from their respective places in a particular order. Depending upon the mode of administration, psychological tests are divided into individual or group tests. An individual test is administered by the researcher to one person at a time, while group tests can be administered to large number of persons at the same time. In individual tests, the researcher administers the test face to face and remains seated before the test taker and notes down the responses.
In the group test, the instructions about answering the items, etc., are written on the test, which the test taker reads and answers the questions accordingly. The test administrator explains the instructions to the entire group. Individual tests are time consuming, but are important ways of getting responses from children, and from those who do not know the language. Group tests are easy to administer and are also less time consuming.
However, the responses are fraught with certain limitations. The respondent may not be motivated enough to answer the questions and may give fake responses. Psychological tests are also classified into speed and power tests. In a speed test, there is a time limit within which the test taker is required to answer all the items.
Such a test evaluates the individual on the basis of time taken to answer the items accurately. In a speed test, all the items are of the same degree of difficulty. On the other hand, power test assesses the underlying ability (or power) of the individuals by allowing them sufficient time, i.e. these tests do not have any time limit.
In a power test, the items are generally arranged in an increasing order of difficulty. If a person, for example, is unable to solve the 6th item, s/he will have difficulty in answering the subsequent items. It is, however, difficult to construct a pure speed or power test. Majority of the tests are a combination of both speed and power.
While tests are often used in research and for making decisions about people, tests must be selected and used with great care. The test user or the decision