Editing Psychological testing (section)

==History==
[[File:Palastexamen-SongDynastie.jpg|thumb|right|A [[Song dynasty]] painting of candidates participating in the [[imperial examination]], a rudimentary form of psychological testing.]]
[[File:Physiognomy.jpg|thumb|right|Physiognomy was used to assess personality traits based on an individual's outer appearance.]]
The first large-scale tests may have been part of the [[imperial examination]] system in China. The tests, an early form of psychological testing, assessed candidates based on their proficiency in topics such as civil law and fiscal policies.<ref name="gregory">{{cite book|author=Robert J. Gregory|title=Psychological Testing : History, Principles, and Applications|chapter-url=http://www.ablongman.com/partners_in_psych/PDFs/Gregory/gregory_ch01.pdf|publisher=Allyn & Bacon|date=2003|isbn=9780205354726|chapter=The History of Psychological Testing|page=4 in chapter 1|access-date=2013-05-31|archive-date=2019-11-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191124074735/http://www.ablongman.com/partners_in_psych/PDFs/Gregory/gregory_ch01.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Early tests of intelligence were made for entertainment rather than analysis.<ref name="inthandbook">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qbNLJl_L6MMC&pg=PA330|title=International Handbook of Intelligence|first=Jiannong|date=2 February 2004|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-00402-2|editor-first=Robert J.|pages=330–331|last=Shi|editor=Sternberg}}</ref> Modern mental testing began in France in the 19th century. It contributed to identifying individuals with [[Intellectual disability|intellectual disabilities]] for the purpose of humanely providing them with an alternative form of education.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=IQ testing 101|last=Kaufman|first=Alan S.|publisher=Springer Pub. Co|year=2009|isbn=978-0826106292|oclc=255892649}}</ref>

Englishman [[Francis Galton]] coined the terms [[psychometrics]] and [[eugenics]]. He developed a method for measuring intelligence based on nonverbal sensory-motor tests. The test was initially popular but was abandoned.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gillham |first1=Nicholas W. |title=Sir Francis Galton and the birth of eugenics |journal=Annual Review of Genetics |volume=35 |issue=1 |pages=83–101 |year=2001 |pmid=11700278 |doi=10.1146/annurev.genet.35.102401.090055}}</ref> In 1905 French psychologists [[Alfred Binet]] and [[Théodore Simon]] published the ''Échelle métrique de l'Intelligence'' (Metric Scale of Intelligence), known in English-speaking countries as the [[Intelligence quotient|Binet–Simon test]]. The test focused heavily on verbal ability. Binet and Simon intended that the test be used to aid in identifying schoolchildren who were intellectually challenged, which in turn would pave the way for providing the children with professional help.<ref name=":0" /> The Binet-Simon test became the foundation for the later-developed [[Stanford–Binet Intelligence Scales]].

The origins of [[personality testing]] date back to the 18th and 19th centuries, when [[phrenology]] was the basis for assessing personality characteristics. Phrenology, a pseudoscience, involved assessing personality by way of skull measurement.<ref name="psychassess"/> Early pseudoscientific techniques eventually gave way to empirical methods. One of the earliest modern personality tests was the [[Woodworth Personal Data Sheet]], a [[self-report inventory]] developed during [[World War I]] to be used by the United States Army for the purpose of screening potential soldiers for mental health problems and identifying victims of [[shell shock]] (the instrument was completed too late to be used for the purposes it was designed for).<ref name="psychassess">{{cite book|title=Handbook of Psychological Assessment|first1=Elahe|first2=James N.|date=16 February 2000|publisher=Elsevier|isbn=978-0-08-054002-3|editor-first=G.|page=415|editor2-first=Michel|last1=Nezami|last2=Butcher|editor1=Goldstein|editor2=Hersen}}</ref><ref name=":1"/> The Woodworth Inventory, however, became the forerunner of many later personality tests and scales.<ref name=":1"/>