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Psychological & educational tests

What is a psychological or educational test?

A test is..

an instrument or systematic procedure for measuring a sample of behavior.

(Gronlund, Norman E.. and Robert L. Linn. Measurement and evaluation in teaching. 6th ed. New York, Macmillan, 1990, p. 5.)

Psychological testing..

deals with the development, validation, administration, scoring, and interpretation of psychological tests. Psychological tests are defined as standardized, repeatable procedures used to elicit and measure samples of human behavior. ...Because testing involves measurement, tests have procedures for coding, scoring, or quantifying the behavior that is elicited so that it can be compared with normative data systematically collected on similar samples. Testing is used to evaluate (1) human abilities, including intelligence, aptitudes, skills, and achievement in various areas; (2) personality characteristics, which include traits, attitudes, interests, and values; and (3) adjustment and mental health, which involves detecting signs and symptoms of psychological and neurological disorders and appraising the effectiveness of psychological functioning.

(Kazdin, Alan E. Encyclopedia of psychology. Washington, D.C., American Psychological Association, 2000, vol. 8, p. 47-48.)

Where can I find a brief guide to locating test information?

A good starting point is the guide produced by the American Psychological Association.

Finding information about Psychological Tests - American Psychological Association

Where do I find information about tests in the UQ Library?

The UQ Library holds many books and journals which provide information on psychological and educational tests. To find this information, use the following search options:

  • To find books: In the Catalogue, use a Subject search for Psychological Tests or Educational Tests and Measurements
  • To find journals: In the Catalogue, use a subject search for Psychological Tests - Periodicals or Educational Tests and Measurements - Periodicals
  • For more specific topics, use the Keyword search in the library's catalogue
    For example, search for self-esteem testing

You can browse the catalogue, or browse the shelves at the following call numbers:

  • BF 176 - Psychological tests
  • LB3051 - Educational tests and measurements
  • Z5814 - Educational & Psychological tests - Bibliographies

How do I find tests and test reviews on a particular subject?

Mental Measurements Yearbook

A major source for finding tests and test reviews is the Mental Measurements Yearbook (MMY). The Mental Measurements Yearbook provides the fulltext of expert reviews of tests. The MMY is available at UQ Library online and in print.

Mental measurements yearbook with Tests in Print (online)
Print copies are available from 1940-2007 at call number SS&H Ref Z5814.P8M4

To find tests on a particular subject, using the online Mental Measurements Yearbook, choose a "Test Category", such as Behavior Assessment. Click "Search" to see a list of tests on that subject.

For more specific topics, do a keyword search. For example, a search for "empowerment" will find reviews of tests such as The Empowerment Inventory.

Each record provides a link to the fulltext of the test review.

In the print version of the MMY, use the subject index at the back of each volume to find reviews of tests on a particular subject.

Other test review publications

The most important sources of test reviews are specialised reference publications which provide descriptions and expert reviews of tests. The following are available in the UQ Library

Finding test reviews in journal articles

Reviews of tests, and other articles which deal with the use of tests in research, teaching, and other applications, are also published in journal articles. Find these articles by searching the electronic databases for Psychology and Education.

Tip: To find test reviews, use an Advanced search. Look for articles where the name of the test appears in the article title.

Useful databases for finding reviews of educational and psychological tests include:

PsycInfo
American Psychological Association - International database of psychology. It includes materials from related disciplines such as medicine, psychiatry, education, social work, law, criminology, social science etc

Eric
The ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center) database is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education to provide extensive access to educational-related literature. In addition, ERIC provides coverage of conferences, meetings, government documents, theses, dissertations, reports, audiovisual media, bibliographies, directories, books and monographs.

A+ (Australian Education Index)
An indexing and full text database that provides Internet access to the scanned images of journal articles from published material on all aspects of education. It includes all the journal indexing from the Australian Education Index (AEI) database, which is produced by the Cunningham Library at the Australian Council for Educational Research.

ProQuest Education Journals
Incorporates every education and education-related title in the ProQuest databases - ProQuest Education Plus, ProQuest Professional Education and ProQuest Research Library. Of the 760 journals indexed and abstracted, more than 600 are provided in full text

Where do I find copies of tests at UQ?

Some tests, such as the Neale analysis of reading ability are available in the UQ Library. To find them, do a Title search of the Library catalogue. However, many psychological and educational tests are restricted and may only be used by qualified people. A collection of tests for use by authorised UQ students and staff is held at:

  • School of Psychology, University of Queensland

Publishers of tests and how to find them

The publishers of tests provide descriptions of tests, and information about cost and availability of test materials. Find the publisher of a test by searching Test Reviews Online, available on the Buros Institute website. This provides the names and addresses of the test publishers, including publishers' websites where available.

The searchable ETS Test Collection includes details of over 25,000 tests, including publishers' addresses.

Examples of Test publishers

Internet resources

Many useful sources of test information are available on the Internet. Try some of the following sites: