Psychology 2080B 001 FW25

Introduction to Test and Measurement

Western University 

London                   Canada 

 

Department of Psychology 

Fall/Winter 2025 

 

Psychology 2080B    Section 001 

 

INTRODUCTION TO TEST AND MEASUREMENT 

 

 

1 Calendar Description 

 

This course examines principles of psychological assessment in an applied context through lectures and demonstrations. Topics will include reliability and validity, legal and ethical issues in test construction, and selected controversial questions relating to assessment in areas such as personnel selection, standardized testing in schools, and group differences in test performance. 

Antirequisite (s): Psychology 3840F/G  

Prerequisite(s): None 

Extra Information: 3 lecture hours. 

Course Weight: 0.50 

 

 

2 Course Information 

 

Instructor: Dr. John Mitchell 

Office & Phone: see Brightspace, x86246 

Office Hours: Tuesdays 11:00 – 12:00 and Thursday 1:00 – 2:00, and by appointment. Meetings available in person and over Zoo to schedule a Zoom meeting, email me for the link.  

Email: jbmitche@uwo.ca 

 

Teaching Assistant: TBA Email: TBA  

Office:  TBA Office Hours:  TBA  

 

Time and Location of Classes: in-person course see Student Centre for Timetable

 

3 Course Materials 

 

Cohen, R. J., Schneider, W. J., & Tobin, R. (2025).  Psychological Testing and Assessment: An Introduction to Tests and Measurement. 10th edition, McGraw-Hill. 

ISBN10: 1264164270 | ISBN13: 9781264164271 

The e-textbook is available through the Campus Book Store and from McGraw-Hill. The e-textbook is listed at $62.57 on the McGraw-Hill website. For other formats see the McGraw-Hill website, https://www.mheducation.com/highered/. 

 

Abbreviated versions of the slide shows that I use in class will be available on the course website. These are abbreviated versions and are intended to provide an outline for you to use when taking notes; they will not substitute for attending class and taking notes. 

 

4 Course Objectives and Learning Outcomes 

 

Learning Outcome 

Learning Activity 

Assessment 

Depth and Breadth of Knowledge 

  • Describe the different types of assessments used in psychological testing. 
  • Be able to identify advantages and disadvantages of the different types of assessment 

Weekly lectures, assigned readings. 

Exams and Reflections 

Knowledge of Methodologies 

  • Distinguish between key concepts in test and measurement (e.g., reliability, validity). 
  • Identify and explain common procedures and methods used in psychological testing and measurement. 

Weekly lectures, assigned readings. 

Exams and Reflections 

Application of Knowledge 

  • Distinguish between approaches to psychological testing in different applied areas such as education or counselling. 
  • Understand construction of psychological testing instruments. 
  • Compare competing approaches to the assessment of intelligence and personality and identify their strengths and weakness. 

Weekly lectures, assigned readings. 

Exams and Reflections 

Communication Skills 

  • Appropriately describe the psychometric properties of a test. 
  • Correctly describe different assessment forms, and their limitations and strengths 

Weekly lectures, assigned readings. 

Exams and Reflections 

Awareness of Limits of Knowledge 

  • Identify and think critically issues in testing such as fairness, bias, and test limitations. 

 

Weekly lectures, assigned readings. 

Mu Exams and Reflections multiple choice and short answer exams. 

  

 

 

5 Evaluation 

 

The evaluation and testing formats for this course were created to assess the learning objectives as listed in section 4 and are necessary for meeting these learning objectives 

Reflections 20% 

Midterm Examination 40% 

Final Examination 40% 

Reflections (20%) 

To encourage you to think about the course content you will complete four Reflections during the course. There are five available Reflections, and you need to complete four out of the five.  

The reflections do not require any outside sources or library research, just that you think about the material we have covered in that part of the course. Each Reflection is worth 5% of the course grade. Each Reflection includes five points. The points that need to be addressed in each Reflection are: 

1 

Identify and briefly describe a “takeaway” from that Part of the course/textbook. This is something that you found interesting, surprising, or especially relevant to your interests. 

2 

Explain why you chose the “takeaway” identified in point 1. 

3 

Identify one topic that you found unclear, difficult, or confusing. 

4 

Explain why the topic identified in point 3 was unclear, difficult, or confusing. 

5 

Identify a topic included in that Part of the course/textbook that you would like to learn more about.  

Reflections will be submitted via OWL Brightspace using a template available on our course site.  The reflections will be quite brief, I expect that they will be 100 to 200 words in total, but word count per se is not part of the grading rubric. 

Reflections will be accepted within 24 hours of the deadline without penalty as a form of universal accommodation. A Reflection submitted after this will be assessed a late penalty of one mark for each day late. Reflections submitted more than 5 days after the due date, will not be evaluated and a mark of zero will be assigned. 

Note that no addition al academic considerations will be given for missed Reflections. The flexibility included (four out of five required, accepted within 24 hours of deadline without penalty) is the consideration. 

