The Future of Psychological Tests

DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS Psychologist Hakan Netek, Aydın/Turkey To open the title, change refers to the adaptation of tests to changing situations and opportunities apart from tests such as time and technology. What is meant by its development; There will be solutions to solve the existing problems of the tests. Of course, we cannot give a clear description of the change that psychological tests will undergo in the next century. A genius comes, puts forward an idea, inventions follow this idea… In short, in this article, the criticisms made on psychological tests, academic studies on the problems found in the creation and application of the tests and their solutions, and the anticipated developments are emphasized. There is a problem that is frequently mentioned in the literature regarding the psychological tests used in Turkey; The majority of the tests used were developed in foreign cultures and the adaptation studies were found to be defective according to the standards carried by the tests developed in Turkey (Cansız, 2007; Dirlik, 2013; Doğan, 2009; Gülgöz, 1994). In the study of Dirlik (2013), the adaptation studies of the WISC-R and TKT 7-11 tests adapted to Turkey, and the reliability and validity studies of the GEÇDA and ABKÖ tests developed in Turkey were carried out by the International Testing Commission with the Measurement Standards in Education and Psychology published by the American Psychological Association (APA). (ITC) examined its compliance with test adaptation standards. According to Dirlik (2013), in order to apply the psychological tests used in educational institutions in Turkey according to a standard, it is necessary to determine all the psychological tests used in a team work and to determine which ones should be used in these institutions. A similar proposal is the establishment of a “Psychological Assessment Tool Development Center” in order not to limit the studies on psychological tests to individual efforts. It has been suggested many times over the years in his report (1990) (Dirlik, 2013). Tülübaş (2009) conducted a study to understand how standard-setting techniques would contribute to norm formation in psychological tests used for diagnosis. In the study, cut-off scores calculated by Angoff and border group techniques were compared with the norms established for Beck depression and Beck hopelessness scales. It has been observed that standard setting techniques can be used in the norm creation process (Tülübaş, 2009). “Standard setting methods are not used in the field of psychology. For this reason, the expert groups to be selected from the field do not have information on the subject. In future studies, it is important that expert groups are informed about the methods to be determined. As experts become familiar with standard-setting methods, it may be possible for the cut-off scores obtained in the methods to be free of errors.” (Tülübaş, 2009, p. 54) In the book of Kramer et al. (2014), five predictions are proposed for the future of measurement in psychology. 1. Tests that have survived decades of research (Wechsler scale, Binet scale, and MMPI) will continue to be used. These tests, which have been used and popular for a long time, will not remain the same, but will undergo changes, including norm standardization, according to empirical research and changes in society. 2. The use of tests with validity and reliability levels will decrease. Besides, the prestige of projective tests such as the Rorschach will not be completely lost, empirical evidence will support some scores and reinforce clinicians' confidence in the test. 3. The tests will appeal to more ethnic groups. The development of the tests will be developed in a way that will allow for international applications. 4. Computers will play a more important role in evaluation. Information technology enables easier implementation and facilitates more sophisticated scoring. At the same time, computers have more data storage capacity. 5. Tests developed to measure therapy planning and results will increase. Tests for this purpose will be important in the objective evaluation of treatment results. New tests are expected to be developed (Kramer et al, 2014). REFERENCES Cansız, R.O. (2007). Sosyal Psikiyatride Kullanılan Psikolojik Testler. (Yüksek Lisans Tezi). Ulusal Tez Merkezi.(Erişim: https://tez.yok.gov.tr/UlusalTezMerkezi/giris.jsp) Dirlik, E. (2013). Eğitim Kurumlarında Kullanılan Psikolojik testlerin Ölçme Standartlarına Göre İncelenmesi. (Yüksek Lisans Tezi). Ulusal Tez Merkezi.(Erişim: https://tez.yok.gov.tr/UlusalTezMerkezi/giris.jsp) Doğan, E.M. (2009). Türkiye’deki Psikolojik Çalışmalarda Kullanılan Testlerin Psikometrik Özelliklerinin İncelenmesi: Kültürel Açıdan Test Uyarlama Çalışmaları. (Yüksek Lisans Tezi). Ulusal Tez Merkezi(Erişim: https://tez.yok.gov.tr/UlusalTezMerkezi/giris.jsp) Kramer, G.P., Bernstein, D.A., Phares, V. (2014). Klinik Psikolojiye Giriş. (İ. Dağ, Çev, ed.). Ankara: Mentis Yayıncılık Tülübaş, G. (2009)Psikolojik Testlerde Angoff ve Sınır Grup Teknikleri ile Kesme Puanlarının Belirlenmesi. (Yayınlanmamış Yüksek Lisans Tezi) Hacettepe Üniversitesi, Ankara.