Psychological Measurement (Psych 440) Summer 2014 Mondays Fridays, 8:40 10:00am, May 19 th through July 11th Location: Gilman 2305 Instructor: Yi Du, M.S. Instructor: Y Jeritt R. Tucker, Yi Du, M.S. M.S. (Week 1-2 and 5-6) (Week 3-4 and 7-8) Office: 2030 Student Services Bldg. Office: W239 Lagomarcino Hall Contact: ydu@iastate.edu Contact: jrtucker@iastate.edu Course Description: How do we measure something we can t see? Such is the dilemma when quantifying psychological variables. For example, how do we determine if our measurements are accurate and consistently measuring the same thing without an objective external standard? Or, how can we ensure that someone is answering truthfully instead of randomly guessing? Or, can we even trust someone to know what s going in their own head? We might be tempted to throw up our arms and exclaim whatever is going on in there, I d rather just not know and go happily about our lives. And yet, teachers, employers, counselors, and government agencies urgently wish to understand the inner-workings of the human mind to know how to best educate someone, to understand mental health causes, to identify who will be a good candidate for a given occupation, or to predict future behavior. Some agencies will even go so far as to pay considerable sums of money to this end (a big bonus for us as psychologists!). Psychology 440 is an introduction to the fundamental principles of the science of psychological measurement. The science of psychological measurement, or psychometrics, is an important cornerstone of psychology. It includes understanding measurement principles such as reliability, validity, test bias, and test construction; as well as statistical concepts such as normative sampling, hypothesis testing, and probability. This course isn t just about the numbers, however, and a large focus (at least half the class) is also on how these principles are applied to real-world settings like personality assessment, intelligence testing, forensic analysis, and vocational counseling. As much as possible, applications of the course material will be emphasized to make the concepts more relevant and meaningful in terms of your personal interests and career goals in the field of psychology (or elsewhere). Course Goals: Jeritt & Yi will 1. Present an overview of important concepts underlying psychological testing and test construction through lecture, discussion, in-class activities, and feedback on assigned work. 2. Provide a forum to critically evaluate and discuss psychological measurement and its use in applied settings. 3. Encourage hard work within a relaxed and collegial environment. PSYCH 440 Syllabus 1
Students will 1. Explore facets of psychological assessment and its relevance to their lives and future. 2. Complete all reading and writing assignments by the indicated deadlines. 3. Challenge themselves to actively engage in lectures through taking notes, generating questions, and coming prepared to discuss the readings. Learning Objectives: Through successful completion of this course, students will be able to: 1. Understand the concepts of reliability, validity, and scale types as they apply to psychological measurement. 2. Describe procedures of test development, evaluation, and revision. 3. Utilize statistical software to apply concepts learned in class. 4. Summarize assessment and measurement procedures used in applied psychological settings. 5. Critically evaluate the psychometric soundness of a psychological measure. Prerequisites: STAT 101, PSYCH 301, and 9 credits in Psychology Textbook: Course Reserve: Blackboard: Cohen, R. J., & Swerdlik, M. E. (2013). Psychological testing and assessment: An introduction to tests and measurement (8th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill. Other readings assigned in the course are available through the Iowa State University e-library. These can be accessed by going to http://www.lib.iastate.edu/, clicking on Course Reserves in the middle of the page, and then searching for Psych 440. Course materials, including the syllabus, assignments, and course grades will be available on the Blackboard site that is maintained for this course. COURSE EVALUATION AND GRADING Letter grades will be decided according to the following criteria: Points Letter Grade Points Letter Grade 280-300...A 220-229...C 270-279...A- 210-219...C- 260-269...B+ 200-209...D+ 250-260...B 190-199...D 240-249...B- 180-189...D- 230-239...C+ <180...F *Grading is calculated using TOTAL POINTS earned in the course. Final grades will be curved if the class average is lower than a B-. Grade Breakdown 4 Exams (non-cumulative)..60% (180 points) 4 SPSS Assignments.. 20% (60 points) Scale Evaluation Paper.. 10% (30 points) Concept Quizzes 10% (30 points) Total: 100% (300 points) PSYCH 440 Syllabus 2
Exams: This course includes four non-cumulative exams. Each exam will be in multiple-choice and/or short-answer format, and will be worth 45 points. Exams will cover information from the assigned textbook readings and from lecture materials. When studying, you should give highest priority to information covered in both the textbook and lectures, then information covered in lectures only, and finally information covered in the textbook only. SPSS Assignments: You will get hands-on practice with the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) program in this course. You will complete four assignments using SPSS. The first two assignments are worth 10 points each and the second two are worth 20 points each. As shown on the syllabus, students will be provided class time to work on these assignments, but will likely need to spend time outside of class to complete assigned work. The undergraduate psychology computer lab (Room W205) is open during the summer Monday Friday, 8:00am-5:00pm. Scale Evaluation Paper: This assignment gives you the opportunity to apply the knowledge gained in this course to