Editing Psychology (section)

=== Psychological testing ===
{{see also|Psychometrics|social statistics}}
[[File:Francis Galton 1850s.jpg|thumb|[[Francis Galton]], a pioneer of the experimental psychology field]]
Psychological testing has ancient origins, dating as far back as 2200 BC, in the [[imperial examination|examinations for the Chinese civil service]]. Written exams began during the [[Han dynasty]] (202 BC – AD 220). By 1370, the Chinese system required a stratified series of tests, involving essay writing and knowledge of diverse topics. The system was ended in 1906.{{r|Gregory 2011|pp=41-2}} In Europe, mental assessment took a different approach, with theories of [[physiognomy]]—judgment of character based on the face—described by Aristotle in 4th century BC Greece. Physiognomy remained current through the Enlightenment, and added the doctrine of phrenology: a study of mind and intelligence based on simple assessment of neuroanatomy.{{r|Gregory 2011|pp=42-3}}

When experimental psychology came to Britain, Francis Galton was a leading practitioner. By virtue of his procedures for measuring reaction time and sensation, he is considered an inventor of modern mental testing (also known as ''[[psychometrics]]'').{{r|Gregory 2011|pp=44-5}} James McKeen Cattell, a student of Wundt and Galton, brought the idea of psychological testing to the United States, and in fact coined the term "mental test".{{r|Gregory 2011|pp=45-6}} In 1901, Cattell's student [[Clark Wissler]] published discouraging results, suggesting that mental testing of Columbia and Barnard students failed to predict academic performance.{{r|Gregory 2011|pp=45-6}} In response to 1904 orders from the [[Ministry of National Education (France)|Minister of Public Instruction]], One example of an observational study was run by Arthur Bandura. This observational study focused on children who were exposed to an adult exhibiting aggressive behaviors and their reaction to toys versus other children who were not exposed to these stimuli. The result shows that children who had seen the adult acting aggressively towards a toy, in turn, were aggressive towards their own toy when put in a situation that frustrated them.<ref name=":0">Myers, D. G., & DeWall, C. N. (2023). *Psychology in everyday life* (6th ed.). Worth.</ref> psychologists [[Alfred Binet]] and [[Théodore Simon]] developed and elaborated a new test of intelligence in 1905–1911. They used a range of questions diverse in their nature and difficulty. Binet and Simon introduced the concept of [[mental age]] and referred to the lowest scorers on their test as ''[[idiot]]s''. [[Henry H. Goddard]] put the Binet-Simon scale to work and introduced classifications of mental level such as ''imbecile'' and ''feebleminded''. In 1916, (after Binet's death), Stanford professor [[Lewis M. Terman]] modified the Binet-Simon scale (renamed the [[Stanford–Binet Intelligence Scales|Stanford–Binet scale]]) and introduced the [[intelligence quotient]] as a score report.{{r|Gregory 2011|pp=50-56}} Based on his test findings, and reflecting the racism common to that era, Terman concluded that intellectual disability "represents the level of intelligence which is very, very common among Spanish-Indians and Mexican families of the Southwest and also among negroes. Their dullness seems to be racial."<ref name="Guthrie1998Chapter3">Guthrie, ''Even the Rat was White'' (1998), Chapter 3: "Psychometric Scientism" (pp. 55–87)</ref>

Following the Army Alpha and Army Beta tests, which was developed by psychologist [[Robert Yerkes]] in 1917 and then used in World War 1 by industrial and organizational psychologists for large-scale employee testing and selection of military personnel.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Army Alpha and Beta tests|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095424949|access-date=2022-01-18|website=Oxford Reference|language=en|archive-date=19 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220119011118/https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095424949|url-status=live}}</ref> Mental testing also became popular in the U.S., where it was applied to schoolchildren. The federally created National Intelligence Test was administered to 7 million children in the 1920s. In 1926, the [[College Entrance Examination Board]] created the [[Scholastic Aptitude Test]] to standardize college admissions.{{r|Gregory 2011|p=61}} The results of intelligence tests were used to argue for segregated schools and economic functions, including the preferential training of Black Americans for manual labor. These practices were criticized by Black intellectuals such a [[Horace Mann Bond]] and [[Allison Davis (anthropologist)|Allison Davis]].<ref name=Guthrie1998Chapter3 /> Eugenicists used mental testing to justify and organize compulsory sterilization of individuals classified as mentally retarded (now referred to as ''[[intellectual disability]]'').<ref name=GuthrieChapter4 /> In the United States, tens of thousands of men and women were sterilized. Setting a precedent that has never been overturned, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the constitutionality of this practice in the 1927 case ''[[Buck v. Bell]]''.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Berry | first1 = Robert M. | title = From Involuntary Sterilization to Genetic Enhancement: The Unsettled Legacy of Buck v. Bell | url = http://scholarship.law.nd.edu/ndjlepp/vol12/iss2/3/ | journal = Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy | volume = 12 | year = 2012 | access-date = 24 April 2015 | archive-date = 4 March 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304043102/http://scholarship.law.nd.edu/ndjlepp/vol12/iss2/3/ | url-status = live }}</ref>

Today mental testing is a routine phenomenon for people of all ages in Western societies.{{r|Gregory 2011|p=2|q=From birth to old age, we encounter tests at almost every turning point in life. ... Tests are used in almost every nation on earth for counseling, selection, and placement. Testing occurs in settings as diverse as schools, civil service, industry, medical clinics, and counseling centers. Most persons have taken dozens of tests and thought nothing of it. Yet, by the time the typical individual reaches retirement age, it is likely that psychological test results will have helped to shape his or her destiny.}} Modern testing aspires to criteria including standardization of procedure, [[reliability (psychometrics)|consistency of results]], output of an interpretable score, statistical norms describing population outcomes, and, ideally, [[test validity|effective prediction]] of behavior and life outcomes outside of testing situations.{{r|Gregory 2011|pp=4-6}} Psychological testing is regularly used in forensic contexts to aid legal judgments and decisions.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Neal |first=Tess M.S. |date=2018 |title=Forensic psychology and correctional psychology: Distinct but related subfields of psychological science and practice. |url=http://doi.apa.org/getdoi.cfm?doi=10.1037/amp0000227 |journal=American Psychologist |language=en |volume=73 |issue=5 |pages=651–662 |doi=10.1037/amp0000227 |pmid=29431456 |s2cid=46817929 |issn=1935-990X|hdl=2286/R.I.50913 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Developments in psychometrics include work on test and scale [[Reliability (statistics)|reliability]] and [[test validity|validity]].<ref>Nunnally, J. C., & Bernstein, I. H. (1994). ''Psychometric theory, 3rd ed.'', New York: McGraw-Hill.</ref> Developments in [[item-response theory]],<ref>Embretson, S.E., & Reise, S.P. (2000). ''Item Response Theory for Psychologists''. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.</ref> [[structural equation modeling]],<ref>Kline, R. B. (2016). ''Principles and practice of structural equation modeling, 4th ed.''New York: Guilford Press.</ref> and bifactor analysis<ref>Rodriguez, A., Reise, S. P., & Haviland, M. G. (2016). Evaluating bifactor models: Calculating and interpreting statistical indices. ''Psychological Methods, 21'', 137–150. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/met0000045 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728095730/https://doi.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fmet0000045 |date=28 July 2020 }}</ref> have helped in strengthening test and scale construction.