Psychometric is a Greek word where
psycho means ‘mental’ and metric means ‘measurement’. Therefore psychometric
tests can be defined as an attempt to objectively measure the mental ability of
an individual. These tests aim to measure different aspects of personality such
as aptitude, skills as individual has, capabilities he attained, potential, etc.
Psychometric tests are recognized as the most quick and efficient method to
assess individual and to obtain in-depth psychological profile to obtain
personality and intellectual level of an individual.
The British Psychological Society
definition of a psychometric test:
“A psychological test is any procedure
on the basis of which inferences are made concerning a person's capacity,
propensity or liability to act, react, experience, or to structure
or order thought or behavior in particular ways’’.
Psychometric Test is a means to assess candidate’s relevant skills and abilities
corresponding to organizational needs. It is a tool that enables HR personnel
dealing with the recruitment process to assess potentials and weaknesses in
personality and professional abilities required in the candidate to perform the
desired organizational tasks. Psychometric tests deal with measurement of knowledge, skills abilities and
personality traits of an applicant in relation with the desired skill set. The
two important facets of evaluation are cognitive and personality tests. Both of
these tests in totality provide correct assessment. It is pertinent to
note that this test reveals important information about personality traits of
the candidates that are difficult to extract from other methods i.e.
face-to-face interviews.
Psychometric Testing is a very extensive approach to comprehend the obligatory skills or
traits of a particular individual.
What are the sections
of Psychometric tests
They
can be in any form as following
1.
Case
studies
2.
Group
activities
3.
In-Tray
exercises
4.
Oral
presentations
5.
Battery
of tests
6.
Discussions
and role plays
7.
Networking
and social functions
8.
Online
assessments
Number of psychometric
tests
There
are large numbers of tests available to analyze and interpret. Some common
types of tests used are
1.
Wechsler
Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC)
2.
Bender
Visual-Motor Gestalt Test
3.
Wechsler
Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)
4.
Minnesota
Multiphase Personality Inventory (MMPI)
5.
Rorschach
Ink Blot Test
6.
Thematic
Apperception Test (TAT)
7.
Sentence
Completion
8.
Goodenough
Draw-A-Person Test
9.
House-Tree-Person-Test
(HTP)
10. Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale
Assessment areas of
psychometric testing
The
key skills that are assessed during psychometric testing are
1.
Communication
skills
2.
Organizing
ability
3.
Problem
solving
4.
Working
in a team
5.
Drive
and initiative
6.
Taking
responsibility
7.
Working
under pressure
8.
Analytical
skills
9.
Creativity
10. Leadership
11. Motivation
12. Planning
13. Numeracy
Things to look after
during/before/after psychometric testing
1.
Prepare
for success
2.
Practice,
practice and practice
3.
Don’t
underestimate the importance of first impressions
4.
Don’t
panic
5.
Leave
a good impression
6.
Believe
in yourself
7.
Be
positive, enthusiastic and natural
Who can administer
psychometric test
1.
Clinical
psychologist
2.
Organizational
psychologist
3.
Specialists
4.
Demographers
5.
Statistical
analysts
6.
Behaviorists
7.
Specialists
in testing and recruitment
8.
Human
resource persons
Myths about Psychometric testing
1.
Psychologist
can read your mind therefore these tests provide all type of information that
is required which cannot be possible through any type of testing
2.
Psychometric
tests which are used for selection, development or assessment purposes
determines how ‘crazy’ a candidate is- these tests are only used to see if
person is capable of doing individual task
3.
Psychometric
tests are perfect and they give 100% true picture which cannot be possible as these
tests are man-made and there is a chance of error
4.
Good quality psychometric tools must be expensive and cheap
tests do not give original picture-it is not true as now a day’s large number
of tests are available in large variety and in different prices
5.
Candidates who undertake unsupervised testing will
cheat-this cannot be possible as there are no right or wrong answers.
6.
Psychometric assessments allow us to discriminate
between candidates-it is not true as one individual test assessments is compared
with standard norms to see the results.
Limitations of using
psychometric tests
•
Candidates can fake a good profile because mostly
candidates do not know what a “good” profile looks like and in trying of making
it perfect or good they give fake information.
•
Candidates can cheat when they do unsupervised testing
just to make themselves look perfect however if examiner gains personal trust
and clearly describes candidates that what are they are how cheating can make
poor impression they might can understand.
•
These tests are based on self report i.e. they are
based on individual own perception about themselves rather someone else’s
information therefore it might hurdles in finding true results
•
Before testing individual should be cleared that with
whom their information will be shared and what the test actually involves
therefore any bad experience can put candidates off psych testing.
•
Sometimes data is not recorded that is being reported
therefore it should be insured that data should be recorded as it is taken.
