condition of a person's fitness, of which one essential aspect is his
readiness to acquire proficiency, his potential ability and his readiness to develop an
 interest in exercising his ability (Chauhan, 1981). An aptitude test is a test which measures a
person's potential ability in an activity of a specialised kind and within a restricted range.
Aptitude tests are generally used in guidance of students, especially in selection of jobs, and
also in admission into schools and colleges. There are aptitude tests for clerical jobs, music,
arts, military and so on.

9. Achievement Test:
As the name indicates, an achievement test is designed to assess the level of achievement
in a particular subject area such as reading, Mathematics, French, Chemistry, Typing and
Shorthand, Technical Drawing etc. Most school tests are achievement tests. They are tests
which are administered to measure how much proficiency an individual has acquired in a
particular area of knowledge or skill. It is intended to test the performance ability of a
person, usually after undergoing a course of study. They are mainly teacher made tests.
Examples are class tests, end of term tests, WAEC examinations and so on.
10. Intelligence tests:
These are tests designed to measure intellectual ability. Such tests were first designed by
Alfred Binet in France and later further developed by E. L. Terman of Stanford University in
the U.S.A. who originated the use of the Intelligence Quotient (I.Q.), which is a percentage
ratio of mental age to chronological age. Examples of existing intelligence tests include the
Binet Intelligence Scale, the Stanford Binet Scale of Intelligence, the Raven's Progressive
Matrices, Vernon Intelligence Scale, and the Wechsler Intelligence Scales. They usually
include items on one or more of the following: logical reasoning, numerical ability, word
fluency (vocabulary), verbal comprehension, spatial perception etc (Duntoye & Abdulkadir,
2009).

Administration
Test administration procedures are developed for an exam program in order to help reduce
measurement error and to increase the likelihood of fair, valid, and reliable assessment. Specifically,
appropriate standardized procedures improve measurement by increasing consistency and test security.
Consistent, standardized administration of the exam allows you to make direct comparisons between
examinees' scores, despite the fact that the examinees may have taken their tests on different dates, at
different sites, and with different proctors. Furthermore, administration procedures that protect the
security of the test help to maintain the meaning and integrity of the score scale for all examinees.

Importance of Test Administration

Consistency:
Standardized tests are designed to be administered under consistent procedures so that the test-taking
experience is as similar as possible across examinees. This similar experience increases the fairness of
the test as well as making examinees' scores more directly comparable. Typical guidelines related to the
test administration locations state that all the sites should be comfortable, and should have good
lighting, ventilation, and handicap accessibility. Interruptions and distractions, such as excessive noise,
should be prevented. The time limits that have been established should be adhered to for all test
administrations. The test should be administered by trained proctors who maintain a positive
atmosphere and who carefully follow the administration procedures that have been developed.

Test Security

Test security consists of methods designed to prevent cheating, as well as to protect the test items and
content from being exposed to future test-takers. Test administration procedures related to test
security may begin as early as the registration procedures. Many exam programs restrict examinees
from registering for a test unless they meet certain eligibility criteria. When examinees arrive at the test
site, additional provisions for test security include verifying each examinee's identification and
restricting materials (such as photographic or communication devices) that an examinee is allowed to
bring into the test administration. If the exam program uses multiple, parallel test forms, these may be
distributed in a spiraled fashion, in order to prevent one examinee from being able to copy from
another. (Form A is distributed to the first examinee, Form B to the second examinee, Form A to the
third examinee, etc.) The test proctors should also remain attentive throughout the test administration
to prevent cheating and other security breaches. When testing is complete, all test related materials
should be carefully collected from the examinees before they depart.

