Instructions
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U05a1 Evaluation of the Technical Quality of Three Tests
Learner’s Name
Psy7610, Section __
(Quarter, Year)
Capella University
Dr. ______________
Introduction
· Identify the category and three standardized tests you selected in U02a1.
· Identify the anticipated population you chose in U02a1 for which your tests will be used.
· Identify briefly a population or psychological condition that is within the standardization of the tests (cite your sources). Your course project will be related to using one of the tests with the chosen population.
Technical Review Article Summaries
· Two articles for each test (total of six) are to be directly related to each test and one aspect of their technical quality (validity or reliability). List the APA reference for each journal article (a minimum of six).
· For each article, write no more than one paragraph.
· Put the APA reference for each of the six journal articles at the top of the paragraph (a minimum of seven).
· Describe the study
· Identify if the article addresses reliability or validity.
· Explain how the article addresses reliability estimates and/or evidence of validity.
· Identify the specific type of reliability or validity (for example, test-retest reliability, predictive validity, et cetera).
· Identify the overall results of the research including any psychometric or statistical outcome (i.e., interpret the reliability or validity coefficients).
· This means if your articles don’t address any of the above, find ones that do.
Conclusion
· Synthesize the information about each test’s reliability from all the articles you reviewed.
· Synthesize the information about each test’s validity from all the articles you reviewed.
· Evaluate if each test is currently deemed appropriate for the use in your specialization or a related profession based on the reliability and validity evidence.
References
Using proper APA format, provide the reference for each source you cited.
EVALUATION OF TECHNICAL QUALITY
Instructions
In Week 2, you selected three standardized tests from one category that have relevance to your academic and professional goals or a related profession. Your Week 2 assignment focused on the purpose, contents and constructs assessed, norms, and required training of psychological tests. For this assignment, you will complete a deeper analysis of the technical quality of your three selected tests by focusing on reliability and validity evidence. To complete this assignment, you will draw upon the knowledge you gained in Weeks 3 and 4 about psychometrics in general and reliability and validity in particular.
For this assignment, use the three tests you selected for your assignment in Week 2. Locate and summarize a minimum of two articles related to the technical qualities for each selected test. You are encouraged to use the PSY7610 Library Research Guide to assist your search.
For each article:
List the APA reference for each journal article (a minimum of six).
Identify if the article addresses reliability or validity.
Discuss if the article addresses sources of error variance, reliability estimates, evidence of validity, or bias and fairness.
Identify the specific type of reliability or validity (for example, test-retest reliability, predictive validity, etc.).
Identify the overall results of the research, including any psychometric or statistical outcome.
Guidelines for Selecting the Literature
Use the most current sources you can find. You may cite older sources if they are classics, if you want to show the chronology of something, or if you have another good reason (i.e., the test was published more than 8 years ago). If you choose to use older sources, you will need to explain why. Use current, peer-reviewed journal articles for more current tests. Do not use sources without an author or a publication date. Do not use quotes; use only your own words. Please see Academic Honesty & APA Style and Formatting for concerns with high content matching in papers. Evaluate whether the results support the use of your test as appropriate for your field and populations to be served.
Note: The articles you need to complete this assignment should be available inside the library collection. In future courses, you may use the Capella library’s Interlibrary Loan service to obtain articles outside of the collection, but you should not have to use the service for this course. In the event that you cannot find articles covering a newer test edition, please refer to the List of Tests by Type [DOCX] document. Note which tests have been designated as acceptable for searching prior test editions.
Instructions for the content of the paper are in the u05a1 Assignment Template [DOC].
Additional Requirements
Your paper should meet the following requirements:
References: A minimum of six journal articles (textbooks, websites, literature reviews, and the MMY book reviews do not count for these references but can be used to supplement).
Length of paper: Evaluation must be at least six double-spaced pages, not including the title page or references (an abstract is not required).
APA format: Current APA format and style is required throughout. Be sure to use the correct format and style for each respective type of reference, for example, website site versus journal). Refer to the Academic Writer for guidance.
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Neuropsychological Test
Capella University
Neuropsychological Test
The neuropsychological test seeks to measure the wellness and effectiveness of a human brain. Some of the targeted brain abilities tested comprise of reading, language usage, processing speed, mode of reasoning, as well as remembering among other abilities. A neuropsychological test involves a comprehensive test of vast mental functions that also incorporate behavior. Some of the mental functions assessed under neuropsychological examinations consist of general intellect, reading comprehension, concentration, in addition to learning and memory. The main reasons affiliated with the request to carry out neuropsychological assessment include helping with diagnosis, determining cognitive strengths and weaknesses, establishing a baseline, and helping plan the treatment or alternative intervention. The objective of this study is determining an understanding of purposes for conducting neuropsychological testing, establish normative sampling processes, and the nature of training needed to administer the examination.
