2.5 Lectures
Introduction lecture
Tutorial
1. Furr book
2. Theory lectures
3. Answer lectures
4. Homework exercises
Practical
1. SPSS skills
2. 8 worked examples
3. Assignment report
1
Behavior is an indirect way of measuring invisible things. (e.g., The way you can
measure how depressed a person is count the times they cry)
Psychological test: a systematic procedure for comparing behavior of two or more
people.
Common type distinctions
1. Performance VS behavior
2. Criterion based (Exam: 24 correct answer is required to pass.) VS norm referenced
(best 70% passes, worst 30% fails)
3. Speed (how fast you can respond) VS power (how many words you can recall
correctly, timing is not important)
Psychometrics
To determine which instruments are good to measure certain constructs.
How well a test measures something (Validity and reliability)
Reliability
If do a test over and over again, will I get the same results every single time.
Normal tape measure to measure your height is reliable.
Elastic tape: always give you different numbers for height (not reliable)
Validity
Are we actually measuring the thing we wanted to measure beforehand?
Measuring someone with a tape that starts at 5cm (first 5 cm were cut). It would be a
reliable measure, but not a valid one.
Challenges in measures
1. Identify and capture human psychological attributes in a single number.
o Creating a questionnaire for depression, including only 3 topics (sad thoughs, lack
of appetite, suicidal thoughts)
o If a person says they have trouble sleeping = 1 point. If a person states, they have
suicidal thoughts = 1 point. (BUT ARE THEY REALLY EQUAL?)
o Qualitative differences.
Introduction lecture
Tutorial
1. Furr book
2. Theory lectures
3. Answer lectures
4. Homework exercises
Practical
1. SPSS skills
2. 8 worked examples
3. Assignment report
1
Behavior is an indirect way of measuring invisible things. (e.g., The way you can
measure how depressed a person is count the times they cry)
Psychological test: a systematic procedure for comparing behavior of two or more
people.
Common type distinctions
1. Performance VS behavior
2. Criterion based (Exam: 24 correct answer is required to pass.) VS norm referenced
(best 70% passes, worst 30% fails)
3. Speed (how fast you can respond) VS power (how many words you can recall
correctly, timing is not important)
Psychometrics
To determine which instruments are good to measure certain constructs.
How well a test measures something (Validity and reliability)
Reliability
If do a test over and over again, will I get the same results every single time.
Normal tape measure to measure your height is reliable.
Elastic tape: always give you different numbers for height (not reliable)
Validity
Are we actually measuring the thing we wanted to measure beforehand?
Measuring someone with a tape that starts at 5cm (first 5 cm were cut). It would be a
reliable measure, but not a valid one.
Challenges in measures
1. Identify and capture human psychological attributes in a single number.
o Creating a questionnaire for depression, including only 3 topics (sad thoughs, lack
of appetite, suicidal thoughts)
o If a person says they have trouble sleeping = 1 point. If a person states, they have
suicidal thoughts = 1 point. (BUT ARE THEY REALLY EQUAL?)
o Qualitative differences.
