ERIC Number: ED423465
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1998-Aug
Pages: 32
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
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Available Date: N/A
The Communication of Probabilistic Information through Test Interpretations.
Lichtenberg, James W.; Hummel, Thomas J.
The application of psychological testing is largely an attempt to derive probabilistic statements regarding the likelihood of occurrence of client states, choice outcomes, situational antecedents, and behavioral outcomes. Counseling psychologists share with others the occupational requirement of having to deal with uncertainty in test results and communicate it to others. The use and meaning of probabilistic expressions used in the context of psychological test interpretation is investigated. Specifically, the quantitative meanings of verbal probability expressions used in two different assessment reports are examined with a goal of describing the variability of meanings ascribed to probabilistic terms or phrases used within the reports. Samples were taken from three different training programs (N=66). Results are presented in tables and discussed. Results indicate considerable variability among participants in the meanings they attribute to probabilistic expressions used in the reports and considerable overlap among the words or expressions studied. Differences in the meanings attributed to probabilistic phrases suggest possible differences in the ways counseling psychologists are taught to understand the language of test interpretation reports. (Author/EMK)
Publication Type: Reports - Research; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A
Note: Paper presented as part of a symposium at the American Psychological Association Annual Convention (106th, San Francisco, CA, August 14-18, 1998).