What are psychological tests?
Psychological tests (also known as mental measurements, psychological instruments, psychometric tests, inventories, rating scales) are standardized measures of a particular psychological variable such as personality, intelligence, or emotional functioning. They often consist of a series of questions that subjects rank as true or false, or according to a Likert-type scale, however tests can use written, visual or verbal methods.
Published tests, also known as commercial tests, must be purchased, and their publishers may require proof that the users have sufficient professional credentials to administer the test. Some well-known commercial tests include the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire.
Unpublished tests are not available for purchase from a publisher and can be obtained from the creator or from professional literature written by test authors.
Access to psychological tests
Unpublished tests
Tests that have been published in journal articles or books are readily available and may meet your research needs. Many articles and books provide information about tests, but only some include the actual test instruments.
Journal articles
The database PsycInfo has a "Tests & Measures" field that lists the names of tests that are discussed in an article. In some cases, the items from the instrument may be included in the full-text of the article, in which case the term "Appended" appears next to the test name in the Tests & Measures field.
To limit your results to articles that include an instrument in the full-text, go to the PsycInfo advanced search page, scroll to the Tests & Measurements field, and add the word "Appended."
- PsycInfo (EBSCOhost) This link opens in a new window
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Subjects covered include psychology and all specialties. Contains citations and summaries of journal articles, book chapters, books, and technical reports, as well as citations to dissertations.
Books
Measures for Clinical Practice and Research, vol. 1: Couples, Families, and Children by Call Number: Online AccessPublication Date: 2007Each instrument is reproduced in its entirety and critiqued by the editors, who provide guidance on how to select and score them. This volume covers measures for use with couples, families, and children.
Measures for Clinical Practice and Research, vol. 2: Adults by Call Number: Online AccessPublication Date: 2007Each instrument is reproduced in its entirety and critiqued by the editors, who provide guidance on how to select and score them. This volume focuses on scales for use with adults.
Measures of Personality and Social Psychological AttitudesCall Number: BF698.4 .M38 1991Publication Date: 1991Reference book for measures of attitude or personality.
Practitioner's Guide to Empirically Based Measures of Social SkillsCall Number: Online AccessPublication Date: 2010Provides in-depth reviews of nearly 100 measures, their administration and scoring, psychometric properties, and references. Offers full reproduction of more than a dozen measures for children, adolescents, and adults.
Published tests
UW-Green Bay Libraries do not have access to published/commercial tests and measures, but there are library resources that provide descriptive and evaluative information about them.
- Mental Measurements Yearbook with Tests in Print (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window
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Comprehensive guide to commercial tests, including reviews of more than 3,000 commercial tests and a bibliography of "all known commercially available tests that are currently in print in the English language." Does not include access to the tests.
The guide was adapted with permission from "Psychological tests and measures" by Yolanda Koscielski at Simon Fraser University Library.