Interpretation
Test interpretation should give probability statements relevant to the student's questions rather
than generalizations from test labels and theoretical principles. Most interpretations that
counselors make are actually of a probability nature, whether they realize it or not. When a
student is told that he scored much higher on a mechanical aptitude test than most high school
students in the standardization group, he usually assumes he can expect higher grades in
mechanics courses or perform mechanical work better than those who scored below him. As
noted, such an interpretation is based solely on test reliability and the assumption of validity. The
principles suggested here preclude the interpretation of any test without evidence of empirical
validity in terms of the student's questions. The accumulation of a variety of validity data is
essential to the application of this approach. Computer measurement systems, however, will
make feasible the gathering of probability data relating to many student questions (Cooley, 1964)
and will remove many of the current limitations to this approach.
A counselor who cannot tolerate ambiguity will be quick to translate a student's questions into
operational terms. Operational statement is required before test data can apply, but premature
operational statement risks dealing with superficial questions. Test data are easily applied to
questions stated in terms of intermediate, specific criteria. As the student's questions are stated in
more personal terms, however, probability statements become less applicable. A girl might ask,
“Do my grades and test scores show that I could earn a degree in electrical engineering at the
state university?” The counselor could give the student a probability statement that would
indicate her chances of getting the engineering degree. But if further counseling revealed that the
girl is trying to compensate for inferiority feelings by competing against men, success in
engineering would no longer be relevant. The important question would be that of achieving
personal adequacy through competition—a question to which test data clearly do not apply. It is
difficult for the counselor to resist stating questions at the level at which tests are most
applicable. In so doing, however, he may remain insensitive to the student's most central
concerns, where probability statements are less easily applied, if at all. Only a courageous
counselor can facilitate the emergence of questions for which he has inadequate data.
It is finally the student who interprets his tests. Unless the counselor wishes to influence the
student in a particular direction, interpretation is complete when the student clearly understands
the probability statement. The student then becomes his own interpreter, choosing what he will
do with the information. For example, when the counselor describes the student's predicted
performance as the average for persons with his score, the student may accept the prediction or
he may modify his self-expectation in a direction more in line with his own self-evaluation. If the
counselor has clearly described the group from which the validity data were obtained, and if he
has made it clear that probability statements are more accurate for groups than for individuals,
then the student has some basis for deciding whether a particular interpretation fits him.

Diagnosis
„Diagnosis is the identification of a disease, disorder, or syndrome based on some form of systematic
assessment. „

The most common diagnostic system that professional counselors will use is the DSM IV-TR. „

Licensed professional counselors are allowed to provide diagnostic assessments in most states

„Whether licensed or not, it is necessary for professional counselors to be familiar with DSM diagnostic
codes and to consider the implications of a client’s diagnosis during the counseling process „

DSM-IV-TR uses a descriptive model, meaning that there is an effort to be atheoretical (earlier versions
of the DSM were heavily influenced by psychoanalytic thought) and to consider current symptoms and
functional impairments as the basis of a diagnosis. „
The DSM-IV-TR uses a multi-axial system which provides a richer diagnostic picture than earlier DSM
systems.

„Axis I includes clinical disorders and nonclinical disorders that are the focus of treatment „

Axis II disorders include personality disorders and mental retardation „

Axis III is used to code existing medical conditions that are relevant to diagnosis and treatment „

Axis IV is used to record psychosocial and environmental stressors „

Axis V is used to record the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF); the GAF score considers symptom
intensity and functional impairment (the ability to perform expected life tasks) „

Benefits of diagnosis include providing: „

A common language for professionals and clients to describe disorders or problems „

A framework that aids in treatment planning and facilitates insurance reimbursement for services „

A classification system that facilitates clinical research and helps to determine what treatments are most
effective with what types of problems „

A framework to help clients understand the problems that they bring to counseling „

A classification system that helps clients find support networks with people sharing similar problems „

Problems associated with diagnosis include: „

Identifying clients by their diagnosis as opposed to focusing on their unique situations and experiences „

Limiting counseling to address only pathology „

Misdiagnosis „

Biases that tend to pathologize minority clients „

Stigmatization that can impede a client’s ability to get health and disability insurance and may interfere
with the possibilities of some types of employment