Undergraduate - UnitAZA3462 - Psychological assessment

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2015 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 1, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Arts
Organisational Unit	South Africa School of Social Sciences
Offered	South Africa First semester 2015 (Day)
Coordinator(s)	Ms Skye Hanekom

Synopsis

The unit explores some widely used standardised psychology tests including South African tests. It gives an overview of the principles and processes of test development and the concepts of test reliability and validity. Major themes include methods for establishing the relative influence of heredity and environment on human intelligence, causes of intellectual disability, and intervention programs for disadvantaged and disabled children. The unit also covers theories of ability and how our thinking about human abilities is influenced by our cultural framework. A basic knowledge of the ethical, legal and professional responsibilities of psychologists is provided.

Outcomes

On completion of the unit the students will be able to:

Describe the origins and social context in which psychometric testing developed.
Discuss the principles of reliability, validity and item analysis.
Construct and administer psychometric tests.
Critically evaluate the psychometric properties of psychological tests.
Interpret test scores.
Identify diverse applications of psychological testing.
Relate the relevant theories of intelligence.
Appraise genetic and environmental factors which influence human intelligence.
Analyse some causes of intellectual disability.
Discuss group differences in the testing process.
Describe the social implications of psychological testing.
Express the key ethical principles and identify potential ethical dilemmas regarding psychological assessment and suggest possible solutions.

Assessment

Within semester assessment: 50%
Exam: 50%

Workload requirements

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. A unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.