what is Psychological Testing.

Psychological testing is related to measurement.

There are two types of measurement.

Physical measurement: is related to length, depth, weight, color and temperature etc.

Psychological measurement: is related to human mentally and psychologically state, trait, conditions and characteristics.

Definitions.

"A psychological test is essentially an objective & standard measure of a sample of behavior".
(Anne Anastasi)

"It is the standardized tool by which we measure cognitive behavior".
(Hilgard)

"A psychological test measures individual differences".
(Hilgard)

"Psychological tests are used to make important decisions about individual".
"A psychological test is a standardized measure of a sample of person's behavior".

Test and Measurement

The term psychological test brings to mind a number of conflicting images. On the 1 hand the term might make one think of the type of test so often described in television, movies and popular literature, wherein a patient answers questions like, "How long have you hated your mother?" and in doing so reveals hidden facts of his or her personality to clinician. On the other hand the psychological test might refer to a long series of multiple-choice questions such as those answered by hundreds of high school students taking college entrance examinations. Another type of psychological test is the self-scored type publish in Reader's Digest which purports to tell you whether your marriage is on the rocks, whether you are as anxious as the next fellow, or whether you should change your job or your life-style.
The 1st question is , "Why is psychological testing important?".
There are several possible answers to this question, but we believe that the best answer lies in the simple statement.

In reality no method guarantees complete accuracy. Although psychological tests are far from perfect, they represents the best, fairest and most accurate technology available for making many important decisions about individuals. Psychological testing is not only important and highly controversial , it is a highly specialized and somewhat technical enterprise.