Examinations (80%). There will be a midterm and a final examination, each worth 40% of the course grade. Both examinations will be multiple choice. The midterm is on February 10 during class time.  The midterm will cover material from Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8, and the corresponding classes. The final examination will be held during the April exam period. The final examination will cover material from Chapters 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14, and the corresponding classes. Note that you are responsible for the entire chapter, including material that is not discussed in class. 

Policy on Missing Coursework 

Exams must be written on the scheduled dates unless you have a legitimate documented reason approved by your home faculty’s academic counselling office. A student who misses a scheduled exam for other reasons or does not have approval from an Academic Counselling office or Accessible Education will be assigned a mark of 0 for the exam. Students who have university approval to miss the midterm or final exam will be provided one opportunity for a makeup exam. If the makeup exam is missed due to a further accommodation students may take that exam the next time the course is offered. The make-up exam for the midterm will be held at 1:00 pm on Friday February 27, 2026. 

Note that acceptable documentation and approval through your faculty’s academic counselling office is required for the midterm exam make-up; academic consideration based on self-attestation cannot be used for the midterm exam.  

You need to complete four out of five Reflections, and they are due within 24 hours of the due date; hence these assignments include flexibility, and no further accommodations are available.  Reflections will be accepted within 24 hours of the due date without penalty as a form of universal accommodation. A Reflection submitted after this will be assessed a late penalty of one mark for each day late. Reflections submitted more than 5 days after the originally scheduled due date, will not be evaluated and a mark of zero will be assigned 

The Psychology Department follows Western’s grading guidelines:  https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/general/grades_undergrad.pdf 

The expectation for course grades within the Psychology Department is that they will be distributed around the following averages: 

70% 1000-level to 2099-level courses 

72% 2100-2999-level courses 

75% 3000-level courses 

80% 4000-level courses 

In the event that course grades are significantly higher or lower than these averages, instructors may be required to make adjustments to course grades. Such adjustment might include the normalization of one or more course components and/or the re-weighting of various course components. 

 

Policy on Grade Rounding 

 

Please note that although course grades within the Psychology Department are rounded to the nearest whole number, no further grade rounding will be done. No additional assignments will be offered to enhance a final grade; nor will requests to change a grade be considered regardless of the reason(s) for the request.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6 Assessment/Evaluation Schedule 

 

Reflections: worth 20% of the course grade, due throughout the course. The deadline for submitting a Reflections is 5:00 p.m. on the due date. 

Part 

Chapters 

Due Date 

Part I: Background to Assessment, Cultural and Legal/Ethical issues 

1, 2 

January 12 

Part II: Tests and Testing, Reliability, Validity 

4, 5, 6 

January 26 

Part II: Utility and Test Development  

7, 8 

February  9 

Part III  The Assessment of Intelligence 

9, 10 

March 2 

Part IV  The Assessment of Personality 

11, 12 

March 16 

PART V  Testing and Assessment in Action 

13, 14 

March 30 

Midterm Examination: 40%, February 10, during scheduled class time. 

Final Examination: 40%, April examination period, scheduled by the Registrar’s Office. 

 

 

 

7 Class Schedule 

Date 

Topic 

Readings 

Jan. 6 

Opening Class, Background to Assessment 

Cultural and Legal/Ethical Considerations 

1, 

2 

13 

Statistics Refresher 

Tests and Testing 

3, 

4 

20 

Reliability 

Validity 

5, 

6 

27 

Utility 

Test Development 

7 

8 

Feb. 3 

Test Development 

8 

10 

Midterm 

 

17 

Reading Week 

- 

24 

Intelligence and Its Measurement  

9 

Mar. 3 

Assessment for Education  

10 

10 

Personality Assessment 

11 

17 

Clinical and Counselling Assessment  

12 

24 

Neuropsychological Assessment  

13 

31 

Assessment, Careers, and Business 

14 

Apr. 7 

Last Class 

 

 

Topics will be covered in the order given above. In some instance, the topic may extend to the following class.  In class I will discuss those parts of the chapter that are the most important, most difficult, or the most interesting and will expand on some material to add depth, context, or update the information. For chapters that are on the class schedule you are responsible for the entire chapter, including sections that we do not cover in class. 

 

 

8 Academic Integrity  

 

Scholastic offences are taken seriously, and students are directed to read the appropriate policy, specifically, the definition of what constitutes a Scholastic Offence, at the following Web site: https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/scholastic_discipline_undergrad.pdf. 

Possible penalties for a scholastic offence include failure of the assignment/exam, failure of the course, suspension from the University, and expulsion from the University. 

 

Statement on Use of Electronic Devices 

You are welcome to use your laptops, tablets and other devices in class to assist your learning. However, if you are going to use Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, watch YouTube, or browse various websites not related to course content, please sit at the back or edges of the classroom.  

