Test Interpretation

One of psychology's most important and enduring contributions to civilization is the development of the psychological test. Psychologists have invented and refined psychometric procedures (i.e., tests) for assessing a breathtakingly wide array of constructs. Among the topics reviewed in this volume of the Encyclopedia of Counseling, for example, are the assessment of academic achievement, adaptive behavior, affect, counseling process, counseling outcome, depression, intelligence, language, memory, mental status, neu-ropsychological functioning, personality, problem solving, psychopathology, and self-esteem. Also reviewed are assessment procedures such as the use of clinical interviews and projective techniques. Psychologists are presently developing advanced technologies such as computer-assisted assessment, computer test interpretation, and item response theory.

Most counseling psychologists regard psychological assessment as an important activity regardless of their work setting or the type of clientele. A national survey of American Psychological Association members revealed that the work activities of counseling psychologists include collecting information about their clients (80.3%) and identifying and diagnosing their clients' problems (76.6%). More than 20% of their total professional time is devoted to assessment and diagnosis. Psychological tests are so critical to the work of psychologists that Rene V. Dawis and David Lubinski have described them as serving the same function as the microscope to microbiologists and the telescope to astronomers.

Assessment is not an end unto itself; the critical intent is to obtain information that will be useful in addressing the practical problems confronting the individual and society. However, the incremental utility of assessment has not been established and the belief in the value of assessment rests more on assumptions of utility than on empirically demonstrated benefits. Although studies have examined the efficacy and effectiveness of a variety of therapeutic approaches, scant empirical attention has been paid to the process of assessment.

Test interpretation, in particular, is one assessment procedure that has received relatively little scientific [Page 905]scrutiny. This entry describes approaches to assessment and interpretation, explains how a skilled psychologist prepares for and delivers an interpretation, and summarizes the evidence pertaining to the effectiveness of test interpretation.