Testing Purpose
The main purpose affiliated with the neuropsychological testing involves helping with the determination of presence, nature, in addition to severity associated with the cognitive dysfunction of a human brain. The test offers the baseline of monitoring future alterations within a person’s cognitive abilities, mood, as well as personality. The differential diagnosis is another mode of confirming or clarifying the diagnosis, which involves assisting with the evaluation of neurological along with psychiatric disorders (Khan, Khan, & Alam, 2018). One exceptional contribution from the neuropsychological assessment incorporates the detection and evaluation of cerebral dysfunction in absence of clear anatomical proof of alterations. Treatment planning is another relevant purpose aligned with neuropsychological test that focuses on providing treatment recommendations suitable in cognitive disorders in addition to psychological adjustment (Tesar, Bandion & Baumhackl, 2005). The treatment planning consists of a profile of strengths as well as weaknesses that guide rehabilitation, educational, and vocational services. The test is necessary since it has the ability to serve an assessment of readiness and return to work and alternative imperative life activities that comprise of financial management and driving following brain tragedies and neurologic illness. The neuropsychological evaluation is efficient in addressing issues such as whether the individual is in a position to make successful return towards main life responsibilities from a mental ability point of view. Purposes of neuropsychological tests make it clear that it addresses strengths and weaknesses in relation to performing different responsibilities in addition to adjustments and adaptations that are necessary in the optimization of chances for successful return.
Normative Sample
Individuals above the age of 90 years have become the fastest growing segment that is at an increased threat of developing cognitive impairment when compared to the younger old generation. The process of neuropsychological assessment for the older adults is imperative despite challenges simple because of scarcities among the test norms for the segment of adults within that group. Following investigations conducted to establish neuropsychological testing among the oldest adults above 80, it was discovered that data demonstrates lower scores that have an augmenting age found in most tests (Melikyan et al., 2019). The levels of education, sex, in addition to symptoms associated with depression happen to have been affiliated with performance on various tests following the accounting for age. An application of normative data is the hallmark of a neuropsychological test process. From a sports point of view that may involve having issues such as a concussion, it is necessary to apply the normative data, as essential once individualized baseline information is unavailable for purposes of making comparisons (Victoria et al., 2017). Different forms of normative data exist for overall athlete sample. However, additional sub-norms may then be made available for specified demographic population through concentrating on sex, PHIs, in addition to the background of ADHD/LD. Investigations conducted from normative data demonstrated that there exists mild cognitive dissimilarities amid men and women in addition to athletes with plus those without a past of ADHD/LD. Different findings on various samples of neuropsychological assessments reveal that additional norms exist to differentiate male from female individuals who have a background of having and not having ADHD/LD. From the absence of a baseline testing, a normative data provided can be applicable in the assessment of an athlete in addition to his or her cognitive functioning post-conclusion (Mamiya et al., 2016). Neuropsychological is an ideal test that can be carried out during the assessment of concussions among athletes, which illustrates its effectiveness.
Neuropsychological test involves a comprehensive test of vast mental functions that also incorporate behavior. The purposes of neuropsychological tests make it clear that it addresses strengths and weaknesses in relation to performing different responsibilities in addition to adjustments and adaptations that are necessary in the optimization of chances for successful return. Major reasons affiliated with the request to carry out neuropsychological assessment include helping with diagnosis, determining cognitive strengths and weaknesses, establishing a baseline, and helping plan the treatment or alternative intervention (Srinivasan & Jaleel, 2015). Differential diagnosis is another mode of confirming or clarifying the diagnosis, which involves assisting with the evaluation of neurological along with psychiatric disorders. Various treatment plans are relevant purposes aligned with neuropsychological test that focuses on providing treatment recommendations suitable in cognitive disorders in addition to psychological adjustment. Neuropsychological evaluation is efficient in addressing issues such as whether the individual is in a position to make successful return towards main life responsibilities from a mental ability point of view.
Required Training
To effectively administer, score, and interpret neuropsychological test, training on knowledge concerning the brain along with its functioning is necessary since it will augment the understanding of a patient. Neuropsychological training is fundamental in various kinds of clinical psychological activities. The objective of the training program involves providing a student with the understanding of neuropsychological approaches as well as to offering training in various clinical neuropsychologies (Todorova, Ignatova, & Surchev, 2020). The training equips one with the ability to describe a neuropsychological test, why and when it is conducted besides explaining the kind of information provided. The interpretation of neuropsychological tests is achieved through various ways since most of the tests happen to be standardized, meaning they are given in similar ways to each patient. Furthermore, neuropsychological tests are norm-referenced, which is an indication that the patient’s performance through these various tests is comparable towards the performance of various individuals who are likely to be of similar age and persons with the same education background (Segovia et al., 2014). Most test findings are essential in understanding various kinds of questions associated with neuropsychological tests.
