Psychological testing: History, principles, and applications (7th edition)
Gregory, R. J. (2014).
Chapter 2
Origins of psychological testing.
Psychological testing in its modern form originated little more than 100 years ago in laboratory studies of sensory discrimination, motor skills, and reaction time.
Francis Galton invented the first battery of tests.
Rudimentary forms of testing in China in 2200 b.c
Rudimentary forms of testing date back to at least 2200 b.c when the Chinese emperor has his officials examined every third year to determine their fitness for office.
Such testing was modified and refined over the centuries until written exams were introduced in the Han dynasty.
The testing practices were unnecessarily gruelling, and the Chinese also failed to validate their selection procedures.
But the examination program incorporated relevant selection criteria.
Physiognomy, phrenology, and the psychograph
Physiognomy: based n the notion that we can judge the inner character of people from their outward appearance, especially the face.
It represents an early form of psychological testing.
Interest in physiognomy can be dated back to the fourth century.
Physiognomy remained popular for centuries and laid the foundation for the more specialized form of quackery, phrenology.
Phrenology: reading ‘bumps’ on the head.
The founding of phrenology is usually attributed to Franz Joseph Gall.
He argued that the brain is the organ of sentiments and faculties and that these capacities are localized. To the extent that a faculty was well developed, the corresponding component of the brain would be enlarged and in turn form a bump because the skill conforms the shape of the brain. (This is incorrect).
Johann Spurzheim popularized phrenology.
The psychograph was a machine that measured phrenoloy.
Made by Henry C. Lavery in 1931.
The brass instruments era of testing
Experimental psychology flourished in the late 1800s in continental Europe and Great Britain.
Human abilities were tested in laboratories with objective procedures that were capable of replication.
The problem with experimental psychology was that it mistook simple sensory processes for intelligence.
They used assorted brass instruments to measure sensory thresholds and reaction times, thinking that such abilities were at the heart of intelligence.
Wilhelm Wundt founded the first psychological laboratory in 1879 in Leipzig.
He believed that the speed of thought might differ from one person to the next.
Galton and the first battery of mental tests
Francis Galton (1822-1911) pioneered the new experimental psychology in Great Britain.
He was obsessed with measurements.
Galton demonstrates that individual differences not only exist but also are objectively measurable.
Galton continued the tradition of brass instruments,
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