Research has shown that non-academic use of laptops and smartphones during class has a negative correlation with exam grades (Ravizza et al., 2014). That is, the more students use their devices in class on non-class tasks, the lower their marks on tests and exams, regardless of intellectual ability.  What is most concerning is that not only do those students have lower marks, the students sitting behind them who can be distracted by their screens also score significantly lower on tests and exams (Sana et al., 2013).   

If you choose to hurt your own academic performance, that is your decision.  However, if in doing so you compromise the experience and success of those sitting near you, that is not acceptable.  It is a matter of respect of your classmates 

Plagiarism Detection Software 

All required papers may be subject to submission for textual similarity review to the commercial plagiarism detection software under license to the University for the detection of plagiarism.  All papers submitted for such checking will be included as source documents in the reference database for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of papers subsequently submitted to the system. Use of the service is subject to the licensing agreement, currently between Western and Turnitin.com. 

Use of AI 

The use of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT to produce written work is not permitted unless permission is granted by the instructor for specific circumstances. Any work submitted must be the work of the student in its entirety unless otherwise disclosed. When used, AI tools should be used ethically and responsibly, and students must cite or credit the tools used in line with the expectation to use AI as a tool to learn, not to produce content. 

AI Policy for Psychology:  

Responsible use of AI is allowed in Psychology.  This includes using AI for brainstorming, improving grammar, or doing preliminary/background research on a topic.  

AI is not to be used in place of critical thinking.  

The misuse of AI undermines the academic values of this course.  Relying on AI to create full drafts or fabricate sources is prohibited.  You are ultimately responsible for any work submitted, so it is highly advised that you critically review your Generative AI output before incorporating this information into your assignments.  

If you use AI, you must clearly explain its role in your work.  All written assignments will require an AI Usage Statement, in which you will indicate what tools you have used, what you have used them for, and (broadly) how you have modified this information.  Assignments without an AI Usage Statement will not be accepted.  

Violations of this policy will be handled according to Western’s scholastic offense policies. 

Multiple Choice Exams  

Computer-marked multiple-choice tests and/or exams will be subject to submission for similarity review by software that will check for unusual coincidences in answer patterns that may indicate cheating. 

 

 

9 Academic Accommodations and Accessible Education 

 

View Western’s policy on academic accommodations for student with disabilities at this link. 

Accessible Education provides supports and services to students with disabilities at Western. 

If you think you may qualify for ongoing accommodation that will be recognized in all your courses, visit Accessible Education for more information.  Email: aew@uwo.ca  Phone: 519 661-2147 

 

10 Absence & Academic Consideration 

 

View Western’s policy on academic consideration for medical illnesses this link 

Find your academic counsellor here: https://www.registrar.uwo.ca/faculty_academic_counselling.html 

Students must see the Academic Counsellor and submit all required documentation in order to be approved for certain academic considerations. Students must communicate with their instructors no later than 24 hours after the end of the period covered SMC, or immediately upon their return following a documented absence. 

Medical Absences 

Submit a Student Medical Certificate (SMC) signed by a licensed medical or mental health practitioner to Academic Counselling in your Faculty of registration to be eligible for Academic Consideration. 

Nonmedical Absences 

Submit appropriate documentation (e.g., obituary, police report, accident report, court order, etc.) to Academic Counselling in your Faculty of registration to be eligible for academic consideration. Students are encouraged to contact their Academic Counselling unit to clarify what documentation is appropriate. 

Religious Consideration 

Students seeking accommodation for religious purposes are advised to contact Academic Counselling at least three weeks prior to the religious event and as soon as possible after the start of the term. 

 

11 Other Information  

 

Students who are in emotional/mental distress should refer to Health and Wellness@Western https://www.uwo.ca/health/ for a complete list of options about how to obtain help. 

Please contact the course instructor if you require material in an alternate format or if you require any other arrangements to make this course more accessible to you.  

If you wish to appeal a grade, please read the policy documentation at: https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/appealsundergrad.pdf. Please first contact the course instructor. If your issue is not resolved, you may make your appeal in writing to the Undergraduate Chair in Psychology (psyugrd@uwo.ca). 

 

Copyright Statement  

 

Lectures and course materials, including power point presentations, outlines, videos and similar materials, are protected by copyright. You may take notes and make copies of course materials for your own educational use. You may not record lectures, reproduce (or allow others to reproduce), post or distribute any course materials publicly and/or for commercial purposes without the instructor’s written consent. 

 

 

12 Land Acknowledgement 

 

We acknowledge that Western University is located on the traditional territories of the Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee, Lūnaapéewak, and Chonnonton. Nations, on lands connected with the London Township and Sombra Treaties of 1796 and the Dish with One Spoon Covenant Wampum. This land continues to be home to diverse Indigenous Peoples (First Nations, Métis and Inuit) whom we recognize as contemporary stewards of the land and vital contributors of our society.