an area of psychology that interests you. You will select a published psychological scale or measure from a predetermined set of journal articles and evaluate the psychometric soundness of that measure. The paper should be no more than 5 pages in length. Further instructions will be provided in class. This assignment is worth 30 points. Concept Quizzes: There will be ten concept quizzes given throughout the course. Each quiz is worth three points and will be administered at the end of various class meetings. During each quiz you will briefly answer one or more questions, the purpose of which is to assess your understanding of a concept we discuss during class. After completing and turning in your own quiz, you will also work within a group to come to a consensus on each of the questions. If your group is able to answer all questions correctly you will receive 1 additional bonus point for that day s quiz, leading to a possible score of 40/30 points in this area of the course. Concept quizzes are specifically paired with both lecture presentations and in-class discussion and thus cannot be made up. COURSE POLICIES Attendance Students are strongly encouraged to attend all class lectures and to keep up with the readings. This is especially important due to the level of material learned in this course. Success on exams, quizzes, and assignments will depend on satisfactory completion of weekly activities in class. Late Assignments: If there are any assignment due dates or exams scheduled for a class you know you will be missing, please make sure to notify the instructor ahead of time so that appropriate arrangements can be made for you to hand in the assignment or take the exam at an alternate time. Talking to the instructor (either Yi or Jeritt) in person about the reason for the absence is the ideal approach, but any contact (e-mail/phone) prior to your absence is better than none. If the instructor has not approved turning in an assignment late prior to the deadline, a penalty of 25% per day late will be enacted. The instructors reserve the right to deal with missed points, missed assignments, and lackof-notification issues on a case-by-case basis, consistent with university policy. Electronic Device Policy: PSYCH 440 Syllabus 3
Please place your phones on silent for the duration of the class. We permit the use of laptops solely to aid in learning (taking notes, downloading relevant assignments, etc.). We anticipate students to respect their own, others, and the instructors time through appropriate use of electronic devices. Instructors reserve the right to deal with inappropriate use of such devices consistent with university policy. During exams, use of cellphones and laptops are strictly prohibited. Academic Honesty: As colleagues in this learning endeavor, we trust that each of you will do your own work and what you present will represent your own time and effort. If a student is suspected of academic dishonesty (plagiarism, cheating, etc.) however, they will be dealt with as outlined in the ISU Bulletin. Students found guilty of academic dishonesty are subject to academic penalties determined by the instructors, as well as penalties under the university student conduct regulations. Violations will be reported to the Dean of Students. Academic Accommodations: If you have a documented disability and anticipate needing accommodations in this course, please make arrangements to meet with Jeritt or Yi at the beginning of the semester. You should also request that a Disability Resources staff send a SAAR form verifying your disability and specifying the accommodation you will need. PSYCH 440 Syllabus 4
Tentative Schedule: Please note that this schedule is subject to change as deemed appropriate by the two instructors. If revisions are necessary, students will be provided an updated version as soon as possible. Wk. Date Lecture/Activity Reading/Work Due 1 5/19 Course Intro, Scaling Ch. 1 (1-36); Ch. 3 (78-83) 1 5/20 Central Tendency & Variability Ch. 3 (83-98) 1 5/21 Normal Curve & Std. Scores (assign SPSS 1) Ch. 3 (98-106) 1 5/22 SPSS 1 open work-day SPSS 1 Due by 5:00pm 1 5/23 Correlation & Inference (assign SPSS 2) Ch. 3 (106-117) 2 5/26 NO CLASS (UNIVERSITY HOLIDAY) 2 5/27 SPSS 2 open work-day SPSS 2 Due by 5:00pm 2 5/28 Assumptions, Norming, & Sampling Ch. 4 (118-144) 2 5/29 Exam 1 review Chs. 1, 3, 4 2 5/30 Exam 1 Chs. 1, 3, 4 3 6/2 Reliability Ch. 5 (145-173) 3 6/3 Individual Scores, SEM (assign SPSS 3) Ch. 5 (173-180) 3 6/4 SPSS 3 open work-day SPSS 3 Due by 5:00pm 3 6/5 Validity, Types Ch. 6 (181-204) 3 6/6 Validity, Fairness & Bias Ch. 6 (204-210) 4 6/9 Utility (selected topics), Test Development Ch. 7 (211-239), Ch. 8 (240-262) 4 6/10 Item Analysis (assign SPSS 4) Ch. 8 (262-284) 4 6/11 SPSS 4 open work-day SPSS 4 Due by 5:00pm 4 6/12 Exam 2 review Chs. 5, 6, 7, 8 4 6/13 Exam 2 Chs. 5, 6, 7, 8 5 6/16 Scale Evaluation (Assign Scale Eval.) Ryder et al., 2005 (Course Reserve) 5 6/17 The Clinical Interview Ch. 14 (489-501) 5 6/18 Clinical and Counseling Assessment Ch. 14 (501-529) 5 6/19 Personality Assessment: Overview Ch. 12 (393-417) 5 6/20 Objective Personality Assessment Ch. 13 (440-441) Ch. 12 (423-434) 6 6/23 Projective Personality Assessment Ch. 13 (442-469) 6 6/24 The Measurement of Intelligence Ch. 9 (285-301) 6 6/25 Intelligence Tests Ch. 10 (321-356) 6 6/26 Exam 3 Review Chs. 14, 12, 13, 9, 10 6 6/27 Exam #3 Chs. 14, 12, 13, 9, 10 7 6/30 Educational Assessment Ch. 11 (357-381) 7 7/1 Applied Disability Assessment Disability Assess. Handouts 7 7/2 Neuropsychological Assessment Ch. 15 (530-555) 7 7/3 In-Class Open Work day Scale Eval Paper Due by 5:00pm 7 7/4 NO CLASS (UNIVERSITY HOLIDAY) 8 7/7 Applied Vocational Assessment Ch. 16 (565-588) 8 7/8 Organizational Assessment Ch 16 (591-612) 8 7/9 Culture, Ethics, and Future Ch. 2 (45-76) 8 7/10 Exam 4 Review Chs. 2, 11, 15, 16 8 7/11 Exam #4 Chs. 2, 11, 15, 16 PSYCH 440 Syllabus 5