Reliability of Two Psychologists During Assessment
Introduction
Assessing the behavior of a student in the classroom is crucial because one can know how they perform tasks given and how they achieve set goals. In the scenario where two psychologists assessed a student with an attention problem, we found that generally, the student is on or off a task given in the classroom after every ten seconds.
Type of Reliability Being Assessed by The Two Psychologists
Reliability is the consistency or stability of a measure under study. In psychology, several reliabilities are being assessed. They include inter-rater reliability, which occurs among various researchers; test-retest reliability, which is considered overtime and the other is internal reliability, which is assessed across several items (Fabrigar, Wegener &Petty, 2020). In the scenario, the psychologists were testing the test-retest reliability where they analyzed their results after fifteen minutes. The test-retest reliability assessment is vital in developing psychometric tools that help measure variation.
Addressing variance while assessing the reliability
The psychometric tools utilized during test-retest are required to provide accurate results. Variability usually occurs in everyday life, and it affects assessments made on reliability in psychology. Any errors when addressing variance could result in incorrect results. Some of these errors include ignoring the differences or detecting any change during the assessment process. The observation results made by the two psychologists could change at different times. This makes it essential that they address variance to avoid errors. They need to understand the various variance forms and identify tools that measure them correctly. Addressing variance is also crucial because meaningful information is conveyed from collected data.
Reliability Is a Property of an Assessment Score Rather Than a Property of an Instrument
Reliability examines the extent of finding consistent information during an assessment that is replicable in that consistent scores are realized. The ability to find similar scores in an assessment is reliable. The two psychologists were able to observe that the student was off and on the task for ten seconds. It is hard to identify reliability in an instrument because the instruments are the ones conducting the assessment.
Reliability scores
Reliability of scores is whereby the scores are consistent in different tests performed. True score includes two additive components which are: True ability and random error. To acquire the observed score, the two components are added. Variability in the measurements involves the sum of the variability caused by random error and variability resulting from true scores. Having zero reliability score means that the measure has random errors or does not have a correct score (Livingston et al., 2018). A measure with a valid score is reliable. The relationship between reliability and variability of the observed scores is complex. Two measures can produce different impacts on the power of discrimination. If the variability increases, the power of the measure reduces. Since the random errors are not consistent, the variability in observed scores is pushed up and down anyhow.
Psychological traits
Various studies have identified many psychological traits. Some examples include dependency, agreeableness, extroversion, and aggressiveness, among others. My colleague created a new test to measure agreeableness. To validate the test used, I have developed a plan. To introduce, agreeableness is a personality trait where someone shows trust and affection and is often seen as a kind person. People with this trait mostly feel obligated to help other people and are found in careers where they can offer their help the most. Validity usually shows the accuracy of a measure or an assessment tool. There are various types of validity to obtain in a test used, and they include: construct, face, content, and criterion validity ( Zhu et al., 2022).
Construct validity explores whether the test measures the intended factor, which involves characteristics of the subject, for instance, trust in the case of agreeableness personality trait. I will look at the measurements and indicators relevant to my colleague’s test. For example, one cannot measure kindness directly, but specific characteristics like involvement in charity works can be measured. Face validity looks to verify the suitability of the content of the testis. For instance, when testing the agreeableness of a person, one can develop a survey to measure their charity behaviors.
Additionally, to obtain content validity, use an inclusive survey that would not leave any aspects missing out. The survey would include all the sub traits of agreeableness to acquire valid results. To acquire criterion validity which evaluates how correct is the prediction of an outcome, measuring the correlation of the sub-traits of the agreeableness personality trait would produce relevant results. The similarity in the results shows that the test has high criterion validity.
Conclusion
During the assessment, the reliability of the methods applied is essential. Measure the factors being assessed needs to produce consistent results. Considering the variability in the assessment scores allows psychologists to acquire accurate results on the subject. If a measurement gives similar results, it means that it is reliable. The observed score is obtained from the measurement, which is achieved by summing up the actual score and the random error. The validity of a test is obtained by checking the construct, face, content, and criterion validity.
References
Fabrigar, L. R., Wegener, D. T., & Petty, R. E. (2020). A validity-based framework for understanding replication in psychology. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 24(4), 316-344.
Zhu, Y., Liu, S., Wei, K., Zuo, H., Du, R., & Shu, X. (2022). A novel based-performance degradation Wiener process model for real-time reliability evaluation of lithium-ion battery. Journal of Energy Storage, 50, 104313.
Livingston, S. A., Carlson, J., Bridgeman, B., Golub-Smith, M., & Stone, E. (2018). Test reliability-basic concepts. Research Memorandum No. RM-18-01). Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service.