Neuropsychological sampling procedures are designed to determine the psychological function known to have a connection with a specific brain structure and pathway. The tests occasionally incorporate a systematic administration of precisely defined processes within the formal surroundings. Nonetheless, the tests incorporate a systematic administration of evidently defined processes in the form of formal settings (Sherwood et al., 2016). Neuropsychological tests are administered on one person working with the examiner inside quite office environment that has the least kind of distractions. It is probable that the neuropsychological tests often offer an estimate of an individual’s peak level in cognitive performance. The assessments become the core components of a procedure conducting neuropsychological test. Several neuropsychological evaluations within current use are based on traditional psychometric theory. The raw score on an individual’s test is comparable to the large general population normative sample.
Conclusion
Procedures of neuropsychological assessment for the older adults are imperative despite challenges simple because of scarcities among the test norms for the segment of adults within that group. The height of education, sex, in addition to symptoms associated with depression happen to have been affiliated with performance on various tests following the accounting for age. Applying the normative data, as essential once individualized baseline information is unavailable for purposes of making comparisons. Neuropsychological tests are administered on one person working with the examiner inside quite office environment that has the least kind of distractions. Additional sub-norms may be made available for specified demographic population through concentrating on sex, PHIs, in addition to the background of ADHD/LD. A normative data provided can be applicable in the assessment of an athlete in addition to his or her cognitive functioning post-conclusion. The aim of the training program involves providing a student with the understanding of neuropsychological approaches as well as to offering training in various clinical neuropsychologies. Neuropsychological tests are norm-referenced, which is an indication that the patient’s performance through these various tests is comparable towards the performance of various individuals who are likely to be of similar age and persons with the same education background.
References
Khan, R., Khan, M. T., & Alam, B. (2018). The use of neuropsychological tests to study the effects of aging on driving performance in the UK. European Transport Research Review, 10(1), 1-11. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12544-018-0287-7
Mamiya, Y., Nishio, Y., Watanabe, H., Yokoi, K., Uchiyama, M., Baba, T., . . . Mori, E. (2016). The pareidolia test: A simple neuropsychological test measuring visual hallucination-like illusions. PLoS One, 11(5) doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0154713
Melikyan, Z. A., Corrada, M. M., Dick, M. B., Whittle, C., Paganini-Hill, A., & Kawas, C. H. (2019). Neuropsychological Test Norms in Cognitively Intact Oldest-Old. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society : JINS, 25(5), 530–545. (
https://doi.org/10.1017/S1355617719000122
Segovia, F., Bastin, C., Salmon, E., Górriz, J. M., Ramírez, J., & Phillips, C. (2014). Combining PET images and neuropsychological test data for automatic diagnosis of alzheimer’s disease. PLoS One, 9(2) doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0088687
Sherwood, B., Andrew Xiao‐Hua Zhou, Weintraub, S., & Wang, L. (2016). Using quantile regression to create baseline norms for neuropsychological tests. Alzheimer’s & Dementia : Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring, 2(1), 12-18. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.dadm.2015.11.005
Srinivasan, S., & Jaleel, Q. (2015). Norms for a neuropsychological test battery to diagnose dementia in the elderly: A study from sri lanka. Journal of Neurosciences in Rural Practice, 6(2), 177-181. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/0976-3147.153223
Tesar N, Bandion K, & Baumhackl U. Efficacy of a neuropsychological training programme for patients with multiple sclerosis — a randomised controlled trial. Wien Klin Wochenschr. Nov;117(21-22):747-54. doi: 10.1007/s00508-005-0470-4. PMID: 16416356.
Todorova, L., Ignatova, V., & Surchev, J. (2020). Computerized neuropsychological test battery CogniSoft for assessment of cognition in patients with multiple sclerosis. International Journal Bioautomation, 24(4), 371-380. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.7546/ijba.2020.24.4.000754
Victoria C. Merritt, Jessica E. Meyer, Margaret H. Cadden, Cristina A.F. Roman, Dede M. Ukueberuwa, Michael D. Shapiro, Peter A. Arnett. (2017). Normative Data for a Comprehensive Neuropsychological Test Battery used in the Assessment of Sports-Related Concussion, Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, Volume 32, Issue 2, , Pages 168–183,
https://doi.org/10.1093/arclin/acw090