Assignment: Psychological Testing Paper
Question Description
I need help with a Psychology question. All explanations and answers will be used to help me learn.
Assessment Guide
For written transcript, click here.
Psychological assessment guides are created by psychology professionals to provide the public with accurate and authoritative information appropriate for their current needs. Information available to the public about psychological testing and assessment varies widely depending on the professional creating it, the purpose of the assessment, and the intended audience. When professionals effectively educate the public on the how, what, and why behind assessments and the strengths and limitations of commonly used instruments, potential clients are in a better position to be informed users of assessment products and services. The Assessment Guides developed in this course will be designed to provide the lay public with accurate and culturally relevant information to aid them in making informed decisions about psychological testing. Students will develop their Guides with the goal of educating readers to be informed participants in the assessment process.
There is no required template for the development of the Assessment Guide. Students are encouraged to be creative while maintaining the professional appearance of their work. The Guide must be reader-friendly (sixth- to ninth-grade reading level) and easy to navigate, and it must include a combination of text, images, and graphics to engage readers in the information provided. Throughout their Guides, students will provide useful examples and definitions as well as questions readers should ask their practitioners. To ensure accuracy, students are expected to use only scholarly and peer-reviewed sources for the information in the development of their Guides.
Students will begin their Guides with a general overview of assessment, reasons for assessment referrals, and the importance of the role of each individual in the process. Within each of the remaining sections, students will describe the types of assessments that their readers may encounter, the purposes of each type of assessment, the different skills and abilities the instruments measure, the most valid and reliable uses of the measures, and limitations of the measures. A brief section will be included to describe the assessment process, the types of professionals who conduct the assessments, and what to expect during the assessment meetings.
The Assessment Guide must include the following sections:
Table of Contents (Portrait orientation must be used for the page layout of this section.)
In this one-page section, students must list the following subsections and categories of assessments.
Introduction and Overview
Tests of Intelligence
Tests of Achievement
Tests of Ability
Neuropsychological Testing
Personality Testing
Industrial, Occupational, and Career Assessment
Forensic Assessment
Special Topics (student’s choice)
References
Section 1: Introduction and Overview (Portrait or landscape orientation may be used for the page layout of this section.)
Students will begin their Guides with a general overview of assessment. In this two-page section, students will briefly address the major aspects of the assessment process. Students are encouraged to develop creative titles for these topics that effectively communicate the meanings to the intended audience.
Definition of a Test (e.g., What is a Test?)
Briefly define psychological assessment.
Types of Tests
Identify the major categories of psychological assessment.
Reliability and Validity
Briefly define the concepts of reliability and validity as they apply to psychological assessment.
Role of testing and assessment in the diagnostic process
Briefly explain role of assessment in diagnosis.
Professionals Who Administer Tests
Briefly describe the types of professionals involved in various assessment processes.
Culture and Testing
Briefly describe issues of cultural diversity as it applies to psychological assessment.
Categories of Assessment (Portrait or landscape orientation may be used for the page layout of this section.)
For each of the following, students will create a two-page information sheet or pamphlet to be included in the Assessment Guide. For each category of assessment, students will include the required content listed in the PSY640 Content for Testing Pamphlets and Information Sheets (Links to an external site.). Be sure to reference the content requirements (Links to an external site.) prior to completing each of the information sheets on the following categories of assessment.
Assignment: Psychological Testing Paper
Assignment: Psychological Testing Paper
Tests of Intelligence
Tests of Achievement
Tests of Ability
Neuropsychological Testing
Personality Testing
Industrial, Occupational, and Career Assessment
Forensic Assessment
Special Topics (Students will specify which topic they selected for this pamphlet or information sheet. Additional instructions are noted below.)
Special Topics (Student’s Choice)
In addition to the required seven categories of assessment listed above, students will develop an eighth information sheet or pamphlet that includes information targeted either at a specific population or about a specific issue related to psychological assessment not covered in one of the previous sections. Students may choose from one of the following categories:
Testing Preschool-Aged Children
Testing Elementary School-Aged Children
Testing Adolescents
Testing Geriatric Patients
Testing First Generation Immigrants
Testing in Rural Communities
Testing English Language Learners
Testing Individuals Who Are (Select one: Deaf, Blind, Quadriplegic)
Testing Individuals Who Are Incarcerated
Testing for Competency to Stand Trial
Testing in Child Custody Cases
References (Portrait orientation must be used for the page layout of this section.)
Include a separate reference section that is formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center (Links to an external site.). The reference list must consist entirely of scholarly sources. For the purposes of this assignment, assessment manuals, the course textbook, chapters from graduate-level textbooks, chapters from professional books, and peer-reviewed journal articles may be used as resource material. A minimum of 16 unique scholarly sources including a minimum of 12 peer-reviewed articles published within the last 10 years from the Ashford University Library must be used within the Assessment Guide. The bulleted list of credible professional and/or educational online resources required for each assessment area will not count toward these totals.
Attention Students: The Masters of Arts in Psychology program is utilizing the Pathbrite portfolio tool as a repository for student scholarly work in the form of signature assignments completed within the program. After receiving feedback for this Assessment Guide, please implement any changes recommended by the instructor, go to Pathbrite (Links to an external site.)and upload the revised Assessment Guide to the portfolio. (Use the Pathbrite Quick-Start Guide (Links to an external site.) to create an account if you do not already have one.) The upload of signature assignments will take place after completing each course. Be certain to upload revised signature assignments throughout the program as the portfolio and its contents will be used in other courses and may be used by individual students as a professional resource tool. See the Pathbrite (Links to an external site.) website for information and further instructions on using this portfolio tool.
The Assessment Guide
Must be 18 pages in length (not including title and reference pages) and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center (Links to an external site.).
Must include a separate title page with the following:
Title of guide
Student’s name
Course name and number
Instructor’s name
Date submitted
Must use at least 16 scholarly sources, including a minimum of 12 peer-reviewed articles from the Ashford University Library.
Must document all sources in APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
Must include a separate reference page that is formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
Must incorporate at least three different methods of presenting information (e.g., text, graphics, images, original cartoons).
Carefully review the Grading Rubric (Links to an external site.) for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.
Assignment: Psychological Testing Paper
Assignment: Psychological Testing Paper
You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.
Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.
Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.
The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.
ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS
Discussion Questions (DQ)
Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.
Weekly Participation
Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.
APA Format and Writing Quality
Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.
Use of Direct Quotes
I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.
As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.
LopesWrite Policy
For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.
Late Policy
The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.
Communication
Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me:
Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.