Psychometric Testing

The word psychometry is derived from the Greek words ‘psyche' (mind) and ‘metron' (measure)’, which means measuring the psychological abilities of a person.

Psychometric testing is an important objective tool that helps in assessing the personality traits of an individual and hence is the pillar of psychology. The personality profiling achieved through this technique helps in determining if one has the skill sets necessary for a certain organization or schooling, which in turn directs towards a successful career.

The field of psychometry uses several tests and questionnaires according to the necessity of the educational, employment or health care settings. These methods are tools that provide fundamental information about a person’s abilities and are in no way similar to the attainment tests and career assessment tests. The emphasis in psychometric testing is not on scoring or knowledge gained but the distinguishing features of an individual.

Types of Psychometric Tests
There are two types of psychometric tests - Ability or intelligence tests and Personality tests. Potential employers are increasingly using these tests to judge whether a candidate is well suited for a particular job.

1. Aptitude or Intelligence Tests
These tests assess your general cognitive abilities of verbal, numerical and logical reasoning, capability to learn new things and even spatial abilities. The results would be indicators of your work performance and important to your employer while comparing with the results of other candidates.

2. Personality Tests
Personality assessment is also an essential factor in addition to possessing an aptitude for a certain job or studies. Your behavioral traits need to be conducive to the choice of your career. Personality traits like sensitivity threshold, motivation, socialization and ability to deal with challenging situations are considered hereby. Accurate interpretation of personality metrics is a real demanding task and proper judgment would definitely prove valuable to the employer in terms of recruiting deserving candidates.

Psychometric testing is rapidly evolving as a decisive method in psychology with lots of efforts and research by psychometricians and psychologists towards creating efficient and reliable tests. Psychometricians specialize in psychometric testing methods and analyze data with high standards of reliability. The branch of psychometry evaluates an individual with a variety of tests related to aptitude, personality and other abilities to reveal the exact temperament and job inclination.

Psychometric Testing in Psychiatry
Psychometric testing is an important aspect of psychological assessment while dealing with depression and other mental illnesses. Psychological assessment is a complex process where psychologists interpret symptoms and correlate it with the person’s medical, family and personal history before starting psychotherapy treatment.

The psychologist cannot fully rely on history taking and clinical interview alone due to the possibility of deceptive answers by the patient. Psychometric testing method helps psychologists confirm diagnosis and validate their treatment to ensure quick recovery. Moreover, psychological tests can even be fabricated to find out if a person is lying.

Thus psychometric tests are a theoretical representation of a person’s emotional and behavioral attributes. With proper implementation it would prove to be a boon to the employers for recruitment, job seekers to get their dream job and the patients seeking psychotherapy to quickly improve their quality of life.