Psychological Tests – A simple description and types

IQ tests and aptitude tests have gained a lot of popularity over the several last decades. These assessments are now carried out at most every institute to measure the placement of the individuals on merit. There are other tests, known as psychological tests, which are also effectively used by the mental health professionals and trained psychologists to measure some specific psychological constructs of the human brain.

What are Psychological Tests?

You must have heard of psychological conditions that ail an individual. It can be depression, insomnia, post-traumatic stress syndrome, phobias or a whole lot of others. The symptoms of these and various other psychological disorders seem to be quite similar, and it often gets difficult to tell one from the other if you are not a qualified psychologist and if you have not studied the condition of the individual in detail. Certain physical or medical conditions also result in symptoms that can give an impression of a psychological disorder.

So how can the condition be judged accurately? To assess the real mental status of an individual, psychologists have developed many tests over the time. These assessments are perfect tools to measure the severity and the type of psychological construct ailing a person.

What do these Tests Measure?

Psychological tests can be used to measure and assess many areas of psychological functioning. For example,

Feelings and Attitudes

This part can assess the individual’s attitude towards the therapy he is receiving from the therapist.

Characteristic Traits

This part can measure and assess the characteristic personality traits of the individual. For example if a person is an introvert or an extrovert.

Mental Conditions

This part measures certain mental conditions like depression and anxiety.

Personal Interests

This part assesses the personal interests of the individual like activities, hobbies and career preferences.

Intellectual Achievement and Aptitude

This part measures the reading achievement and verbal intelligence.

Specific Skills and Abilities

This test measures problem-solving abilities, cognitive abilities and memory of the individual.

Who Conducts them?

Everyone can not conduct These tests; it is imperative that a trained and certified psychologist administers it. Surprisingly, every type of psychological analysis has its requirements, and therefore different set of qualifications make an individual eligible to take the test.

What are the Different Types?

Psychological tests can be various types; designed to measure different elements of human brain development. You can go through a few major categories of the psychological tests.

Intelligence Tests

These of course measure the level of intelligence present in the individual. It also assesses the person’s ability to relate to its foreign environment. Some of the well known and widely used tests of this category are,

• Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale
• Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children
• Wechsler Pre-School and Primary Scale of Intelligence
• Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale

Personality Tests

These tests measure the type and traits of the individual’s personality. These tests are used for clinical purposes. Examples of some commonly known attitude tests are as follows,

• Rorschach or Inkblot test
• Thematic Apperception Test
• Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory or MMPI

Attitude Tests

The individual’s attitude towards the environment, other people or places is judged in this kind of test. Some common examples are,

• Likert Scale
• Thurstone Scale

Neuro-psychology Tests

The Neuro-psychological tests are usually conducted when an individual has suffered a traumatic stress or injury. To check the proper cognitive functioning of the brain, these kinds of tests are conducted. Some typical examples of these tests include,

• Benton Visual Retention Test
• Wisconsin Card Sorting Test
• Halstead Reitan Neuropsychological Test Battery

Achievement Tests

Achievement tests are also a type of psychological tests that measure your ability to comprehend a specific topic; for example, mathematics. You can read through the following cases: 

Peabody Individual Achievement Test

Wechsler Individual Achievement Test

Aptitude Tests

The aptitude tests measure the potential of performance in a person. Examples are,

• Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery
• Bloomberg Aptitude Test

These were some of the different types of psychological tests that are commonly used for measurement of mental abilities and cognitive abilities. They can either be used as assessments for screening at corporate or educational institutes, or they can be used for clinical purposes to diagnose the issue and then to prescribe the best possible treatment for the psychological problem.

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